The Land of Linked In

My apologies to the business networking site (LinkedIn); however, the current scandal in Illinois demonstrates once more the level of corruption among some of our politicians. I suppose we should already know that "corrupt politician" is the opposite of an oxymoron and is exceedingly closer to the norm.

Because these "public servants" (there's an oxymoron) do not operate in an independent vacuum, we can only guess at the level that these guys are "linked in" to other crooks all trying to get more for themselves. The hell with the public who elected them. Soon-to-be Ex-Governor Blagojevich must be a bit touched in the head. How else could he believe that he could get away with selling a senate seat? How could he think that with of all his contacts, and he talks and talks to a lot of them, he would not be found out? The hubris is again astounding.

Even though I had heard of this Illinois governor, I paid little attention to what was going on in our neighboring state. The Land of Lincoln held a special spot in my heart as the birthplace of my wife, my mother, (among others) and the political base of my most favorite personage, Abraham Lincoln. I knew, of course, of Chicago's tainted reputation but naively thought most of that was in earlier times. More casual research on Gov B. shows he was already under federal scrutiny for many other things and only had a statewide approval rating of less than 15% before this latest story hit. I am surprised there wasn't a much stronger movement afoot to impeach him before this.

I wouldn't paint all Illinoians, or even all Illinois politicians, with the same broad brush, but those citizens who care must do something about the party machine that brings these self-serving idiots to power. Mr. Lincoln may want his name removed from every license plate or other associations with Illinois. Kentucky is waiting in the wings to claim him.