When Arrogance Exceeds Intelligence
One of the first stories I ever wrote about soon-to-be former Governor of Illinois Rod Blagojevich was back in 2003 about the firings of dozens of state employees which were done in violation of the Illinois Administrative Code. When I asked the Governor about it during an interview he said something to me to the effect “I’m not going to let paperwork stand in the way of reforming this government.”
So when I got word yesterday that U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald filed a criminal complaint against the Governor outlining allegations that even made me take a step back, I will freely admit to doing a little happy dance. Well to be honest I put on my tux, top hat and grabbed my cane and started tap dancing. I accept a certain amount of corruption in my politics, but Blagojevich took things to a whole ‘nother level and in the process alienated just about every elected official worth his or her salt in the entire state.
Governor Blagojevich was the embodiment of a phrase my father uses quite freely, “his arrogance exceeds his intelligence.” Whenever we dealt with him in news conferences it was abundantly clear the Governor thought we were a nuisance. This is not a good quality to have if you are prone to engage in wrongdoing because you are going to get caught. And when you do it won’t be pretty and many people will celebrate; in fact there I got several e-vites last night to a bunch of parties back home. Blagojevich never endured himself to the public. He even skipped walking in this past year’s State Fair parade for fear of being booed or hit with something.
Blagojevich would always pull a bait and switch. There was no promise that wasn’t above breaking. And the height of his shamelessness was while at an event with his family, Blagojevich tried to show off in front of the press. He then started getting peppered with questions about one of the many criminal investigations of his administration, he picked up his daughter and told the media they were making cry. Typical.
Ironically though, this was never an issue about Republicans versus Democrats or liberal versus conservatives. This was good versus annoying, stupid evil. Blagojevich was the classic politician who believed his own press and thought he could get away with anything. Nice to know he couldn’t.
