On the cover of every major Chicago paper, over the last five days, has been the investigation of Governor Blagojevich. In Friday’s Chicago Tribune the article “Blagojevich fundraiser held by Jackson allies Saturday,” Davis Kidwell, John Chase, and Dan Mihalopoulos discuss what exactly happened with the Blagojevich fundraiser.Money, more than one million dollars, was being raised to help encourage Blagojevich to pick Jesse Jackson for Illinois’ next U.S. Senator. The article states that, “Blagojevich and the congressman met to discuss the senate seat on Monday, one day before federal prosecutors arrested Blagojevich and charged him with trying to sell the U.S. Senate seat vacated by President-Elect Barack Obama.”
The Blagojevich situation directly relates to my perilous times essay, “Executive Branch Power in Perilous Times.” My essay in particular, along with the chapter “Democracy in the Balance” from Al Gore’s The Assault on Reason, both focus on cases in which the executive branch (presidents in particular) has overstepped its constitutional boundaries. In the Blagojevich situation, it is the executive branch of the State Government instead of the Federal Government.
In cases, such as Blagojevich’s, politicians are abusing their power. What steps should the government, and our country, take to insure that in the future, power will not be misused? Should it be Governor that chooses the replacement for the U.S. Senate position when it is vacated during the term of office?
Can you explain the meaning of "gBay" in the title?
1 comment:
First off, I cant believe that Blagojevich, a person that ran his campaign on being uncorrupted, got arrested for corruption. Is it part of the job description that as an Illinois politician one must become corrupt? It's hard to insure that people appointed to high positions wont abuse their power, because they might not have that intent when they are elected. I'd like to think that I wouldn't abuse my power if I were elected, but its an extremely trying task to be faced with. As far as your second question goes, I think that the people should vote, the governor could pick his best friend, who could be incapable of fulfilling the job. That's hard to do though in such short time, it would mean that the state has only two and a half months to elect a new senator, which means each party would have to throw someone into the mix as soon as the position opens. It would be a very delicate process shoved into a small space of time, but I think its better than auctioning the seat off.
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