One small blow for sanity

I don't know whether I can really be said to be maintaining this blog anymore (sigh), but I did want to note this one story: that the PAC belonging to John Dougherty's electricians' union finally had to pay a penalty for their illegal meddling in the mayoral primary (even if the $$ value is small for such a major player). A first victory for the city's new Ethics Board. I notice that the Inquirer has an editorial today applauding this outcome, saying that the Board had "proven its worth as a watchdog" and adding

Dougherty's union tried to substitute swagger for playing by the rules, but the ethics board showed it's possible to stand up to bullies.

Indeed, this gives one hope that some civility might be brought to the back-room brawls of Philadelphia politics.