Which is worse? Remember 10 years ago when the Clinton Administration was getting beaten bloody over Cigar-gate? Ah, the good old days. A soap opera, distracting from the work at hand, but relatively speaking, harmless.

Of course, there’s always Vice President Cheney and his inappropriate relationship with Halliburton, but even former Bush Administration lackeys are in on the action. Yesterday it was reported that former Attorney General John Ashcroft’s private consulting group was granted a no bid contract by the Department of Justice conveniently approved by an ex-Ashcroft aide for a $80M ($28M and $52M installments.)

Shouldn’t this sort of activity end up in prison sentences? I mean, how much trouble is it to actually follow the process and then award the contract? We all know business transpires through personal relationships, but this appears to be naked robbing of the treasury. Nothing will happen, obviously. But something should.

Only 374 days until this Administration is history, let’s hope it’s not replaced with something worse…