(also posted on Prairie State Blue)
Well, the Blago "Sago" has been a particularly colorful and "off-color" example of what is pervasive in our political culture: the predominance of money in the political process.
This morning I read an opinion piece by John Laesch in the Beacon News that nails the whole sorry Illinois episode dead on:
http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/...
As a disclaimer, I was a volunteer and early supporter of Mr. Laesch in his IL-14th Congressional campaign earlier this year. I was not in favor of my colleague and fellow physicist Bill Foster (who ran against Laesch in that primary, and won by less than 400 votes, outspending him over 12-1 with ~$2M of his own money) for precisely the reasons that bring about the kind of corruption we are seeing all too often: when the bar to "pay to play" is raised to the MILLIONS in a Democratic PRIMARY, as it was in the IL-14th this past year, the pool for candidates shrinks dramatically to those who are rich, spend most of their time chasing donations, or as the Blago tapes show, those who are willing to completely disconnect their ethical compass.
I have commented on this site in the past on the disturbing trend of the Democratic Party to push aside their most talented grassroots politicians who have a track record of party-building and selfless public service, in favor of those who can raise big money or outright pay with their own money. These people may not be corrupt themselves, but they tend to see problems from the point of view of Big Money, and, in the case of the recent Wall Street bail-out, be enablers of greed, corruption and corrosion of our public institutions (not to mention the broad-daylight looting of our Treasury).
The thing that is notable in this latest tale, is the transparent way our AG is injecting herself into the drama, pushing for a judicial action which will postpone a process that should be in full throttle: impeachment. Blago could be out within 3 weeks - earlier if this process were expedited toward and inevitable outcome and Blago persuaded to resign... ah, but as the "Candidate 5" illustrates, Blago's rude and crude behavior is merely an extreme of a spectrum of behavior that all too many, even on this site, view as "necessary" to be "viable".
A Governor Pat Quinn would not only be a formidable opponent in 2010 (despite those who feel his fundraising ability as "weak"), but his choice for Obama's replacement would be one based primarily on public service and integrity. It may be someone who has NO interest in running 2010, so as to be an important ally for Obama in ways that may be politically unpopular. This most likely would be considered a "waste" in the Madigan family political calcalus, or any of the other players. Therefore, the ludicrous push for a special election on the part of these politicos..
A special election would not only take up legislative time and public money, it would also favor the political insiders and those who can raise substantial amounts of money quickly - precisely the kind of political selection that contributes to a culture where a Rod Blagojevich can play so fast and loose with the state government, with the kind of arrogance and unabashednedss that only comes from having it work for him for so long.
We've been getting in Illinois what we've been willing to settle for in this case. But if We the People insisted, this sorry story could well be the opportunity for the change WE so desperately need.
Let the next governor Pat Quinn choose the next senator.