Blago Busted

[stoutfellow]

So, Illinois Governor Blagojevich has been arrested on charges of "conspiring to sell or trade Illinois' U.S. Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama for financial and other personal benefits for himself and his wife". That's two governors in a row. (Beat that, Louisiana!)

So, does he still get to pick Obama's successor?

Comments

[kattsune.livejournal.com]

According to KMOX this morning, we're only the 18th most corrupt state in the union. I wonder if the 50th most corrupt state is actually less corrupt or just better at it.

[stoutfellow.livejournal.com]

Over at Talking Points Memo, Josh Marshall suggested that Alaska, Louisiana, and Illinois were the three most corrupt states in the union. Immediately, complaints began flooding in from readers who wanted a piece of the action for their states: Arizona, Nevada, New Jersey, Rhode Island, New York, Massachusetts... (No one seems to have mentioned Maryland yet, which surprises me.)

[kattsune.livejournal.com]

I seem to recall in some state somewhere (look at that citation, baby, PURE WIN) that a high volume tunnel was completed with corruption built into the concrete. It collapsed recently due to poor... everything. Selling a seat doesn't bother me so much. I mean, it does, but it's just lobbying on a whole new level. The kind of corruption that drops sections of concrete on my head while I'm trying to go to work - that's the kind of corruption that scares me.

I'll try to find out where I heard that, so my post is less urban legend and more facty.

[kattsune.livejournal.com]

Found it!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Dig_(Boston,_Massachusetts)