Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich
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Dick Simpson, a former local elected official who now teaches at the University of Illinois at Chicago, counts hundreds of politicians who have been sent to jail since 1971, including 30 aldermen and three of the past seven governors. "The whole mess has to be taken in context," he explains. But even by Chicago standards, Blagojevich seems especially kleptocratic, according to prosecutors. He tried to shake down highway contractors, job seekers and health-care administrators. He talked of holding up bill-signings in exchange for favors--and seemed not to understand when his targets balked at his demands. When the CEO of Chicago's Children's Memorial Hospital failed to return phone calls regarding a campaign contribution, Blagojevich began investigating ways to deny the hospital funding. "What do we do with this guy?" he mused.
Blagojevich didn't work alone. When the Tribune Co. needed his O.K. to sell Wrigley Field, home of the Cubs, he included in the price tag a demand that Tribune executives fire editorial writers who Blagojevich felt had it in for the governor. During one call, Blagojevich's wife Patti can be heard calling out from the background, "Hold up that f______ Cubs s___ ... F___ them." Though the message was apparently transmitted to corporate representatives, the Chicago Tribune said none of Blagojevich's critics were pressured to leave.
Through his lawyer, Blagojevich maintained his innocence, and he showed up to work a day later even while on bail. Most Democrats in the state, not to mention Obama and Senator Dick Durbin, are calling for his resignation, and the Illinois legislature is moving to strip him of the statutory power to name Obama's successor. Until either occurs, Obama's old seat will remain vacant. The son of a steelworker, who shined shoes and boxed in his youth, Blagojevich is nothing if not a fighter, and he has battled his way out of pinches before. But a criminal trial is about far above his normal weight, especially when the accused is the chief witness against himself.