On one hand it is really troubling when the former state attorney general, two former state treasurers, state judges and any number of other elected officials, including Allentown Mayor Ed Pawlowski, are convicted or plead guilty to official wrongdoing.

On the other hand, it is reassuring when those who have betrayed the public trust are made to pay for their misdeeds.

This reinforces the concept that “no one is above the law.” This notion became part and parcel of who we are as a nation and first became popular around the time of our country’s revolution against England. We view it as one of the bedrock principles of our democracy.

Of course, critics will cite instances where wrongdoers have gamed the system and wrangled lighter sentences or gotten off scot-free, while those with fewer resources wound up paying a considerably steeper price for essentially the same crime.

Last week, the excruciating saga of former Democratic Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane of Scranton came to an end when she showed up to begin her 10- to 23-month term in a Montgomery County correctional facility for lying to a grand jury, conspiracy and obstruction of justice.

Granted, Kane was convicted in 2016, and she had remained free on bail for more than two years until her appeal process had run its course. First, the state Superior Court rejected her appeal; then the state Supreme Court refused to hear her case.

This led a Montgomery County judge to revoke her bail and ordering her to appear to begin her sentence, which she did last Thursday.

Normally, appeals don’t go on this long, but they are not unique. It took more than three years for former state treasurer Democrat Rob McCord to begin his jail term.

McCord was elected in 2008 and re-elected in 2012, but he resigned in 2015 before the end of his four-year term after he was accused by the U.S. Attorney’s Office of attempting to extort campaign contributions from a law firm and a property management company while he was running for governor by threatening economic harm to the potential donors if they failed to make sufficient campaign contributions.

At one point, because of his insider party connections and reputation, McCord was the favorite to win the 2014 gubernatorial race, but his campaign failed to get traction and was never adequately financed. He lost the Democratic nomination to Tom Wolf, who went on to become governor. Wolf was re-elected to a second and final four-year term on Nov. 6.

McCord was sentenced last August to 2½ years in prison and reported on Oct. 29 to begin his incarceration. The judge also ordered McCord to pay a $5,200 fine and court costs.

By contrast, the Allentown mayor, also a Democrat, was ordered to jail right after he was sentenced to 15 years in prison. His lack of remorse may have played a role in hardening the heart of the federal judge who sentenced him.

I have detailed in columns before this one the long list of Pennsylvania officials who are, who have or who will serve jail time for their participation in illegal activities. They range from former U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah of Philadelphia to former Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams to former state Sen. Robert Mellow of Lackawanna County.

During the past quarter-century, more than 70 Pennsylvania politicians holding state or federal office have been charged and/or sentenced for crimes committed while in office. This does not include a number of county, municipal and school officials.

I find this embarrassing and unacceptable, and I hope you are equally outraged and frustrated by the lack of trust that these people have shown in thumbing their collective noses at the public they swore to serve.

So, aside from stewing and wringing our hands, what are we going to do about it? We are seeing some positive steps when our law enforcement officials, including the FBI, aggressively go after lawbreakers and build cases against perpetrators.

Aside from that, however, political parties and we citizens need to do a better job of vetting candidates for public office to make sure they are honorable and ethical, as well as competent.

By Bruce Frassinelli | tneditor@tnonline.com