Just a minute

A new Bobcast is up. It's on ethics reform; text is below.

A watchdog is worthless if the beast is toothless, crippled and chained to the porch.
Such is the sad story of government ethics enforcement in Alabama for much of its history.
The state has treated a fully funded and well-staffed ethics department as a luxury, a wistful nirvana of protecting the public’s trust that we might reach some day if all the stars align.
Ah, so dreamy.
Hats off to Gov. Bob Riley for issuing a wake-up call this week as the 2009 session of the Legislature begins. Alabama can’t wait to strengthen its ethics laws and its ethics-laws enforcement.
The fetid cronyism connection between the two-year college system and the Leg-islature (and the scandal’s ongoing criminal prosecutions) is all the evidence we need that Alabama’s ethics laws are not doing the job.
Montgomery must put its ethics watchdog on a healthy diet, let him off the leash and send the canine out in search of those public officials whose actions muddy state government’s bond with the people.
That dog will hunt.