The 2008 election kind of turned me into a news site junkie. I’d followed news pretty closely anyways, but it kind of activated my politics gland a bit more than I expected. I’ve been using Google Reader to aggregate all of these new sites for me. I probably have about a dozen or so news sources I like to pull from at any time. My philosophy is to pull from as many sources from as many leanings as you can, and then kind of make your own interpretation of what you’re getting from the news. Anything less than that, you’re probably not very well informed.
Going through my sites today, I found a rather alarming post on Huffington Post, or the site founded by columnist and author (also onetime California governor recall candidate) Arianna Huffington.
Here’s the headline to the post Blagojevich Compares Himself To Mandela, King, Gandhi.
Un. Fucking. Real.
I’m a born and bred Illinois resident. I’ve always been proud of my state, sort of that underdog little brother to the big coastal cities of New York and Los Angeles. I’ve always felt that any attention we’ve gotten as a state (or the city of Chicago) is because we’ve had to fight for scraps. That’s partially what made it so much more exciting when Barack Obama ran for president. He was our guy. Who lived in our state The big bright spot in the middle of all of this, well, shit.
Illinois politics, particularly the governorship is an embarrassment to this state, and makes us look like shitheads to the rest of this world. Four of the past eight governors in the state have either been indicted or convicted of felonies. Fucking preposterous. What’s worse? it’s happened to the last two. In a row.
As we’ve already had to suffer through the trial of George Ryan, we are thrown back into another scandal have to deal with this awful-coiffed egomaniac who’s comparing himself to the great leaders of the world. He tried to sell a Senate seat among whatever else he’s been scheming to do for the past six years.
Tomorrow, his senate trial begins. I hope he’s convicted and they throw him out of office. Give Lt. Governor Pat Quinn a shot at this state. He doesn’t even get along with the guy. Blago hasn’t spoken to him since the summer of 2007.
Rod Blagojevich says that this whole debacle makes him a victim “in a plot to raise taxes.” He’s making analogies to Western movies about himself being a cowboy and ‘being hanged’. He’s going on TV shows like “The View” and “Larry King Live” to ‘defend himself’.
Bad idea dude. That’s not helping your cause at all. You’re just providing little nuggets of pop culture to remember you by. If you were sane, and the least bit coherent, you’d quietly slip away and let the state of Illinois get on with our business, instead of putting everyone through this costly trial.
I’m hoping Illinois can rebuild it’s reputation. Even if Rod’s ousted, we have a long way to go.
Let’s just get the ball rolling.
P.S. Watch this classic clip. Douche.
