Today, Dan Yorke was all over an example of the consequences of the things I’ve been writing about.  Here’s Kim Kalunian’s relevant news story:

It was all about the luck of the draw for competitors at the Twin River Holiday Blackjack Charity Tournament. …

Thirty-six players went head to head to win up to $10,000 for their charity of choice.

The bulk of the players were Rhode Island politicians…

The included photo drives the point home.  The winning player, Representative Scott Slater (D, Providence) got a big phony $10,000 check made out to his charity, Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church in Providence.  Presumably, the prop is meant to be taken home and handed off in a ceremony, getting a picture in the local paper, giving the politician an electoral boost.

Dan was incredulous that nobody seems to understand an ethical problem that is so plain.  He could hardly do more to explain it than simply to repeat that the General Assembly oversees and negotiates with Twin River, which has an incentive to charm legislators.  It’s the kind of thing that just has to be obvious.

But when nobody’s willing to call this stuff what it is, when there’s a neutered Ethics Commission giving a false sense of review, and when the news media lacks either the interest or the resources to continually hammer the wrongness home, well, people lose the ability to see the corruption.  And those who do see it understand that nothing will come of speaking out except to raise a target above their heads, which is something about which to be uneasy if they ever want to run for office or do business in the state.

That, sadly, is one thing that people still seem to find obvious.