There is only one state in America that can call itself the champion of political corruption:Illinois

Seeing this article in the Chicago Tribune is almost a religious experience. Now if we can provide similar enjoyment for the other members of the political elite who laugh at us and work to destroy our democracy it would indeed be a happy holiday. Pay to play may just be a slogan to some, but it is real to the people who are victims of it i.e. the abused and financially exploited elderly and other disabled persons who have been denied their civil rights so that some court appointed criminal in guardian's clothing can pillage their estate.


Let's hope that Judge Zagel sends a strong message to the political elite - we live in America - the land that was founded on honesty, honor, and equality before the law. Maybe this holiday season, for the first time in a long time, we will reward our political elite with Justice and a taste of the democratic process.

Ken Ditkowsky

http://www.ditkowskylawoffice.com/

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In a better state of affairs, no one would cry for Blagojevich

Illinois is swimming in corruption. We're drowning in it. The political class laughs at us.

Rod Blagojevich faces sentencing this week. Soon Illinois should have two successive governors in federal prison at the same time. (Terrence Antonio James, Chicago Tribune / June 27, 2011)

John Kass

December 4, 2011

There is only one state in America that can call itself the champion of political corruption:Illinois.

John Kass

Like our state song says, by thy rivers gently flowing, Illinois, Illinois, comes an echo on the breeze, rustling through the leafy trees, and its mellow tones are these, Illinois, Illinois.But what are these tones, exactly?Of prison bars closing on one governor, then another.Former Republican Gov. George Ryan is already behind bars at the federal facility in Terre Haute, Ind. And this week, Democratic Gov. Rod "Dead Meat" Blagojevich will be sentenced. Soon we should have two successive governors in federal prison at the same time.No state can match that. And if you figure in all the city inspectors, investigators, aldermen, legislators, judges and congressmen who've gone to prison, there's no way Louisiana can catch us. About the only office that hasn't been stained by a federal prison term is that of mayor of Chicago. The amazing, statistically impossible score is Illinois Governors 4, Mayors 0.We've had four Illinois governors go to prison, but never a Chicago mayor. Some say that's because there is no corruption on the fifth floor of City Hall. Others say it is because the mayor is to Illinois politics what a queen bee is to a hive. But I've got another explanation: Our mayors float above corruption on the wings of angels.And when I realized that some people actually believe that, I felt we needed a new state slogan. Our old slogan, "Illinois: Land of Lincoln," was outdated. With all the federal investigations, it looked rather foolish. So we had a contest in the Tribune, and the winning slogan, from Frank Bemis of Schaumburg, was simple and clean. It was bold. It was poetry:"Illinois: Will the Defendant Please Rise?"It took six years, but Ryan was convicted. And then in June of this year, Blagojevich was convicted. And in between, others have been convicted, piles of them, bushels full, and they still don't get the message. I expect it from political weasels. They play politics for money.But it astounds me that some in the media still don't get the message either. When it comes time to sentence the politicians, and have them pay for their corruption, there are those in my business who start blubbering and crying mercy. It happened with Ryan. It happened with the sentencing of the patronage bosses from City Hall. And now it's happening again with Blagojevich.Prosecutors want Gov. Dead Meat to serve from 15 to 20 years. But I read an editorial in the other paper that was astounding. It argued that Blagojevich's vanity led him astray, and his stupidity, and he failed at much of what he attempted, and therefore, 15 to 20 years was just too much.Actually, I agree. A 15- or 20-year sentence for Blagojevich is just plain wrong.He should get at least 60.That's what my sentence would have been. The governorship wasn't his. It belongs to us. We let him occupy it. And he sold it and corrupted it. He tried to sell a U.S. Senate seat, he shook down a hospital, he used his public office as a club to get power. He wasn't the first to play politics The Chicago Way. He won't be the last.I'd have given Ryan 60 years at least, 10 years for each of the Willis children. Remember them? They were burned to death in a crash involving a truck driver who paid bribes for his license when Ryan was Illinois secretary of state. After the crash, Ryan had his henchmen cover up an investigation that would have determined early on that bribes were paid. Much of the media absolved him. Ryan was elected governor, and the sin of it all stained our state.What we must remember is this.Oaths were taken.And still they sold public office. They did so without honor. The breaking of an oath is not about a contract between the corrupt official and his conscience. It is about a contract between that official and all of us.To pretend otherwise, to blubber and wail and plead mercy for such jackals, is to spread their infection upon all the victims. We are the taxpayers. We are the victims. And they're the criminals. Some of you might not think oaths are important. Others might avoid such threatening terms as action and consequence.And some obviously just get weak-kneed at the moment the hammer is about to fall. If that's the case, then, please do the rest of us a favor and avert your eyes. But don't stop the rest of us from doing what's necessary.Illinois is swimming in corruption. We're drowning in it. The political class laughs at us. Can't you hear it as they continue making their fortunes and putting their families and friends at the public trough to feed? It is their laughter that echoes on the breeze, Illinois.There must be consequences for what people do, and debts must be paid for sins.You take that oath, as a governor, as a judge, it must mean something. It's got to count, even in a crooked state like Illinois.