At a Jan. 18 event at the Library of Congress, several Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, held forth on ethics in government after the guilty pleas entered by Jack Abramoff, a Republican lobbyist. Behind them was a large banner that read: “Honest Leadership. Open Government.”

On Wednesday, the nation learned just how much the Nevada Democrat likes to bob and weave when it comes to accepting gifts. Reid doesn’t dispute the fact that he accepted free ringside seats to boxing matches between 2003 and 2005. He just doesn’t see anything wrong with it. He then enlisted the aid of an ethics attorney, Marc Elias, to tell the media why he didn’t do anything wrong: “There are varying degrees of gift givers,” Elias said. “There is a difference between a gift from a state entity and a gift from a savings and loan.”

Oh, because the favor came from the Nevada Boxing Commission, which is trying to ward off federal oversight of boxing, it’s OK? But if a savings and loan did such a thing that would be wrong? Only in Washington, D.C., do such distinctions make sense. And it’s true that there is an exemption to ethics law for lobbying by public entities, but that doesn’t make it right, and Congress can change that. That exemption is one of many that make the reforms recently passed in both houses of Congress so punchless.

Beyond token gestures, there is no need for members of Congress to take gifts. The idea that there are “varying degrees” of giving is solely a construct of those receiving them.

U.S. Sen. John McCain attended a fight with Reid and he paid for it. Reid says that he was studying an issue of public concern; if that’s the case, the public can pay his way. Politicians caught in such conflicts always give the same excuses. “We were discussing the public’s business. I would never allow a favor to color my views. We need to meet with constituents.”

If “trust me” were good enough, there would be no point in having ethics rules. And yet, there was Reid back in January going on about honest, open government, even though he had his own dealings with Abramoff. Later, Reid joined forces with Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., to head off an amendment that would end the practice of politicians flying on corporate jets for the mere price of a first-class ticket.

From the time of Abramoff’s guilty pleas to today, congressional leaders have thrown one sucker punch after another in trying to show they are serious about reform. Unfortunately, they have never seen themselves as part of the problem. So instead we’ve gotten “lobbying reform,” which means that gift-givers need to fill out more paperwork before handing over their booty to politicians.

Congress is sporting a huge shiner these days. The public needs to keep reminding its representatives that the wound is self-inflicted and mere makeup can’t hide it.