Illinois Political Malaise

The only aspect of the sordid political charade in Illinois more disturbing than the Governor himself is the absolute cavalier response from the public.

In nearly every cable news "man on the street" interview yesterday, Illinoisans sang a common refrain.

"Oh no, I'm not surprised".

And why should they be surprised? It's become a near right of passage for a sitting Illinois Governor to become swept in scandal. Governor Rod is now the third Governor of the past five in Illinois to face a plurality of felony charges.

This entire episode does indeed reflect poorly on President-elect Obama. No matter the painstakingly copious measures his administration takes to prove otherwise, the unfortunate rule of life is that perception is reality. How sad, for the fact remains that Barack Obama has never, ever been even remotely accused of any crime, much to the chagrin of his detractors.

Illinois is broken.

Forget the car czar, we need federal oversight on the state of Illinois.