Blagojevich Becomes The Latest Illinois Governor To Face Legal Problems

The very disappointing revelations today of the arrest of Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich read like a final chapter in some Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde drama. As a congressman, Blagojevich established a reasonable reputation as an effective legislator, but as the first Democratic governor of Illinois in 30 years, Blagojevich began to self-destruct before the public eye into his second term in office where his popularity began a rapid tumble after question after question about his character began to publicly surface.

From his Serbian immigrant father's Chicago working class background, Blogojevich who once worked as a dishwasher, a shoe shine boy and a pizza delivery boy, seemed like he truly was a man of the people. And voters as well as labor unions became so impressed by his life story where Blagojevich who was once a prosecutor with a good reputation for fighting domestic abuse cases that they elected him to congress where he racked up a very good record of being a friend of the working man. But as governor the wheels just plain fell off it seems.


After winning re-election in 2006, despite some 2005 scandals that started to emerge to taint Blagojevich, things only got worse where by 2008 his popularity hit the real skids where by October his approval rating stood at a mere 4%, and THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE and many others had called on Blagojevich to resign his office, but doubted that he would. Blagojevich would have been wise to heed this advice.

The 6AM home arrest of Governor Blagojevich was an embarrassing chapter to a political career which is rapidly coming to an end. Prosecutor Patrick Kennedy, who has to be one of the most honest and trustworthy of any prosecutor in the U.S.,who also successfully went after the criminal conduct of White House staffer "Scooter" Libby, was apparently the lead prosecutor in this case of corruption coming from a governor who appeared to be in the business of attempting to sell Barack Obama's old senate seat rather than quickly appoint someone to fill this post based on their talents. In fact, some of Obama's favorite candidates for this senate seat had to recently take themselves out of contention because of all the scandal surrounding the Illinois governor.

And there is that matter of the wiretap that has Governor Blagojevich sounding much more like some hardened organized crime figure rather than a public servant are indeed some of the most disturbing in American political history, and are on a par that almost seems worst than some of the most disturbing revelations that forced President Richard Nixon from office. But prosecutor Patrick Kennedy made it abundantly clear that President-Elect Obama has no role at all in Blagojevich's own problems. In fact, Obama has been something of a victim where his top suggested picks to replace him in the senate have been put on hold and their nominations clouded over by Blagojevich's own actions.

Oh, the late night comics will have a lot of fun with Governor Blagojevich's problems. And you only know that these will include more than a few toupee or Hair Club For Men jokes as well. For a gag, some jokester has even put up a phony ad on Ebay offering to sell the Illinois senate seat. But one thing is for certain, Abraham Lincoln, which had a saintly reputation for honesty would be very disappointed at the Blagojevich affair, and President-Elect Obama doesn't appreciate this distraction as he seeks to shore up hope on Wall Street to trust in his political agenda to rescue the American economy.

The serious problems of Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich should stand solely on his own shoulders. Mr. Obama has no part in these serous problems. Mr. Obama is concerned with how to best rebuild the American economy and restore America's place in the world. Blagojevich by comparison was apparently only concerned with what he could accomplish for himself, which is the direct opposite of any true public servant.