Politics In The Illinois Style

We hear you knocking, said the Supreme Court to former Illinois governor George Ryan. We hear you knocking, but you can't come in.

Convicted of fraud and racketeering, Mr. Ryan has run up the legal ladder in a determined attempt to stay out of jail. His last chance, the Supreme Court, won't bother to hear his so-called case. He's guilty. That's the end of the discussion.

Poor lad. Health gone, career and reputation ground into the dust....and where's the sympathy? How can they let such a man rot in jail?

No doubt the Justices looked over the court transcripts and realized that Mr. Ryan had gotten a fair trial. Let him cry all he likes but he should have thought about the consequences when he was doling out the sweetheart deals and encouraging his employees to accept bribes for his campaign coffers. He was found guilty, and his sentence remains in place.

Former Illinois governor Jim Thompson is wailing and gnashing his teeth as well, sobbing over his colleague's lost pension. A convicted criminal doesn't get to retire on the taxpayer's dime, after all, especially when he pocketed so very many taxpayer dimes during his tenure.

What's to be done, after all legal avenues have turned into blind alleys? Why, turn to the President himself and ask for a pardon for poor little Georgie, so sickly, so frail. Might not live to see the end of his sentence. Ah, sure the heart bleeds for him.

The notion of a presidential pardon is not so far-fetched, if you look at the connections. Jim Thompson, a prominent Illinois Republican, turns to Bob Kjellander, another prominent Illinois Republican who's a member in good standing of the political machine that has all but destroyed the Republican Party in Illinois. As was mentioned in the Tony Rezko fraud trial, Mr. Kjellander is a close friend of Karl Rove, who in turn has the ear of George W. Bush, who trusts his advisors.

That's how it works in Illinois. There are no true Democrats or Republicans, no true aisle to reach across to do a deal. It's only a collection of grifters working a scam and hiding behind a political facade.