1115.org

With Democrats calling for an end to the “Culture of Corruption” in this election year of 2006, the irony was brutal. How else could you describe the questions surrounding Alan Mollohan—the top Dem on the House’s ethics committee, no less—who recently vacated his post on the panel because of accusations of financial misconduct?

As Nelson Muntz would say, “Haw haw!”

This is an embarrassing moment for the Democrats, to be sure, and a lot will ride on how Mollohan (and the rest of the Dem caucus) react to the accusations. Mollohan did the right thing by stepping down from the ethics committee post while the situation plays itself out, but this is just a first step. The Dems have built a large portion of their 2006 agenda on accountability and ethics and for them to remain at all credible on the issue, Mollohan will have to resist the usual politician’s urge to stonewall and misdirect. Democrats as a whole will need to do the same thing; if the accusations against Mollohan turn out to have merit, he needs to be cut loose without hesitation. It will hurt, but not nearly as much as it would if the country sees ethics reform as nothing more than mere sloganeering.

That said, it should be noted that accusations against Mollohan are just that—accusations. He hasn’t been indicted, and no formal charges have been brought against him. It isn’t even known if he is being investigated at this time. This isn’t yet in the same league as Tom DeLay trying to keep hold of his House leadership post while under indictment, and it’s not even close to Duke Cunningham being sent to jail. Until the accusations become more than a 500 page complaint by a conservative group, such comparisons aren’t yet valid.

In any case, this is a gut check for the Democrats, and much will ride on their future actions and reactions. So far they have seemed to make the right moves by not sweeping the accusations under a rug, but that can change as the charges become more concrete. Accountability is accountability.