Our Sad Little Stoogeocracy

The Father, The Son and The Crazymost.

"The surface of American society is covered with a layer of democratic paint,
but from time to time one can see the old aristocratic colours breaking through."
-- Alexis de Tocqueville

A lesson in Illinois politics for out-of-stater’s.

Given the nature of politics in the Land of Lincoln, there would not have been enough available faces in a cast photo from "Ben Hur" to do Photochop justice to all of the embarrassing stewards of the public trust that have come and gone in Illinois.

Hell, just doing a subset of Hired Truck and Silver Shovel would smoke my digits to their nubs, so instead a representational triumvirate.

Some of Our Leaders – Democrats all -- from left to right:

Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan -- Illinois Combine power broker extraordinaire and daddy of State Attorney General and governor-in-waiting, the genuinely delightful Lisa Madigan.

Governor Shakedown -- son-in-law of Chicago Alderman Dick Mell and, through him, former aide-de-camp to both Chicago Alderman “Fast Eddie” Vrdolyak and State's Attorney Richard M. Richard Daley.

Todd Stroger -- current Crook County Board President who was bequeathed the job by father John Stroger, former Crook County Board President.

Which is all to say, again, that to get ahead in Big Dollar Illinois politics, there is a club.

And how do you know if you’re in the club?

Carefully check your last name.

Is it the name of Illinois royalty?

Is it the name of someone married to Illinois royalty?

Is it the name of someone married to a guy whose cousin is Illinois royalty?

Is it the name of a someone who helped a member in good standing of Illinois royalty figuratively bury a dead hooker?

If you cannot answer “Yes” to any of these questions, you’re not in the club.

Some snips from Greg Hinz’s Crain’s Chicago blog here documents the atrocities in greater detail (and thanks for the link love, Greg):

Blago's departure won't cure state's political woes
Posted by greg hinz at 1/28/2009 11:29 AM CST on Chicago Business

When Rod Blagojevich finally is removed from office--soon, folks, very soon--one heck of a party is likely to break out in certain locales from Springfield to City Hall.

That would be most inappropriate, because there's really nothing to celebrate.

Yes, the dude with the over-poofed pompadour, over-developed ego and over-inflated sense of entitlement will be political history, barring some stunner. Don't let the door hit ya on the way out, Rod.

But whatever his crimes and misdemeanors, high and low, Rod Blagojevich is only an example of what's gone terribly wrong with Illinois politics. The state's public life was a mess before he arrived. It's still that way.

Lots has been written about the most obvious reason for our collective malaise: our deeply entrenched culture of political corruption.

We the voters are responsible for electing the jerks in the first place, and we the media for letting them off the hook too easily. The tighter ethics laws that have begun to be enacted in the wake of the Blago years will help.

But it's not enough, not if Mr. Blagojevich could do the kinds of things he's accused of doing despite three solid decades of scorched-earth federal prosecution of governors and aldermen, legislators and judges--a veritable whole prison full of crooked Illinois pols, convicted and sentenced.

No, I suspect the root cause involves more than venality. Like how easy it is for an unknown pol of unproven worth to get into a high position here.

I'm not talking about Barack Obama. Rather, it's Mr. Blagojevich, who rose almost as fast through Illinois politics as did our new president.

I remember interviewing the then-state rep candidate back in the early '90s--the first media interview Mr. Blagojevich ever gave, he later reminded me more than once. He didn't know a heck of a lot. But he stumbled by, he had a nice smile and way about him, and he had a powerful father-in-law in Chicago Alderman Dick Mell (33rd). That's all it took.

It didn't take much more a few years later, when a seat in Congress opened up. And when Gov. George Ryan stumbled and announced his retirement, Messrs. Blagojevich and Mell cut a few deals here and Downstate and lined up just enough money and votes in the Democratic primary to beat Paul Vallas, who actually knew state government but ran a lousy campaign.

That attitude carried over to the Blagojevich government.
…

But he didn't know subtlety. And he didn't know how to govern, how to cut the deals and make the trades and concessions that are the heart of democracy. Instead, after a brief honeymoon, he fought and brawled with Springfield's real center of power, Speaker Mike Madigan, who bears his own share of blame for what has become of Illinois--i.e., the lack of a state capital plan, to give just one example.
…

And so while mocking Blago’s very public self-immolation may be great good sport, in the end he is just one more player in a long and tragic bipartisan farce.

Merely the most recent and flamboyant of the toxic fruits

to fall – reeking and wormy – from that very deeply-rooted poison tree of Illinois politics.