Deposed Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich earns my nomination for great American hero. What hyperbolic laurels would fit a loudmouth buffoon? Be fair. Blagojevich brought the media spotlight to an overlooked exploit of American political cronyism: a governor’s solitary prerogative to appoint national legislators. Alright, Blago didn’t mean to. But if the little Dutch boy had stuck his Rod Blagojevich into the dike, instead of his finger, would the little pervert be any less a hero?
Had you wondered how so many otherwise quite obviously unelectable, pasty white men of entitled bearing, each of them visibly the creepiest of crooks, become unassailable political incumbents? They sneak into office aided by other white cronies. And the governor’s appointment is the fast track.
Blagojevich wanted his share in the payola, but maybe other governors have simply been more discrete. A look at just the appointments made after the formation of Barack Obama’s cabinet, turns up odors of the most dubious of machinations. In this case, those chosen were Democrats who look more like Republicans, and certainly nothing like the kind of politician which the mostly progressive American voter would have supported in the last election.
Should legislative seats be appointed by a governor? Someone has to do it I suppose. A governor is elected after all. Maybe in this instance he’s representing his constituents in choosing a senator for them.
But a recent Obama cabinet appointment episode calls that justification into question. When Obama picked Republican Senator Judd Gregg for Commerce Secretary, a deal was struck whereby the senator would only consent to the appointment if the senator’s state governor agreed to allow a Republican replacement. Who then, can be said to have made the choice of that representative?
Whether it’s a bribe paid to a governor, fundraising shenanigans, or a favor offered by the president, it’s still crooked.
Hes not a privileged white boy with a silver spoon in his mouth. He was born the son of poor Serbian immigrants. You know that nation of people that heroically fought the Nazis that’s now portrayed as backwards gangsters and killers in our media. Why did this scandal break. AMybe because he threatened the health insurance industry by trying to force through a Universal Health Care plan for Illinois for all the children. Maybe it was because he took on the worlds biggest bank, Bank of America over their heartless and irresponsible treatment of workers at the Republic plant. Who provided the damming evidence, the FBI. The people that tried to release tapes saying that Dr King was a sex addict who was leading the Civil Rights movement just to get money and pussy. Even the most conservative racist papers of the south didn’t cover that filth because they knew who it was from andknew it wasn’t reputable
You made some very good points, ‘Drago’. But then again, wasn’t Blago among the 81 House Democrats who voted in favor of authorizing the invasion of Iraq. He was the only Democrat from Illinois to vote in favor of the Iraq War. So maybe we can cut out that part about the poor Serb, might we?
Not saying that he is any more corrupt than the other mobsters the Democrats have in the party. He might even be marginally less corrupt than many of them, in fact? Still, I don’t think of him as much a saint, do you?