Grumpa Joe's Place

My Flag Flies Everyday

What a marvelous opportunity for the Illinois Republicans to make a major step forward in the state. That is, if there are any professed republicans in the state. The arrest of the current governor, Rod Blagojevich, opens the door for exciting new things to happen. Blago got into the position only because the previous governor, Republican George Ryan was going to jail. Blagojevich’s republican opponent, Judy Baar Topinka didn’t stand a chance against the stain left by Ryan.

If there is an honest, God fearing, republican with the integrity and desire to lead a state run amok with graft, fraud, and thieves, I implore him/her to take action now.  It is a joke in this state that the people who are right for the job will never take the lead, and those that want the job, we the electorate, don’t want. We always wind up chosing between the lesser of two evils.

I would take the job, under the following conditions. I don’t want to raise money, I don’t want to campaign, and I don’t want to work my way up the system through the good old boy network of ass kissing politicians. I know this doesn’t sound plausible, but that’s the only way I’d take the job. I know I could clean up the state and balance the budget in a short time. I wouldn’t be very popular, and I’d need body guards.

Cleaning up Illinois would require cleaning up Chicago. Anyone familiar with Chicago history knows the political machine that runs the city got started sometime before the great Chicago fire.  That means there is a tradition of over a hundred years to break. It is more than a tradition, it is a culture. The second culture that has to be broken is the Cook County government, which is closely tied to the Chicago machine, lastly there is the downstate group which is totally removed from the north.

It is questionable as to how much a governor can do to break this monopoly. He is one man against many hundreds who are elected into the jobs. There are many more loyal patronists who have been appointed to jobs because of connections. The network is huge. A governor can, however, lead by example and root out corruption by pushing the State’s Attorney. He can even solicit help from the Federal State’s Attorney, as is happening right now.

Our state is not alone in this regard, we are only better at corruption than the others. Recently, our elected leaders have been failing to cover their tracks. They are more blatantly open about the way they do business, and are becomming easier to trip up.

Illinois politics resembles the lawlessness  of the Old West. Before a territory became a state, there were no laws, no sheriffs, and no judges. The strongest  men ruled, and got what they wanted with intimidation and the power of the gun. In the modern case, the political men rule by intimidation, and the power of  money.

Blagojevich openly, and blatantly became goevernor not for the good of the people of Illinois but for the good of Rod Blagojevich. He fits the finest tradition of Illiois governors.

It is my guess that president elect BO is involved by association. He is a true Democrat, and therefore into the operation of the machine. His many questionable associations, and by admission that he is a believer in the Democratic Party make his denial of any knowledge of Blagojevich’s activities to sell his Senate seat questionable.  Isn’t is funny that BO officially resigned from his senate seat early to give the governor ample time to find a replacement?

I pray the federal politicians not learn to operate by the same rules as  Illinois. It may be too late.

Filed under: Election, Government, politics, Uncategorized | Tagged: Barack Obama, Chicago Fire, Chicago Machine, Cook County machine, George Ryan, Governor, Illinois, Judy Baar Topinka, Republican, Rod Blagojevich, State Government | Leave a comment »