Its not illegal to be lobbied, and hell, we couldn't do our jobs if we didn't interact with them. Legislation/regulation/oversight can't be done solely by Google research. What is illegal is to go out of your way, and use your position, as quid pro quo for gifts, jobs, and campaign contributions. The vast majority of Democratic staffers work on the Hill, despite the miserable pay and long hours, to try to achieve some measure of good. Many, many Republican staffers- convinced that government is an evil- work here in order to make money off that necessary evil. That breeds corruption. When you have a majority of members and staffers that could care less about policy ad governing and more about power/influence/money/profit Abramoff is inevitable. When the hard, tedious work of legislating and oversight is done by people motivated by careerism rather than professionalism not only do you have Abramoff, but you have Michael Brown, Halliburton, and illegal NSA wiretapping.

Even some of my liberal friends (and at least one liberal blogger who should know better) are concerned that the Reid allegations are in some way corrupt or unethical -- they're not.

More: Digby:

When Republicans are in charge, watch your wallets. Corruption and incompetence naturally stem from sending people who hate the government to Washington. They obviously aren't there to be responsive to the public because they don't believe the government can or should be responsive to the public. They are either there to exercize power for power's sake, make contacts and build their careers or they are second rate hacks who can't make it in the private sector. Democrats come to Washington to do good. Republicans come to Washington to feed at the trough.

As I wrote on another post:

[T]here really is a serious and solemn purpose to governance ... the awesome machinery of the Federal bureaucracy doesn't exist to line the pockets of the people in power, or to help out your political backers by crushing any restriction that inhibits them doing anything they want, or to push through your pet ideological fancies, or to reward the prejudices of the people who voted for you. No, there really are people who understand, who feel it in their gut and know it in their bones, that the government is there to do some good, to contribute to the common welfare of the country, to help out whenever it can, to keep the poor and defenseless and the average guy from being picked on by the stronger and more powerful, and to keep us all safe.

For a 20 point bonus, guess which party holds which viewpoint.

Update: Typically, the AP's digging in its heels. The media really should learn that "we stand by our story" is not always to appropriate response to criticism.