Blago Could've Been Somebody

While Hot Rod Blagojevich cooled his heels in lock-up waiting for lawyers to secure his release, 200 workers who were laid off last week by a Chicago employer turned up the heat, protesting unfair practices and shining a bright light on the real cost of the economic down turn.

At stake is the employer's responsibility to workers when times are tough. In this instance, Republic Windows and Doors ran out of dough and sent workers packing. The problem was they promised to pay severance and vacation time due. They reneged. The workers staged a sit-in.

While Governor Rod Blagojevich was whining about a $300K per annum job with the SEIU and trying to get his wife a gig for about half that, these workers have become an international symbol of grit amid global hard times. As we head into Christmas, the two million Americans who have already lost their jobs since the recession began a year ago now have something to root for in Chicago.

Rod Blagojevich had eyes on a bright horizon that had everything to do with his needs and nothing to do with the needs of the people he was elected to represent. He could have been a hero in his home town. Now he's a disgrace. It seems to be a common narrative these days.

Today Obama distanced himself from the scandal. In the days to come, we hope the president-elect will continue to put in motion the change he promised, and put an end to the nearly decade-long war on moral values that Bush inflicted on this great nation.

Follow Beau Friedlander on Twitter: www.twitter.com/BeauFriedlander

Comments

[jazzycafe]

Blago isn't the first corrupt politician and he won't be the last, but he's certainly one of the worst. So blatant and so sure of himself that he wouldn't get caught. It's times like this you think, wow, they're all crooks...they're probably all corrupt. But of course that is not true. There are many good people in office really trying to make a difference.

This guy though, he needs to held up as a really bad example of what not to do. I know this sounds sort of simplistic, but I'm thinking of the future and my kids, actually. My two boys are very interested in politics. If they decide to run for office at some point in their lives, I'll want them to have good examples to follow. They will need to look closely at the case of the Illinois governor as well, a guy who made extraordinarily bad choices.

[Pdubya]

Hey, we all have to realize that most politicians have a heavy bag of dirt strapped to their backs. Just is. Very few statesmen and stateswomen exist - those that haven't succumbed to power grabs, graft, corruption, immoral acts, etc. Certainly, we citizens try to hold them to a higher standard, but usually focus on "human" errors we almost all suffer from: inpropriety, affairs, drug use, cheating on an exam sometime in our life, or hanging around with "bad" people at a coffee shop. But, most elected officials fit a certain narcisistic, megalomaniacal personality disorder....they do love the power.

My point? Those that tipped the FBI off in the first place have an axe to grind with him. There are few policiticians that haven't extorted their contacts or grabbed for power to get their office, via outright cheating, graft, and the like. So, it is difficult to swallow that the day after he announces he isn't going to do business with Bank of America - Billions at stake - that someone didn't put him on the block.

If he was such a monster, then why didn't they arrest him last week? How about next week? The day after?

Spitzer lead with his testosterone. And weeks before his illegal arrest (they used the Patriot act for political purposes) he announced he was to sue the investing bankers. Billions at stake.

If we investigated all of Congress, we'd probably be left with a handful of patriots.