But the bigger question raised — yet again — by the Marino scandal is this: Why are Pennsylvania's congressmen becoming a national joke? Marino's actions may be outrageous, but he's not exactly an outlier in this Keystone State of political despair. It was just the other day that a GOP congressman from Western Pennsylvania — Rep. Tim Murphy — announced his resignation when it was revealed that he'd asked his mistress to get an abortion (it turned out she wasn't pregnant) at the same time he was pushing legislation to make it harder for all women to get one. In the wake of that disclosure, Murphy's current and former aides came forward to document a long history of abuse that had been swept under the rug while he was elected again and again in his heavily Republican district.