Ethics as a Victim

As we sat over coffee on Sunday at Starbucks the conversation inevitably turned towards the Special Session of the New Mexico Legislature and the Senate's inability to work for a few more days. Being the political animal I am, I felt that a lot of New Mexico residents are upset with the situation. I was brought back to reality by one of my caffeine addicted friends who said, "People don't even know it is going on or do they care. Hell, they don't even vote." I think he is probably right. The reason that this is so sad is that meaningful campaign finance reform legislation is once again left in the paper shredder. A bipartisan effort put it there. People are turned off by corruption and the power of money in our political system, so they just drop out.

I have come to the conclusion that any legislator who voted against the reform bill is in fact unethical. Some of these legislators are smart and thoughtful people most of the time. Some of them are people I like. I just can't think of any good reason for allowing unlimited campaign contributions to exist in our system any longer.

Ethics is nothing else than reverence for life.
Albert Schweitzer