Pondering corruption

December 10, 2008
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Yet another Illinois governor is going down in legal flames, as Rod Blagojevich struggles to extricate himself from federal accusations that he brazenly tried to peddle Barack Obamaâ??s Senate seat to the highest bidder.

So, weâ??re reminded again that power corrupts. And that people corrupt power.

What is it about politics? Do you think the problem is mostly corrupt people coming into power, or power corrupting innocent people?
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  • DonDecember 10, 2008 12:06 PM
    I think it's a little of both, but I really think it depends on which level of government we're talking about. I think at the national level you get more people who are in it for the power and the financial gain. We are far beyond our congress and president actually working for our benefit and most are just in it for themselves.

    At the local and state level I think it's more power corrupting those in office. My father-in-law was mayor of an Indiana city a while back. He said he could have made millions if he had been on the take - developers, businesses, etc. literally threw money at him (or rather tried to) to get contracts, zoning, etc. I imagine his situation was no different than any other mayor.
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  • JoyceDecember 10, 2008 12:27 PM
    There has to be a compelling reason some people go into politics and put up with relentless media scrutiny of their private lives, some reason beyond wanting to serve. For some, I'm sure it's the payola.
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  • David Shank, APRDecember 10, 2008 3:09 PM
    At the risk of sounding like a naive pollyanna -- and I've been around politics and powerful people for most of my career -- for every idiot politician on-the-take there are thousands who enter government service because they truly want to serve.

    The good ones see the chuck holes that need filled; they see a vision of their community beyond the present obvious; they see the snow that needs to be plowed; the public art that enhances their community and the absolute necessity for improving their schools and the future lives of their communities' children.

    Regrettably it's a function of the news business that generally 'good' news isn't news so the jerks and the crooks make the headlines. But because they don't get recognized doesn't mean that men and women of integrity and goodwill aren't in government.
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