A couple points:

1. This guy has only been indicted. By your Libby standards, we shouldn't rush to judgement until the case has been tried, right? Or does that only apply to Republicans?

2. He's alleged to have provided jobs to political supporters? Maybe he thought these employees "served at his pleasure" and he could hire and fire anyone he want? Or again, does that standard only apply to Republicans?

3. Finally, if you want to talk about real corruption (you don't, but lets pretend you do), you could mention today's news that the former number 2 man at Bush administration's Interior Department has pled guilty to obstruction of justice. (He lied about his involvement with Jack Abramoff.)

So we have a high-ranking Bush administration official pleading guilty to a crime OR we have the head garbageman for Chicago being charged with a crime. I wonder which one is a bigger deal?

corrupt for 10 years, mark?

not even close.

Daley's dad counted thousands of deceased voters for JFK in the 60 election.

the result was the electoral votes from great state of illinois went to monroe's boyfriend.

and as goes florida, err...make that illinois, so goes the election.

Um...Mark? I live here in Chicago and, yes indeedy, there is definitely some corruption in our Democratic policy makers. No question about it.

But when you talk about corruption here in Illinois, the most talked-about topic is our former, REPUBLICAN Governor George Ryan who is going to PRISON for his misdeeds. You think the Democratic machine is bad here? Pshaw. Nothing compared to the hounds on the right. The GOP is effectively dead in this state thanks to Ryan and his cronies.

So spare me the hypocrisy, please. BOTH sides are corrupt, at times. Come down off that high horse.

This is what you get when you, well, completely dishonor yourself in the quest for power at all costs.

Says the Tom DeLay supporter.

Uh..Cyber.
The difference here is that when we find corruption in the GOP we fire them and they go to prison. You guys on the other hand work the system, bend the rules, blame others etc. and rarely pay for it. So before you start comparing who is more corrupt, I would do an honest analysis of 1)the "legitimacy" of the allegations (ie. Libby, Rove), and 2)the way the punishment is handled (in your case if at all).
We are all sinners at our core and left alone without conscience we will all do evil. It is how it is or is not dealt with that separates the right from the left.

So...reason, I can only assume that when Tom DeLay was indicted, you didn't "work the system, bend the rules, blame others etc." The same for Libby, right? How about Bob Ney? Or Randy Cunningham? Or any of the other Repulican criminals? No, no one on this or any other right wing blog would DARE to say that Republicans who are indicted or sentenced to jail for crimes were railroaded, targeted by left wing judges/prosecutors, wrongly besmirched...nope, wouldn't happen. You'd never blame others for the wrongs of the guys in your party, would you?

Here's the deal: you defend your guys, we defend ours. When the corruption is so egregious that it can't be defended (a la Cunningham on your side or Jefferson on ours), we self-righteously call for their heads. (Sometimes the defenses are ridiculous: during the Foley scandal, I heard people on the right blaming the KIDS, for example.) But to deny that corruption is exists on BOTH sides of the aisle (they are PEOPLE after all) is to be hypocritical in the worst way.

But tell me: who, on our side, has gotten away with crimes that, in your opinion, should have sent them to jail? Are we gonna have to read about Chappaquiddick again?

Thats really the fundamental problem I have with this. Why spend all your effort just exposing democrats who are corrupt - there are plenty of corrupt republicans out there as well. You are really willing to give them a pass because of what party they belong to?

This may be a HUGE story in CHicago, but with everything that's going on corruption-wise in America's White House, The country will let out a collective "YAWN" about some corrupt sanitation commisioner in Chicago. IS there a city in America that does nOT have a corrupt sanitation commisioner ? I doubt it. But how many US soldiers die as a result of corrupt sanitation commisioners ?

Give us a break folks, America's PAYING ATTENTION NOW. This can only mean bad news for Republicans.

Cyber...

I wish I had the facts to pull to counter what you are saying (and I am sure somebody does). My point is this: With the help of the MSM, when someone in the GOP is accused of wrong doing, there is such a frenzy of words and allegations, that the individual is presumed guilty LONG before the true facts come out. Inevitably this causes irrepairable damage done to the person in question. The libs and Democrats do this with reckless abandon so much so that they have actually become quite good at it, much to the detrement of individual quality of life.

You guys tend to accuse rather quickly the things that you are so often most guilty of to begin with.

But since you want an example, the first one that comes to mind is Mr. Berger's "accidental" theft of 9/11 documents. Didn't he get a pass and a slap on the wrist? After all, he really "didn't mean to take those documents out."

Steve: A little information about the City of Chicago ie: The Shakman Decree

http://www.shakmanmonitor.com/

Department Heads in Chicago do not have the same authority as the POTUS. Also Chicago City Employees are not defined as political appointees under the law. They are supposed to be protected under Federal, State and City statutes from political considerations.

