With the total failure of the drug war causing many Latin American political leaders to publicly question the wisdom of prohibition, President Obama was forced to repeatedly address the issue this weekend at the Summit of the Americas in Cartagena, Colombia. Unfortunately, Obama did his best to quickly dismiss the topic with incoherent excuses.

Martha Johnson, head of the General Services Administration, resigned and two of her deputies were fired after revelations of extravagant expenses for a GSA convention. GSA is responsible for ensuring the integrity of billions in federal purchases. Congressional inquiries are likely to follow.

The Justice Department complaint has been public since last August, and Snowe has been dinged for it locally in Maine. The fact that Snowe and her husband may have personally benefited from the ripoff of low-income college students hasn’t really entered the conversation. But often the cover story isn’t the real story. Maybe this is one of those times.

Florida continue to push to privatize its prison system, and the entire effort is being greased by millions of dollars flowing to lobbyists and Florida legislators, not to mention the Governor. Efforts to force advocates to justify claims of savings are failing, bought off by even more money from those who profit from private prisons.

You really have to give some credit to Wisconsin governor Scott Walker. From a distance, you might expect him to be feeling a bit stressed out and sorry for himself. Not only did citizens gather 1 million signatures on petitions to force a recall election this summer, but a legal investigation into political corruption at his pre-gubernatorial stint in Milwaukee County keeps broadening, having already ensnared several former Walker aides.

The STOCK Act was a media-driven bill that politicians felt they could not resist after 60 Minutes ran a (somewhat flawed) exposé on the insider trading activities of members of Congress. Once a must-pass bill like that gets into circulation, it’s going to become an attractive target for messaging amendments where members try to hitch a ride with their pet issues. And because Congress is held in low public esteem, the best of these amendments would deal with the same kind of ethics issues.

Can you call Governor Cuomo, Mayor Brown, the Buffalo City Council and others in city government and tell them you stand with Occupy Buffalo against this heinous attempt to cover up their own corruption by suppressing free speech?

We learned yesterday that it’s very, very difficult for members of Congress to vote to effectively legalize insider trading for themselves. If it wasn’t for that meddling 60 Minutes, this wouldn’t be an issue. So difficult, in fact, that the motion to proceed on the bill stopping the practice passed 93-2 yesterday.

The John Doe investigation swirling around Scott Walker in Wisconsin has begun to become a factor in his recall election. The labor-backed progressive group We Are Wisconsin has called for the resignations of two current Walker staffers, who exhibited some of the same behavior that drew indictments for former aides.

The John Doe investigation has hung over Scott Walker and his associates for months now. Instead of just worrying whether he will get recalled, Walker has to worry about which of his aides, whether from the Governor’s office or his time as Milwaukee county executive, will get arrested for corruption. Now there are reports of further arrests of former Walker staff in the near future.