In an amazing 8-0 decision, the Supreme Court threw out the conviction of former VA governor McDonnell for alleged corruption:

The Justice Department alleged Mr. McDonnell agreed to legitimize, promote and seek research studies for the company’s products. The former governor among other things arranged meetings for the businessman, Jonnie Williams, with other government officials and hosted and attended events designed to encourage state university researchers to initiate studies of a Star product, the department said.

Chief Justice Roberts wrote,

“There is no doubt that this case is distasteful; it may be worse than that,” Chief Justice Roberts wrote. “But our concern is not with tawdry tales of Ferraris, Rolexes and ball gowns. It is instead with the broader legal implications of the government’s boundless interpretation of the federal bribery statute.”

Of course the justices are right; all of the politicians do this to some degree–its called “constituent service”–so that the line where it becomes corruption is very gray indeed.  Many will focus on where the line should be, and its not an altogether fruitless effort.  The court remanded the case back to lower courts to consider the case in light of the Supreme’s decision.

But I think there is fundamentally a more important question. Why, given the reality of how repugnant this process is, would we want more of our lives under the control of it?  If crony capitalism is now the norm, why do we have more and more people calling for increasing the power of the state, which is precisely the arm which enables it?  Why do some people refuse to acknowledge that the same effects of the Fall that are evident in market settings are also very much in play in the public sphere?