A small lesson in comparative politics
In college, I had an interesting class in comparative politics, the study of differences and similarities among the political systems of various countries. In Japan, a cabinet minister resigned because his staff took some inappropriate gifts, amounting to about $9k, and used the money for parties and junkets. So it was not even something he did, but something his hired help did. I saw him on on TV, saying he was resigning because he had failed in his duty as a public servant by allowing this to happen.
The contrast to the way we do things in the United States is almost funny. Our politicians take free vacations paid for by lobbyists, arrange for their family members to get lucrative jobs with companies Congress is supposed to regulate, and so on. When caught, they stand in front of the TV cameras and dare prosecutors to indict them. Sometimes they even throw in that gratuitous line about "...dedicated public servant... lifetime of hard work for the people..." and blah, blah, blah. I'm not saying we should be just like Japan, and expect our politicians to fall on their swords over the slightest infraction, but it would be nice to see some evidence of a sense of obligation to the public interest.
Here is a link to the Bloomberg article on the resignation.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-01-28/japan-s-abenomics-minister-amari-to-resign-over-graft-scandal
