So anyway I thought I’d weigh in on this whole Blagojevich thing.

Many people are shocked that the governor would continue his nefarious ways even though he knew the Feds were watching. His actions are being attributed to stupidity, arrogance or any number of mental disorders. I agree that all of these are possibilities, but the extent to which they are attributable is limited.

I think the main reason he carried on in such a brazen fashion is because that’s the way he’s always done it. That’s the way he was taught to do it. Everything is for sale. Everything comes at a price. And a little bit of every deal needs to go to line his own pocket.

Blagojevich wasn’t alone here. Many other people were willing to listen to his demands. Reading the criminal complaint, there didn’t seem to be anyone who thought that their strategy to sell the Senate seat was out of line. It was, to borrow a phrase from the governor, business as usual.

So I’m not surprised that Blagojevich was surprised by his arrest. He didn’t think he was doing anything wrong, because to him, that’s the way that politics is practiced.

I think that any governor would have expected something in return for the Senate seat. They probably wouldn’t have been as greedy or coercive as Rod, but they would have expected that somewhere down the line they would have a marker to call in.

Even Obama’s offer of appreciation for appointing his preferred candidate probably came with the tacit understanding that “we owe this guy one.” It wouldn’t have been a cabinet position or ambassadorship, as Obama didn’t even want to appear in the same room with him, but I would guess that if Blagojevich had played ball and managed to avoid indictment over the next two years, that he would have found himself with a cushy job courtesy of a friend of Obama. That’s just the way politics goes.

What did Blagojevich in was super-sized ego, ambition and greed, which caused him to cross the line from political gamesmanship to outright bribery and fraud.

Bernie Schoenberg made an interesting comment on Sam Madonia’s show this morning. He said that it wasn’t surprising that Blagojevich didn’t like Obama – as evidenced by the extremely off-color descriptor he used to identify the president-elect – because Blagojevich thought he was going to be Obama.

Blagojevich apparently believed he was the political wunderkind who would rise from the prairie of Illinois and be swept* into the presidency. He was the son of an immigrant with a funny-sounding name who would capture the nation’s heart and inspire YouTube odes of fascination from comely young ladies.

It was always a fool’s dream, of course. Where Obama is intelligent, Blagojevich is obtuse. Where Obama is smooth and savvy, Blagojevich is tone-deaf and ham-handed. Where Obama is generally well-liked, Blagojevich is almost universally despised. It’s really no wonder then that Obama is headed to the White House and Blagojevich, the big house.

*Sorry Becky, I used that word again.

BY DAVE MCKINNEY Sun-Times Springfield Bureau Chief
Gov. Blagojevich refused Tuesday to explain his hiring of a convicted felon who did federal prison time for not cooperating in a terrorism probe.

When asked if he could explain his thoughts behind hiring Steven Guerra as a deputy chief of staff, knowing he was a felon, the governor said simply, “No.”

With that one-word response, Blagojevich abruptly ended a rare Springfield news conference, retreating into his Statehouse office.

Setting aside the issue of whether it makes good sense, politically or otherwise, to place a convicted felon in a relatively high state government position, the scene described above illustrates perfectly how elected leaders don’t feel any accountability to the public for their actions. Fortunately, I have a solution.

First, let’s break down what unfolded here.

The governor made a “rare Springfield news conference.” That in itself is a major problem because in our storied political system, the media acts not only as the eyes and ears of the public, but also provides its voice. The media’s ability to carry out their mission as the fourth estate of government is greatly diminished when a leader refuses to hear and respond to the issues that the public wants addressed.

And then, on this rare occasion when the governor does respect the duty that the media performs on behalf of his constituents, the often-glib guv goes monosyllabic.

Yes, he’s curt denial speaks volumes, but it raises more questions than it answers. If the governor truly believed that his man Guerra is worthy both of redemption and his position as deputy chief of staff, then he could have just said as much and then carried on with the news conference. The fact that he turned tail at the first sign of reproach, however mildly it was expressed and however expected it should have been, makes me believe that he feared that much more prickly questions would follow.

The governor and elected leaders are called on to make many tough decisions. Perhaps they would be wiser in determining what should influence those decisions if they knew, without a doubt, that they would have to explain it all someday.

So I propose that an additional requirement be added to the job description of our elected leaders. Four times a year, they must sit down with a panel of journalists and political scholars and answer their questions. The event will air on television and radio, and maybe somebody could do one of those podcast things. The panel will be allowed to ask follow-up questions if they aren’t satisfied with the original response and will be permitted to say some FCC-approved variation of ‘bull crap’ should an answer be blatantly evasive.

This won’t be a typical news conference where the leader can call on most-favored reporters, give sleight-of-hand responses and then call for the next question, or bail out when the first bead of sweat appears on his upper lip. Nor will it be an interrogation. The degree in which it will resemble a grilling will be determined by how transparent and upright the leader’s administration had been operating in the months prior to the day of reckoning.

The whole purpose of this exercise in accountability is to move the workings of government from the back room into our living rooms. The more we can see what’s going on, the less shifty they’ll be tempted to be.

Perhaps the thing that vexes me most about Illinois’ current state budget situation is how the leaders play their power games, carry out their vendettas, and shoot proverbial spit balls at each other, and then fire off a news release or trot out a spokesperson to claim that what they are doing is noble and in the best interest of the public. Even though the media does a good job of cutting through the spin, politicians, by avoiding any direct interaction with the media, can continue with the charade and still look themselves in the mirror each morning. If they’re forced to meet the press, their image might take a beating at first, but in the long run they’ll learn that keeping the public’s interests at heart is the key to effective leadership.

Laura doesn’t believe the governor will be deterred by a negative reaction, in fact, she suspects he would probably relish it. She may be correct. I could see the governor strutting down 11th Street like one of those WWF villains, occasionally stopping to hold his hand to his ear and then basking in the boos that come cascading down on the parade route. Maybe he’ll even wear pink wrestling tights and a big feather boa, he does seem to fancy himself the gorgeous type.

If the governor wants to maintain the appearance of popularity, I wouldn’t put it past his PR team to round up a few busloads of supporters from up north and plant them along the parade route. Maybe one of them will mistake him for Mayor Daley and then the governor will have a cute story to tell the next time they all get together at the Madigan’s.

We’re probably going to skip the parade this year. Seeing grossly-proportioned kids pounce on scattered candy like they haven’t eaten in weeks tends to make me ill. Actually, it’s their parents fault for allowing them to indulge their feral thirst for sugar so ravenously. As much as my kids like to see high school-aged tuba players sweating profusely and politician smiling profusely, they’ll just have to settle for going to see Shrek the Third and gorging on a silo of popcorn.

If I were to attend the parade and the governor were to pass by, I don’t think that I would boo or otherwise sling barbs, especially if his children were with him. No child should have to see the person they look up to more than anyone else being verbally assaulted.

That said, I don’t recall the governor bringing the kids to the parade in the past; he seemed to make a big deal about running the entire route and his daughters lack the testicularity to keep up. If he does bring them along this year, I can only assume that they are intended to act as a shield to discourage the barrage of insults that state workers had prepared to unfurl. If the governor should stoop to such a tactic, it would be even more despicable than the time he hit Tom Cross on the back with a folding chair when the referee wasn’t looking.