42 Comments - wordslinger - Monday, Dec 12, 11 @ 9:32 am: –Instead of the expensive helicopters so many news organizations use for breaking news events, Boyer and other journalists have begun envisioning using cheaper, unmanned aircraft to capture video and photos.– The choppers are bad enough. I don’t want “cheaper” unmanned aircraft hovering over my city. I’m surprised, in this day and age, that the FAA allows the choppers to buzz federal buildings for shots of worthless news value. Drones? Not a chance. - soccermom - Monday, Dec 12, 11 @ 9:37 am: Geez — it would be nice to hear Rod express a little remorse about the other people and their families who were harmed by his crimes. - Dirt Digger - Monday, Dec 12, 11 @ 9:38 am: Either democracy was “perverted” by Blagojevich’s textbook unpopular incumbent campaign in 2006, or voters re-elected him knowing he was a crook. I’m inclined to go with the latter. After all, we went with Pat Quinn four years later, and he is not a wild improvement in management. - Aldyth - Monday, Dec 12, 11 @ 9:42 am: We all feel badly for the kids. They are like the innocent bystanders caught in a drive-by shooting. At the same time, we’ve had generation after generation of Illinois politicians who are willing to trade anything for power and/or money. Look where that’s gotten us. Blago has earned every one of those years in prison. Ryan earned his time, too. We have to stop looking at white collar crime as being less damaging than other kinds of crime. The price for white collar crime is spread across more people and has a different kind of impact. Just because you don’t see a body and blood on the street doesn’t mean that people aren’t badly damaged by it. We have seen the abuses of Wall Street destroy the financial security of an entire generation of Americans and chunks of the world. Abuses by thirty years of legislators, governors, and all the rest have brought Illinois to the place it is now. The feds have my complete support in going after each and every crooked politician they can identify. Until a lot of them go to jail and serve some serious time, there will be far too many people who believe that they will not get caught, that they can enrich their friends and themselves and pay no price. After all, it’s just tax money, isn’t it? - Lakeview - Monday, Dec 12, 11 @ 9:42 am: I’ve told this to people over and over: I wasn’t feeling warm and fuzzy about Judy Baar Topinka. She was a supporter of George W. Bush, she mishandled the 2006 Republican senate primary as the head of the Illinois Republican Party (Alan Keyes? Really?), and she had to have known what Ryan was doing. It wasn’t like we were offered a great choice. I went with the devil I knew, and I was very unhappy about it. - Borealis - Monday, Dec 12, 11 @ 9:43 am: I hope this is the last time anyhing about him is on this blog for the rest of the month, but knowing Rod’s penchant for publicity, I’ll bet it isn’t. What a sad, sick man, and a putrid pox on the houses of all the IL politicians who enabled him including the Madigans- - Bill - Monday, Dec 12, 11 @ 9:45 am: Thanks for everything,Rod. You got shafted but in many ways you brought it upon yourself. I hope you make it through your stretch. Good Luck, Buddy. - USA Patriot - Monday, Dec 12, 11 @ 9:45 am: Rich, this reminds me of the column you did after Ryan’s sentencing - you took in years of experience with the man, records of his public life, and summed it up strongly - then with Ryan, just as now with this Blagojevich column. It would be uber-easy to just point the finger at the convicted and his enablers. But we, as voters, need to take some accountability as well. - Anonymous - Monday, Dec 12, 11 @ 9:47 am: We keep enabling the former Governor with the one thing he craves, attention. Atonement in the political arena is mostly an insincere attempt at apology but a sincere attempt at assuaging guilt. As for the former Governor’s children, there are children in far worse circumstances financially, socially, and physically than the. I’ll reserve my sympathy for those who really need the attention of the public. - Irish - Monday, Dec 12, 11 @ 10:01 am: I can remember getting a letter from the union that represents my job title right before the second time Rod was elected. It was two or three pages I think and it went on and on about how he had helped the unions and how he was so much better than his opposition. I could not believe how they could be pushing the kool aid when it was so evident what he had done and where he was headed. I took out a red pen and circled the lies and mis-statements and made many comments in the margins. I basically told them I could not believe they were actually buying his lies and how could they ask us to support him. Of course I did not get a response. My point in all of this is that partisanship is everything in this state. Even when a candidate is all but indicted he is still better than the other party according to party leaders and those who owe them favors. We have to