Enough is too much already!
This is a post about the prosecution and persecution of Rod Blagojevich. When is enough enough? When is enough too much? The man did what every politician does and what every successful businessman does. He had something that was worth something and was holding on to it and shopping it out for a better offer. If that is corruption then we better build some high walls around Washington DC and string them with razor wire.
What really pisses me off is the amount of tax payer’s money the government is willing to spend on a man who’s career they already trashed and drove wildly into debt. The first trial already cost millions. Now they are talking re-trial, only because in their own minds they didn’t get it right the first time.
Blago isn’t a bad guy. He’s not a threat to anyone, in fact, he wants to be a positive force, not a negative one. It would serve no one any good to imprison him. This is crazy. Let the man do some good for Illinois and for the country.
Here are some statistics and a good idea.
Based on the January 2005 point-in-time counts(the most recent stats I could find), an estimated 17,133 people experience homelessness each night in Illinois.
* 70% were living in shelters and transitional housing, while 30% were unsheltered.
* 79% were single adults and 21% were persons living in families.
* Slightly less than half (46.6%), were from Chicago and Cook County. Outside of Chicago, the highest concentrations of homeless persons were in the Continuums of Rockford (6.8% of state’s homeless at given point in time), East St. Louis/St Clair County (6.7%), and Northwestern Illinois Continuum (4.7%).
* 28.5% were chronically homeless according to HUD’s definition.
People who are homeless in Illinois have a variety of characteristics. Of the total persons who are homeless at a given point in time, sheltered and unsheltered, in Illinois:
* 9.5% are veterans
* 24.5% are severely mentally ill
* 33.8% have chronic substance abuse issues
* 4.2% are living with HIV/AIDS
* 22.6% are victims of domestic violence
* 5.3% are unaccompanied youth under 18
Here’s the idea. Take that 20 million dollars that they want to spend on a Blago re-trial and put it in a fund for the homeless in Illinois under the current governor’s control. Sentence Rod to one year of community service for lying to the FBI, and let him use that 20 million, through the current governor to get down and dirty and help the homeless. Everyone in Illinois would benefit from this. No one will benefit from spending 20 million dollars to re-try Blago. If you ask me, I think that that would be a worse crime than anything Blago every even thought of doing.
Rod, I hope these BLEEPING mother BLEEPERS get out of your A** and let you go back to doing some good in the world.
Blogging about Blago!?