Why is Illinois so corrupt?

Politico.Com ^ | 12/9/08 | By EAMON JAVERS & FRED BARBASH

[GonzoII]

U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald termed the events leading up to the governor’s early-morning arrest by the FBI, “a corruption crime spree,” and said it was “an appalling statement about what’s been happening in Illinois government.”

[2Wheels]

“Rats and roaches always scurry when the light comes on...but they’re still there”

A couple of big rats aren’t in Chicaga anymore...they’re in DC. Wouldn’t we just love a trap set by their own kind?

[Alex Murphy]

Ping to read later

Three of the top four, and four of the top eight corrupt states are Gulf Coast states!

[Condor51]

Why is Illinois so corrupt?

Easy.
Because it was originally settled by ... The FRENCH!

(that's my story and I'm sticking to it) /s

[Labyrinthos]

WELL, this immediately brings these statistics into question. As it is not unheard of for COURTS to be corrupt in corrupt states, the fact that the corruption CONVICTION rate in one state is lower than in another may be misleading. Having New Jersey as MERELY #9 in this list arouses immediate suspicion. It should AT LEAST make the top three in REAL corruption. But here the crooks also appoint the judges.

In addition, a corrupt poltician can't be convicted unless someone decides to prosecute, and since many prosecutors at the state and local level are first and foremost politicians, they often look the other way, which is why the Feds usually prosecute these types of cases.

[FrankR]

"Wouldn’t we just love a trap set by their own kind? "

Well, you know the dems...they are the Kings of Unintended Consequences...so it might happen.

We know that obama sees everyone as "disposible", like his grandmother, Rev. Wright, and now the gov...we need to jack up the Obamabus and see how many people are really under there.

[Welcome2thejungle]

Best concise answer yet.

You get an A on this quiz.

[Boiling point]

Wow, according to media coverage of the election, I would have thought Alaska would have topped Illinois.

[ScottinVA]

That list can be a bit misleading, as it states “convictions.” Some states may be more aggressive in prosecuting corruption than others. For IL to be sitting out there in 6th place doesn’t make sense. It should be fighting it out with LA for #1. And, with Bobby Jindal in charge in LA, my guess is things are getting better there.

[ZULU]

True. That ALSO applies in New Jersey.

[bootless]

I heard a caller on (I think) Jerry Doyle’s show suggesting that the Illinois State Pen build a Governor’s wing.

[Travis McGee]

"Who? I don't even know him!"

[Post Toasties]

The flaw in these rankings is that they are by convictions. The actual overall corruption rate may be much higher for any given state by unknown amounts than this indicates and the rankings are probably largely invalid for that reason.

[ArrogantBustard]

The publication Corporate Crime Reporter crunched Department of Justice statistics in 2007 to rank the 35 most populous states of the nation by corruption. The publication calculated a corruption rate, which it defined as the total number of public corruption convictions from 1997 to 2006 per 100,000 residents.

Bullcrap Alert!!!!

A more meaningful statistic would be "number of public corruption convictions from 1997 to 2006 per 1000 public officials". "Public officials" is the relevant population, not "residents".

[Post Toasties]

No way. There’s no Republican nepotism, for instance.

[CrazyIvan]

Why is Illinois so corrupt?
Easy.

Because it was originally settled by ... The FRENCH!
(that’s my story and I’m sticking to it)

“Alphonse Capone” Now there’s a good French name.

[Verginius Rufus]

Actually, Agnew resigned in 1973. 1972 was the year that Nixon and Agnew were re-elected.

[Condor51]

*** “Alphonse Capone” Now there’s a good French name. ***

Chicago politics (and IL) was corrupt long before Big Al hit town. Like back to the Chicago Fire in 1871.
Even Wiki gives a 'fairly good' run down on it.

(You do know I was kidding about the French, but the corruption almost goes back that far.)

[Owl558]

“The only thing shocking is that so many people seem to find it shocking.”

Spot on. Any story about Chicago corruption that fails to mention the 100 or so years that Chicago has been controlled by the mafia is immedietly and flat-out wrong.

We all know it, but somehow fail to make the connection in our heads. Denial maybe? Too many Sopranos episodes?

[Mr. D]

Simple answer. It all started with Al Capone and his cronies. Eliot Ness =’s Peter Fitzgerald.

[Fedupwithit]

ah, Illinois..the heartland...

you know why they call it the "heartland"?

..because the brain isn't there..