get past this if we are ever going to solve the problems of this state. There are good people on both sides of the aisle and in between. We need to start thinking for ourselves and paying less attention to news sources, MSM, and special interests. - JustaJoe - Monday, Dec 12, 11 @ 10:01 am: The Pantagraph editorial is good (Blagojevich’s sentencing just stat, not end) I am afraid that the corruption will continue. The entrenched bipartisan club likes the status quo, otherwise the recommendations of the Reform Commission would have gotten some traction. We heard about “fumigation”. We heard about “endemic hiring fraud”. The state is known worldwide for its Chicago machine corruption. Yet, those who vote seem to pay more attention to hype and sound bites than the issues. Heck, in Chicago, it’s a one-party (er, non-partisan) system. Unless the voters wake up, pay attention and insist on change, the state is destined for more of the same. - Cheryl44 - Monday, Dec 12, 11 @ 10:02 am: I don’t care about them downtown, I just want the %*#&% helicopters to stop hovering over my neighborhood whenever Blagojevich is heading to court. BTW, those poor sweet children may not be named Smith now, but they can change that when they turn 18. - wordslinger - Monday, Dec 12, 11 @ 10:10 am: You’d have to have been asleep not to know that Blago was bad news before the second election. Yet 1.7 million citizens voted for him. Yet some, but not all, business, labor, political and government leaders from all points on the spectrum were willing to do business with him very late into the game. Sam Zell and mighty Tribune Co. worked with Blago and Big Jim to try to unload Wrigley Field on the taxpayers in the second term. Rahm Emanuel was even taking his phone calls on the Senate appointment up until a couple days before his arrest. Like Zagel and many others have said, you tend to get the government you deserve. - Responsa - Monday, Dec 12, 11 @ 10:26 am: I found the criticism in the DH article of the Blago family going out in public to get another pet dog to be petty and mean. Sure there was obvious orchestration to it. But if there’s one thing those girls need right now it is reassurance that there can still be normal days and happiness and good memories in their lives despite and during the unnormalness of their dad’s imminent incarceration. There are beautiful stories of how loving parents in wartime and even in concentration camps sought to distract and entertain their young children under the most dire conditions. With Blago this was purely a self made crisis and I don’t give Rod and Patti credit for showing much good judgement–but to rag on them for going out in public with the kids to get a shelter pet instead of cowering inside their house is pretty over the top I think. - Cheswick - Monday, Dec 12, 11 @ 10:30 am: This may not be popular, but if I was Rod, I wouldn’t ask for a stay pending any appeal. I’d start serving my time on February 16th. Then, on the off-chance the court of appeals does order a new sentencing hearing, the defense can point to his time already served and being served as one reason to reduce the sentence. - Pot calling kettle - Monday, Dec 12, 11 @ 10:42 am: I met Rod during the 2006 campaign season and I had the opportunity to meet some of the folks running his campaign. I worked for the Dems that year, but decided not to hand out any of Rod’s stuff, I just couldn’t. The way his campaign operated gave me the creeps. I voted for Judy. Ironically, my very conservative mother-in-law was taken in by the “What was she thinking” campaign and voted for Rod. I’m still bothered by all of the people who knew Rod and knew what he was up to, but still supported him because they thought they would be able to get something before he went down. However, I realize that there were also many who kept quiet in order to protect their relatives, friends and even acquaintances from the fallout associated with dissension. - Skeeter - Monday, Dec 12, 11 @ 10:42 am: With regard to the voters and whether they deserve the blame: Yes, but not necessarily for the reasons stated. Jim Ryan had some role in sending innocents to death row. How great of a role and what he did or could not have done is open to debate. But he did have some role and for some of us, that is enough to disqualify him from serving in any position of trust. Topinka? As others have noted, she chose some pretty bad friends. She had no record of cleaning up government. Even now she is doing ridiculous things unrelated to the scope of her office. Her thing with animals? How is that related to her job? As bad as Blago was, JBT also was unqualified to be Gov. I honestly don’t know if I voted for Blago of JBT or just left it blank. I do recall feeling it was a terrible choice. On the other hand, the people who voted in the primary in Blago’s re-elect should have known better and deserve much of the blame. They had a real choice and still went with Blago. There are also many elected Dems who should have known what