Posted by
Juliana Johnson on Wednesday, December 10, 2008 6:28:42 PM
Getting Things Done for People.
That was the slogan of Rod
Blagojevich's 2006 re-election campaign. Who would have thought a
phrase so utterly devoid of meaning would foretell such truth?
Governor
Blagojevich was certainly getting things done for people--for himself,
for his wife, for his campaign contributors, and for just about anyone
who was willing to pay sticker price for government spoils.
Given
the starkness of the schemes as recorded in Blagojevich's own words,
flabbergasted Illinoisans are wondering how a Governor could be so
brazen. After all, in what undiscovered dimension lives a man who
conceptualizes a run for the Presidency in 2016 while strategizing
about an indictment he seemed to fully anticipate?
The French
philosopher Baudelaire once wrote, "True genius is the ability to hold
two contradictory thoughts simultaneously without losing your mind."
Blagojevich's contradictions proved instead that the simultaneous
exercise of stupidity and arrogance loses one his freedom.
And
so over the next several months Blagojevich's fate will wind to its
inexorable end, beginning next week when the Illinois General Assembly
moves to impeach him.
As this occurs, I have a humble request of my fellow Illinoisans.
Don't
get fooled again. Don't get suckered by the contrived and
self-righteous hand-wringing by the very people who twice shepherded
Blagojevich to the Governor's mansion.
Those Chicago Democrats
that are lining up to spit on his political grave because they covet
his office are the same Chicago Democrats who brought you the last six
sordid years of Blagojevich rule.
Those Chicago Democrats didn't
walk away from Blagojevich (for those that ever did) over policy
concerns or ethical pangs of conscience; they walked away because
Blagojevich didn't do what they wanted him to do when they wanted him
to do it.
He committed the mortal sin of cooking up his own
illicit schemes instead of executing theirs--and he turned out to not
be nearly as adept at it as they are.
Who are the "they"? They
are the eight members of the "Chicago 9" (the 9 Chicago Democrats who
control $70B worth of government and 125,000 public sector jobs in
Illinois) not arrested yesterday. Their names are Rich Daley, Mike
Madigan, Lisa Madigan, Jesse White, Dan Hynes, Alexi Giannoulias, Todd
Stroger, and Emil Jones.
Remember those names. Write them down.
And remember the outrage you feel now when the next opportunity you
have to vote against them presents itself.