[alexqgb]

Issa is corrupt as hell. I mean, he has a business empire that he runs from a different part of the floor on which he has his CA office. Even by the shady standards of Congress, this is pushing it. But he was on the right side of SOPA/PIPA, and he was there before it was the safe, obvious place to be. He's got brass and he's very aggressive. If I were Ortiz, I'd take him seriously.

[eitland]

Is corrupt the right word here? Doesn't corruption have to be linked to bribery in some form?

[alexqgb]

No.

[eitland]

No to what? That corruption is the right word or that it has to be linked to some kind of bribery?

[alexqgb]

The latter. Consider embezzlement, for instance. That's a case in which a person abuses their position for personal gain without expecting payment from another. Abuse that festers in the wake of successful attempts to frustrate legitimate competition or oversight is also properly regarded as corrupt, since the system intended to prevent it has been (that's right) corrupted.