Why allow yourself to be caught with your hands in the till?

Two politicians who have over the years climbed the greasy poll of politics and get almost to the very top. The Daily Telegraph and Channel 4 did the sting operation that caught them offering their services for hire like two common prostitutes. Both Jack Straw and Sir Malcolm Rifkind were Foreign Secretaries in Labour and Conservative governments respectively. Jack Straw was planning to stand down at the election in May and was hoping for a place in the House of Lords. I think that ambition has had the General Belgrano treatment. Rifkind on the other hand was intending to stay in parliament and continue chairing the very important Intelligence and Security Select Committee. Today the committee discusses whether he continues in that influential and sensitive role. Enoch Powell famously said many years ago "all political careers eventually end in failure". This has all the hall marks of a Shakespearean tragedy. Men brought low by their inner psychological turmoil. What is it about politicians that they think they are above the law? Interestingly both these chaps were once practising barristers. Hubris and narcissism was the route of their mutual downfall. Being seduced by a pretty Chinese girl made them feel powerful and impregnable. Caught out by a classic sting operation reminiscent of the Cold War. A combination of sex and money is always fatal.
Later in the day Sir Malcolm Rifkind resigned his post as chair of the committee and will not now stand in the General Election in May.