It's so sad about sleazeball Rezko

June 6, 2008

Southtown Star

Phil Kadner

I am tired of elected officials who are "saddened" every time one of their corrupt buddies goes off to prison.

Here's what Gov. Rod Blagojevich had to say after his key campaign fundraiser, Tony Rezko, was convicted of orchestrating multimillion-dollar kickback schemes:

"On a personal level I am deeply sad for what's happened to Tony," our governor said.

Here's what U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), the Democratic nominee for president, had to say about Rezko, who also contributed money to his campaign:

"I'm saddened by today's verdict. This isn't the Tony Rezko I knew ..."

And here's what U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald had to say about Rezko's conviction:

"I hope people step back and say, 'When you do all that stuff, it's going to come back and bite you in a serious way.' If the morals don't get to them, then I hope the fear of going to jail does."

I would have liked to have heard some indignation on behalf of injured citizens from our governor and U.S. senator.

Maybe something like this:

"The real victims of Rezko's schemes are the teachers whose retirement funds were part of the plot by Rezko and Stuart Levine to enrich themselves. The people hurt were the residents of this state who relied on the Health Facilities Planning Board to put the best hospitals in the right places."

In fact, members of the Rezko jury did say words to that effect. Apparently, they understand better than our elected leaders the damage actually caused by pay-for-play politics.

Blagojevich and Obama sound like every other politician who has ever made buddies with a sleazebag who enriched himself at the public's expense.

They feel bad for the criminal and his family.

Me, I feel bad for the working stiffs who deserve honest government.

If Obama can't tell a lowlife crook from an honest guy, maybe he should make a TV commercial saying as much before he becomes president and starts appointing Supreme Court justices, U.S. attorneys and CIA and FBI directors.

As for Blagojevich, he promised reform in the aftermath of the federal corruption conviction of his predecessor, former Gov. George Ryan.

Now, Blagojevich is under investigation by the federal prosecutor's office.

No wonder he has trouble expressing even fake outrage over public corruption.

He's probably thinking, "That could be me going to prison, and I feel so sad."

Despite the hope of the U.S. attorney that prison sentences might deter corruption, Rezko's conviction suggests just the opposite.

Levine, Rezko's partner in crime, was initially a Republican influence peddler in the Ryan regime.

Blagojevich, a Democrat, appointed Levine to the teachers pension board and the Health Facilities Planning Board, allowing him to sell his votes to the highest bidder.

In exchange, according to testimony at the Rezko trial, hospitals and investment firms seeking to do business with the state were strong-armed for payoffs and campaign contributions.

As for Obama, just think for a moment what might have happened had Levine, the government's star witness, not fried his brain by taking drugs by the truckload.

Rezko and Levine would probably be free today and might have been making plans to set up shop in the White House.

After all, Obama didn't know who Rezko really was.

I guess he expects folks to wear a sandwich board saying, "I'm a crook. Don't take my money."

Rezko still faces trial on fraud charges, and there's a pending case in Las Vegas where he owes a casino about $400,000.

Obama didn't know that Rezko. Yet he's still saddened by the verdict, even after all that has been made public.

Fitzgerald's office should be able to focus its efforts on terrorism, organized crime and corporate corruption.

Instead, the FBI has been forced to form an entire unit in Illinois just to investigate public corruption.

That's a good thing for the people of this state, but it says something very bad about our public officials.

So long as Blagojevich, Obama, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley and other elected leaders identify more with their corrupt friends than the citizens they victimize, nothing is going to change.

The governor and his agents have been saying for more than a year that he's not been convicted of anything, implying that all this corruption is all right so long as Blagojevich isn't behind bars.

But the governor is guilty of destroying the credibility of his office and hanging a "for sale" sign on our state.

He and the people around him seem to have no sense of their culpability.

Every day a public official holds office is a day that he has an opportunity to make life better for ordinary citizens.

You can either feel sad for Rezko or the citizens victimized by his scams.

But you must choose sides.

As for me, if Rezko's cellmates at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago continue to insist that he share his underwear, I am not saddened at all.

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