Blago was up to, but refused to run against him in a primary. Because of them, our choice was limited. So yes, voters deserve some blame. But those who voted in the primary deserve it much more. Certain people do not like voting in primaries (asking for a ballot of a particular party may be bad for business). That’s understandable. But the people who did take that ballot really let us down. - OneMan - Monday, Dec 12, 11 @ 10:46 am: I have to admit the image of you working for Rod is fun… Would have made a heck of a reality show. - Borealis - Monday, Dec 12, 11 @ 10:48 am: Irish, I agree with you whole heartedly. When I refused to do my “Democratic duty” in 2006, I was reamed by a couple of operative higher ups. They are still gainfully employed in their state and union positions, and are all too happy to slap me on the back at holiday gatherings of late and spurt “Let’s just be happy that this is over” crap without claiming one bit of responsibility for looking the other way so they could keep their place at the trough. As Rich says, “Bite me”, and may these enablers keep looking over their shoulder for many years to come. OK, I am done with my tirade now. Merry Christmas everyone and remember that if you wouldn’t do something you are contemplating doing in front of your Mom, you probably shouldn’t do it. - bored now - Monday, Dec 12, 11 @ 11:09 am: wait, we’re supposed to feel sorry for blago’s children after that? really??? he couldn’t have thought of his daughters before he tried to sell a u.s. senate seat, something that caused earlier generations to pass the 17th amendment (one of the few alterations of our constitution)? i thought he went to law school. if he didn’t have any thought about his kids when he was acting illegally, i’m not sure why we should now. i still don’t understand why his sentence is so short. i mean, other than the fact that this is illinois… - Yellow Dog Democrat - Monday, Dec 12, 11 @ 11:22 am: === Democratic Party leaders have to finally fess up that they cynically put keeping the governor’s office ahead of seeing a decent person elected. === I imagine that if Mike Madigan were to name his regrets, remaining officially and even unofficially neutral in the 2002 gubernatorial primary would be at or near the top of the list. In the end, I think Madigan more than atoned by being the only one willing to stand up to Rod. Not Durbin, nor Daley, and certainly not Emil. As for the rest of the Democratic Party “leaders”, I’m not sure who would have done anything differently, or what they would have done. Let’s face it: Rod raised goo-gobs of money because he was the darling of party activists, not party regulars: millionaires, pro-choice leaders, labor leaders, and gay rights leaders lined up to line his pockets. But even that would not have been enough if newspapers, radio, and t.v. around the state hadn’t given Rod pretty much a free ride. Even the Chicago Tribune failed to endorse Eisendrath in the 2006 Democratic Primary. - Responsa - Monday, Dec 12, 11 @ 11:25 am: ==wait, we’re supposed to feel sorry for blago’s children after that? really???== It’s called compassion, bored. Many people consider compassion to be a virtue. - Dirt Digger - Monday, Dec 12, 11 @ 11:45 am: I’m inclined to agree with YDD. I don’t see what Democratic party leaders have to atone for. We might put up the crappy candidate but voters are the ones who accepted him. They are always free to express their displeasure via the customary method. - Yellow Dog Democrat - Monday, Dec 12, 11 @ 11:53 am: @Responsa - Let’s not forget the hundreds of thousands of kids suffering much worse because of underfunded state programs while we hand out tax breaks to the most fortunate. Their problems can’t be fixed as easily as legally changing their names to “Mell.” - Skeeter - Monday, Dec 12, 11 @ 12:00 pm: DD and Yellow Dog: Is the job of a political party to elect people to govern effectively or is it just to hold power? I do agree with Yellow Dog about Madigan and Emil. However, I also note that Madigan knew what Blago was doing and put party first when he failed to back a primary opponent on re-elect. Madigan could have made a difference but did not. - D.P. Gumby - Monday, Dec 12, 11 @ 12:02 pm: I’m afraid I have to agree w/ Lakeview. JBT was not an attractive alternative to Blago no matter how awful Blago was. She did everything she could to avoid being elected and the spirit of the Republican party, as we see more explicitly now, was on the horizon then. The real question is why Fitzgerald hadn’t indicted Blago before the re-election so Blago couldn’t run again! It’s like Fitz just wanted to let him get back in office so he could commit better crimes no matter what it did to the state. - Dirt Digger - Monday, Dec 12, 11 @ 12:05 pm: Skeeter, political parties are just mechanisms for people to hold onto power. They are far closer to dues-paying clubs than they are to guardians of any particular ideal or ideology. No one holds defense attorneys responsible for producing