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Tuesday, Dec 2, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Phil Kadner whacks Sen. Dick Durbin but good for asking that the president commute George Ryan’s prison sentence…

[Durbin] sides with Ryan’s pitiful wife, apparently forgetting the story of Tammy Raynor.

Raynor worked at a driver’s license facility under Ryan and saw the bribe-taking. When she protested, she was harassed. Her life was threatened. She was transferred.

But wherever she worked, she took notes on the corruption that she saw and stuffed them in the pockets of a multi-colored winter coat that she wore even in the summer.

At one point, Raynor claimed her mother passed Ryan’s wife a note, at a fundraising event, explaining the situation Raynor was in. Ryan’s wife, the woman Durbin feels so bad for today, said she never got the note.

I believe Raynor, whose testimony helped send Ryan to prison.

Durbin feels bad for Ryan. He feels bad for Ryan’s wife.

But he feels no sympathy for the honest people who live in this corruption-infested state.

I’m not surprised. You don’t get to be a U.S. senator from Illinois thinking about the little people.

* Mark Brown is outraged…

It’s hard to be against mercy. We all should strive to be merciful and compassionate.

But we also ought to have some standards as to when we show mercy, and the line doesn’t start with crooked politicians who fight, stall and postpone their convictions until they’re old enough to be considered more sympathetic.

Let me preface anything else I say with this: I’ve always liked Durbin. I respect him. I think he tries to be a decent public servant. But I think he’s so wrong on this one it’s ridiculous, as was his attempt at justifying his decision.

Basically, it all boils down to the fact he knows the Ryans personally and is therefore familiar with what a hardship the ex-governor’s prison sentence has been on Mrs. Ryan in particular.

He explained his decision in the context of spending his entire public life trying to correct government injustices of one sort or another that have been brought to his attention by members of the public. He chalked up the Ryan clemency bid as just one more example of that.

When pressed, though, Durbin said he couldn’t remember ever seeking clemency on behalf of anybody else. And he also backpedaled from the notion that Ryan was the victim of any injustice.

* The Sun-Times editorial board examines some problems with Durbin’s logic…

The senator’s notion of fairness is not informed by the facts in Ryan’s case.

If Ryan is released early, he will have spent less time in prison than two friends convicted in the case — Ryan’s aide, Scott Fawell, who did the dirty work, and businessman Lawrence Warner, who profited from the dirty deals.

Hardly fair or proportionate.

Often, special early release is reserved for the most penitent of prisoners. Ryan is the exact opposite. Years after his conviction, he has yet to apologize to the people of Illinois or, more specifically, to the Willis family, who lost six children in a fiery crash in 1994. Ryan’s corrupt secretary of state office gave a license to the unqualified truck driver involved in that crash.

Durbin said he hopes Ryan will apologize — when he gets out.

What a backward notion. And again, hardly fair.

Even if Ryan were to apologize while standing on the prison steps, we would have to question his sincerity. Ryan’s wife has said his conscience is clear.

* The Tribune editorial board published an open letter today to President Bush…

President Bush, you know George Ryan as an affable governor from your past. The people of Illinois know him as a criminal whose first-tier legal team couldn’t sway jurors from convicting him on 18 corruption counts.

We urge you, Mr. Bush, not to tell the preyed-upon people of Illinois that public corruption doesn’t matter.

We urge you to demonstrate that the difficult work of courts and jurors does matter.

We urge you not to free George Ryan.

* And the Daily Herald, like just about everybody else, brings up the dead Willis children…

George Ryan wants to spend time with his family. We think he should continue to reflect in prison on the fact that a bribery scandal in the secretary of state’s office he led resulted in the deaths of the six children of Rev. Scott and Janet Willis.

Our sympathies lie with them.

* Sneed is Sneed…

Sen. Dick Durbin, who asked President Bush for former Gov. George Ryan’s freedom Monday, feels he did so with approval.

• • The approval? Whenever Durbin faces a tough decision, he “thinks about what the late Sen. Paul Simon, a very compassionate man, would have done,” said a Sneed source.

• • The upshot: “Durbin believes Simon would have given a nod of approval to his action. Paul Simon is his North Star when it comes to politics,” the source added.

