Karl Klockars

Today’s release of an Esquire article featuring Ravenswood’s favorite citizen, Rod Blagojevich, has everyone talking because race makes people freak out in this country like nothing else.  And we’ll probably be talking about it all week – or until Blago says something else with foot firmly ensconced in mouth.

But it’s what we’re not talking about today that illuminates what Blago is really missing.

“I’ll show you where Rahm lives,” he says. We’re in my rental; Blago’s ride these days is a 1988 Volvo owned by his brother, and alleged coconspirator, Rob.

“That house with the flag, and then there’s the lot right next door — he bought that. When he left the [Clinton] White House, he got into some deal where he made a quick $15 million through his connections with Exelon ComEd — amazing. Fifteen million — it’s that white-collar stuff people do. He’s using his connections in the White House, but I’m the guy facing what I’m facing. And I’m broke.”

What Blago fails to realize (or, more likely, what the interviewer tried to point out and Blago simply ignored it or went into one of his usual “I’m fightin’ for the little guy” monologues) is this:

The difference between Rahm Emanuel getting a shitload of money for being a connected guy and you trying to get a shitload of money for being a politically connected guy is obvious.  You just said it yourself.  Look at it again:  “When he left the White House…”  Right there.  See that?

Do any of us like the fact that people use their political connections to make millions after they get out of office?  No.  Do we expect it?  Well, yeah.  But they wait til’ they get out of office.  It’s when you’re sitting in the Governor’s office, the Mayor’s office, a Senator’s office, and you’re throwing around things that belong to the people as a bargaining chip for your own back pocket – that’s when you get into trouble.  That’s a no go.

This could actually be the root of all of our statewide troubles.  Everyone in politics is greedy, and when our Governor, who came from such humble backgrounds (just ask him), saw all this cash flying around like craaaaazy, he wanted it.  And he just wouldn’t wait two damn years.  He had to have it now.

It wasn’t the greed that got Blago in trouble.  It was the lack of patience.

If Rod Blagojevich decided not to run (we’d never know how ironic the statement “I want to spend more time with my family” would have been) and Pat Quinn took over in 2010 (a big if) and Blago decided to go back to ambulance chasing or Elvis impersonations and speaking engagements for huge amounts of money, no one would give a shit.  It’s when you’re saying “I am Governor of the State of Illinois and this is why you have to give me a ton of money” that things start getting a little shifty.

With all the press that our former Governor does in order to temper the jury pool, it’s easy to forget that that is exactly what has happened (as far as we know).  It’s not our fault that the only thing Blago had to bargain with are the things that belonged to the people of Illinois.  If he felt that he had no chips to play with after his “stay” in the Governor’s mansion, then maybe he should have played the game a little better in order not to end up with nothing at the end of it.

And even if Blago had been selling stuff for financial gain when he was Governor, we wouldn’t care.  (We’d wonder what the hell he was doing with his salary, but that’s another set of conjecture stories.)  The thing is: that stuff needs to belong to him.  He can sell his dining room set on craigslist.  He can’t sell a Senate seat.  And now that I think about it, a Blagojevich garage sale would be pretty awesome. It’s only a matter of time.

There’s plenty more fallout from this story – from the c-bomb being dropped about Lisa Madigan, to his “hatred” for the Madigan family in general, to his buddy Butch who looks like Fabio, to who his friend Bill is at the end of the piece, there are more questions to be answered.

But today, I think Blago answered a really big one for us.