I am watching my governor on MSNBC's Rachel Maddow Show. I missed him on Nightline, but I did catch him on Good Morning, America and The Today Show and (via You Tube) The View. He's so ballsy, so fabulously full of shit, that I am actually enjoying this. He's not guilty of corruption! He's been impeached because he got free mammograms for lower income women, discounted meds for my mom, and is trying to stop Sam Zell and Tribune Company from (gasp!) tearing down Wrigley Field. The Illinois Legislature is filled with Snidley Whiplashes who twirl their mustaches and laugh as they drive the White Knight out of office!As an Illinois citizen, taxpayer and voter, I'm not horrified by this spectacle. I'm amused. Here's why:
Blagojevich is not THAT bad. At least not by Illinois standards. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you George Ryan. He's Blagojevich's immediate predecessor, and he's in prison right now. The worst of all the charges Ryan was convicted of involves selling big-rig drivers' licenses to unqualified truckers. One of those drivers hit Rev. Scott Willis' car and quite literally incinerated the Willis' six children. Think about that -- Scott and Janet Willis lost their entire family because George Ryan financed his campaign by selling truck licenses. This happened in 1994. But now think of it in a post-9/11 world. George Ryan could have sold one of those licenses to a terrorist -- a member of Al-Queda could have been on the expressways hauling hazardous materials. Consider that next time you're stuck on the highway behind a big rig with Illinois plates.
But wait! There's more! The first time Blagojevich ran, I voted for him because he wasn't Jim Ryan. No relation to the former governor, this Ryan was pretty icky, too. For in 1985, he basked in the praise and positive press he received for prosecuting and convicting a young man named Rolando Cruz and sending him to Death Row. The crime -- kidnapping, raping and murdering a 10-year-old girl -- was brutal and disgusting. The conviction was reversed and Cruz was retried … and found guilty yet again. Only one teeny-tiny problem: Rolando Cruz was innocent, and Jim Ryan knew it. At least he knew that another man, Brian Dugan, had confessed to the murder. Ryan's assistant attorney general resigned rather than try to block Cruz' appeal, as she was ordered to. The facts came out when Cruz was exonerated and he turned around and sued DuPage County for more than $1 million dollars, and won.
So how bad is goofy hair and a potty mouth, really? Oh, I know he's going to be removed from office. I bet he ends up in prison for at least a time, too. I'm sure he will deserve it. But bribery, extortion and stupidity aren't as bad as allowing an innocent man to rot on Death Row in exchange for statewide fame, nor to allow six children from one family to burn in their car because licensing unqualified truck drivers is profitable.
I was just about to put another Mimi blurb about Blago in my rant series tonight. Thank you for clearing all that up! It is doubly amusing to me because Blago looks VERY MUCH like an ex-boyfriend of mine whose family was from Chicago and who had business dealings there all the time. He was just as cocky and arrogant...sweeter...but still a delusional mess and in show business no less. Every time I see Blago I think about Illinois corruption and nutso boyfriend. As my sainted grandmother would have said, "He was just too cute for his own good."
ReplyDeleteThat will ultimately be Blago's downfall. I hope he remembers to bring his comb to prison.
Ya know PA is looking better all the time. Here in my litle world we had a police officer who murdered his ex and went to prison to get an education and is now running a successful window washing company. Rapists and killers of a small girl were not caught for years and years...but they were caught. Oh well, same sh*t different day!
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