When I first heard that Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich was arrested, my first reaction was sheer delight.
Since at least 2004, I have generally detested Blagojevich and I was disappointed he was not defeated in the 2006 primary or general election despite my votes against him.
It's not just that he was/is corrupt that bothered me, but that he's always been so freaking incompetent. Pretty much just like W.
Yet as much as I first experienced a bit of schadenfreude and was relieved to be so much closer to being free of governance under this boob with a swift impeachment almost certainly forthcoming, the bitter laughter and comfort was shortlived.
Another awful feeling replaced it and this one is unfortunately likely to linger much longer.
It's all fine and well if people want to focus on how this will affect Barack Obama's presidency as an embarrassment or headache or whatever you want to call it and maybe I will myself be worrying about this in due time, but first I need to acknowledge how the disclosures in this indictment have affected me. And maybe you, too.
Today I am embarrassed for many reasons. Blagojevich has shamed me:
- As an American.
Did anyone else notice that Dec. 9, the day of Blagojevich's arrest, just happened to fall on United Nations International Anti-Corruption Day? How embarrassing for Obama's administration if he wants to lecture Kenyan tribes or the Taliban or Russia about corrupt government when thanks to the Internet they can read about our behavior back here in Illinois where Obama's Senate seat itself could be sold to the highest bidder. How embarrassing for all Americans that the chief executive of one of our largest states can be compared to Mugabe and described as running a "banana republic." Now more than ever in this Internet age, when everyone is watching everything everywhere, the Martin Luther King adage is true: Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
And clearly based on the indictment Blagojevich's actions were anything but just.
Silly me for taking that Statue of Liberty stuff about America being a beacon of hope and freedom to your poor, tired, huddled masses seriously, I guess.
Oh and after this does the Olympics committee dare grant the games to Chicago?
- As an Illinoisan.
I'm not a Chicagoan, though I've always loved the city and always will. But as a Downstater who didn't support Blagojevich I feel like it hurts all the more that when I leave my state I have to be associated with crooks like this guy when I tell people where I'm from even when I didn't even support this guy. Four out of the last eight governors in my home state have been arrested including the last two back-to-back.
One of the greatest things about this Obama campaign was it gave me as an Illinoisan something to be really proud of in a politician from my state for the first time in my life. It made me feel good about my state and my citizenship that we could produce such a person from this place and it made all my other votes even when I wasn't terribly excited about a candidate worthwhile because I could be proud in that for once it felt like the political process worked for the people. A pride similar to that I take from living in the Land of Lincoln. But as Fitz pointed out, Blago engaged in conduct that would make Lincoln -- a true champion of government of, by and for the people -- roll in his grave.
- As a Democrat.
Corruption makes me sick. My ideals and political views are solidly in the Democratic spectrum on pretty much every issue I know of, but I just can't be the yellow dog Democratic type for whom party affiliation trumps character always. It's why I came to very much dislike Bill Clinton and the way he handled fundraising in the White House and his pardons and it's why I voted against Blagojevich in both the primary and the general election in 2006. I can't vote for Democrats that make me ashamed to be a Democrat, even if on paper they support what I support.
I think this sentiment is ingrained in me in part because of my father, who has been telling me my whole life what crooks Democrats are based on his own experiences of the Daley machine's interference in the company in which he worked during the early 70s. Because of those bad experiences he didn't vote Democrat EVER until this year and for Barack Obama because they were all crooks in his eyes and while he's had his eyes opened in recent years to just how big of crooks the Republicans are too, the end result of this kind of corruption is more apathy and disgust among voters rather than political advantage and so regardless of which party responsible it's bad for democracy.
- As an Obama supporter
If it wasn't for Rod Blagojevich's shenanigans, we would never know who Tony Rezko was. Thus Obama would never have Tony Rezko hanging around his neck. But then again, if Obama had stayed away from helping out at all on Blagojevich's campaign in 2002 and if he'd refused to endorse him for re-election in 2006 then maybe Blagojevich wouldn't have won the campaigns he did and we'd all not be in this embarrassing situation we are in today.
