A Warning to Obama
Five years ago, former Illinois Governor George Ryan was sentenced to serve six and a half years in prison on federal corruption charges (1). The sentence was meant to send a message to politicians that Illinois-style politics would not be tolerated.
Former Governor Rod Blagojevich did not get the message. Today he was sentenced to 14 years in prison on similar charges. This is the second time in five years in Illinois that Federal prosecutors are sending a message that the public and judges have had enough of fraud, corruption, and abuse of office (2).
President Obama, are you listening?
Speaking of Obama and political corruption, it seems that he cheated his way on to the ballot in the Indiana primary in 2008:
FoxNews, 7 Dec 2011, Indiana 2008 Presidential Primary Election Fraud Probe Heats Up
Charity Rorie, a mother of four, sat in her Mishawaka, Ind., kitchen, stunned that her name appeared on a 2008 Democratic presidential primary petition for then-candidate Barack Obama.
"That's not my signature," she told Fox News, saying her signature is "absolutely" a fake. She also said she was troubled someone forged both her signature and that of her husband, Jeff, and listed personal details such as their address and birthdays.
...
"I had always thought that, now-President Obama, had earned his victory in Indiana," said the state's Republican chairman, Eric Holcomb. "But then I quickly learned that he had cheated his way on to the ballot in the primary."
The allegations that election fraud touched a race for the highest office in the land are at the center of an investigation by St. Joseph County Attorney Michael Dvorak.
ENDNOTES
(1):
NY Times, 17 Apr 2006, Ex-Governor of Illinois Is Convicted on All Charges
After more than five months of sometimes complicated testimony in his federal case, and after five weeks of still more tangled deliberations, a jury convicted Mr. Ryan, a Republican, of granting state business to associates in exchange for cash and presents for himself, his family and his friends.
(2):
Bloomberg, 7 Dec 2011, Ex-Illinois Governor Blagojevich Gets 14-Year Sentence in Corruption Case
Rod Blagojevich, the former Illinois governor convicted of trying to trade President Barack Obama’s U.S. Senate seat for campaign cash or personal favors, was sentenced to 14 years in prison.
...
Prosecutors asked Zagel to sentence Blagojevich to 15 to 20 years in prison, arguing it would deter future wrongdoing in a state where four of the nine most recent governors have been convicted for crimes committed before, during or after they held office.
...
The prosecutor said the sentence sends a strong message the public and judges have had enough.
