Something Rotten in Springfield

I've got a new piece up at The Guardian's Comment is free America about Blago's pay-for-play scandal, which gives a modern history of gubernatorial corruption in Illinois and talks about the passive role Obama had in bringing down the governor of his home state:

And that brings us to Blago, who appears to have been brazen in his disregard of the law even by Illinois' standards.

Or maybe it's just that the standards in the Land of Obama, nee Lincoln, are not what they used to be.

In a twist of political irony that could only really be at home in a Shakespeare play or Illinois, Blago's downfall may have been indirectly orchestrated by his two-time supporter, President-elect Barack Obama. The New York Times reports today that a phone call placed by Obama three months ago to urge passage of an Illinois state ethics bill convinced the state senate to override Blago's veto 55-0, sending Blago scrambling to "press state contractors for campaign contributions before the law's restrictions could take effect on January 1," which eventually led to the wiretapping that resulted in his arrest.

Well, well. Obama did promise to be an agent of change.

The whole thing is here. And while you're there, check on Tomasky on "Candidate 5."

Also: Obama tells Illinois governor to quit over Senate scandal.

Meanwhile, Mannion on Blago's dishonest hair.