No Nonsense
Corrupticians
MUCH to their elation, corrupt politicians (corrupticians) of Bangladesh know that they have their counterparts in America also -- differing not only in degree but also in the consequences of being corrupt.
American corrupticians receive kickbacks mostly through campaign contributions, gifts and travel, while Bangladeshi corrupticians indulge in corruption in every conceivable way.
In Bangladesh, the more corrupt you are the more powerful you are, and the more difficult it is to hold you in prison. Your party, leadership, and party supporters will stand behind you through thick and thin. But in America, no one will come to your rescue except your family and your lawyer.
On October 27, Republican Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska was convicted on seven counts of making false statements in the Senate disclosure form about gifts and favours received. His forty years as a politician ended in humiliation. Only four other senators in US history were convicted on charges of corruption -- mostly influence peddling.
Joseph Burton, (R) Kansas, 1904. Charge: influence peddling; John Mitchell (R) Oregon, 1905. Charge: taking $2,000 for influence peddling; Truman Newberry (R) Michigan, 1919. Charge: conspiracy for spending too much money to win his seat -- overturned by the Supreme Court later; Harrison Williams (D) New Jersey, 1981. Charge: conspiracy and bribery etc; resigned in March 11, 1982 to avoid expulsion); David Durenberger, (R-Minnesota, 1993, charges: conspiracy to submit Senate reimbursement claims).
Instances of corruption and other scandals by congressmen, governors and big city mayors are numerous. However, the horrendous gubernatorial corruption spree that was unearthed on December 9 has overshadowed all past corruption episodes.
Illinois's 51 year old two term governor, Rod Blagojevich, has been indicted by a Federal prosecutor on charges of allegedly trying to sell president-elect Barack Obama's recently vacated US Senate seat, "like a sports agent," according to US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald. He was arrested and then released on bail.
Like all corrupticians, "Blagojevich knows the price of everything and the value of nothing." Even by Illinois standards, where the path from the statehouse to the jailhouse has the footprints of numerous governors, is breathtaking.
Maybe the governor should try the "insanity defense," said Mark Brown in the Chicago Sun-Times. "As a product of Chicago politics, he could argue, he just couldn't help himself. Nobody ever taught him the proper way to govern. All his role models were crooks."
By Illinois law, the governor has the sole power to fill an open US Senate seat. As wisdom would dictate, the state Senate and House look poised to impeach him and change the law to select a new senator by special election. And even if he has the insolence to name someone before state lawmakers step in, the US Senate can reject the appointee constitutionally.
Blagojevich has been under investigation for allegedly indulging in public corruption and "pay to play" deals in the clubby world of Illinois politics.
According to the affidavit, Blagojevich wondered whether he could strip a Chicago children's hospital of $8 million in state funds after a hospital executive declined to make a $50,000 campaign contribution.
He also threatened to hold back state assistance to financially stressed Tribune Company, which owns The Chicago Tribune, unless the newspaper dismissed writers critical of him.
The affidavit claimed that Blagojevich discussed with an aide if he could get the job of Health and Human Services secretary or Energy secretary in exchange for making a Senate appointment that Obama approved.
He wondered if Obama would ask Warren Buffett to give $15 million to a charitable organisation that Blagojevich could head. He even suggested that, in exchange for the Senate appointment, his wife be placed on corporate boards with a salary of $150,000 a year.
The print and electronic media are having a field day with the story. Obama's Republican opponents are smelling a rat, although Obama categorically said: "I had no contact with the governor or his office, and so I was not aware of what was happening."
Prosecutor Fitzgerald confirmed that there was no indication that Obama was aware of Blagojevich's alleged attempts to use the governor's power to appoint Obama's replacement for financial gain.
This commentary should be eye an opener for our politicians; that political corruption in America compared to that in Bangladesh is like a mole-hill next to a mountain. Here, imprisoned corrupticians are considered as political prisoners, and their supporters treat them as heroes and even reelect them while they are in prison.
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