GRIFFIN IS AN ICON OF THE WORST POLITICS

So, it is a guilty plea for Bob Griffin. The former speaker of the Missouri House of Representatives, whose 15-year tenure in that office made him much the longest-serving ever in this key position, pleaded guilty last week to one count of accepting a bribe and one count of mail fraud. Both are felonies. The pleas came as Griffin was preparing to stand trial a second time on multiple felony charges after his first trial in May ended with acquittal on some counts and a hung jury on others. It is a sad day indeed.

The story of Bob Griffin is a cautionary tale for anyone who serves in public office or who aspires to serve in it at any level. For years Griffin held nearly unchecked sway as the most powerful member of the Legislature. It was widely known that his say-so meant life or death for any bill, regardless of its merit or lack thereof. For a decade and a half no House committee chairman existed who didn't owe his or her post to Griffin. Does Missouri need a new prison? Why, build it in Griffin's hometown of Cameron, of course. Want to get a bill passed, say a big tax increase for highways? Go see Bob. While you're at it, accept his recommendation to hire his friend and co-defendant, the felon Cathryn Simmons, grease her palm and you're on your way.

It is perhaps no accident that Griffin's downfall occurred within a few short years of Missouri's having adopted riverboat gambling. With the gambling forces -- as with all comers, the Griffin style was to play fast and loose. There were expensive parties and lots of them, booze and plenty of it, and women and enough of them too. A line in a gospel song, echoing the ancient wisdom of Proverbs, reminds us: "The narrow way leads home." Griffin, a shrewdly brilliant good-time Charlie of a guy, rejected this narrow way for the wide-open style that eventually attracted the attention of the FBI and the federal prosecutors.

The staggering sums of money that flowed Cathryn Simmons' way, owing entirely to her association with the speaker, are astonishing even to grizzled Capitol veterans. Disclosure of lobbyist fees has much to commend it as the next reform that should be enacted. When the public sees $400,000 being paid to a single lobbyist by a group of contractors to get a bill passed, it can and should be a red flag. Show that red flag early enough, and a lot of mischief could be prevented.

Beyond that, ironically, Griffin the career legislator ends up as Missouri's best argument for term limits. For better or worse, back in 1992 Missouri voters adopted this blunt instrument of a reform by a 73 percent supermajority. Never again will a speaker reign so long nor amass such power. At great cost to a public man who did much good along with the disgrace he now faces, this too is part of the Griffin legacy.