Big Hair, Big Ego, Big Problems

It really makes one appreciate the significance of Barack Obama. Here is a fairly exotic guy, uber-educated and ambitious, who early on decides to make his mark through politics. In Chicago. Takes a minimum wage-ish job as a community organizer, helping the tough southeast-side neighborhoods affected by the steel mill closings.

He gets some attention from the "powers that be" as a potential player on the make. But he doesn't go that route. He goes back to get his law degree at Harvard, heads up the Law Review there, and comes back to Chicago. Gets a gig as a professor teaching Constitutional Law at U. of Chicago.

And then he tosses this out the window and runs for State Representative. He wins. He runs for Congress. He loses. He spends time in Springfield, working with career politicians. Learns the ropes. Runs for U.S. Senate. Wins. Runs for President. Wins.

Meanwhile, there is Rod Blagojevich. We have another highly educated, uber-ambitious, politically motivated person of the Chicago streets. His father was a steel worker, layed off. Young Rod worked hard, blue-collar style. He returned to Chicago with a prestigious law degree.

But unlike Obama, Blagojevich thrived in the city political scene. He dated and later married the daughter of a highly influential alderman. He became immersed in the intricacies and intrigues of the Chicago Machine. Like Obama, he made his first big mark by becoming a State Representative.

And, like BO, he ran for Congress. But he won. And was re-elected twice. Then he ran for Governor. And won. And was re-elected (somehow).

Two Chicago politicians with certain similarities, but huge differences in attitude, point-of-view, motivation and, now, career trajectories. Both benefited from rapid ascents into politically rarified altitudes. One tried to fly too close toward the great, bright, yellow coin-shaped object in the sky and is experiencing "rapid disassembly". What a moron.

To truly appreciate how stupid the Boy Governor is, check out the Criminal Complaint filed against him when he was arrested. It's 78 pages of stunning, mind-bending revelations. How could a person who knew he was being stalked by Patrick Fitzgerald and the Feds be so feckless? Anyway, here it is. Check out page 63 and what he really thinks of our President-Elect:

http://media.suntimes.com/images/cds/MP3/blagojevich_criminal_complaint2.pdf

So he became more than a someone, and he even became a contender. But he wanted more: more money, more security, more prestige -- he didn't want to be Governor anymore. He wanted to be an Ambassador. He wanted to be a Cabinet Secretary. He wanted to be Senator. He wanted to President.

Instead, he will become an inmate, perhaps joining his predecessor, George Ryan, at the Federal Correctional Institute in Terre Haute, Indiana.

And the other guy, Barack Obama, becomes President next month. And he will try to turn this country around, picking up the pieces from what people like Blagojevich have left behind.

In honor of convicted Chicago pols everywhere, here is the original "I Fought The Law And The Law Won." by the Bobby Fuller Four:


YouTube - Bobby Fuller I fought the law


Quote of the Day:

"They have vilified me, they have crucified me; yes, they have even criticized me." -- Richard J. Daley (Da Mare I)