"Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you" is one of my favorite expressions. So according to this article about bribery and the Medicare bill, I can now add "just because a complaint hadn't been filed, you can't say we're not going to pursue it." Same thought process anyway, right?

But what's missing here is a truthful discourse about politics. This is how those people work -- whether it's in a Town Hall on Long Island or the Cannon House Office Building in our Nation's Capitol. These guys have been strong-arming to get what they want for so long they don't know how to do it any other way. Calling it bribery doesn't do it justice. It just reinforces the fallacy that all we need to do is get rid of a few bad apples. The problem isn't with one -- or a dozen -- public officials. The problem is the system that creates them in the first place. This one should be interesting to watch as we near Election Day. From Abscam to Wilbur Mills (or any of the other famous scandals), the House is a petri dish for this kind of behavior.