How can Illinois Politics be so Corrupt?

@ParaTed2k (22940)
Sheboygan, Wisconsin
December 17, 2008 1:37am CST
For decades I've heard about the corruption of Illinois politicians and justice system. For a system to be that corrupt, two things have happen. 1) Those who are corrupt are protected by the infrastructure. 2) Those who aren't corrupt, know about the corruption, but keep their mouths shut. When the infrastructure is protecting the corrupt and peretuating the corruption, the only people who make it to the top are those who are corrupt, since those who aren't corrupt can't ever beat those who are. Those who aren't corrupt are kept quiet out of fear of those who are corrupt. Political careers rely on the established people taking the new people under their wings and helping them move up when the old guard has decided they are ready. In a corrupt system, the old guard makes sure those who aren't corrupt can only get so high in the system. They want to keep the corrupt ball rolling, so the last thing they want is an uncorrupt person getting too far... on the other hand, they do want the uncorrupt to get so far because they are the ones the rest will hold up as models when the citizens start complaining about the corruption. As long as a few can be proven to be honest, the rest can appear that way. Boat rockers are taken care of long before they get enough real power to do anything about it. So what does this say about Barack Obama? He claims that he doesn't know anything about the corruption... yet everyone seems to know about the corruption, so how could he be so involved in Illinois politics and not know anything about it? Sure, he could be an uncorrupt man. He has made it to the top, but not in Illinois politics. It could very well be that the powers that be in Illinois supported him for president to get him out of the game before he got to dangerous to it. There is evidence that this could be true. On the other hand, he may not be one of the corrupt ones, but it really stretches the suspension of disbelief for us to imagine that he can make it to State Senator and NOT know who the corrupt ones are. As a lawyer and a community activist he had to have gotten to know a lot of people in the system. So this wouldn't speak well of Prs. Elect Obama. Can you know who is corrupt and what they do without it making you corrupt yourself? If Obama knows what the corrupt have done to the people of his state and kept his mouth shut about it, is he innocent at all? It all comes down to a couple of questions... Is Illinois politics as corrupt as we've always heard it is? If it truly that corrupt, is there anyone in the system that can claim they don't know anything about it? Or do we just have Sgt Schultz in the White House now?
2 people like this
5 responses
@suspenseful (40193)
• Canada
17 Dec 08
I do not know that much about Illinois politics, but I can tell you that Obama should have known that Gov Blagojevich was being investigated for corruption and he should have distanced himself from him. But it is after all Illinois, like was that not where Al Capone ruled back in the twenties and thirties? So it does have a large tradition for corruption, and it takes some time for it to be resolved. All I can say that I never did trust someone who got in due to white guilt and because of media preference. What you need is a strong president not one who just got on in popularity coat tails to see and do something about corruption in his home state, rather then give silent assent.
@spalladino (17891)
• United States
17 Dec 08
Just because you may know or suspect that someone is corrupt it doesn't necessarily translate to you having inside information on the specifics or the ability to do anything about it...and to be effective...without destroying yourself in the process. Knowing and being able to prove what you know are also two very different animals and I don't even know if it's possible to wipe out all of the corruption in Chicago. It's been a standard for too many decades.
1 person likes this
@bayernfan (1430)
• Canada
17 Dec 08
I almost laughed out loud when I saw the title of this discussion. How short-term our focus on history has become. Didn't Al Capone run a successful Mob ring out of Chicago in the 1920's and 1930's? [b][i]To put its headquarters outside of city jurisdiction and create a safe zone for its operations, the Capone organization muscled its way into Cicero, Illinois. This led to one of Capone's greatest triumphs: the takeover of Cicero's town government in 1924. ... Through this organized corruption, which included the bribing of Mayor of Chicago William "Big Bill" Hale Thompson, Capone's gang operated largely free from legal intrusion, operating casinos and speakeasies throughout Chicago.[/b][/i] I think the only ones who act surprised by this are the anchors and analysts on CNN. CNN produces the best soap operas on television. Really, is anyone surprised when a politician attempts to use plausible deniability? Are you really surprised that a system which gives a publicly elected official the power to appoint whomever he wants to another so-called elected office, that corruption takes place? The real problem stems from citizens who lack knowledge about the system that they are governed by. Governor Blagojevich offered a vacant senate seat for cash because he was in financial difficulty. Other governors appoint people to senate seats for political favors or after arranging back room deals. I wonder if the governor of New York, David Paterson, owes a favor to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid? Perhaps all this talk about Caroline Kennedy taking over Hillary Clinton's newly vacated seat has something to do with her support for Barack Obama during the Democratic Presidential Race?
1 person likes this
@diacedez (177)
• United States
17 Dec 08
we could debate n come up with ideas of whats goin on, but none of us will really know the truth 100%, things are def more corrupt then we think they are, but research has been done since this latest scandal n illinois isnt near the top, i guess North Dakota was on the top? ahah, go figure but yeah.. its crazy what money n power can do to a person and a state/country for that matter..
• United States
2 Jan 09
There is a great book called "What cops know" and it was written from interviews done mostly with Chicago cops. One of the key things they know is that the mob runs everything from the top down. If your a strait up guy you do what you can and ignore the rest. Rock the boat to hard and you sleep with the fishes. Corruption in Chicagoland is like corruption in the Big Easy. Folks are used to it and even hold a sort of pride in it. It's a sign of their local culture. It's so ingrained from generations of acceptance that it's nearly impossible to get rid of. How many former governors of Illinois are retired as opposed to how many are in Jail. The same goes for Chicago officials. It is what it is.