Illinois drama isn’t over

It’s entering a new phase. The media circus around the traveling Rod Blagojevich show has generated national and international awareness of political corruption in high places. But we already knew that.

And given the rundown of disgraced politicians on the state and federal level over the past several years (remember the impeachment trial against President Clinton?) and decades (Nixon stands out), we know corruption and scandal cut across both political parties and all appearances of propriety and toughness. Remember Eliot Spitzer’s ruthless crusade to clean up corruption….which ended with his disgraceful fall from office when his own misuse of office and illegal practices came to light.

Watching this drama in Illinois unfold has been amazing and riveting, yes, but mostly sad. On a human level, it’s been hard to watch this singular case of defiance and desperation play out.

Yesterday, when the Illinois Senate was holding the final impeachment hearing, and Rod Blagojevich delivered his final pitch for exoneration, I checked the Chicago Tribune’s blog as it was updated from the scene throughout the day.

A snip:

Speaking in a voice heavy with sadness and disgust, state Sen. Terry Link (D-Waukegan) called the impeachment trial “the saddest week of my political career.”
 
Invoking the debacle at the 1968 Democratic convention in Chicago, Link said “the whole world is watching Illinois again today.”
 
“Well you know what? I’m sick and tired of it,” Link said.
 
“I’m gonna cast a vote I wish to God I never had to cast,” Link said. “There’s nothing happy about this. We’re doing something that’s going to be in history forever.”
 
“But I’m glad we’re going to be opening another chapter in another few hours,” Link concluded.

It’s going to take way longer than that.

Sen. Jeffrey Schoenberg (D-Evanston) and Sen. Randall Hultgren (R-Winfield) both condemned Blagojevich, but also warned that the problem of corruption in Illinois runs far deeper than the governor’s office.
 
“Much of what we’ve heard…does not represent a template of abuse that developed overnight,” Schoenberg said. “Nor are the participants solely affiliated with one political party. It may have grown exponentially in these past six years, but those seeds, my friends, were sown long ago.”
 
Hultgren said this is only the beginning of “rooting out corruption and wrongdoing in our government.”
 
“I believe our state government must enter rehab,” Hultgren said. “Moral rehabilititation.”

They can join the others who are either there, or should be.