Yesterday another political scandal hit Illinois, another politician was caught doing what politians do – Governor Rod Blagojevich was looking out for self. It is important to note here that coming from the Illinois area it should not be a surprising outcome because over the years, Illinois has had a long history of government corruption that has been blatant and obvious. In the last 20 years alone, Illinois politians have been under fire consistently for corrupt behavior starting with a 1988 federal probe into the Chicago court system, which led to the convictions and guilty pleas from 87 court personnel and attorneys, including 13 judges.
In 1991 the Illinois Attorney General William Scott was convicted on income tax charges involving misuse of campaign funds. In 1996 there were 18 convictions and guilty pleas from public employees and six aldermen in Chicago’s city government. Also in 1996, mail fraud charges related to public corruption were brought against Representative Daniel Rostenkowski.
If we look even further back, in 1956 Illinois Auditor Orville Hodge was convicted for embezzling $2 million in state funds and in 1972 Governor Otto Kerner was convicted on income tax charges involving stock in race tracks acquired while in office.
Like the man Blagojevich replaced in the governor’s office, George Ryan, who is currently in prison on multiple counts of conspiracy and fraud, Blagojevich is following what seems to be the tradition in Illinois politics, the way they do business in Illinois, so why is this so surprising. Blagojevich was just looking out for self like he had seen so many others in Illinois politics do.
He conspired to sell the Senate seat vacated by President elect Obama and feels justified in doing this – why, I’m not sure but maybe that’s one way those seats have been filled in the past. While he ran on a ticket of reform, with a promise to shake up the political climate of corruption in Illinois, he has been faced with allegations of misconduct and ethical violations almost since the day he was elected yet, when he was arrested it was unexpected. My question is why was it unexpected, why is everybody so surprised – because he was getting away with other things on a daily basis, is this the reason for the surprise?
His life has been under scrutiny, so intense, since he has been in office that at times he has retreated from public view. The arrogance he displayed during taped conversations leading up to his arrest demonstrations he felt totally untouchable and shows he acted as if whatever he chose to do was acceptable.
Does the old adage “Absolute Power corrupts Absolutely” hold true here or was his soul corrupt long before he took office, corrupt by things he had experience before, corrupt by how he saw the government run, corrupt by things he was accused of doing while being innocent of the initial accusations placed on him. Is this why he is still arrogant about the crimes he is accused of, because he feels totally justified in those actions.
He has been charged with conspiracy to commit fraud and solicitation to commit bribery, serious crimes that could lead to up to 30 years in prison, plus he was led away from his home in handcuffs. However, in court he acted as if he was at a social gathering because in his arrogance he has done no wrong. That’s the way business is done in Illinois - obviously.
Winston Churchill once said that “the price of greatness is responsibility”. It is time for us, as a people in the world, to see not only responsibility, but trust and true leadership from the individuals who convince us with words of reform and change, only to end up, looking out for self and following what has been status quo.
It is time to hold our leaders accountable for their actions of self promotion, deceit and injustice while being perceptive enough not to judge the innocent simply by associations, as some seem to being doing in the case of Obama, but by the overall actions and decisions they make towards the betterment of all.
Associations do no necessarily make people fruit of the same tree, character is a personal, inside thing. Therefore, before you step out there and hold Obama responsible for his associations with anybody, wait until Obama himself makes his own mistakes because you can only be held accountable for things you yourself are guilty of.
And that’s the way I see it.
*Illinois stats taken from Reuters.com article
