It’s not a great time to be from Illinois. Yesterday a friend of mine, a native Chicagoan who now lives in New Jersey, IM’d me with this: “Geez, what’s wrong with your politicians out there?” She seemed to happily forget that she, too, is from the Land of Lincoln (and Blagojevich).
Anyway, just as I felt proud to be an American on Nov. 4, I’ve been feeling embarrassed about being an Illinoisan today. What in the world is going on with a state that has not one but two consecutive governors who are immersed in corruption? And to think that, in an earlier post, I embraced the idea of extending grace to former Governor George Ryan for his transgressions. (Can you imagine what Ryan must be feeling right now in the wake of these revelations? Probably doesn’t exactly bolster his chances for an early release.)
Governor Rod Blagojevich’s alleged actions have left everyone feeling either sad, mad, or stunned. Why on earth would someone who has been the subject of Federal investigations for the past five years attempt to “sell” a U.S. Senate seat, among other things? The astonishment and hyperbole that’s been used to describe this latest scandal, from the mouths of Federal investigators who have seen plenty of corruption, speaks to the tragic and unfathomable nature of these events.
Not only do Blagojevich’s alleged actions speak of unparalleled hubris, one has to think that, given the cloud of suspicion that he’s been under for a long time, he must be suffering from some form of mental illness. (Of course, sin is a mental illness that we all contend with daily, right?)
My first reaction was to call the guy a “total idiot.” How could he be so stupid, greedy, and vindictive? This bum needs to resign—or be impeached—sooner rather than later. Lock up he and his “pay to play” political cohorts. But then I saw video of his wife and two young daughters walking out of their home on the news, and I was reminded of his humanity. And I thought, Lord, have mercy on this man and his family.
Then I started to think about my own instances of actions that border on unethical at best and illegal at worst. Aren’t we all engaged in some manner of “You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours” behavior from time to time—in the workplace, in our personal relationships, in our finances? Which led me to think, Lord, have mercy on me.
I haven’t had time to read many commentaries on this scandal yet, but I did find Eric Easter’s comments over at EbonyJet.com quite challenging. Easter asks the question, “Are we all corrupt?” And suggests that there may be a thin line between what Blagojevich was doing and stuff that we do each day.
[…] Edward Gilbreath has a much kinder and more nuanced reaction on his blog to this nonsense. […]
Not long ago Blog-vich was the replacement to scandalized, old school powerbroker Rep Dan Rostenkowski. He was the reformer. I think this serves as a reminder to (a) keep a level head about ANY politicians “promises” and (b) maintain a sense of humility in any position of leadership to which one attains.
and a possible (c) is keep a sense of humor about all this. Steven Colbert suggested that Rod’s Facebook status last month was “Rod is now taking bribes”. . . .
We’ve had our share of corruption in high places here in Ohio. (Thomas Noe comes to mind.) These positions seem to attract a percentage of people who live in a constant state of wanting more power or money than they have.
They are not aspiring to be public servants, but to get the public to serve them.
I think a lot of politicians implicitly do what the Gov. did–trading favors. He just articulated it, spelled it out loud and clear, left big footprints.
Julana, don’t forget about our esteemed former Attorney General. For the uninformed, the previous Atty General in Ohio basically ran his office like a high school locker room and was removed from office.
We are all sinners, and everyone does things they shouldn’t do. Somehow I think selling a Senate seat reaches a special level of corruption. That seat belongs to the people, and this guy arrogantly acted like it was his personal property.
I can’t see how leniency for an arrogant politician is good for him or anyone. Most prisoners have family even if they don’t have a wife and kids. Justice needs to be served anyway. Especially where corruption is rampant. Illinois and Chicago are know nationwide for their corruption.
I wonder if anyone is going to try to find out if Barack Obama knew anything about what was going on. I would certainly like to know one way or the other.
Oh, yes, how soon we forget.
Chuck Colson did a commentary on CNN regarding this situation. A good read.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/12/10/colson.corruption/index.html#cnnSTCText