Blagojevich: Beyond “business a usual"

For more than a year Tarheel Hawkeye has been commenting here on the pervasive corruption in Chicago and Illinois.

Here’s his latest - - -

I worked closely with local, county, state, and federal law enforcement agencies in Northern Illinois from 1968 to 1973. For Barack Obama to claim he never had close relations with Blagojevich doesn't pass the smell test.

In Cook County especially, you don't get into politics, get elected a state senator, get elected a U.S. senator, and get elected U.S. president unless you have CLOSE, CONTINUING, PERSONAL relations with the top tier of the Illinois Democrat Party.

And, believe me, nobody in the top echelons has any illusions about the corruption within the political structure in the Land of Lincoln.

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Thanks, TH. You were way ahead of the curve explaining why an Obama administration has the potential to bring a corrupt culture to D. C. worse than what’s already there.

Rick Moran grew up in Illinois where he still lives. He’s followed Chicago and Illinois politics for years. His American Thinker post today in response to Gov. Blagojevich’s “salesmanship” has the sharp commentary only someone who knows “the players well” and how “they play the game” can provide.

Moran begins - - -

Those of us who have followed Illinois politics for any length of time are tempted to give the Rod Blagojevich arrest and pending indictment a quick shrug, a knowing smile, and a cynical sigh of know-it-all arrogance. "We've seen this before in Illinois, nothing new here, just move along" is the condescending response to questions from out-of-staters that usually suffice when some Illinois politico is caught with his fingers in the taxpayer's cookie jar.

But the Blagojevich True Crime Drama is not criminality as usual in Illinois politics. The malfeasance of Governor Rod Blagojevich is so outrageous, so brazen, so breathtaking in its scope and character that even jaded journalistic hacks whose beat has been the statehouse for years are shocked.

In the long history of official Illinois corruption, the Blagojevich schemes to personally enrich himself, enrich his cronies, and use the power of his office to further his nefarious designs are unprecedented.


If you read all 72 pages of the indictment, you just can't help being struck by the money-grubbing nature of the governor and his mania for money. He had schemes within schemes to extract cash from supporters, cronies, and companies who wished to do business with the state.

His "pay to play" program was particularly lucrative. This was a scheme where Blagojevich friend and campaign financier Antoin "Tony" Rezko pressured companies doing business with the state to contribute to the Blagojevich re-election campaign in exchange for lucrative state contracts.

Rezko was convicted of 18 counts of fraud in connection with the scheme and the governor's name was prominently mentioned during his trial. Others involved in this scheme include Stuart Levine, a GOP mover and shaker in the state.

At least you can say we here in Illinois are bi-partisan when it comes to corruption. …

Moran’s entire post’s here.