MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti political commentator Andrei Fedyashin)
Democratic Governor Rod Blagojevich (Illinois) was arrested in the United States on charges of corruption.
It would have been a typical Chicago story (the governor's residence is in Springfield but he lives in Chicago), if he were not a Democrat, if he were not governing the state which was represented by Sen. Barack Obama, and if Obama did not win the presidential race.
Fifty-one year old Blagojevich, a Serb by origin, was arrested by the feds in the predawn hours of December 9, but he was home the following day, having paid a bail of $4,500, and written pledge not to leave the city. The governor is charged with bribery, trade in positions, and an attempt to sell Obama's vacated Senate seat to the highest bidder. Illinois is a unique state. Its laws allow the governor to appoint a senator for the vacated position until the next elections.
In an election year, everything runs around the president-elect. A chance to bite a successful rival before leaving is a rare piece of luck. This time, it is more precious because it came from Chicago whose whole history is bogged down in politics and crime.
Blagojevich was first elected governor in 2002, and then re-elected for a second term. Two years ago he was accused of extortion, favoritism, and pressure on unruly rivals. These are routine violations by American politicians.
Republicans have already demanded a detailed inquiry: who from the Obama team might have been linked with Blagojevich and Harris directly or otherwise, and involved in their machinations.
Such revelations do not pose a serious threat to Obama but will spoil his transitional period.
Chicago is infamous in terms of corruption. It started in the city long before the notorious Al Capone set up his syndicate, and thrives there to this day. In the last 30 years three governors, one mayor, and more than 40 officials from all kinds of municipal departments have been arrested in the city. From 1994 to 2004, as many as 469 Illinois politicians at different levels (from the local, municipal, and rural bodies of power) were arrested and convicted on charges of bribery.
Blagojevich is the sixth governor of Illinois accused of corruption since 1960. Two governors were acquitted, another two, both Republicans, have already served their terms. Blagojevich's predecessor, Republican George Ryan, is still behind bars. He was punished with six years in prison, and will be released next year. Ryan was convicted of extortion, racketeering, swindling, bribery and money laundering. Compared to him, Blagojevich is a budding amateur.
The opinions expressed in this article are the author's and do not necessarily represent those of RIA Novosti.
