MIKE ESPY DID WHAT COMES NATURAL TO MANY POLITICIANS.(PERSPECTIVE)

Byline: Saundra Smokes

``It's a different world than where you come,'' the theme song for the former Cosby TV show spinoff, ``A Different World,'' used to announce.

The words perfectly describe how outgoing Agricultural Secretary Mike Espy could have gotten into the ethics mess he's in. The conflicts of interest. The perceived conflicts of interest. Whatever.

The secretary, a former member of the House of Representatives, resigned, effective Dec. 31. Among the things that got him going were: Super Bowl and plane tickets he accepted from Tyson Foods, which controls a quarter of the poultry market, which his department regulates; a $1,200 …