To be filed under ‘silver lining,’ this blog wants to thank Gov. Blagojevich for choosing the best kind of corruption. Unlike so many of his peers, both Republican and Democrat, Blagojevich chose to peddle his influence in broad daylight and in exchange for cash. Unless the FBI criminal complaint is completely false, the case against the Illinois Governor seems airtight and likely to take a few others down with it. Anyone can understand and condemn this brazen criminality. If only the other corrupt politicians could follow suit.

Instead of Gov. Blagojevich’s smash and grab style, most players in the political sphere operate in the shadows, achieving the same dishonest ends mostly within the law. Washington is the most corrupt place on earth by volume, yet it protects itself because it makes its corruption legal.

Consider the UAW’s latest veiled threat against the GOP Senators who hatefully refused to throw a dozen or so billions of dollars down a rat hole to prevent union labor contracts from adjusting to market wages. The UAW illegally skims members’ paychecks for the sole purpose of financing political operations (the Supreme Court ruled this is illegal, but nobody in Washington has the guts to enforce the law). With the hundreds of millions of dollars big unions spend each election cycle, the power of their wrath seems mighty compared to the paltry $14bln it would take to placate them for a few months. Functionally, the politicians direct money to illegitimate causes in exchange for indirect campaign funds (or in the GOP’s case, absence of attack ads against them). This is Gov. Blagojevich’s crime, but whitewashed and legalized just enough to pass under the scrutiny of the media.

Consider the Department of Agriculture, with its $95 bln outlay budget. As widely reported in 2007, dozens of farmers receive subsidies to till the thin topsoil of Manhattan (just kidding, the subsidized farm owners have homes and offices in Manhattan). Ted Turner and multi-billion dollar firms like ADM receive the bulk of farm subsidies from Washington. Legislation to phase out subsidies for the extremely profitable was eliminated from the latest farm bill. Why subsidies for the rich? Because the millionaires can afford to buy them. When ADM’s executives and its PAC give hundreds of thousand’s of dollars to farm state candidates, they get results. Considering the billions of dollars in subsidies and ethanol mandates that largely benefit ADM, a paltry few millions of dollars in 527 donations is an extreme bargain. By comparison, $1 million for a junior Illinois senate seat is no deal at all.

The Magna Carta notwithstanding, the ruling classes have always held their minions to higher standards than themselves. While prison is probably the best place for people like Gov. Blagojevich, thanks to him for making the moral distinction easy. Political corruption runs much deeper than his overt alleged crimes, though. The more profound truth is that the only way to reduce politicians’ perennial corruption is to reduce their power. Voting to cut taxes and wasteful government programs saps the currency of corruption upon which Washington thrives. Not only is a vote for limited government good for prosperity and freedom, a vote for limited government is also a vote for morality and justice.