Senate President Brandon Shaffer announced today that he would convene an ethics investigation into Senate Majority Leader John Morse's per diem scandal.

Shaffer appointed to the ethics panel Democrat Senators Carroll, Bacon and Steadman and Republican Senators Spence and Mitchell.

If this inquiry is legitimate, fair and thorough, Shaffer will have earned high marks for integrity. If that is done, then kudos to Senator Shaffer for putting the institution of the Senate ahead of partisanship. He'll be showing himself to be a real leader in the way he handled this. 

Additionally, we want to give plaudits to the Colorado Springs Gazette and the Denver Post for their thorough coverage of this issue in their respective articles. 

Based on the thoroughness of the coverage from the Post, and the rapid nature in which the story popped online after news of the investigation broke, it appears that Lynn Bartels had a story in waiting, and was probably holding to see if the issue would come to life.

We have bemoaned the lack of coverage in the mainstream media, but we respect that approach from the Post. They were deliberate and in the end got it right. 

We're glad to see major papers holding politicians accountable for their actions. 

In the end, there is an investigation here because these issues are real. Morse showed blatantly poor judgement, and that is an understatement. Morse and his friends can call this a conspiracy all they want, but if Morse didn't claim per diem for foreign junkets and golf holidays, this and other conservative blogs would be talking about something else, and the Senators who are now probing Morse's ethical malpractice would be doing something else.