A. Barton Hinkle on How Handouts Corrupt All Governors
Former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell is under fire for doing special favors on behalf of Jonnie Williams and his nutritional-supplement company Star Scientific. McDonnell's defense essentially boils down to this: "So what? He did the same for lots of other companies, too." But as A. Barton Hinkle observes, that defense is not only an indictment of the former governor, it's an indictment of Virginia politics generally.