Look, the vast majority of politicians are honest and trustworthy.

New York City: “A federal judge sentenced disgraced former City Councilman Miguel Martinez to five years in prison for stealing $106,000 in public funds, slamming him for violating public trust.”

They go into office because they want to make the world a better place.

Pennsylvania: “The net cast in the so-called ‘Bonusgate’ public corruption scandal grew ever wider Tuesday, sweeping up the state House’s second-ranking Democrat and a top member of Gov. Ed Rendell’s cabinet. A statewide grand jury accused state House Majority Whip Bill DeWeese. D-Greene, of using a publicly funded employee to raise millions of dollars for his political campaigns, state Attorney General Tom Corbett said Tuesday. Also charged was state Revenue Secretary Stephen Stetler of York – who resigned his cabinet post on Tuesday — and DeWeese’s district aide, Sharon Rodavich.”

They’re not driven by greed or lust for power.

New York State: “State ethics and disclosure laws seem to enable a lot of conduct and support the argument — which thankfully wasn’t successful with all of the counts – that the things that Bruno was doing were allowed, said Andrew T. Baxter, the acting United States attorney for the Northern District of New York, whose office prosecuted Mr. Bruno.”

When they enact legislation, it’s because it’s in the best interest of all of us.

Missouri: “Recently, two St. Louis lawmakers, both Democrats, were sentenced for conducting an illegal smear campaign. But my favorite case, in terms of the sheer hypocrisy, involved another lawmaker from that side of the state. In early 2008, Democrat John Bowman resigned his House seat and pleaded guilty in a credit card fraud scheme. The kicker? Six years earlier, he’d gotten an award for crafting legislation ensuring that every Missouri school kid would have the opportunity to learn about – wait for it – financial responsibility.” (The scandal surrounding former Missouri House speaker Rod Jetton, a Republican, is either too gross or too bizarre to go into in this blog. Let’s just say “safe words” are involved.)

Trust them.