I'm heartened that Team Obama said no to Blago's demands for favors per the feds, but it still stings a bit that Obama didn't speak out more forcefully against what Blagojevich did in his statement today. I want to hear that Obama will not be pardoning Blagojevich when it is appropriate for him to comment on this case.
- As a supporter of universal health care.
One of the least seized upon parts of the indictment is that Blagojevich used $8 million in state funding for a children's hospital as a carrot with which to fatten his campaign coffers. This is at the same time he thinks he's a great candidate for the Department of Health and Human Services! Maybe this shouldn't be that shocking given what a piece of work Blagojevich is, but what makes it even more galling is that it was a populist campaign to expand access to health care that played the biggest role in getting Blagojevich re-elected in 2006.
This kind of corruption by government officials is more fuel for the fire of opponents of healthcare reform who would seek to thwart any more government involvement in healthcare.
- As a supporter of unions.
It's not clear at all from the indictment that any union officials were seriously considering giving any post to Blagojevich in exchange for any favors, but that Blagojevich even thought he could make something like that happen -- as deluded as that presumption might be -- further damages the reputations of unions in this country at a time when they can't afford to perpetuate the stereotype about them as a part of the entrenched corrupt political system rather than independent and upright fighters on behalf of working people.
- As a former journalist.
I have a journalism degree. Once upon a time, I dreamt of working at the Chicago Tribune. I have friends and former classmates who work there now. I have had professors who won Pulitzers there and may have had much of their retirement savings wiped out as a result of the Chicago Tribune's bankruptcy filing.
It disgusts and shames me that a culture so corrupt in this country could be allowed to exist where a politician actually thinks it's possible and acceptible to dictate the firings of editorial boards at a major metropolitan newspaper based on editorials that criticize him and that newspaper officials would entertain discussions about firings in any way whatsoever. It's also disturbing he could have the power over financing authority's to potentially thwart business actions in a way that could trigger or accelerate a bankruptcy filing, like the one the Tribune Co. made this week. This is not a free press.
- As an aspiring lawyer.
Rod Blagojevich always loved to tell jokes about how dumb he was including how he never visited the library at Pepperdine Law School and they're even less funny in light of the revelations about how cavalierly he treated the rule of law. It's simply sickening that a person as clearly pathologically corrupt as this person not only was governor these six years, but it's frightening to think about all the shady things he could have been doing all these years making laws as a state legislator and congressman or even any shenanigans he may have committed as a prosecutor in the Cook County State's Attorney's office. Yes, that's right. Blagojevich is a former prosecutor.
- As a Cubs fan.
While I've been embarrassed for a while now that Blagojevich was a Cubs fan as am I, unbelievably I have to be even MORE ashamed now knowing that this buffoon who wouldn't shut up about how much he bled Cubbie blue in the end cared nothing about the team or the company that owned the team except how it could enrich him to the point his wife, Patti, was heard yelling in the taped conversations "F*** the Cubs!"
No. F*** the Blagojeviches!
- As a Serbian-American.
Unlike most people, I had no problem pronouncing Blagojevich today or any other day. My great-grandmother's name was Milija and both she and her husband, my great-grandpa, had an ich at the ends of their names.
Their daughter, my grandmother and a proud first generation Serbian-American, is the woman who made me a Democrat and made me believe in the possibility of what government could do to improve the lives of regular folks in giving them a chance in this country based on her family's experience under FDR. While I was not raised Serbian Orthodox or speaking Serbian and thus have little connection to that part of my heritage outside of my love for her, for her sake it breaks my heart that the most famous Serbs of my lifetime are Slobodan Milosevic and Rod Blagojevich, a monstrous butcher for a president and a mob boss for a governor. And I can't believe how many times reading the comments at different places about this story I've seen slurs against Serbs or Eastern Europeans in general.
Rod has not just brought shame to Obama.
He has brought shame all of us who want more and BETTER Democrats.
He has brought shame to me.