They agreed to find a phony Democrat to put his name on the ballot. Bolger conspired on all that, but from then on it gets hazy about exactly what he knew. Schmidt had his son offer $450 to a young guy who didn't even live in the district to improperly file for the seat, but not to really campaign.

The patsy, a guy named Matt Mojak, agreed, then got cold feet. They then offered him $1,000, but the patsy decided he didn't want to be their patsy and bowed out.

Incredibly, none of this seems to be illegal, though the prosecutor urged the Legislature to change the laws.

There were calls for both men to step down, but neither has shown the slightest intention of doing so. That would take integrity, after all, and they are Republicans.

There was a time when there were plenty of decent women and men in both parties. Republican senators were the main driving force in getting Richard Nixon to quit.

But integrity is a rare commodity, especially perhaps in Lansing, and you won't find it in the moon face of the speaker, or in a man like Schmidt, who openly lied to his constituents, conspired to commit fraud and betrayed his duty to the voters.

They think we are only their pawns. They see nothing wrong with lying, cheating and character assassination as long as they don't get caught, and count on you to put up with it.

So — can they count you in?

Tragedy in Aurora:  Was anyone in the nation surprised that another loser took enough firepower for a small nation to a theater, and killed and injured dozens during the premiere for the latest Batman movie last week? This will happen again, you know.

And we evidently want it to happen, because we put no pressure on our politicians to stand up to the insanely paranoid lobbyists of the National Rifle Association, and reinstate the ban on assault weapons.

President Obama promised to reinstate the ban when he was running for office, but didn't utter a peep about it after the latest killing spree. He should have had the guts to do so.

And somebody, somewhere, should start a movement devoted to amending the U.S. Constitution to strictly limit what kind of murder weapons people can have. Yes, I know we think we can somehow protect ourselves against all forms of tyranny with a Glock shoved down our pants, but that is sheer bullshit.

If we ever decide playing cowboy isn't worth a few thousand dead every year, civilization would be immeasurably better off.

Jack Lessenberry opines weekly for Metro Times. Write to letters@metrotimes.com.

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