The political system we have selects for those who go along with the flow of lobbyists, politics, contributions, and all the rest, and selects out those who won't play the Washington game.

It is almost impossible to be a Senator for any length of time and not have had to do something like this. Even more so than for a Congressman. It's one reason Senators have a hard time getting elected to President--the political baggage is nearly inevitable. Somebody who has been in the Senate for many years is going to have stink on them. Anybody, any party. Or they wouldn't have been there that long.

I'm not making excuses for Obama here, but I'm pointing out that this kind of thing is par for the course, and shouldn't be held up as a showstopper. "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" was all about a naive idealist getting a five-ton reality check.

Incidentally, it's not necessarily the case that a Senator working on behalf of a business is automatically evil. Businesses live in the state, too, and frankly, most Senators spend a great deal of time promoting the interests of the businesses in their states. There's a reason the Space Shuttle has parts built in almost every state in the Union.