It's not so hard to believe: as my quasi-sister-in-law reminded me a few months ago, Chicago wasn't called the windy city because of the weather. Rather, it was because Chicago politicians are all full of hot, corrupted air. Today, we learned that Democratic Governor (and under investigation long before today) Rod Blagojevich (pronounced Bleh-goya-vich) was arrested today because of charges of "scheming to enrich himself by selling Barack Obama's vacant Senate seat for cash or a lucrative job for himself. In excerpts released by prosecutors, Blagojevich snarls profanities, makes threats and demands and allegedly concocts a rich variety of schemes for profiting from his appointment of a new senator" (Associated Press, 2008). What's frightening about Blagojevich's profanity-laced tirade unleashed on anybody who wouldn't pay him for the senate seat is the boldness (or inanity) of his actions.
Of course, we've seen this before. Even today, Larry Craig, the Republican senator from Idaho, lost the appeal of his disorderly conduct charge relating to his "wide stance" gay-sex solicitation charge stemming from a vicarious visit to a Minneapolis-St. Paul airport bathroom stall (Orr, 2008). Then there is Ted Stevens, another U.S. Senator, who was convicted of concealing home-improvement gifts and who was just convicted in the last two months, right before he lost his senate seat to Anchorage's mayor, Mark Begich.
Is it that senatorial and U.S. gubernatorial jobs attract criminals? Maybe, but probably not any more so than any other job that has power and influence attached to it. Rachel Maddow, on her December 8th MSNBC show, pointed out that in 1993, the Chicago Sun-Times happily (or relievingly) reported that in the previous 12 months, there hadn't been a Chicago alderman who was convicted (or charged) with a crime. There are petty criminals everywhere. Governor Blagojevich was in the right place (Illinois government) at a very strange time, a time when a senator like Barack Obama had recently gotten elected and around the same time performed amazingly at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. As Obama's star was on the rise, Blagojevich's was on the wane. In the last few years, he has been in trouble for everything from land deals to family feuds. The hope of ending Illinois corruption (the previous governor, George Ryan, was also convicted of corruption and is serving time in federal prison), doesn't seem to have been broken by Obama's good fortune.
But there is a point to most of this: that even those who are most corrupt in U.S. politics can also do some good in their time in office. Ryan passed a moratorium on the death penalty; Blagojevich attempted to pass a law that would force pharmacists to honor all prescriptions regardless of personal position. Even Larry Craig promoted a balanced federal budget (unfortunately, this was on the only positive thing I could find in his record). Finally, Ted Stevens is pro-choice. The point is is that corrupt politicians are mainly people who, even if we agree with them on some issues, have come to our attention for trying to work around a system that they were elected to support. It's as bad as Pete Rose betting on baseball, as bad as grandma's overly dry pot roast. It's what we expect of politicians, and it's why Americans might so ambivalent about politics.
Let's hope with the election of Barack Obama (I'm crossing my fingers here) that we see a new turn toward ethical political reform, not only in the White House (I've yet to mention the legal problems with the last two holders of that office), but spread across U.S. politics as a whole. Don't hold your breath but, instead, make sure your representatives are holding up their end of the bargain: representing us instead of trying to rip us off. The first thing you can do is contact your local state and U.S. Representatives. Check their records. Contact them. And if all else fails, don't vote for an incumbent whose track record makes you blush.
References Cited
Associated Press. (2008). Illinois Governor's Words "Beyond Greed." MSNBC.com Retrieved December 9, 2008, from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28148126/
O'Connor, Matt, and Rudolph Bush. (2006, April 16). Ryan Convicted in Corruption Trial:
Co-defendant Warner also guilty. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved December 8, 2008, from http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/custom/newsroom/chi-060417ryantrial,0,4525779.story
Orr, Jimmy. (2008). Senator Larry Craig Loses Airport Bathroom Misconduct Appeal. ChristianScienceMonitor.com Retrieved December 9, 2008, from http://features.csmonitor.com/politics/2008/12/09/senator-larry-craig-loses-airport-bathroom-misconduct-appeal/
5 comments:
The only Presidents that I can recall that tried to use there morales to guide their Presidency were Wilson and Carter. One left the White House feeling like a failure because of the Leauge of Nations and the other refused to run for another term because he felt dirty. I hope Obama does try and bring some morality back to public office.
As to why people are not more involved in politics is because they do not want to sacrifice thier time. It has become a society of WIIFM (What's In I0 It For Me) ans our public servants are making this mentallity front page. I just hope that those who are reading it are explaining to thier kids that that type of behavior is wrong.
The entire generation is suffering from "what's in it for me." And that type of mentality is being shown in our own government. It's embarrasing really...
We spend too much time defending the corrupt instead of being outraged by their shameful actions. Is anyone ashamed anymore?
Already, likeminded folks are setting the fortress up in case Obama is some how linked to this corruption. Like a weed, he's flourished in the Chicago environment.
Only time will tell what the buyers of "Hope and Change" have purchased for our nation. Personally, I believe Obama was not well-vetted and many turned a desperate blind eye. The man was sleeping with corruption to get to the top.
Fastfreefall: I really don't see the corruption in Obama that you find. Who (other than the Democrats) do you think turned a blind eye, if there was any turning to do? I think if there was something to be found, it would have been spashed all over the news at this point, splashed and then stuck.
I know many tried to pin some sort of relationship between Obama and Resko and Obama and Ayers, but that was pure grasping. Everything I've seen so far lets me not be ashamed at Obama but embarrased for those operatives who try to bring a good man down instead of blaming him for the corrupt practices of others.
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