The dirtiest of the dirty

Chicago is buzzing today with news that our former Governor, Rod Blagojevich, has been found guilty on one charge of lying to the authorities which could carry a 5-year prison sentence. As I'm sure you know, this stems from accusations he tried to trade the senate seat of then Senator Barack Obama for personal gain.

Blago actually came out pretty well, considering he was charged with 24 counts including bribery, racketeering, conspiracy, wire fraud....well, you get it. Come to find out, there was just one juror holdout, which forced a mistrial on the 23 other counts. Talk about just squeaking by!

Chicago politics truly fascinates me. If sent to prison, Blago can hang out with another former Illinois governor, George Ryan, who's serving a six and a half year sentence for conspiracy and racketeering...but that’s just the beginning. As I've said before, politics in Illinois is dirtier than preschoolers on fudgesicle day. It's dirtier than a baby's diaper after eating split pea soup. It's dirtier than...well, you get it.

Here are some other great moments in Illinois' political history, courtesy of Fox Chicago News...

Illinois has a long history of corrupt governors, tracing back to 1859, when Democrat Joel Matteson was indicted twice for embezzling money.

He was cleared of the charges and now has a suburb named after him.

Republican Len Small was indicted in 1922 for embezzling state funds. He was acquitted, but historians suspect jury tampering in the case since four jurors got state jobs after the trial.

Republican William Stratton was acquitted on tax charges in 1965.

Democrat Otto Kerner was convicted of bribery and fraud and served three years in prison.

Dan Walker was sentenced to seven years in prison for bank fraud, perjury and other crimes in a bank scam that took place after he left office.

So I guess threatening our politicians that if they don't keep their hands clean, they'll go to prison doesn't work. Maybe it’s time they get community service like cleaning out port-a-potties. I saw that done once, and it ain’t pretty. Let’s just say it involves a big vacuum, horrendous smells, and brown shrapnel.

I say that’s perfect.