Illinois Politics

[Puckstop31]

http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/b...120908.article

Don't ya just love it when these guys get busted. Watch em' squirm now, like roaches when you hit the lights.

It also just so happens our next leader is from Illinois... I quote from the linked article....

"The head of the FBI office in Chicago said if Illinois isn’t the most corrupt state in the United States, it’s a strong competitor."


Of course, Lord Barry knew nothing about this... Nope, not him. LOL Break out the tap dancing shoes boys!!!

[Grace]

It must be in the water in Illinois. The previous governor, George Ryan, a Republican, is serving 6 and a half years in Federal prison on federal corruption charges.

Equal opportunity transgressors, don't you think?

From the Chicago Tribune, back in 2006 -

George Ryan Sr., a consummate political dealmaker who rose to become Illinois' 39th governor, was convicted Monday on sweeping federal corruption charges of wielding power to help himself and his friends.

After a historic, marathon trial, a federal jury in its 11th day of deliberations found Ryan guilty on all 18 counts of steering state business to cronies for bribes, of gutting corruption-fighting efforts to protect political fundraising and of misusing state resources for political gain.

Ryan's co-defendant, lobbyist and longtime friend Lawrence Warner, was also found guilty on all 12 counts against him.

[JenBKR]

I don't think it Illinois....

I think it's POLITICIANS!

The ones in Illinois are just getting caught

[Puckstop31]

Grace, Jen....


I totally agree that this has nothing to do with a particular party. It is more about, "show me your friends and I will show you your future."

[Edwina's Secretary]

Alaska Politics


Oh what a web we weave....if Blagojevich is a reflection on Obama because they are politicians from the same state...

doesn't that mean Stevens...a convicted felon from Alaska... is a reflection on Palin?

That is a silly game that really shouldn't be played!

[cassiesmom]

The bigger they are, the harder they fall. Hello, Gov (Democrat) ... did you not learn anything from the whole corruption thing with Ryan (Republican)? And did you not think about your wife and children? You had an opportunity to do right in selecting someone to complete Obama's Senate term, and you blew it. There is going to be a special session of the Illinois House and Senate next week to come up with a way to separate him from the gubernatorial duty of appointing Obama's successor. I'm sure Lincoln and Reagan are turning over in their graves.

Meanwhile... on a day that started with rain and is ending with snow ... Obama met with Al Gore in Chicago this afternoon about the environment and other topics. I would love to have been a bug on the wall at that meeting just to have heard what Gore had to say to him, what suggestions or ideas they came up with.

[Rachel]

It is a sad, sad day for Illinois. It still amazes me that there are civil servants who don't understand the concept and instead see public office as a license to steal. Well, it's not. Thanks to the hard work of the FBI and people like Patrick Fitzgerald, the truth will prevail and maybe even some good will ensue.

[Lady's Human]

The difference between Alaska and Illinois is that Illinois has been openly corrupt for decades. Vote early, vote often, machine politics, etc, all alive and well in Illinois.

Gov. Palin ran against the machine, and won.

Gov. Blagojevich ran with the machine, and got caught.

[Edwina's Secretary]

The difference between Alaska and Illinois is that Illinois has been openly corrupt for decades. Vote early, vote often, machine politics, etc, all alive and well in Illinois.

Gov. Palin ran against the machine, and won.

Gov. Blagojevich ran with the machine, and got caught.

I think you miss the point! A poster was trying to equate the corruption of one politician with another politician because they both live in the same state.

Palin lives in the same state as Stevens....get it?

Whether "Illinois has been openly corrupt for decades"...how is a state corrupt? People and states are not the same thing. Yes, some politicians have been corrupt in Illinois. And in Alaska. And in New York. And in all 47 other states. And Washington DC. And Puerto Rico.

Nonetheless...because a politician is corrupt in a state does NOT mean all politicians in that state are corrupt. It is not the measles. It would be like saying because one soldier in a unit is a criminal -- everyone in the unit is one.

I also question your statement that Blagojevich was machine. The machine is primarily a Chicago-based organization and Blagojevich won because of downstate.

Oh and the "vote early, vote often"...a joke I have heard many places in addition to Chicago? Probably because it originated in Tammany New York.

[blue]

The difference is Palin asked Stevens to step down before his trail was concluded, Barack is acting like nothing happened.

[Lady's Human]

Just how many different people can "misspeak" the same way about the same events?


http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpu...ons-arise.html

[blue]

Where exactly is Tammany, New York?

[WHITEPOST]You must mean Tammany Hall in NYC.[/WHITEPOST]

[blue]

Blagojevich's Nov. 5 victory can be encapsulated as follows: A monstrous vote in Chicago, coupled with a surprising vote Downstate, equals a comfortable win. The Democrat won big in his Chicago base, and Ryan didn't checkmate him in his Collar County base or Downstate. Statewide, Blagojevich beat Ryan by a surprisingly narrow 52-48 percent margin. In fact, Blagojevich's total vote of 1,820,059 was 225,868 more than Democrat Glenn Poshard's 1998 vote of 1,594,191, and Jim Ryan's total of 1,584,684 was 129,410 less than George Ryan's 1998 vote of 1,714,094. Ryan triumphed by 119,903 votes in 1998. That means that the $23 million raised and spent by Blagojevich, when coupled with George Ryan's perceived culpability in the licenses-for-bribes scandal, moved a grand total of 350,000 votes. But victory, as they say, has a thousand mothers, and nobody really cares from whence it comes.

So Chitown had no say in swaying the election then? Source.

[Puckstop31]

That is so sweet ES. Thank you for taking me off your "iggy" list.

I see your point and it is valid. But are you really trying to say that Alaska politics is the same as Illinois politics? Or that Barack Obama and/or his staff (Rahm Immanuel) REALLY had no knowledge of the process of finding his replacement in the Sentate?

Come on ES... You can't be THAT in the tank for them, can you?

Oh and I did not say Illinois is one of the most corrupt states in the country, the FBI did.

[Edwina's Secretary]

So Chitown had no say in swaying the election then? Source.

Wrong election Blue.

I was surprised Blagojevich was elected the first time and shocked when he was reelected.

That is not the point.

Just looking for some basic logic here. Silly me.

Richard Nixon was a politician. From the state of California. He was a crook.

Ronald Reagan was a politician. From the state of California. Does that mean he was a crook?

That would be illogical and well...silly.

It appears that you guys are allowing your hatred of an administration that hasn't even started yet to cloud your judgement!