Marathon Pundit: Great orator Obama silent on Illinois Rezko fallout

Friday, June 13, 2008

Great orator Obama silent on Illinois Rezko fallout

Last week's guilty verdicts in the corruption trial of Democratic political insider Antoin "Tony" Rezko have resonated in Illinois--and the loud clanging has Governor Rod Blagojevich feeling like Victor Hugo's Quasimodo before he became deaf.

Even if he avoids a federal indictment, the Chicago Democrat's political career is over--which is good news for the 12 million people of Illinois. He's our worse governor since Dan Walker, the last Democratic chief executive before "Blago" was took office in 2003. Walker ended up in prison (although his crimes occurred after he left office) just like Blagojevich's predecessor, George H. Ryan.

As I blogged earlier this week, Illinois House Speaker and state Democratic Party Chairman Michael Madigan, circulated a talking points memo on the possible impeachment of Blagojevich. Barack Obama mentor Emil Jones, who is the president of the state Senate, is politically close to Blagojevich and does not take the impeachment push seriously, as John Fund reports:

Mr. Jones said he thought it wrong for the Speaker to "promote the impeachment of a Democratic Governor... Impeachment is unwarranted in my opinion, and should not be used as a political tool."

Fund takes a few shots at Obama. Remember, Obama's vaunted state legislative record was largely a creation of Emil Jones.

All this sounds like an issue voters both inside and outside Illinois would want to hear from Mr. Obama on. Does he side with those Democrats who want to move aggressively against a governor who appears to be corrupt – or with his old Chicago buddies who prefer to wait? Mr. Obama always had an ambiguous reputation among those trying to clean up Illinois politics. "We have a sick political culture, and that's the environment Barack Obama came from," Jay Stewart, executive director of the Chicago Better Government Association, told ABC News. Though Mr. Obama supported ethics reforms as a state senator, Mr. Stewart noted that he's "been noticeably silent on the issue of corruption here in his home state including, at this point, mostly Democratic politicians."