Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich was arrested Tuesday on charges of conspiring to get financial benefits through his authority to appoint a U.S. senator to fill the vacancy left by Barack Obama's election as president.
According to a federal criminal complaint, Blagojevich also was charged with illegally threatening to withhold state assistance to Tribune Co., the owner of the Chicago Tribune, in the sale of Wrigley Field. In return for state assistance, Blagojevich allegedly wanted members of the paper's editorial board who had been critical of him fired.
Blagojevich also was charged with using his authority as governor in an attempt to squeeze out campaign contributions.
Blagojevich's chief of staff, John Harris, also was arrested.
This all begs the question, is it even possible to be Governor of Illinois and not be arrested? Current trends indicate otherwise.
I wrote this back in February:
The sad thing is you could see this coming from day one. Oh, the particulars of how it would go down were unknown, but the politics of Illinois, and especially the Chicago Democratic party, are so inherently corrupt it was only a matter of time. It is a shame for the voters of Illinois who went from a corruption plagued Republican Governor, in George Ryan, to the Democratic equivalent in Blagojevich, but they always knew it was coming.
The crazy thing is that was all predicated upon Blagojevich being up to his eyeballs in Tony Rezko illegalities. Since that time Rod has felt comfortable enough to engage in a whole host of new illegalities, which has led to this arrest.
Amazing.
2 comments:
When I first saw the article posted on CNN, I wasn't sure if it was a follow-up or new "news". I can't keep track of the stories. It's just not clear what level of corruption will come from Illinois politics.
I'm amazed that Blagojevich's alleged criminal acts even came to light, though. The partisan press must be so exhausted from pursuing all the political scandal in Alaska's governor's office, with state troopers and libraries etc. What human journalist can really muster the energy to keep track and follow such stories?
What a turd, floating in and around the Obama political machine. Mercy flush, please?
How are you gonna tempt a journalist to go to Chicago after they've seen the bright lights of Wasilla?
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