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A 'Shady' Guv Is Brought Down by Vanity

Blagojevich always seemed sketchy, but never 'Nixonian'

By Jason Farago, Newser Staff

Posted Dec 10, 2008 6:54 AM CST

(Newser) – Of the six Illinois governors who preceded Rod Blagojevich, three have gone to prison—a 50% conviction rate that makes dealing crack on Chicago’s West Side look safe. Still, writes Edward McClelland in Salon, nobody was prepared for the breathtaking scale of Blagojevich's corruption. "Illinoisans have always had a sense that Blagojevich was shady," he writes, but they underestimated his soaring vanity.

In his two terms, writes McClelland, Blagojevich never seemed so venal that he would "hatch a Nixonian scheme like peddling a US Senate seat as though it were a stolen flat-screen." But yesterday's indictment, in which the governor speaks about a 2016 presidential run as if it were fated, exposed the pitfalls of vanity for someone "not smart enough to be competent."

[Images (3)]

[Quotes (1)]

Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich waits patiently as his daughter, Annie Blagojevich, hops around the podium in Chicago. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green, File)

Elique Winfield, 6, right, smiles as she messes with Gov. Rod Blagojevich's hair during his visit to the St. Vincent de Paul Center in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File)

Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich speaks to reporters at Abraham Lincoln's Tomb in Springfield, Ill., before talking about plans for expansion at Chicago's O'Hare Airport. (AP Photo/Seth Perlman, File)

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I never expected Hot Rod to get into a mess this hot, though. Frankly, I always considered him an amiable goof obsessed with hair care and jogging. - Edward McLelland

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COMMENTS

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Showing 3 of 6 comments

dolcevita

Dec 10, 2008 2:52 AM CST

Nixon was corrupt and surreptitious in his scheming, was CAUGHT IN A WIRETAP, just like Blago. The Nixon comparison comment originated from the Blagovernor's own mouth in a press conference he held on Monday. No need to say Nixon was a Republican, no need to say Blago is a Democrat. Nixon wasn't selling a senate seat, and Blago wasn't selling flat-screens. You have made a molehill out of a microbe, Infidel, and you seem frustrated that you can't blame Obama or the media or liberals, or anyone else you feel fearful of, for this. Try not letting fear rule your life.

Guest

Dec 10, 2008 12:23 AM CST

I did not say that he was corrupt because he was a democrat, just that the article doesn't mention that he is a democrat and uses a republican (Nixonian scheme) as a basis of comparison. That is all.

dolcevita

Dec 9, 2008 11:31 PM CST

Blagojevich isn't corrupt because he is white, democrat or male. Race, party, gender do NOT play a role in his abuses of power. THAT is why it is irrelevant to mention any of those characteristics. They do not influence his actions. Infidel, apparently you appreciate the liberalness of US media enough to use newser as a forum. Once you get your blood pressure under control you may become less antagonistic and more open-minded, even reasonable. I wish you the best. We are all in this together.

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A 'Shady' Guv Is Brought Down by Vanity