What happened to ethics?

I'm sure it's obvious to a lot of people that most politicians are self-serving, whichever party you happen to affiliate with. However, I don't think I can remember such blatant disregard for rules without threat of any punishment. Charlie gets a slap.
This past week's story on Charlie Rangel had started off on an exciting foot. Will there be a deal or not? What information has he been privy to and will he drag everyone else down with him? Apparently this was the case, considering he basically got off with a slap on the wrist and a stern finger-wagging to never cheat the public again. Yeah. Right. Sure.
Charlie is the "distinguished" Chairman of the House Ways and Means committee. They are the hands controlling the purse strings. They were pissed when Charlie was brought up on ethics charges. Which is actually pretty funny considering a Democrat run House passed new gift rules regarding corporate sponsored travel in 2006. Sorry Charlie! This guy obviously thought he'd never be punished for not claiming rental income, for using official letterhead to garner donations for a building named after himself, for using a rent-controlled building for other than legal purposes and going on conference junkets sponsored by corporations. Yet he did it anyway! And you have to ask yourself, were they more mad at the information that could come out of the ethics trial or this was yet one more nail in the Leftie coffin for November? I'm guessing both, but that's just me.
We have to place part of the blame on ourselves for not standing up sooner and making a stink. Rangel is just a symptom of the systemic corruption within our government. We need to take charge as the voting public and make sure our informed  voice is heard. This guy has been in Congress for 40 years, and is a great reason for term limits.
And to add to the Dem misery this week, Maxine Waters is up for review by the ethics panel as well. The only difference here is she chose to go in front of the panel herself. Maxine Waters to the ethics committee.
Which makes me wonder, in my very cynical way of thinking, if she doesn't already know the outcome. Or figures she will just get a slap on the wrist. Ol' Charlie did get the slap on the wrist, but that was AFTER Water subjected herself. Considering all three branches are overrun by the same party, and considering most of these fools think themselves above the law, it could just be a ploy to make the public think they're the most transparent Congress EVER!
Am I truly a cynic? It's quite possible. Nothing surprises me anymore. It's sad that I do not expect my elected officials to represent me. I expect them to represent their own self-interests. I expect power to corrupt them absolutely. Lastly, I expect them never to pay criminally for their misdeeds that would put the rest of us in prison for a good few years. Society has to ask itself what happened to it's moral compass that we have created an entire class of people not to be trusted with our interests. Can our system of government survive going into the future?
Thank God for November...