This is going to be an on-going list that I will probably be undating with frightening frequency. I call it Custodians of the Public Trust and I am dedicating it to the current majority party, the Republicans, who abuse their majority at every opportunity to suit their own purposes, most often at the expense of the American people.

I will avoid listing offenses that are obvious but have not resulted in any criminal charges yet, such as the lies told by George W. Bush and Dick Cheney about Iraq that led the United States into an illegal invasion and subsequent occupation of that country, to say nothing of the over 2,100 American servicemen and tens of thousands of Iraqi civilans who have died as a result. Life is cheap when you're on a political roll. Well, other people's life is cheap, anyway.

Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham - This eight-term congressman from California, a former Vietnam War fighter jock, pleaded guilty to graft and tearfully resigned on Monday, November 28, 2005. He admitted taking $2.4 million in bribes mostly from defense contractors in exchange for government business and other favors. Investigators said Cunningham, a member of a House Appropriations subcommittee that controls defense dollars, secured contracts worth tens of millions of dollars for those who paid him off. Prosecutors did not identify the defense contractors. "He did the worst thing an elected official can do — he enriched himself through his position and violated the trust of those who put him there," U.S. Attorney Carol Lam said.

Rep. Tom DeLay - This representative from Texas had to step down as majority leader after he was indicted in a campaign finance case. He and his high-powered attorney are politicking mightily in Texas even as we speak to try to squeak out of his wrongdoings by claiming that it isn't fair prosecution because a Democrat caught him. Seriously. More to come as this develops. What made this especially ironic is that Republicans used their majority position to change the rules of the House of Representatives, allowing DeLay to remain Majority Leader right up to the day he was indicted. Generally, lawmakers request those under investigation or accused of wrongding to step down until the matter is resolved. Well, generally when it affects Democrats, I guess....

Senator Bill Frist - A questionable stock sale by the Republican Senate Majority Leader is being looked at by regulators. Likewise, the majority party Republicans have graciously allowed the senator from Tennessee to keep his position until he is likewise indicted, unless he manages to buy off the investigators first. I will keep you current.

Lewis "Scooter" Libby - Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff—now former chief of staff since he was charged—was indicted in the CIA leak case. It turns out after he and the Vice President and everyone in the Bush administration denied any involvement whatsoever in the betrayal of a CIA deep cover agent, that Mr Libby was the one who blabbed after all. Oddly enough, it later turned out that someone else told Bob Woodward first, but Woodward had the decency to keep quiet about it instead of, you know, publishing it for all of America's enemies to read. Unfortunately, Woodward didn't have the decency to shut completely up, and spent two years haranguing the prosecutor looking into the case. So he comes off as a complete ass. Libby and his lawyers feel that since someone told Woodward first, then he should be off the hook. Too bad he wasn't charged with betraying the agent's identity—which he still did, of course—but instead he was charged with lying about it.

Jack Abrahoff, et, al, - The Abramoff-Reed Indian Gambling Scandal (a.k.a. the "InGam Scam") is the political scandal involving the work done by political lobbyists Jack Abramoff, Ralph E. Reed, Jr., Grover Norquist and Michael Scanlon on behalf of Indian casino gambling interests. The lobbyists are accused of orchestrating lobbying against their own clients in order to force them to pay for lobbying services. In the course of the scheme, the lobbyists are accused of illegally giving gifts and making campaign donations in return for political favors to several senior Republican politicians, in particular Tom DeLay (see above), Conrad Burns and Bob Ney.