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Wednesday, Nov 24, 2004 - Posted by Rich Miller

Yesterday’s State Journal-Register included a stinging editorial about the governor’s alleged misuse of his security detail.

…Never underestimate Rod Blagojevich’s ability to take angry people and further enrage them with his deft lack of timing. Soon after people watched or read about the governor’s security detail extravagances, they also learned some other state news.

The Illinois Department of Natural Resources is laying off 87 more people. Happy holidays, folks. And while we know it’s going to be tough to head into the holiday season without a job, you can at least take solace in the fact that the governor is safe and a state trooper with a hairbrush is always near at hand should the harsh winter winds muss that beautiful head of hair.

Ouch.

And this cartoon by the SJ-R’s never-disappointing Chris Britt is an absolute must-see.

Today’s SJ-R has some quotes from Lt. Governor Pat Quinn which probably won’t sit well with the governor.

Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn, who campaigned a decade ago against excessive use of state security guards, said Tuesday that recent revelations about the size and activities of the protective force assigned to Gov. Rod Blagojevich paint a “terrible” picture of public officials.

“We don’t want to spend taxpayers’ money needlessly,” Quinn said. “Security is not for the vanity of the politicians. It’s for the protection, really, of the public.”

Quinn stressed that elected officials, including the governor, need reasonable protection in this “age of terrorism.” But he said he is troubled by revelations in a report aired on WLS-TV Channel 7 in Chicago last week.

1 Comment

- Anonymous - Wednesday, Nov 24, 04 @ 11:32 am:
Remember… this is the same governor whose security solution for the thousands of employees and taxpayers who daily visit the Thompson Center was to promptly set up a metal detector only in front of his own office in addition to his already-around the clock armed-officer. It also took the A.G to point out to the media that Rod also had eliminated all the private security personnel posted on each floor. I guess since the Gov has even his own armed hair brush carrying caddy, then what difference would it make if we are on a heightened state of alert from terrorism and more recently endured an unjustifiable death of a guard in the capitol complex?

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