Congress needs to remember the lyrics from that old Clash song: "I fought the law and the law won."

A series of remarkable events last week proves why.

Jack Abramoff was sentenced in Florida, a prelude to his trial in Washington. Days later Tony Rudy, a former top aide to Abramoff and Tom DeLay, pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges–the third figure implicated thus far in L’Affair Abramoff. More indictments are coming down the pike.

The Justice Department did its job. But Congress didn’t do theirs.

The Senate passed an incredibly weak lobbying reform bill. The House voted, on party lines, against initiating a congressional investigation into Abramoff’s influence over members of Congress. The House Ethics Committee, the body charged with policing fellow members, did finally meet for the first time in a year, but refused to take up any new investigations.

Nothing new there. How many more indictments will it take before members of Congress see the light?