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

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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.

In my efforts to have an adult discussion with my 18 year old son, who will casting his very first vote on Tuesday, I asked him who he planned to vote for. Hey - I can do that. It might be a no-no in social situations, but the rules don’t apply to family members. So, that said, I asked him who he would be casting a vote for. He replied, “Sarah Palin.” I tried to correct him with, “Oh, the McCain/Palin team.” His non-plussed answer was, “Yeah. Whatever.” Now, anyone who knows me knows how seriously I take politics. Love them! I get frustrated and have a tendency to talk to the television anytime a faux pas is committed, as though they can actually hear me. Still, I’m pretty adamant in the declarations of the voting process being a responsibility each of us carries. So, his two word reply had me thinking how a golden opportunity had just presented itself. I told him that it’s not a decision to make the second he’s asked, but that he really needs to be convinced of the reasons he votes for any candidate, and more importantly, his answer needs to convince me (as if he heard that last part). I ended my little pep talk with, “Why did you say Sarah Palin instead of John McCain? She’s his VP pick. She’s not running for president.” His next two word reply was, “She’s hot.” You can imagine my look of disbelief. Then, with one of his classic “Jacob looks”, I realize he was just trying to get me riled up. So, after establishing that he’s indeed of the Republican mindset and it has nothing to do with how hot the VP candidate is, I managed to get him to go into a little more detail. Problem solved and crisis averted.

As we embark on a historical election that’s only a day away, I thought it’d be a fine time to take a walk through the past.

• Contrary to what many think, former president Bill Clinton was impeached by the House of Representatives. The Senate acquitted him, but he goes down in history as only 1 of two presidents to have been impeached. Remember, Richard Nixon resigned before impeachment procedures began and Andrew Johnson is the only other president, besides Bill Clinton, to have actually been through the impeachment procedures.
• 18 presidents never served in Congress, including Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton and G.W. Bush
• The scandals are many, including the infamous Whiskey Ring scandal during Ulysses Grant’s term that involved high ranking politicians who successfully stole tax dollars on the sale of whiskey and managed to keep it hidden until the then-U.S. treasury secretary Benjamin Bristow uncovered and exposed it. Another scandal during Grant’s term was the impeachment of William Belknap for accepting thousands of dollars in bribe monies in exchange for an appointment in Indian Territory.
• Lest we forget the Teapot Dome scandal during Warren Harding’s term. In the early 20s, Harding transferred the responsibilities for naval oil reserve properties to the Department of Interior. These rights were then altered and exploited for the financial gain of Albert Fall, the Secretary of the Interior at that time. He went on to grant the exclusive rights to the Teapot Dome reserve in Wyoming for huge sums of money and loans that were interest free. He was later convicted of these illegal activities, marking the first ever conviction of a cabinet member.
• And then there’s the more recent Watergate scandal of the early 70s. This ended a presidency when Richard Nixon chose to resign versus facing an almost certain impeachment. Five men were caught breaking into a Democratic headquarters site at the Watergate complex. These men were all employees of Nixon and it was discovered through a journalist’s investigation that the orders to break into this office came from the highest office in the country. The Senate investigated and heads rolled. It was also discovered that Nixon recorded phone calls and conversations within his office and then refused to release the tapes to the committee investigating the scandal. Nixon was eventually indicted for illegal wiretapping, bribery, obstruction of justice and other crimes.

So, as we all await the results after Tuesday’s election and ponder all of the petty accusations from the past months, a little perspective provided from history might be just what we need while awaiting the announcement of who will become the next United States President.