Even the blind trust thing is a bit of a scam.  I would love to know how many trustees of blind trusts ever end up selling the shares in the family business.  Guessing it is pretty close to zero.  Nominally the trustee is in charge, but 99/100 times the politician ends up leaving office to find that his primary assets are unchanged from when he took office.

So the theory is that the politician is not conflicted because he/she doesnt know where his/her money is.  Reality may be quite different.

The only real defense against conflicts is the press.  And the Globe seems to be doing its job on this file.