American political history is rife with examples of corruption. The period after the Civil War was known then as the Great Barbecue, when ethics broke down in public life. There were embezzling treasurers, bribe-giving lobbyists, purchased newspapermen, and swindlers at the public trough. But the Trump Administration has just tried to pull off a corrupt deal so brazen it would make Reconstruction-era crooks blush. Good people, including West Virginia’s Congressional delegation, cannot look the other way.

West Virginia is one of thirty-one states that permit absentee ballots mailed on or before election day to be counted if received within a reasonable time after election day. West Virginia’s choice reflects a balance of the need for finality in elections with the particular needs of our citizens. This grace period ensures that the elderly, the disabled, overseas military personnel and others have their votes counted despite the difficulties with mail service. Our state is right to count these ballots, not as a partisan matter but as a matter of fairness and democracy.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is the hammer of the Trump Administration’s immigration policy. Public opinion is mixed on the policy, but not supportive of ICE methods. Whatever you think of the policy, ICE agents have behaved like the dreaded secret police of totalitarian regimes, and disgraced America in so many ways it is hard to count them.