Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich Disgraces Land of Lincoln
Latest News - Reference: Chicago Tribune’s comprehensive Blagojevich Arrest Coverage.
Blagojevich should resign immediately, but don’t count on it. You can contact the Governor’s office directly online:
http://www.illinois.gov/gov/contactthegovernor.cfm, or, maybe give him a call, I’m sure he would love to hear from you: 217-782-0244 or 312-814-2121.
I would like the Illinois State Legislature to immediately impeach Blagojevich and remove him from office. This is likely, except not “immediately”. I have heard that this process may take weeks, which is very disappointing. This is a crisis of confidence. Illinois elected officials need to move as quickly as possible.
I also hope Illinois holds a special election to fill Barack Obama’s seat as junior Senator of Illinois. Some Democrats worry that a special election will open the doors to allow a Republican to gain the seat. I’m tired of what happens behind the closed doors - let the voters decide and hopefully this time they will make a good choice. It’s also a good idea to amend the Illinois constitution to mandate special elections in the case of vacant seats. In any case, Illinois needs to fill this U.S. Senate seat soon. We also need a new Governor soon. In the interim we will be in good hands with the Lieutenant Governor of Illinois Pat Quinn, who has a reputation as a reformer opposed to corruption. Quinn and “Blago” have a strained relationship, although this could be said about almost anyone and Blagojevich. Right now we are in limbo because Blago is still the Governor.
As an Illinois voter, I have been outraged by Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich’s corruption since this was first publicized several years ago. Everyone in Illinois has known that Blagojevich is corrupt and that he has been under investigation by the U.S Federal Justice Department for quite a while. For at least the last year, Illinois politicians have distanced themselves from Blago. Blagojevich was first elected governor in 2002 and used his first days in office to alienate both houses of the Illinois legislature with his arrogance and obstinance. He had few political friends or even allies. I was disappointed that the voters re-elected him in 2006. His re-election was largely due to his ability to amass a substantial “war chest” of campaign contributions, and now we are all painfully aware of how he accumulated his massive funding.
In 2005 Blagojevich achieved perhaps his only positive major accomplishment for Illinois. This was an attempt to provide universal healthcare for children in Illinois, and the program is named “All Kids”. The “All Kids” program has received mixed reviews, but is not widely known by name to all voters in Illinois. In Blagojevich’s 2006 re-election campaign, he ran against the forthright and very capable former State Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka (Republican). Topinka opposed the “All Kids” program, and there was widespread legitimate debate over the effectiveness of this program. During the campaign, Blagojevich ran the most cynical campaign commercials I have ever seen. One campaign slogan was “Judy Baar Topinka is against All Kids”. The Blagojevich campaign also cynically used the popular and sleazy “guilt by association” tactic to falsely link Topinka to former Illinois Governor George Ryan, who is currently in prison, convicted on government corruption charges.
Implications for Barack Obama and others
President-elect Barack Obama is not caught up in the Blagojevich mess. Being from Chicago, Illinois does not mean you are corrupt. I hear the right-wing guilt-by-association demagogues trying to link Obama to Blago’s corruption. These people know nothing about Chicago politics and do not understand the real dynamics here. Yes, Chicago (and other parts of Illinois) deserve a bad reputation for corrupt politics from both the Democratic and Republican parties. Chicago’s corrupt tradition goes hand-in-hand with a tradition of politicians getting caught and serving prison sentences. We also have a reform tradition, albeit much less famous or understood. Although now, everyone should understand this reform tradition because this is Barack Obama’s tradition. Obama has opposed “machine politics” and risen above it.
Obama and his transition team have known that Blagojevich is corrupt and under investigation. Everyone knew this, so it difficult to believe that anyone would be stupid enough to get tangled in Blago’s corrupt dealings. Obama has much more to gain by being clean and has no incentive for corruption. Obama team members from Chicago - David Axelod, Rahm Emmanuel, and Valerie Jarrett - are included in the discussion of Blago’s corruption. Why would anyone on Obama’s team make a deal with Blagojevich? It doesn’t make sense to me, but the right-wing “guilt-by-association” game rarely is logical.
