"When Sheldon Silver was convicted on all counts of bribery and extortion today, the New York State Assembly Majority Conference was all but indicted for corruption. Thirty of Silver's loyal co-conspirators stood in front of TV cameras to support their Speaker after his arrest - 30 members of the Assembly Majority. Silver's defense was that corruption is ‘business-as-usual’ for legislators. Want to clean up Albany? You can probably start with Silver's apologists. Until more elected criminals are held accountable, the New York State Assembly cannot be taken seriously."