CHRIS DODD UPDATE: Scandals, But No Censure.

Two years ago, after a scandal that centered on the disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff, the House created an independent ethics office as part of what Speaker Nancy Pelosi called an effort to end the “culture of corruption” in Washington. The Senate also took action, setting up what it described as tough new regulations.

Since then, however, no member of Congress has been censured, the toughest punishment short of expulsion, despite a number of recent scandals involving sexual impropriety, financial dealings and conflicts of interest. The record illustrates how Congress has struggled to police itself after years in which its ethics committees were often derided as ineffectual.

I don’t think they’re “struggling.” I don’t think they’re even trying very hard to look as if they’re struggling.

Read the whole thing, but here’s the bottom-line quote: “Congress will protect its own, no matter what.”