This is what corruption looks like
I wasn’t going to mention anything about Rod Blagojevich’s arrest this morning because DrewM, Slublog and Michelle Malkin have all done such a great job of keeping me informed, I figured I can’t add anything of substance. But sitting here watching the US Attorney’s news conference just infuriates me. (You can see the video and transcript of the press conference at Gateway Pundit) Ya know, I’ve listened to the Left blather on about corruption in the Bush Administration while this REAL corruption is happening.
I’ve read the blather from the hippies about “this is what a police state looks like” referring to the attempts to make them act civilized. But here’s a real police state – a politician witholding funds from a childrens’ hospital (for Pete’s sake) until the CEO pays him some cash. A politician using his office to get journalists fired. Selling a seat in the upper house of Congress.
Do I blame Obama? Nope. I’m sure he’s not poltically inept enough to know anything about it. The first Democrat who tries to rush to the aid of this slug should be shot. I know how forgiving Democrats are towards their own criminals (Marion Berry) and I just expect it cynical asshole that I am.
Added: Charles Krauthammer said he’s not just corrupt. He’s psychotically corrupt.
This is the headline AP chose – notice how far you have to read to find out to which party the crook belongs.
As compared to today’s Larry Craig story – second sentence and in the caption of the picture;
Bits Blog thinks it all sounds a little too familiar. Laughing Wolf reports that Blackfive may have been caught in a pay for play scheme involving Uncle Jimbo’s beer money.
Category: Liberals suck, Politics
The title ‘this ain’t hell’ may be wrong. I think we have moved into the middle of the fire.
We need a new game called ‘Name the democrat who isn’t involved in corruption’. Anyone above a county official is going to be hard to find.
Ah, Democrats. The party of Tolerance. Tolerance of corrupt Democratic politicians, that is.
Hey, the AP Obama, as Rush id’s them, at least named him as a dem. That’s a vast improvement over Cold Cash Jefferson, where it took them til the second story on him to id his party affiliation.
And Bob’s right, the only tolerance dems have is for their own corrupt politicians.
[…] This ain’t Hell, but you can see it from here » Blog Archive » This is what corruption looks lik… […]
[…] was like This Ain’t Hell, I wasn’t going to cover this story, everyone was on top of it and had great articles. But […]
“That’s NOT the Rod Blagojevich that I know”.
hahaha, Ziggy! Blagojevich is as corrupt as the rest…I can’t wait to see who was hiding out while all this was going on.
[…] Ain’t Hell suggests: Do I blame Obama? Nope. I’m sure he’s not poltically inept enough to know anything about […]
I’m not rushing to the defense of this guy, but someone has to ask, where’s the crime here?
From what I can tell, the governor contemplated the sale of a senate seat for personal gain. But did he actually sell it? No. How is that a crime?
I suspect those siding with the state on this issue do so for one of two reasons: a. because the man in question is a democrat; or b. he intended to commit a crime and, had the state not intervened, he would have sold the seat and gotten away with it.
Applauding the arrest for political reasons is foolish because the shoe will eventually be on the other foot (see Craig, Larry). It’s those who applaud the man’s arrest for the second reason that trouble me more – according to the logic in reason b, everyone should be arrested before getting into his or her car, for they have the potential to commit a crime.
Law should deal in actual crime (i.e. crimes against people and/or the people’s property). Legislating based on probabilities is an extremely slippery slope.
Oh, you mean like any inchoate crimes? Or perhaps attempted murder etc?
Point me again to the defense of Craig posted here if you would, I neglected to put it in my favorites.
TSO,
I used Larry Craig as an example a democrat would use to “damn” republicans as corrupt criminals…I’d never expect anyone from this blog to defend Craig’s actions!
To me, there is no such thing as inchoate crime. Crime should be restricted to actions that deprive someone of their life and/or their property. I see nothing criminal in what the Illinois governor did. Stupid, yes. Criminal, no.
(PS: sorry to read of your recent run of bad luck. I hope things turn around for you soon.)
I’m flabergasted by that. So, in order to punish someone like Blago, we would have to allow him to finish and execute his plan? And any victims would have to be injured in order to effectively take someone off the street?
Honestly, flabergasted by the logic there. If it were a victimless crime, that would be one thing, but essentially taking money from a Children’s Hospital doesn’t seem like a victimless offense to me. Attempting to get a editorial board fired through witholding funds for a project also seems less than truly victimless.
But thank you for your kind words.
Yes – in my view, we would have to wait until Blago took money from the children’s hospital before we could prosecute him for criminal activity. Absent the criminal act, what do you prosecute – conspiracy, thought, intent? I don’t see how prosecuting someone for any of the above “actions” is consistent with the principles of a free society.
Put another way, consider the absurd argument liberals make in favor of banning firearms. The argument is that guns cause crime and therefore all firearms should be removed from citizen ownership (or, in Barky speak, “regulated”). Certainly we aren’t so naive to believe that the mere presence of a firearm means inevitable eruption of violence?
The intent argument can be applied to any situation, and that’s what makes it so dangerous. Everything from an automobile (you could kill someone while driving, ya know) to uttering the phrase, “I could kill you!” to a rival is subject to the interpretation of law enforcement. My point is, where do you draw the line? A person should be judged by his or her actions, not their intentions. Law enforcement, courts, etc. should deal in absolutes and leave probabilities to insurance companies.
Oh, and one more thing (sorry) – I am all for prosecuting any SOB who takes money from children’s hospitals or withholds funds in order to get people fired.
I view money as a person’s property and, in each case, money was taken (or withheld) from its rightful owner. In each case someone was aggressed against, and the the aggressor deserves the punishment he or she receives……preferably in a private court system, but that’s another topic.