• • Backshot: In a rare expression of public compassion from a politician, Sen. Durbin gets Sneed’s award for bravery. It’s not easy knowing you’re going to be flooded with hate mail for doing what you think is the right thing. Sneed is told Sen. Durbin was inundated with negative messages the day after he announced he was thinking about asking President Bush to commute Ryan’s federal corruption sentence.

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Tuesday, Dec 2, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller

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This just in… Durbin pulls trigger; Birkett exploring run; McKenna turns thumbs down on Ryan

Monday, Dec 1, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller

*** Read Sen. Dick Durbin’s letter to President George W. Bush by clicking here ***

* 2:19 pm - Last week, Sen. Durbin said he was just thinking about asking President Bush to commute George Ryan’s sentence. Today, despite the huge public outcry against a commutation, Durbin announced that he’s gone ahead and done it…

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin is asking President Bush to commute ex-Gov. George Ryan’s sentence to time served.

Durbin made the announcement today — a week after expressing sympathy for Ryan and former first lady Lura Lynn Ryan.

In a letter to the president, Durbin tells Bush: “Though no one can or should excuse his official misconduct, I am writing to as that you consider commuting his sentence to time served.”

Durbin cited Ryan’s age, at 74, as a reason for a commutation.

* From Durbin’s letter…

“For those who would argue that a commutation makes light of his crimes, it is clear that he has already paid a significant price and will continue to do so as long as he lives,” Durbin wrote in the letter, a copy of which was provided to reporters. “Justice is a sword that should be tempered with compassion. Further imprisonment will not, in my opinion, serve the ends of justice.”

* 2:43 pm - DuPage County State’s Attorney Joe Birkett announces that he’s thinking about running statewide in 2010, but doesn’t say what office. From an e-mail to supporters…

With Thanksgiving behind us, it would be easy for Republicans in Illinois to feel sorry about their plight. That’s the wrong attitude and here’s why.

We can use this time to bounce back stronger than ever. We can use this time to reshape our message and techniques while retaining our core principles. It’s within our grasp, subject to our will to work hard and give the people a vision of government they can believe in.

That is what I plan to do in the coming months. I have decided that I can’t sit idly by and watch the greatness of our state continue its slide. I am exploring a run for statewide office in 2010 and I plan to make a positive difference for you and our state.

In the coming months, I will travel the state and figure out how we can succeed in two years. I became quite familiar with all corners of the our great state during my two successful primary victories in 2002 and 2006. I will examine our past mistakes, and, with your help, come up with an agenda for the future that resonates with Illinois voters. An agenda that speaks to your values and concerns.

We must do a better job mastering the new technologies of grass roots politics-the internet, social networking, online fundraising. We must do a better job connecting with young voters and with other groups that are gravitating away from us, such as Latinos. We have good ideas and approaches to policy but we must do a better job of explaining them….

* 3:47 pm - Statement from Illinois Republican Party Chairman Andy McKenna…

“This issue is not one of party, but of bringing real change to Illinois by the way we conduct business.

“My heart goes out to Mrs. Ryan and her family during this difficult time, however, Governor Ryan was convicted in federal court by a jury of his peers and all of his appeals, including one to the U.S. Supreme Court, were denied.

“A commutation of Governor Ryan’s sentence sends the wrong message to not only those who betray the public trust but also to the honest, hardworking men and women of Illinois who expect public corruption will be punished to the fullest extent of the law.

“Senator Durbin and Governor Blagojevich’s line of thinking only contributes to the difficult task of bringing change to Illinois.”

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The George Ryan dilemma

Monday, Dec 1, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Mrs. Ryan should never have said this to the Sun-Times…

When asked if there were anything George Ryan would change, Lura Lynn Ryan said neither she nor her husband has any regrets.

“His conscience is as clear as his mind,” she said. “If he had it to do over — and I’ve heard him say this — he would govern the same way as he did before. All he wanted to do was help people and I think he’s done that.”

* I had a long talk with former Gov. Jim Thompson several months ago about Ryan’s refusal to explicitly apologize for what he did wrong. Thompson seemed surprised that this was even an issue for myself and others. But Ryan’s recent petition to President Bush asking for a pardon included these contrite words…

I have devoted most of my adult life to public service and to trying to make life better for the people of Illinois. And I think I did many good things in public office, and I am proud of those accomplishments. But I accept the verdict against me, and I apologize to the people of Illinois for my conduct. There is a deep shame for me in serving this 78-month sentence resulting from my public corruption conviction.

