Rob: Senate for Sale!

I knew the economy was bad, but jeez I didn’t know you could buy a Senate seat.

According the official FBI complaint against Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich he was trying to sell the open Senate seat vacated by President-Elect Barack Obama.  Obama had his choice, but the Governor has the sole power to appoint.  ‘Blago’ immediately honed in on what he can get out of this appointment.  In one wiretap he said, “I’ve got this thing and it’s f****** golden and uh, uh, I’m just not giving it up for f****** nothing.”

He is repeatedly heard by the FBI saying he wanted to benefit his own financial situation because after all the governor of Illinois only makes $150,000 per year.  Blagojevich wanted to use the Senate seat to join a non-profit where he could make $250,000 to $300,000 a year.  If he couldn’t pull that off he was hoping to land his wife on a paid corporate board.  It gets worse.  She was an active participant in the scam.  Unbelieveable.  And I am sure this type of politics is more the norm than we even want to know.

There are several things that bother me about this.  First, in politics it seems everything is for sale.  Second, these knuckleheads don’t have our best interests at heart, but their own.  Third, Blagojevich knew he was under investigation and tried to gain from the vacant Senate seat anyways.  In the complaint, the FBI details at least two people who pointed fingers at the Governor for corruption during the trial of Antonin Rezko.  That didn’t stop him.  Neither did the impeachment talk all over Chicago.  Talk about a sense of ego.

I attempt to learn a lesson from everything I do.  The lesson I will take away from this one is a lesson that seems to repeat itself much more often than it should, politicians can never be trusted.

Sign up for KTAR Rewards and become a member.  It’s easy and you can accumulate bonus points just for listening.  The more points you get, the better the prize you can win.