Here's an intriguing passage:
How does a Nixon-loving, Reagan-imitating, ambitious young man get ahead politically? In Chicago, there was one way, and one way only: by joining the machine — Richard J. Daley’s machine — that had stolen the presidency from his hero in 1960. We had taken a political science course in college about American urban political machines and read the classic book Don't Make No Waves...Don't Back No Losers,about Chicago politics. Rod knew what he had to do. He became a Democrat and worked his way up the ladder ?— running first for the state legislature, then Congress and the governorship. It was the triumph of ambition over ideology. He married Patti Mell, daughter of a big-time alderman, which is what they call city councilmen in Chicago. None of us were surprised.
Blago the Republican? Maybe. It's very difficult to work your way up from the bottom in Chicago as a member of the GOP. Did Blago become a liberal so he could have a political career? Maybe. What does Blagojevich believe in? In my opinion, he has one master, his own perceived grandeur, which in my opinion makes Blago not immoral, but amoral.
Look for more Blago recollections like this one to come out. The theme will very likely be the same--Illinois' former governor is amoral.
That is something the Blago-enablers have known for a long time.
And they did nothing to stop this amoral jerk.
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Rubes,
ReplyDeleteHow . . .how did this room temperature I.Q. moron get admitted to Northwestern?
Probably the same way Bernardine Dorhn got herself a job . . .some stooge.
Affirmative action for hair-brained ones?
ReplyDeleteIt's a Progressive Thing - the boiled beets initiative!
ReplyDeleteJohn,
ReplyDeleteVery interesting. It seems Blago's amoral journey is not unusual in the political world, whether Chicago, Illinois or elsewhere. Opportunists set aside ideology and go for the gold, whether they were orginally conversative or liberal. It happens in the private sector too. I once knew guy who was a lobbyist for the American Lung Association in Madison, WI. He did that for several years, then suddenly found a new gig as a lobbyist for - ta da! - some tobacco lobby. There are plenty of sincere conservatives and liberals who maintain their own moral compasses, but sadly there are also a lot of Blagos on both sides of the political aisle.