a better class of criminal, and so also this. - zatoichi - Monday, Dec 12, 11 @ 12:09 pm: So Rod pulls the ‘I’m really sorry’ card after the court corners/convicts him and he has nowhere else to turn. Now he uses the ‘kids’ and ‘family dog’ cards as follow-up. The ask for forgiveness and strength of family will come next. Can’t wait for the holiday message of hope and lessons learned speech. The guy is putting in overtime for the sincerity angle. - Skeeter - Monday, Dec 12, 11 @ 12:12 pm: DD, are you claiming that good government is a mere unintended by-product of a political power? Are political party platforms built based solely on polling results? The way you describe it, it sounds like a political party is not much different from a street gang, with an ongoing battle for turf. A lot people seem to think that labels like Democrat or Republican say something about the views of the party member. Your theory though seems to take us to a world where anything it says about the party member can and will be changed when there is a sway in public opinion causing the party to endorse other positions more likely to be successful with voters. - Dirt Digger - Monday, Dec 12, 11 @ 12:15 pm: I wouldn’t say that. Party actions are also based on money. - dontomaso - Monday, Dec 12, 11 @ 12:20 pm: Your column today about the Blago girls is right on target. They are the ufortunate ‘collateral damage’. Patti, however, is a different story. She grew up in a political family, and knew where the lines are taht are not to be crossed. She knew exactly what Rod was up to, and never attempted to slow him down. - wordslinger - Monday, Dec 12, 11 @ 12:45 pm: –The pro government crowd are getting a rude awaking.– An anarchist! - bored now - Monday, Dec 12, 11 @ 12:57 pm: Responsa: as i often mention, i’m from the south. i’m not exactly used to the tame version of politics you practice here. and i’m down right uncomfortable with the nonchalant acceptance of corruption here. i mean, my god, republicans nominated a gubernatorial candidate who blatantly diverted taxpayer monies to his private firm while in public service. i genuinely fear that the *next* governor (after pat quinn) will be joining blago in prison before he gets out of the pokey… - Bman - Monday, Dec 12, 11 @ 12:58 pm: To the daughters, Would’t it be nice if we could pick our parents.” - Gregor - Monday, Dec 12, 11 @ 1:02 pm: Bill, that has to be the second-most-tepid “admission” after Rod’s own. You may be an all-right guy; Rich certainly vouches for you on that score, and I don’t know the real you, but I never understood your unflagging fanaticism here for Rod, even in the face of a wall of evidence against him that was visible from space. Is it a case of “hate the game, not the playa’”? And have you picked another cause to replace him yet? I’d volunteer: “pushing for government-funded elections”. Because the entire thing that enabled and motivated your friend was getting the most TV air time and suppressing everyone else’s, and getting the money to fund that is one of the main things that put the state up for sale to the highest bidders. If you could now champion campaign reforms as you did the ex- gov, we might GET somewhere. - Wensicia - Monday, Dec 12, 11 @ 1:10 pm: So, we have the noble victim quoting Kipling and saying he has to be strong for his family. Now that his sentence has passed, we hear none of the remorse he stated in front of Zagel. I suppose scenes with his “poor” family will continue until he leaves for prison, with Rod focusing on the harm done to THEM opposed to his accepting responsibility for their plight. He just never stops…he’s still trying to politic his way through this. - 10th Indy - Monday, Dec 12, 11 @ 1:19 pm: Rich - that is a fine bit of writing. - 47th Ward - Monday, Dec 12, 11 @ 1:41 pm: Rich, are you considering writing a book about Illinois and Blagojevch? I don’t know if there’s a huge market for it, but I think you’d do a fantastic job and produce the definitive Blago bio if you had any interest in it. - justanordinarylawyer - Monday, Dec 12, 11 @ 1:55 pm: Yes I feel sorry for his children. I also feel sorry for the children of Chris Kelly, who will NEVER see their father again. I feel for all the children of the individuals involved here that they were dragged into this filthy muck. Sadly, children from all walks of life often pay the true price for crimes of their parents. What a sad statement on our society. - mokenavince - Monday, Dec 12, 11 @ 2:27 pm: justanordinarylawyer Truer word were never spoken,nicely done. - Independent - Monday, Dec 12, 11 @ 5:37 pm: Madigan co-chaired Blagojevich’s ‘06 re-election campaign so he certainly took his time atoning for ‘02. Quinn did not help by vouching for Rod’s character in ‘06. Party over everything else, even the good of the state. - Excessively Rabid - Monday, Dec 12, 11 @ 5:53 pm: Q. Why can’t news organizations use drones? A. Because they’ve all been elected to the GA. Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.