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20-40 hindsight

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Illinois
Blagojevich Trial

* AP…

Retiring Chicago Alderman Dick Mell reflected Friday on his decades as a player in the city’s old-school machine politics and said one of his only regrets is aiding the rise of son-in-law and former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, now in prison for corruption.

Mell helped Blagojevich make it to Congress in 1996 and later the governor’s mansion, but the two men subsequently had a public falling out that Mell said left a “terrible schism” between himself and his daughter. He said he wished he had done things differently.

With the benefit of hindsight, “I think that he would have probably stayed a state representative,” Mell said of his son-in-law.

Why even go that far? In hindsight, he should’ve been kept out of politics altogether.

posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Jul 8, 13 @ 11:47 am

Comments

I understand he was a poor excuse of a Cook Co. assistant state’s attorney before he got into politics. Not sure what he was qualified to do.

Comment by girllawyer Monday, Jul 8, 13 @ 12:06 pm
He helped him become governor so he could get something out of the deal. Except Blago forgot that part of the arrangement. Only after Blago burned him did he turn on him.

Comment by Stooges Monday, Jul 8, 13 @ 12:07 pm
Dick Mell first helped Rod Blagojevich by installing him in the General Assembly. Mell pushed out Representative Myron Kulas after the legislature was redistricted.

Blagojevich served two terms in Springfield before moving to the US Congress for six years.

Comment by Esquire Monday, Jul 8, 13 @ 12:58 pm
My first thought after reading the “should have stayed a state representative” comment was that Mell was implying that Blago’s behavior as a representative wasn’t all that different from the general run of House members, and that the negative consequences of his actions and the actions of others like him were and are limited by his relatively powerless position as merely one of a group of 118 similarly self-promoting charlatans. If this should happen to be true, then MJM may be the only person in the world who really can herd cats.

Comment by aufjunk Monday, Jul 8, 13 @ 1:04 pm
Why not do what every other father did when they met Blagoof? Toss him down the front steps and lock the door

Comment by CircularFiringSquad Monday, Jul 8, 13 @ 1:22 pm
I think Mell is saying Blago would not have run for higher office without his help. I think Blago was always looking up, Mell shouldn’t blame himself (or give himself credit) for Blago becoming congressman or governor. It really was all Paul Vallas’ fault.

Comment by siriusly Monday, Jul 8, 13 @ 1:28 pm
Alderman Mell’s Rewrite History tour continues. What he doesn’t deal with is how he knew his son-in-law better than most people when he cynically foisted him on us. He knew he was a slightly goofy, lightweight lawyer who would be far over his head in the legislature, Congress, and the Statehouse. Yet he pushed him, because he knew he (Mell) could benefit from the connection. Allow me to abstain from the current Mell love-fest.

Comment by orzo Monday, Jul 8, 13 @ 1:31 pm
Mell wanted clout in the governor’s office. When Blago didn’t play ball with him, he was the first to start howling about corruption.

They deserved each other.

Comment by wordslinger Monday, Jul 8, 13 @ 1:43 pm
Rod should have been neutered before he could pass on his genes to future generations.

Comment by Buster Monday, Jul 8, 13 @ 1:47 pm
Mell wanted to control the levers of power via his son-in-law. That backfired big time. For all of his political skills, Mell seemed to be mixed up or uninformed as to his own family. Don Corleone he was not.

Comment by Esquire Monday, Jul 8, 13 @ 2:51 pm
Mell should have known better than to play a wild card like Blagojevich. They may have deserved each other, but we didn’t deserve the fallout that ensued.

Comment by Wensicia Monday, Jul 8, 13 @ 2:54 pm
In hindsight, maybe Dick should have chosen his words a little more carefully when he got jealous of CK and TR. Those comments, true or false got it all started.

Comment by Abe Monday, Jul 8, 13 @ 2:55 pm
Good grief. The articles about Mell lead one to believe that the Holy Savior is leaving us. Good riddance. On your way out, please don’t maneuver some political hack into your aldermanic slot; but then again is there any other Chicago Alderman.

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