My failings have brought humiliation upon my family, cost me my reputation and name, brought financial ruin to me and my wife, and worst of all, caused me to be away from Lura Lynn when, in our twilight years, she needs me most.

My heart is heavy knowing that I have hurt the public, my family, and my friends in failing to keep their trust. I failed them and for that I have profound remorse. [emphasis added]

Ryan’s latest statement is in direct contradiction to his wife’s comments to the Sun-Times. Mrs. Ryan may have provided us with a window into her husband’s real feelings, but I would rather not put this all on her head. She’s a spouse, and political spouses are infamous for defending their husbands/wives through thick and thin. It would’ve been far better if Ryan had made a completely contrite statement months ago to the public that he betrayed, rather than confine it to his pardon petition.

* Mark Brown’s open letter to Sen. Dick Durbin, who created a firestorm last week when he said he was thinking about asking President Bush to commute Ryan’s sentence, is quite good…

We are told that you are acting out of compassion, not so much for the sake of the former governor as for Ryan’s wife, Lura Lynn, with whom you have developed a friendly relationship over the years. Look, I’ve rarely met anybody around politics who doesn’t like Mrs. Ryan. It’s understandable to feel sorry for her.

But she and her family benefitted from her husband’s wrongdoing, and now they are sharing in the pain that every family must feel when their loved one goes to prison.

By singling out the Ryans for your concern, you are adding to the perception that the political class protects itself first and foremost.

I’ve long believed that politicians treat their accused colleagues a little too much like society in general used to treat drunken drivers, as if following the maxim: There but for the grace of God . . .

Frankly, though, I thought you were better than that.

* This is what Durbin said…

“His family name has been damaged,” Durbin said. “He has, at an advanced moment of his life, been removed from his family. He has lost the economic security which most people count on at his age. And he is separate from his wife at a time when she is in frail health. To say that he has paid a price for his wrongdoing, he certainly has. And the question is whether continued imprisonment is appropriate at this point.”

* Perhaps more than anything else, though, Gov. Blagojevich’s comments probably undermined Ryan’s hopes and put Durbin on the hot seat…

Gov. Blagojevich, who for years has blasted corruption under his predecessor, George Ryan, said Thursday “it would be a good decision” for President Bush to let the 74-year-old Ryan out of prison early.

“I always err on the side of compassion,” Blagojevich said during a Thanksgiving visit to the Chicago Christian Industrial League on the West Side. […]

“I think people make mistakes. George Ryan has paid a significant price for those mistakes. And if President Bush makes that decision, I think it would be a fine decision,” Blagojevich explained. “He’s a man well into his 70s. Mrs. Ryan is in her 70s and in frail health.

“So if the president makes that decision, I think it would be a good decision.”

He always errs on the side of compassion? Really? Is that what all those Rezko deals were about?

* Carol Marin explains…

In the campaign of 2002, the one in which Ryan did not dare run for a second term given the federal heat, Blagojevich was relentless in referencing the corruption and scandals in Ryan’s administration.

“Pay to play” — before it became the term of art to describe big Blago donors getting big contracts or board appointments — was a term he weaponized to use against Ryan and the Republicans who ran against him, including former Attorney General Jim Ryan (no relation) and former state Treasurer Judy Barr Topinka.

Now he sees his predecessor’s agony.

No doubt Ryan is suffering. And no doubt whatsoever that his wife, Lura Lynn, needs and wants her husband by her side. The scandal took just about everything away: his pension, his freedom, their savings, their life together. Blagojevich, who says he is convinced that the feds have nothing on him, sees a year in prison out of a sentence of 6½ as quite enough.

You can understand why.

Thoughts?

* Related…

* Blagojevich wants commutation for Ryan

* Durbin shouldn’t ask for reduction in Ryan’s sentence

* Don’t let Ryan go, pols say

* Keep George Ryan in jail

* Ryan doesn’t deserve pardon request

* George Ryan should finish his sentence

* No get-out-of-jail card for unrepentant Ryan

* Clemency for Ryan? I have a better idea

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