It is too bad for former Illinois
Governor Rod Blagojevich that he engaged with the likes of Jesse Jackson, Jr.
It was a trifling that cost him his freedom.
On Dec. 7, the day the Japanese
attacked Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt to proclaimed that day
to be one that would live in infamy. It certainly will for Blago, because that
was the day he was sentenced to 14 years in prison.
Was that a fair sentence when
compared to his predecessor George Ryan who was sentenced only to 6 1/2 years?
In my mind, it wasn't but then I
make my assessment based strictly on the character of the man rather than
strict legal terms.
I
took this picture of Blagojevich during happier times--on a campaign stop in
Joliet while running for re-election. I wasn't enamored with him for his stance
on the Peotone Airport. While he served as governor, he gave the airport plenty
of positive lip service, but never really followed through. That was probably
because there was nothing in it for him.
Blago also taught us that size
does matter when it references ego. Other than that, his tenure in the state
house, or his Chicago house, from which he did most of the state's business,
was not as upsetting to me as some of his predecessors--cold-blooded
oportunitsts. I found Blago to be more of the warm-blooded variety. Even though
he often put himself first, he did try to help others as well.
I would not say he was a bad
governor, as Illinois governors go.
Had it not been for that vacant
Senate seat issue, would the state have even had a case against Blago?
To me, and I admit some partiality
in my opinion, Jackson is the one that should be taken to task. I hope the
Senate Ethics committee looks deeply into their investigation of Jackson. His
ethics are indeed in question, at least in my mind.
I agree with a recent op-ed
piece posted in several local newspapers about why the Senate Ethics committee
should continue looking into Jackson's behavior. Congressman
Jackson has had a pattern of immoral behavior This blog is quoted
within it.
Just before Blagojevich was
sentenced, the House announced it would continue to investigate Jackson.
I can't speak to Jackson's other
deeds in congress, but I know he has misrepresented the facts surrounding the
potential of a regional airport at Peotone as well as the potential of
utilizing the existing airport at Gary, Indiana. That has been my focus for the
last twenty-five years.
Jackson's latest action is in an
attempt to gather support for the Peotone project far from ground zero where
knowledge, and information is lacking. According to newspaper reports, Jackson
is taking his pro-airport dog and pony show to Woodridge, a DuPage County
community far from Peotone where so little is known or frankly cared about,
that Jackson can get away with saying whatever he pleases without being
challenged. He did just that recently in a visit to a village board meeting
where he reiterated his fantasy that construction on a new airport could begin
in six months. He fails to mention that the project has not yet been approved
by the FAA, or that studies will preclude a decision for at least two years.
Jackson will never stop spewing
misinformation to get what he wants. Perhaps, in this election year, it is time
the people with ballots stop him instead.
