Rectitudinal hubris.

Rectitudinal hubris. The state of being so sure of one’s own righteousness as to not feel fettered by the restrictions that govern lesser mortals.

The attitude is best summed up by Tom DeLay’s telling The Washington Times that while he can’t say for sure that he’s never broken any rules, he was doing what he thought was right (presumably making everything OK – though really that’s a slipper justification).

It’s also nicely captured by Oklahoma's Senator Tom Coburn, who once "defrauded Medicaid", explaining to The Washington Post that ethics rules were "ridiculous" and "crazy" and that he needed nothing more than his own moral compass.