The Combine

As you may have heard, Governor Rod Blagojevich has been arrested for corruption. The only surprise is how stupid and un-subtle Blago was in conducting his business. Even though he knew he was under investigation, he's trying to shake down people. About the only good thing is that Blago's on tape admitting that Obama's not going to play ball with him.

For my non-Illinois readers, Blago got elected as a reaction to corruption under Republican governor George Ryan. Ryan, not a Chicago pol, was up to his ears in various pay-to-play schemes as Illinois Secretary of State. In 2002, when Ryan resigned rather then run again, Illinois voters would have elected Bozo The Clown on the Democratic ticket.

The only difference I can see between Bozo and Blago is that one of them wears less makeup.

John Kass, a Chicago Tribune columnist, calls Illinois politics “The Combine.” Basically, there are a hunk of Chicago politicians and goombas (Chicago-ese for “good-ole-boys”) who are bipartisan and corrupt. (According to the indictment, Blago tried to pressure the Tribune to back off of him and fire some of their writers. I'm surprised that Kass wasn't on the 'should be fired' list.)

Blagojevich is a member of that Combine - head of his governor's transition committee was former Republican governor and Ryan defense counsel Jim Thompson.

Blago's biggest problem is that he’s a particularly clumsy member of The Combine. It’s been clear that the FBI was on him for months, and per the statement in the Chicago Tribune from Fitzgerald, they bugged Blago’s office months ago. This leads to amusing conversations caught on tape where Blago says “assume everybody’s listening."

I hope Blago resigns, but nothing I have seen suggests that he'll do that.