A number of other Chicago politicians are also discussed: U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr., U.S. Rep. Jan Shakowski, President of the Illinois Senate Emil Jones, and others. It is likely that some additional people will be indicted, but the public has no evidence that any of the people being discussed were involved whatsoever in corruption. Many people have much faith in the work of U.S. Attorney Peter Fitzgerald. It’s best to let the truth come out before jumping to wild conclusions. We need to strengthen Chicago’s reform tradition, so it would be most unfortunate to damage the reputations of reform-minded politicians.
Quick Background on Chicago Politics
Richard J. Daley was mayor of Chicago from 1955 until his death in 1976. He built the infamous Chicago political machine, including a massive “patronage army”. The city was corrupt even on the most mundane grassroots level. Mike Royko’s book Boss is one of the few “must read” books about politics. Boss describes how, in Chicago, bribery and sleazy deal-making were the “normal” ways of doing business, paying traffic tickets, getting out the vote, constructing a building, getting a job, and getting anything done.
The election of Chicago Mayor Harold Washington in 1983 changed Chicago politics fundamentally by challenging Richard J. Daley’s old political machine. The “old guard” fought Washington and his allies every step of the way. The corrupt tradition was led by aldermen “Fast” Eddie Vrdolyak and Richard Mell. Richard Mell is Mrs. Blago’s father. Of course, the Blagos and Mells don’t get along anymore because, remember, no one gets along with Blago. Also, Blagojevich started his career by working for Vrdolyak. Obama’s base of support in Chicago is from the Harold Washington reform tradition.
Daley’s son Richard M. Daley has been mayor of Chicago since his first election in 1989. A number of people from his office have faced corruption charges. Actually, people from all traditions have been convicted, including those scooped up in Operation Silver Shovel. It’s especially disheartening to see so-called reformers involved in corruption. Chicago and Illinois have different overlapping power-bases, unlike the old days when there was one all-powerful Daley “machine”.
We are not unique - politics and corruption have been intertwined throughout time and geography. We must hold our elected officials to the highest standards and expect justice when corruption occurs. “Guilt-by-association” politics is a frustrating distraction and does a disservice to all of us.
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Comment by bingham37
Posted on December 11, 2008 at 7:52 pm
I’d like to hear even more about the history behind Chicago politics… I guess I have to read “Boss”.
I agree with much of the article, except that I think we need a second senator from IL right away… so they’d have to be appointed, probably by Quinn (fine with me).
Comment by avoter
Posted on December 12, 2008 at 3:01 am
Speed is essential. Get him out of office now! He is damaging Chicago, Illinois , the USA and the new hope of the world Barack Obama. Get rid of him. There is not a moment to lose. No OJ Trial! We are mad and not going to take it anymore. No more circus. He deserves nothing. Not due process nothing. He has profanely violated his oath of office. Later after he is out of office his prison term can be determined his disbarrmenmt arrranged etc. but now get him out now. No excuses no delay. Slime Sleeze Disgrace.
Comment by Lily Rose
Posted on December 12, 2008 at 6:07 pm
A friend of mine wrote a blog about Blago because she was getting all kinds of emails from people who said they were “ashamed” of him. What the hell is the matter with people? Dare I ask?
This criminal does all this illegal stuff and does it for years and Chicagoans are “ashamed” of him??? … Sure, we have a bad reputation in the world and it will probably never go away but Blago’s blatancy (and some suspect a little insanity) may just do the trick to finally clean up some of the corrupt Chicago Politics that have probably been here since the first two people stood at the mouth of the river. I think Chicagoans need to be ashamed of themselves to put up with this for so long.
We all just laugh at it - it’s a big local joke and it is totally accepted here. Something really rotten in Denmark.
Loved your writing - so on with how I think … Get the bum out ASAP.
One more thing … who do we write to or call to express our opinion on this person?