Feel Better?
Not really. This New York Times article contends that my home state of Illinois is not the most corrupt state in the Union. However I note that two of the three methods by which they obtain their rankings focus on convictions. In a truly corrupt state, convictions might lag because the engines of law enforcement are often part of the problem. Based upon spending my entire life in Illinois, except for three years, I believe FBI Agent Robert Grant is correct, if Illinois is not the most corrupt state, it is a strong competitor for the title.
Update I: Lisa Madigan, Attorney General of the State of Illinois, is attempting today to have the Illinois Supreme Court strip Blagojevich of his powers as Governor. I agree with this article that her brief is extremely weak and would draw a “C” as the effort of a first year law student. At any rate I doubt if the Illinois Supreme Court will step into this briar patch. If the House acts swiftly to impeach him, Blagojevich may resign, but I do not think anything short of this will work. To add to the banana republic quality that is part and parcel of current Illinois politics, Lisa Madigan is the daughter of Michael Madigan speaker of the House who has a long-standing blood feud with Blagojevich. Lisa Madigan herself has long been thought to be hungering to be Governor. Illinois politics frequently consists now of hereditary political fiefdoms that are passed down through the generations. We have the reality of a largely feudal political system with none of the entertaining trappings.
Update II: As usual, John Kass of the Tribune has a brilliant column on the farce that is Illinois politics.
Update III: Ed Morrissey at Hot Air has an excellent look at the behind the scenes machinations of this mess. I wholeheartedly agree with his conclusion: “Calling this sewer “The Land of Lincoln” is a bad joke. If Illinois voters aren’t inclined to make the kind of necessary changes, can they change the license plates to read, “The Land of Capone”? It’s certainly a more accurate description.”
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Hugely entertaining. Blessed be God that there is a political columnist for a Dying Dead Tree Journal chronicling this mess like Mr. Kass. Clearly channeling the spirit of Mike Royko of blessed memory. The equivalent of Howie Carr- of Boston Herald and afternoons on WRKO- to People’s Republic Of Taxachusetts. By my view, Blago no nuttier than any other testosterone and ambition fueled pol. Our PA Gov. Fast Eddie Rendell has hottempered moments and no one questions his sanity. Then the twist of State AG La Madigan offspring of blood enemy Speaker Madigan. Hope and Change clearly on display. Let the show roll on.
Gosh…If only Wyoming politics were this exciting. Our claim to corruption runs more to the “most of our legislators are ranchers and thus pass bills accordingly”. Our claim to insanity is more along the lines of “we only meet for three months of the year, so we have to pass legislation through rapidly, thus increasing our burden for next year when we have to pass legislation to fix the problems from rapidly passing legislation through the previous year”.
I guess we also had something with Rep. Cubin, given that we kept electing her despite all her broken promises. One of the professors in my department groused about how Wyoming only elects Republicans to the House and Senate, claiming that one day he would run a dog as a Republican contender to one our three federal seats, just to see if the dog won.
Having lived in both Downstate Illinois and the Chicagoland, there really are two states of Illinois. You have Chicagoland Illinois and Downstate Illinois. Springfield, the state capital, is located in Downstate, but is really a colony of Chicagoland. Most of Downstate Illinois is fairly rural, with lots of farms and small towns, like much of the Midwest. Chicagoland Illinois is, well, Chicago with all the corruption and politics that go along with it. Needless to say, Chicagoland pretty much controls the political process in Illinois due to the population differences between the two regions. I’m sure a lot of the Downstaters are completely unsurprised by the news regarding Gov. Blagojevich.
Ryan: At least Wyoming’s legislature meets every year. The Montana Legislature only meets every other year, unless there’s an emergency that has to be taken care of immediately. Nothing like legislators trying to plan two years in advance.
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