Wiretapping nabs Ill. gov.

When Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich was told there were two FBI officers waiting with a warrant for his arrest, he asked if it was a joke.

What is really a joke is that Blagojevich, who authorities believe was soliciting bribes for Barack Obama’s vacant Senate seat, considered giving himself the seat to set himself up for a presidential run in 2016.

Thanks to Blagojevich, Barack Obama will likely be the last president from Illinois for quite a while.

Kudos goes out to U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald and his impressive investigation, which involved wiretapping Blagojevich’s phone conversations as he detailed his own corruption.

There are plenty of students from Illinois on this campus. Many will be surprised by this news, not because they thought Blagojevich was a good guy, but because they are used to corrupt politicians getting away with their illegal activities.
Illinois’ last governor is in jail, though he didn’t see charges pressed against him until after he left office.

Some Illinois residents probably didn’t even care. Given that neither Mitch Daniels nor Jill Long Thompson would have likely run a “pay-to-play” administration, many native Hoosiers are probably counting their blessings. Residents from Illinois, however, are used to having bad people in power.

Many will try to tie this (and other recent Democratic scandals) to the new Obama administration. Most Illinois residents will simply hope that in the 2010 gubernatorial race, they actually have decent options.