Something vital to our way of life is being destroyed during today’s acrimonious, political divide in our country. Respect for our public offices — from township boards to school boards to the office of the president of the United States — is being eroded.

Nowhere is this erosion seen more clearly than in the recent high number of elected public officials brought to justice for corruption. Between 1999 and 2018, the U.S. Department of Justice convicted 14,405 public officials — 7,762 federal officials, 1,971 state officials, and 4,672 local officials — in public corruption cases. Most of these cases resulted in resignation, removal from office, and/or a prison sentence.

  
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