In the Blagosphere

Chicago-style politics: Bad for Illinois, bad for the country

Date published: 12/12/2008

By the White

AMERICA is nothing if not The Land of Equal Opportunity. First we were watching a parade of Republican scandal-makers marching down Main Street: Jack Abramoff, Larry "Wide Stance" Craig, and David Vitter, with Mark Foley in the lead and Ted Stevens bringing up the rear. Lately it's the Democrats' turn: Louisiana Rep. William "Cold Cash" Jefferson, Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, New York Rep. Charlie Rangel, and now the drum major, Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

Federal prosecutors charged Mr. Blagojevich with trying to sell the Senate seat left vacant by Barack Obama's ascent to the presidency. Also, the feds say the governor pressured the owners of the Chicago Tribune to fire editorialists who had scorched him, solicited millions of dollars in "donations" from people seeking business opportunities in the state, and threatened to withhold state money from a Chicago children's hospital when its executive refused to pay him off.

Mr. Blagojevich, it seems, has a wallet where his heart should be. Still, reports say he was "shocked" when he got a call at the Governor's Mansion at 6 a.m. on Tuesday suggesting he slip outside to meet waiting FBI agents rather than upset his family. The governor didn't think he'd done anything wrong.

Of course not--it's hard to see clearly when you're lost in the fog of a "culture of corruption." From its beginnings in 1832, Chicago has been a raw-meat kind of town, and its political offal has spread throughout the Land of Lincoln. Three of Illinois' last eight governors have done time, including Mr. Blagojevich's immediate (GOP) predecessor. The head of the Chicago FBI office, Robert Grant, puts it thus: "If [Illinois] isn't the most corrupt state in the United States, it's certainly one hell of a competitor."

Last April, in a U.S. News & World Report article, Chitown's Rahm Emmanuel, now the president-elect's chief of staff, wrote, "Politics in Chicago is an all-season sport, not for the fainthearted." David Axelrod, Mr. Obama's top political strat-egist, echoed that: "Ours is a blunt, brawling way. People are upfront about their self-interest."

A bit too upfront for the taste of U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, who caught Mr. Blagojevich on tape saying, "Unless I get something real good for [Senate Candidate 1], [expletive], I'll just send myself, you know what I'm saying?" The complaint against the governor goes on to list the various perks he hoped to get in return for naming someone's favorite to the Senate post, including Cabinet positions, ambassadorships, and cold cash.

And Mr. Obama? He is a product of Chicago politics, but not necessarily dirty. In fact, Mr. Blagojevich on tape complains about the president-elect's refusal to "pay for play." One point of intersection: Tony Rezko, a former Obama associate, whose name appears 170 times in the prosecutor's document. Let's hope, for the country's sake, that Mr. Obama has no Chicago dirt to track on the White House rug.

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Date published: 12/12/2008