Wednesday, December 10, 2008

political theater

For those of you reading from outside the Chicago area or Illinois, our governor has earned a generous measure of contempt for repeatedly putting his gigantic ego above his responsibilities to the citizens of Illinois, in lengthy battles over the state budget and other matters of significant impact. Hearing that he had finally been arrested was a fine early Christmas gift.

This Blago story has given us a wealth of entertainment, especially for those who prefer humor in a more cynical vein. We have stories from John Kass, Serbia, Carol Marin, and Blago's neighbors, speculation about Dick Mell, Patti's role, commentary on the criminal complaint, all 50 Senate Democrats weighing in, thoughts on Patti's sister's political career, and more.... If you are not easily offended, here's more from Second City Cop, where some of the comments are really choice.

One of the best is these clips from TV talk shows. The first video montage is the best of the three.

For those of you who are saying "wait a minute, what did I miss?" here's a story about the arrest that spawned all the articles yesterday and today, and the criminal complaint itself.

This 1978 Studs Terkel quote puts it into perspective: "Chicago is not the most corrupt American city. It's the most theatrically corrupt."

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