As bad as the latest political scandal is, the governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich has singlehandedly confirmed the very thing we have spent our lives hoping would never come to pass: the sale of politics.  For a vacancy to become a commodity with a price tag undermines every principle the framers had hoped would safeguard our Constitution.  Despite all of the other scandals politicians

.

seem to bury themselves in, this is by far one of the most disgusting we’ve seen in this lifetime.  This one is a kick in the teeth to every foundation this country is built on.  In one fell swoop, he’s managed to drop jaws across political party lines, the citizens who voted him into office and the general public as a whole. 

He was arrested and released on Tuesday after federal prosecutors accused him of a one man “political corruption crime spree”.   Some of these crimes he’s accused of includes threatening one of the country’s largest newspapers, Chicago Tribune, if it refused to fire writers who criticized him, as well as his redefinition of “pay to play” for politics.  He has been accused of giving jobs, political appointments and contracts for hefty price tags. This evidence has been gained via wiretaps on his home and office phones and it’s been said some of these conversations would fit nicely into any of the Godfather movies with “tough guy” talk and profanity.  He refers to political peers as “Candidate 1″, “Candidate 2″ and so.  Unfortunately, these candidates he refers to as considerations to fill the seat left vacant by Barack Obama have had to release statements that no one in public office should have ever have to make.  They’ve reiterated their respect for the political offices they hold and have stated not only did they have no idea of what the governor was doing, but they were as disappointed as the rest of the country.  None of those considered for this vacant post are suspected of participating in this political auction.  Now, though, instead of an immediate replacement being named, it appears as though a special election might be the only solution that’s fair and will renew the faith of the state’s voters. 

He’s also accused of complaining about his inability to make good money as governor and said he felt ’stuck’.  If you’re interested, he makes over $175,000 a year as governor.  He’s also overheard negotiating a position for his wife and stated he was looking for a gravy position where she could make at least “150 grand” a year.  He was lining the remainder of this golden brick road to cover him after he left office as governor.  When the pompous governor answered the door at 6 a.m. on Tuesday, his reply to the two FBI agents who’d announced they were there to arrest him was, “Is this a joke?”  That left it wide open - I don’t know if I’d have had enough self-discipline to keep from going into how the joke would ultimately be on him in ways he could never imagine.  I suppose that’s why I never considered that as a line of work.  It’s difficult, if not impossible, to bite my tongue. 

In the past two days, he’s vehemently asserted his refusal to step down as governor.  That’s been met with the state’s attorney releasing a statement that he didn’t have to, they were taking immediate steps to remove him from office.  So you see, if it was a joke, it’s clearly on Governor Blagojevich.