Blagojevich is One of Us

December 10, 2008

Crude, mercenary, mendacious, corrupt, and delusional he may be, but Governor Blagojevich need feel no sense of isolation in 21^st century America. Is he so different from Bob Nardelli, the Bush friend who expedited Chrysler’s failure after his ouster – with $210 million in severance pay – from Home Depot? Is he greedier than Grasso, the NYSE head who accepted a year-over-year salary raise from $5 million to $180 million? Does he compare, either in venality, hubris, or recklessness with the $85 billion AIG executive crew who had the foresight to make their criminal corporation indispensable to America? Has he wrecked as many lives and as many futures and as many countries’ economies as the designers of the financial derivatives built on worthless mortgages? Has he failed so completely and over such a long period as the GM executives who sing “Hey Buddy Can You Spare A Dime” twice each month in front of Congress? 

Blagojevich can at least argue that his brand of corruption is a long-standing tradition in Illinois, whereas America’s Corporate leaders are still in the process of establishing their own brand of incompetence and corruption. His yearning for a $250K job is not much more than an update on the Spiro Agnew dream. Our anger at him resembles my enduring anger at myself for my eight-year-old vote for a man inferior in intellect, character and personality to my mechanic.

If such commentary imparts a taste of sour grapes, then let me dispel the notion that I’m feeling cynical.  Basically, I think we’re doing about as well as our species is capable of. We have, and we will always have, millions of selfless, caring, adult, compassionate and concerned citizens.  They are what holds us together as a nation and what, in the end, justifies our existence.  The undeniable reality that politics seldom appeal to people with these qualities concerns me only insofar as it limits what we might have become. But that ship has long since sailed out of sight.  

It is now left to us to fight the economic Armageddon that our political and business leaders have thoughtlessly triggered with their “bring-it-on” egos. In this cause-and-effect world, those few who retain a trace of conscience will be consumed by the insatiable greed that brought us to this awful moment in our history.