In the great state of Illinois, Land of Lincoln and Obama, or the state of incarcerated politicians, trouble is brewing. The sociopath, former governor, George Ryan, is tired of being in prison and wants out. How can he get out? Sing like a canary.
Before he can sing, Senator Dick Durbin wants to pardon him. Let him out after serving a year of a seven year sentence. Why would Durbin go out on a limb for a Republican?
Ryan is a dirty politician in a state where most politicians are dirty. Maybe even Durbin has lots to hide. Ryan knows where all the bodies are buried. If he sings, there could be the need to add a wing at the minimum security prison where Ryan is housed.
Durbin is trying to come across as a great humanitarian in this case. The current governor is jumping on the bandwagon. The fact that there is a federal investigation underway that will likely put Blagojevich in jail, too, might have something to do with that.
When does the public get a say in this? We have been abused by the dirty politicians for years who have stolen our tax dollars for their personal benefit. When is enough, enough? When do we tell Durbin to butt out? Let Ryan die in prison. Lots of prisoners do. What makes him special? When convicted, he was unrepentant. Now he’s sorry.
When do we put our foot down and say, sorry George, serve your time? Then ask, Durbin, what are you so worried about? If George wants to sing and put a whole state full of dirty politicians in jail, then let’s give him a year for each 100 he gives us. He will probably come up with 600 real fast. We might really be surprised about who would be on that list.
Here is my letter to the Tribune, emailed to them earlier today after reading of Durbin’s betrayal:
"Thanks to the Tribune for continuing to stand with the people of Illinois against the public corruption of our elected officials and for urging, first, Sen. Durbin and now President Bush to leave George Ryan right where he belongs, behind bars.
I am disappointed that Sen. Durbin has chosen to stand with the corrupt political insiders of our state and against the people that deserve an honest government. Sen. Durbin should have disclosed his plans to abandon the people of our state to continued corruption before the election but he chose to hide his plans from us. For these reasons, this lifelong Democrat will never vote for Dick Durbin again."
My letter has been posted on the Trib’s Voices of the People website at http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/letters/chi-081202johnson_briefs,0,7681875.story
I will add that I did not vote for Sen. Durbin in the election just past (tho I have voted for him in the past) as part of my "throw the bums out" strategy of voting against all incumbents this year.
Chris:
We are on the same page. Kudos for writing the Tribune. I believe Durbin has a personal interest in this, or he has been asked to be the front man for those who do.
Mayor Bloomberg made a big campaign yesterday about Plexico Burris being in the public eye and the need to make sure exceptions are not made for him. Why should exceptions be made for dirty politicians who play roles in killing innocent children.
Let George sing and see who he sings about.