To the editor:

This is about dishonest government – i.e., corruption of power as evidenced by sex-scandal cover-ups, multimillion dollar bribes and more. Some of the key players are now serving prison sentences, and justly so.

Does absolute power corrupt? Indubitably. Is eight or 10, or even 20 years, too long for a congressman or woman to serve? Possibly.

Many men and women have served honorably in Congress for years. Many have not.

Sen. John McCain’s efforts to reform campaign methodology were largely shelved by members of both parties, the result being a continuation of lavish freebies – i.e., dining in extravagant restaurants, paid golf junkets to various parts of the world and more – to politicians willing to vote according to the whims of corrupt power players and/or special-interest groups.

Will President Bush keep his campaign promise of 2000 to “clean up politics in Washington, D.C.”? Probably not.

While Congress has often been a “culture of corruption,” particularly amid the party in power, it should be noted that many of our elected members of Congress are honest and hardworking.

What does all of the above mean? To this writer it means that politicians with high morals are the essence of honest, efficient government.

It also means that when I go to the polls to vote in November, I’m not going to worry about voting “along party lines.” That is, I will be voting for the man or woman who I believe will do what they say they will do and who will refrain from accepting any gift, favor or even a free cup of coffee or Coke or meal from some “slimeball” wanting a favor in return.

Robert Hinton,

Lawrence