Governor Graft
Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich: a bad apple in a bushel of bad apples
In case you missed it, the governor of Illinois Rod Blagojevich went down today for what prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald called “a political corruption crime spree … that would make Lincoln roll over in his grave.”
The indictment, all 78 pages of it, can be found here. If you’ve got a spare hour or two, and a strong stomach, it’s worth the time to read it all.
Plenty of other media outlets have covered the gory details of the case. But the main thing that struck us here at Captive American is that everything this clown did, he did for one reason and one reason only: to advance his political career. His indictment is Exhibit A for the dangers of trusting our government to career politicians.
Also: this shouldn’t just be an indictment of Blagovejich. It should be an indictment of our whole corrupt, pay-to-play political system. In many ways, Blagojevich was simply working that system for all it was worth. Think about it. Corporations and unions and other special interests give huge money to politicians every day of the week and, in return, they get favors and special treatment. Everybody knows it. It’s no secret. The only difference in Blagojevich’s case was that he was stupid enough, or arrogant enough, to spell out his actions on a wiretap.
We’d like to think this case could do some good by raising larger questions about our political apparatus and the corrupting influence of money on our government. But, alas, we expect it will be spun in the same way the Jack Abramoff and Duke Cunningham scandals were: as the work of a single “bad apple” instead of the natural result of a sick system.
Here is video of Fitzgerald’s news conference announcing the arrest:
It started to get ugly again! The political figures in America is overpowered by greed. Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich has likely seen his last payday for awhile, along with his chief of staff, John Harris. Both were arrested by the FBI on federal corruption charges on Tuesday morning. Normally, a person in such a high position getting busted for something that big is shocking enough, but it gets worse in that he is the second governor if Illinois in a row to get arrested on federal criminal charges. His predecessor, George Ryan, was arrested a few years ago, on corruption charges as well. Blagojevich evidently assumed that he was King of Illinois and was trying to literally sell the Senate seat recently vacated by Barack Obama. According to Illinois law, the governor determines who fills the seat, and Blagojevich figured that it was a quick way to make a buck or two. Well, it would be an understatement to say he got a little greedy. The FBI compiled a 76 page indictment against Harris and Blagojevich. He was caught on wiretap last month, and the FBI waited to get even more evidence against him, which they did. He claims that everything he did and said was legal. Residents of the state of Illinois will just have to wait and see. The climate in DC appears to be hopeful for now, but darker clouds are on the horizon for Blagojevich and his buddy, Harris. It\’s likely they’ve seen their last paydays in office. Click to read more on Blagojevich courtesy of Personal Money Store\’s Payday Loan News.