A LITTLE DIP IN THE CESSPOOL

A GROWING CHORUS OF AMERICANS will tell you these days that Washington is a cesspool of cronyism, funny cash flow and cover-ups. Judging from the small flood of incidents that came to light recently, they have a point. Even as Ross Perot is gearing up his third party, which he promises will make Beltway corruption a focus of collective rage, the capital was suffering a wealth of embarrassments last week. Says Charles Lewis, head of the watchdog Center for Public Integrity: "Every once in a while these seemingly bright Washington power people screw up, and we get a glimpse of how...