With due nod to Captain Louis Renault.
Corruption in Illinois? I remember someone quipping that when the Chicago machine stole the 1960 Presidential Election for Senator Kennedy they felt they were merely stealing it back from the southern part of the state, which was, they claimed, in the process of stealing it for Vice President Nixon.
So, I was not surprised to hear that the Illinois Governor and his Chief of Staff had been indicted on corruption charges.
Professor Glenn Reynolds notes we have "Another chance to play Name That Party!" One would think that the MSM would have learned by now that there is a belief out there on the right side of the Blogosphere that they are not even handed in naming the party affiliation of corrupt or allegedly corrupt politicians.
The Lowell Sun mentioned it in the third paragraph. The Boston Globe's latest web article on the issue not only does not mention that he is a Democratic Party member, it treats it like the Governor was just being a silly school boy, a la Presidential Candidate Gary Hart, rather than being corrupt. The WashPost nailed it in the first sentence.
The criminal complaint, as published in The Chicago Tribute is here.
And at the center of this is the US Attorney, Patrick J Fitzgerald. Mr Fitzgerald is one of the few who has his own feast day--Fitzmas. It is sort of like Christmas, with lots of surprises, but it is a movable feast. It could come at any time. The first Fitzmas was 28 October 2005, when Special Prosecutor Fitzgerald brought a five count indictment against I Lewis (Scooter) Libby. It is to be noted that US Attorney Fitzgerald is an equal opportunity law enforcer. He went after Illinois Republican Governor George Ryan soon after he (the US Attorney) was sworn in.
But, the important point is that we have the sitting governor of a major state trying to make profit off of appointing someone for two years to serve out Senator Obama's term. This should be an indictable offense and thank you to US Attorney Fitzgerald for making it so. Merry Fitzmas!
Maybe President Obama will nominate Mr Fitzgerald to be the US Attorney in Boston. We can always hope and pray.
On a side note, I pray that this investigation does not extend too far.
Regards -- Cliff
1 comment:
Cliff,
Right on. I mean, how much more cut-and-dry of a political scandal can you have? There's no moral ambiguity here about private life v. public life -- this is a BLATANT abuse of a public office.
To see the leader of one of our most populous states go down this way, and to see some of our major news outlets not treating with the appropriate level of gravity is certainly a bit of a stunner.
I wonder if any of the news media is worried that people are somehow going to associate this scandal with President-elect Obama, even though it is not of his doing and really has nothing to do with him.
-gp
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