This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Jan. 4, 2009 - Rod Blagojevich's performance as governor has been as profane as the words of the state's first couple in their infamous rants. Yet, long after we are finally rid of the embarrassment and disgrace, we must remember it was not only wrongdoers but also do-gooders that enabled him.
When he was courting voters in 2002, the candidate with the unfamiliar name told us "Blagojevich means opportunity for all of Illinois." But it has become increasingly clear during his cynical, sinister stewardship that "Blagojevich" really "means" seizing the "opportunity" to indulge oneself.
He plunged "all of Illinois" into budgetary chaos, planted fiscal time bombs that will detonate for decades, flouted the constitution, fattened his campaign coffers with dollars from firms hunting and snaring state contracts, summarily fired competent agency employees, intimidated those who questioned his agenda and created a Statehouse atmosphere of distrust so pervasively poisonous that government turned paralytic.
The governor and his cronies richly deserve pillorying. But, as we focus on them, we should not overlook that he was reinforced by well-intentioned people and groups seeking his support for worthy causes or fearing retribution if they challenged him.
Advocates for early childhood education and expanded health care coverage showered praise on him even though he was spending beyond the state's means. Most of them spoke softly, if at all, as Blagojevich castigated House Speaker Michael Madigan and others who suggested the escalated spending would require higher taxes or result in bequeathing a mega-tab to future wage earners.
When the presidents of our largest universities acquiesced to budget cuts and the governor's ridicule of higher education, Blagojevich saw them as patsies, and they proved him right by striking a Faustian deal during his re-election campaign. To recoup some of the losses in their budgets, they endorsed his zany, ill-fated proposal to have taxpayers bankroll tuitions for more affluent Illinoisans even though it would have adversely impacted impoverished students.
Children's champions, education leaders, major health-care providers and grant recipients hailed him in news releases and flanked him in front of cameras and microphones as he gloried in his accomplishments. Privately, they questioned his integrity, they worried over the growing deficit and they resented the bullying. But, unlike Shakespeare's Mark Anthony, they came to praise Caesar, not to bury him.
He basked in their smiles, he heard their accolades and he collected their campaign contributions. Rod Blagojevich saw no reason to abandon his ends-justifies-the-means approach. Voters ultimately re-elected him despite a blizzard of media reports documenting impropriety and incompetence in an administration he had vowed would be the most ethical ever.
The millions amassed by aggressively soliciting those seeking state business and coveted appointments funded a juggernaut of largely misleading, negative commercials that duped Illinoisans into believing a woman they had elected as state treasurer three times and who had nowhere near his ethical baggage was somehow less trustworthy.
We need to assimilate these lessons and teach them to our children. Voters need to become better informed and less susceptible to distorted commercials. They need to place a higher priority on honest government than on corralling state funds or getting the snow plowed. Soldiers for progressive policies that require more spending must also venerate fiscal responsibility even if it means roiling a chief executive or key lawmaker.
Thanks to the treachery of a man whose polysyllabic name is now recognized throughout the nation, "Blagojevich" in 2009 means "opportunity" - indeed a golden one - "for all of Illinois" to demand more from our public officials and ourselves.
Mike Lawrence retired Nov. 1, 2008, as director of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University. He is returning to his journalism roots as a bi-monthly columnist