Chicago Tribune did its job well

Chronicle Staff

Published: Wednesday, December 17th, 2008

You don’t hear a lot about investigative journalism today. The news is mostly canned and presented by people who are really in the entertainment business rather than the mass communications business. Such is not the case with the Chicago Tribune and Democratic Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich who was arrested last week on several conspiracy charges. The Tribune has been investigating wrongdoing by the governor since he was elected in 2002. Apparently, so has the U.S. Attorney’s office in Chicago. The 51-year-old governor was arrested on charges he conspired to sell or trade the vacated U.S. Senate seat of president-elect Barack Obama to the highest bidder. He was also charged with illegally threatening to withhold state assistance to the Tribune Co., owner of the Chicago Tribune, in an attempt to force the newspaper to fire two editorial writers who have constantly criticized him. Coincidentally, the day before the governor’s arrest last Tuesday, the Tribune Co., owner of the Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times, filed for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11. The company was seeking state aid from the state. Gov. Blagojevich made it clear to Chicago Tribune management that the company would not get any state aid unless two top editorial writers were fired from the newspaper. Unbelievable! But not as unbelievable as was the governor’s attempt to sell the Obama vacated Illinois U.S. Senate seat to the top bidder. That takes the cake! We just wish there were more newspapers like the Chicago Tribune and its editorial writing team which helped shine the light on the alleged wrongdoing by the governor. Not only was Blagojevich arrested, so was his chief of staff John Harris, who was accused of having a part in the plans to enrich the governor. Blagojevich apparently wasn’t at all satisfied with his paltry $177,000 annual salary. He even considered appointing himself to fill the vacant Senate seat of Obama, saying if the president-elect’s administration wasn’t going to offer him a plum, he wanted the opportunity to enrich himself further in Congress. You have to wonder how arrogant, cocky politicians like Blagojevich get elected to an office like governor of Illinois. The answer lies in what is referred to as the corrupt Chicago political machine that seems to help elect mostly Democrats. Downstate Illinois votes mostly Republican, but the heavily populated Chicago area goes mostly Democratic. Hence, the entire state tends to vote mostly Democratic. The arrogance of Blagojevich and his alleged illegal actions have offended all the people of Illinois. He is an embarrassment to his party and to his state. Calls for his resignation were mounting last week and it is obvious to everyone but the governor that his political career is over. The editors of the Chicago Tribune should feel good about helping to expose the alleged illegal activities of the governor. The newspaper people  are truly being the watchdogs of state government at the highest levels.