Grounds of Lincoln site Blago closed remain open

The series of blunders perpetuated by disgraced Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich touches all corners of public life in the state.

In two months the nation will celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth of its greatest president, Abraham Lincoln. Except for his four years as president, Lincoln lived his entire adult life in Illinois, which is why when you cross the state line into Illinois, you are greeted by green and white signs emblazoned with "The Land of Lincoln." Below that, unfortunately, reads, "Rod R. Blagojevich, Governor."

On the day Barack Obama accepted the Democratic nomination for president, the Blagojevich administration announced massive closures of state parks and historic sites. Among those was the Lincoln Log Cabin Site in Coles County, near Charleston. The site features a replica of the cabin the 16th president's father and stepmother lived in. It closed last month. After his father's death, Lincoln purchased the land where the original cabin stood.

But the Decatur Herald & Review reported Friday that the grounds remain open, thanks to a pond on the site which is stocked with federal funds. However, the cabin and the visitors center remain closed.

The first shoe dropped in July, when Blago moved a bunch of Lincoln related sites from a seven-day a week schedule to schedules of mostly five days a week. However, the Lincoln-Hernon Law Office in Springfield went to being open just Saturdays.

Other Lincoln sites hit were Lincoln's Tomb and the Old State Capitol in Springfield. Barack Obama kicked off his presidential run in front of that structure, pictured on the right, where Lincoln gave his "House Divided" speech. The recreated New Salem village near Springfield saw it hours slashed, as did the Ulysses S. Grant home in Galena. The tomb of Lincoln's nemesis, Stephen A. Douglas, was not spared.

Funds from the Illinois Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission will restore the old hours to all of these sites in 2009, but not Lincoln Log Cabin, which will remain closed.

Lt. Governor Patrick Quinn is opposed to these cuts, and will seek to reopen the closed sites and keep the Lincoln locations open seven-days a week on the state's dime once he is governor. Which will be later, as opposed to sooner, due to Blago's selfishness.

What else can you expect from a man for whom Richard Nixon is an idol?

And do you want to know something? Of those 11 historic sites and 13 state parks Blago closed, how many do you think the disgraced governor visited?

None.

In the unlikely event Blagojevich is in Coles County--he rarely ventures out of Chicago--he can visit the Lincoln Log Cabin site. But just the grounds.

Related posts:

Thirty hours in Lincoln's Springfield, Illinois
Unpopular governor will skip Obama rally in Springfield
Bad choice: Obama reserves Old State Capitol to show off running mate
"Closed Today" signs coming to many Illinois Lincoln sites
Abraham Lincoln birthplace site
Abraham Lincoln birthplace site's log cabin
"My earliest recollection is of the Knob Creek place"
Andrew Ferguson video on his new book, Land of Lincoln
Book review: Andrew Ferguson's "Land of Lincoln: Adventures in Abe's America"
Stephen A. Douglas Tomb in Chicago
My Mississippi Manifest Destiny: Jonesboro, site of the third Lincoln-Douglas Debate

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