Government is doomed, I tell you! Doomed!
Posted by Lissa on January 7, 2009
I don’t think the country is doomed, or society, or the economy, or anything like that. But I really have to wonder sometimes about governance in our country. (And in every other country, I’m sure, etc., etc.)
According to Michelle, “members of Blago’s staff are conducting ethics classes for state workers.”
What next? A former Pussycat Doll giving lectures on modesty? Jenna Jameson’s production manager giving speeches about chastity?
You’d think the good people of Illinois would just vote the bums out, but that presupposes that you can vote non-bums in. And why would anyone who’s NOT a bum want to run for political office in that state? (Or in general, really.)
Sadly for us, Sarah Palin’s are few and far between. Even if you hate her politics, you’ve got to admire the fact that she came along and tossed a good-old-boys network onto their frozen asses, to be stranded in the permafrost and eaten by wolves.
(That’s how I like to imagine it, anyway. Don’t you spoil my daydream!!)
UPDATE: Linked by Firearms & Freedom. Thanks!
lookingforlissa 
Brad K. said
Lissa, I thought the best math teachers were those that had to struggle to master the concepts. I think I read that once, in a novel, and it makes sense. AA meetings include confessions, religious revivals lean heavily on the “I am a sinner” stories. Surely, most of the people with the most experience with unethical behavior are on Blago’s staff. At, least, one would hope there aren’t a lot more stars that bright in Illinois. (Since so many of them are moving to Washington, D.C. for the mock Congress and Clinton Ethics Show opening later this month.)
The trouble with Blago’s staff teaching ethics – is who is going to figure out which struggled to understand ethics (and are qualified to pass on their insights), and which are shamming conversion to milk a scam?
Maybe we should start a grass-roots movement, to get initiatives put on all state ballots to require (and check!) that each voter keep a journal of political promises, political news, and be required to present that notebook to vote. Maybe jogging the electorate memory will do more than term limits to reduce abuses.
Ahab said
I like the Pussycat Dolls?
Lissa said
Noooo, Caleb! Noooooo!!!
Oh, wait. Did you mean as singers or as eye candy? If it’s the latter, you’re forgiven; if it’s the former, I’m going to tell Breda to speak for the full hour of the next Gun Nuts . . .
Quote of the Day - Daydream Edition « Firearms & Freedom said
[…] (That’s how I like to imagine it, anyway. Don’t you spoil my daydream!!) – Lissa […]
Elaine said
I work for the state of Illinois (legislative, not executive branch). One of the alleged “reforms” Blago instituted when he became gov was an annual “ethics test” for all state employees. Well, it’s not really a “test” you pass or fail, but a series of questions designed to refresh your memory regarding laws against political campaigning on state time, restrictions on political fundraising, etc. You have to waste, er, spend at least half an hour taking this “test” every year, and if you finish it too fast, the computer doesn’t count you as having actually finished it!
The “ethics test” has long been a big joke among state employees, who openly question whether Blago himself ever took it. As a matter of fact, about 95 percent of state employees despise him and can’t wait for him to be gone. He’s slashed frontline staff at many agencies to ribbons — forcing them to work extremely long hours — and appointed dozens of his toadies at mid- and upper-level management positions. If you are not one of his appointees or didn’t pay for your job (in the executive branch), he has no use for you, and you get treated like dirt. No wonder state employees were openly cheering when they heard he’d been arrested!
The number one question non-Illinois residents seem to be asking about Blago is how in the heck did this clown get elected TWICE. I will attempt to explain how. When he ran the first time (2002), he was an obscure Congressman without much of a record. We were coming off of a scandal-ridden Republican administration (Blago’s immediate predecessor, George Ryan, is now in federal prison) and 25 straight years of Republican governors. The people were ready for a change and Blago promised it. He swore he would “rock the system” and root out corruption, etc. etc. (Sound familiar?)
Fast forward to 2006. By this time Blago is under federal investigation for hiring fraud, pay to play schemes, etc., and his own father-in-law (Chicago Alderman Dick Mell, who helped bankroll his original run for gov) has publically accused him of trading state jobs and appointments for campaign cash. What does Blago do? He spends gazillions of dollars on TV campaign ads painting his GOP opponent (State Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka) as a corrupt stooge of George Ryan.
After a few months of this, most Illinois residents throw up their hands in despair, and decide that since both major candidates seem to be equally crooked, they might as well stick with the devil they know — the devil who also promises not to raise their taxes while still giving them free health care and all kinds of other goodies. Even so, Blago got LESS than 50 percent of the vote. He won only because the rest of the vote was split between Topinka (40 percent) and a Green Party protest candidate (11 percent).
Much of Blago’s support in 2006 came from the Chicago area, but also from far southern Illinois and the Metro East St. Louis area. His lowest vote totals came from the area around Springfield, the state capital, where he only got 20 percent — largely because, as I pointed out earlier, state workers and their families can’t stand him.
The moral of the story is this: Blago managed to play masterfully upon the sense most Illinois residents have that all politicians are crooks anyway and therefore it doesn’t matter who they vote for. To think that way is nothing but a cop-out. I don’t care how bad things are, they won’t get any better if you just sit back and assume nothing can be done about it. Stop demanding perfect candidates; instead, take the time to really compare the candidates you have and pick the one who is genuinely better, or less bad.