Am I the only one who, whenever I read stories about politicians being arrested, I just assume that their backing coalition wants them replaced with someone wh

Am I the only one who, whenever I read stories about politicians being arrested, I just assume that their backing coalition wants them replaced with someone who can enrich the coalition more boldly, and are just calling in the kompromat lever that qualified the politician to be put in the fronting position in the first place? Nobody would ever give authority or levers of power to someone they couldn't control, and the job of someone in power is to keep the rewards coming to the people who keep them there. Corruption is a scourge, but in most places it's the cultural norm and not a deviation. The pitch for leadership is, "I can return this much to you for this long, and here is the kompromat that will force me to resign, as collateral." Political leadership isn't the power, it's the symbolic meaning of becoming the name in history you believe is meaningful. Power is invisible and only felt. Acquiring that is a very different path, and its job is to keep the front of the house sustained and managed. The debate and and policies other than spending are just a cheap spectacle. So on this MEP being busted, I'm "Shocked, shocked!" to find out there was corruption going on in there.