Jubilation!

Woo Hoo! I am so happy.

However, I was also so exhausted after handing in my last exam that, instead of partying as was my original goal, instead I went home and fell promptly asleep. I'll get on the party later, I guess.

In Philadelphia political news: guess what, our city is, in fact, corrupt. My theory is that Mayor Street should get out in front of this story, with a hard new anti-corruption drive. Why? Because he's starting to look a lot like President Grant-personally decent, but unwilling to cull the hanger-on's from his administration.

Politicians who manage to get soundly reelected start worrying about their legacy. President Clinton was playing to the gallery of future Arthur Schlesinger Jr's with his desperate "Middle East Peacemaking" because of his naked ambition to be accorded historical greatness. When Mayor Street decides to become Citizen Street again, the approbation of goo-goo's will become very important to him. How better to ensure a bronze statue and plenty of cushy commission gigs than to be known as "The Mayor who stood for Good Government."

Could he do it? Sure. For Street, the only danger is that, if he begins publicly talking up anti-corruption, some new revelation might make him look like a hypocrite. But remember, hypocrisy in the defense of virtue is no vice. (Note to Teenagers: You'll understand when you're older.) A clever politician, like Street, will simply jump on new revelations as evidence of the need for his "Bold New Anti-Corruption Initiative".

The other worry is that, if Street embraces the clean, companies that paid big in the last election will feel they aren't getting their money's worth. But of course, there's no reason Commerce Bank, for example, shouldn't also come out in favor of honest government. They don't have to admit they donated for bad reasons last election, they can just start talking about how much they love working for positive community change. So long as they don't ask for their money back, they can put any spin they want on their political contributions.

It's a win-win-win. Mayor Street gets to change his public persona from aloof beneficiary of corrupt shenanigans to incorruptable honest politician fighting for the little guy against corruption. Street contributors weren't buying the Treasury, they were just early standing in line to support reform. And Philadelphians might just get more honest government.