Cyber: For a Chicago resident, you seem to be unaware that Ryan beat Glenn Poshard handily because Ritchie Daley could (and did) get more goodies from George than he would under anyone else. That's because Ryan was a member of the 'club', the entrenched political players that brokered deals between themselves and special interests. He was a #1 RINO and he won because the Chicago machine wanted him in. Do you think Ryan's 'Bilk Illinois' money machine and the millions that went towards Chicago projects had nothing to do with Poshard's lousy showing in Chicago?

Coupla things.

You want to talk about the MSM getting into a frenzy over nothing, then I have no choice but to resort to the tools of my righty friends and bring up Bill Clinton.

Filegate. Travelgate. Vince Foster. The Rose Law Firm records. Whitewater. On and on and on the supposed "scandals" were whipped up against Bill and Hillary and when Ken Starr took over the Clinton witch hunt and investigated the living crap out of these people, he came up with...bupkis. So please put the little violin down. The MSM is just as hard on Democrats as they are on Republicans.

Regarding Berger:

"Berger eventually pled guilty to a misdemeanor charge of unauthorized removal and retention of classified material on April 1, 2005. Under a plea agreement, U.S. attorneys recommended a fine of $10,000 and a loss of security clearance for three years. However, on September 8, U.S. Magistrate Judge Deborah Robinson increased the fine to $50,000 at Berger's sentencing. Robinson stated, "The court finds the fine [recommended by government prosecutors] is inadequate because it doesn't reflect the seriousness of the offense." Berger was also ordered to serve two years of probation and to perform 100 hours of community service."

Hardly a slap on the wrist. Got another?

Hermie:

Poshard lost because he basically ran as a Republican. He was an anti-abortion, pro-gun Democrat. Of course he lost. Hell, I voted for the third party candidate (whose name I can't even remember) rather than vote for him or Ryan. Poshard was a dunce and we knew it and so he lost. (And not by much: Ryan beat him 51-47%.)

Now if Paul Vallas had been the Dem candidate (and he should have been), all of this Ryan BS could have been avoided. But Poshard beat Vallas, Ryan beat Poshard and the Ryan went to jail. And killed the GOP in Illinois for years to come.

I know my Illinois political history, thanks.

Ha! Spoke too soon. Shame on me. I just remembered: Blago beat Vallas, dammit.

Republicans are the party of moral values, the caretakers of the "culture of life."

They do not really commit crimes, they simply are acting to "protect our children" and keep America safe.

Their activities, such as illegal campaign financing, obstructing justice, lying to a grand jury, income tax evasion, peddling influence for political donations and voter fraud are all necessary to forward the above goals.

To state with brevity, "the ends justify the means" for Republicans.

All Democrats, of course, are guilty purely for not being Republican.

Wade

Orin,
I assume you've just fallen in line with the right wing spin on the 1960 election -- and are not just lying to make a point.
It's an urban myth -- sorry you were taken in.
JFK received 303 electoral votes. Illinois had 26 electoral votes -- no, it's not a story problem, I'm going to give you the answer: 303-26=277.
No matter how you spin it, Illinois did not put Kennedy over the top -- he was already there.
Weak.

Oh, and Orin,
That doesn't mean that voter fraud is not a serious matter -- in 2000 and 2004 we saw that fraud in just one state really could throw a presidential election.

No doubt the attorney prosecuting is expediting the indictment as his job depends on it. Rove is watching!!!

Salve,

It wasn't just Illinois - Johnson managed to finagle Texas for Kennedy, too...it was those two States which put Kennedy over the top.

Cyber,

Oh, come now - please don't try to sell me on the notion that you are unaware of how corrupt Blago's Administration has been?

You'll really enjoy the book - great stuff in there about several Illinois Democrats....

Wade,

You'll also enjoy the book.

Sees Absolutely Nothing....tell us, please, what Tom DeLay did that was illegal.

Now I am going to make this a little harder for you and ask you to find something he did that was illegal WHEN HE DID IT.

Because surely, seeing through so much as you claim to do, you are aware of the fact that DeLay was indicted for an action that was only made illegal after the fact.

Gee, wouldn't it be annoying if that pesky old constitution got in the way here, with that silly comment about not making any ex post facto laws? But what the heck, who really cares? It was all about the indictment anyway. As your hero Chuckie Schumer said, all you really need to do is get indictments. The Lefty Lemmings junp on an ACCUSATION as if it were a conviction---and I'm not sure you know the difference. I know you don't CARE about the difference.

But tell us, Oh Great Seer---why do you think Cousin Ronnie is stalling now that he has his precious indictment? Why do you think he is running scared of an actual trial? You know, one of those places where the defendant can actually mount a defense, and where it's not all one way, and where Ronnie won't get to keep empaneling juries till he finally gets one he likes.

Because we all predicted that once Ronnie kept his promise to the Dems and "got" DeLay he would have to do everything possible to keep his sllly indictment from resulting in an actual trial, where his prosecutorial malfeasance would be brought to light.