"Blagojevich and aide allegedly conspired to sell U.S. Senate appointment, engaged in“pay-to-play” schemes and threatened to withhold state assistance to Tribune Company
for Wrigley Field to induce purge of newspaper editorial writers."
That's the summary of the official complaint from the U.S. Department of Justice, filed today in the arrest of Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. The breadth and scope of these charges is simply staggering.
I can't say I've ever had a man-crush on Blago, but I can remember supporting the man as an ignorant eighth grader for one key reason: Ryan was corrupt, Ryan was a Republican, and therefore the GOP brand of Illinois politics had to make way for a Democrat Governor. How ironic, really, that the man who ran on a platform of "reform" is arguably MORE corrupt? I'll be thinking about this phrase constantly over the impending days—only in Illinois politics.
As far as the charges are concerned: it was a well-known allegation that Blago has been involved in "pay-to-play" schemes involving government appointments, and that he had rock-solid ties with convicted lobbyist Tony Rezko. In fact, during the Rezko circus trial, Ali Ata, an ex-aide to Blago, plead guilty to his own corruption charges, alleging that Blago offered him a government position in exchange for thousands in campaign contributions. Even more incendiary was Ata's testimony, which placed him, Blago, and Rezko in the same room weeks after Blago's first election, brainstorming fund raising strategies for a potential PRESIDENTIAL campaign.
As despicable as these charges are, we have to be honest and admit they are in the vein of "Chicago politics." The other two charges though are entirely unique to Blago's corruption process.
The first of the two charges alleges that Blago withheld state assistance to Tribune Company during their attempted sale of Wrigley Field. The reason for this? Blago was fumed over negative editorials that had been published in the Tribune regarding his governorship. SO HE WITHHELD STATE AID SO THE EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS WHO DISLIKED HIM WOULD BE FIRED. Nixonian to the bone, a modern incarnation of Wilsonian fascism.
The second, though, is the allegation that will forever define Blago's failed time as governor. In a move of stunning corruption and dishonesty, the Department's report alleges that President-elect Barack Obama's open Senate seat was, and I'll quote here, "conspiring to sell or trade Illinois’ U.S. Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama for financial and other personal benefits for himself and his wife." The report lists some of these benefits as:
< A substantial salary for himself at a either a non-profit foundation or an
organization affiliated with labor unions;
< Placing his wife on paid corporate boards where he speculated she might
garner as much as $150,000 a year;
< Promises of campaign funds – including cash up front; and
< A cabinet post or ambassadorship for himself.
The entire complaint, in PDF format, can be found on the Chicago Sun-Times website (http://www.suntimes.com/index.html#).
What more needs to be said? This man was a walking bulls eye for corruption from the opening days of his administration, and I as well as many other Illinoisans are not surprised that he is finally being arrested. What IS surprising—flabbergasting, in fact—is the scope and decay of the charges, premises that, if true, will set a new low for Illinois politics.
My fellow Illinoisans: follow this story! and be enraged at what you find!
