There are none so blind...

...as those who refuse to see what is right in front of them.

Here's an example: According to this source, Sen. Dianne Feinstein has resigned her post on the Military Construction Appropriations subcommittee. Why did this shrill, holier-than-thou liberal quit?

Very simple: she has, for years, successfully sought out, and voted for, government contracts that directly enriched her billionaire husband, and her little multi-million dollar schemes have finally started coming to light.

Just as bad -- maybe worse -- is her knowledge of the pathetic treatment wounded veterans have been receiving from military hospitals and unwillingness to deal with them, since companies her husband has in his stock portfolio were in charge. After all, her committee is tasked to have oversight on military "quality of life" issues.

I'm sad to say that Feinstein is one of the troika of despicable loudmouths from my state -- the others being Barbara Boxer and Nancy Pelosi -- who rant loudest about "ethics" and who promised that when their party took over Congress (as it, of course, has) we would see honesty in government.

So much for that.

All of them -- along with other politics-before-honor congresscrooks -- voted for the treasonous get-out-of-Iraq spending appropriations that let terrorists know when we will start and complete the process of ending our military presence there. All of them howl about Jorge Bush's failings, wasting time -- and our money -- investigating everything he has done in order to hound him out of office.

Yet they are no better.

Are the elite media making a fuss about Feinstein? Are there calls for her to resign and face prosecution as there were for Republicans caught with their fingers in the till? No.

For that matter, Rep. William Jefferson, who was caught with $90,000 in bribery money and videotaped committing illegal acts, still keeps his Congressional seat. And Harry Reid, who was involved in more than his share of shady deals, is still a Senator.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Ted Kennedy is still lurching around free, never having been brought to justice for his crimes. Heck, I can't even count the number of times he's be re-elected since he drove off that bridge with Mary Jo Kopechne in the passenger seat of his car....

Believe it or not, though I disagree with roughly 99% of their policies, I'm not singling out the Democrats, except to point out that their big talk about ethics, accountability and morality has as little substance as similar assurances from, say, John Gotti.

Someone should rein in Bush and his gang. But that someones -- or, more properly, someones -- need to have clean hands.

If the percentage of crooked, amoral greedheads was as high in the general population as it is in Washington, we couldn't build jails fast enough. But since they are elected officials, they believe they have a right to act like smoothed-out versions of street thugs.

And we, sadly, never get worked up enough about it to demand major changes.

Perhaps we need a fourth branch of government, the sole job of which would be to oversee -- and deal with -- the egregious excesses of the other three branches.

Finding people to run it would be easy. All we have to do is pick people Congress and the president don't approve of, people who actually believe in the law's applicability to all, whether common burglars or the much more sophisticated crooks in D.C.