Thursday, December 8, 2011

And I thought metro-Detroit politicians were corrupt

Then along comes Illinois. From this article at Newgeography.com comes some really harsh stats on the swamp that is politics in Chicago. And I thought we were bad because Detroit's ex-mayor Kwame Kilpatrick was removed from office after pleading guilty to several corruption related felonies as was the Detroit City Council President who is currently in prison for taking bribes and a huge federal investigation is underway in re Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano's shenanigans. That's all pretty bad I admit but then along comes Illinois: At least 27 Chicago aldermen/women have been convicted of felonies for their conduct in office in past few years. (Frosting on the cake: Four of the last six Illinois governors were convicted of felonies and went to prison too.) And yet these guys get elected and re-elected with the regularity of a well oiled machine. Go figure?