Obama: Proud Illinois Politician

Obama frequently speaks about how proud he is that he rose in politics in the rough and tumble political environment of Chicago. We have long known that Chicago politics was heavily tainted with corruption and some of Obama's past relationships in politics were with such people as the convicted Antonin Rezko, the racist, public fund-dispensing Rev. Wright, and the Weatherman terrorist Bill Ayers. Chicago politics tends to set the trend for politics in Illinois state politics generally. Gov. Blagojevich has now been arrested for misuse of state power for corrupt purposes, which means that he has gone way beyond the accepted levels of corruption and abuse of power. He appears to have made an extensive practice of arranging to deliver state contracts and state commision positions to those who provided him or his wife with sufficient bribe money. He was trying to sell an appointment to fill the Senate seat being vacated by B.O. In the last 35 years, three previous Illinois governors have been convicted of felonies and sentenced to prison while in office. Blagojevich may become the 4th governor to be convicted of a felony.

Interestingly, in 1965, when I was a freshman at Brown University, I had to attend a series of lectures given by luminaries brought in for the purpose of apparently enlarging our view of the world. Brown University was particularly proud of a Brown University graduate who became a judge in Illinois and was then Governor of Illinois. This man was Otto Kerner and he did give a fairly interesting talk. In 1969, my senior year, he was the first of this series of three Illinois governors to be convicted of a felony and sentenced to prison. He was caught because the manager of two race tracks had bribed him with stock and then deducted the expense on her taxes as a necessary and usual business expense in the state of Illinois.

Obama's training as a Chicago and Illinois politician is definitely worthy of serious concern. What special skills does he bring to the Presidency as a result of this training? He must be watched carefully both as a socialist and as someone well-trained in corruption. These two always seem to go together very well. Apparently, absolute power still corrupts absolutely.