Thursday night on Chicago Tonight, I raised a question about Lisa Madigan's commitment to fighting corruption, challenging her to show some muscle and not leave all the state's corruption investigating to U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald's office.
Chicago Tribune's Eric Zorn, a fellow panelist who on Thursday encouraged Ms. Madigan to announce her bid for governor, queried the AG's office, and on Friday's blog, Mr. Zorn shared Madigan's official reply HERE.
I agree with one of Mr. Zorn's commenters. The AG's office answer just doesn't cut it. Somehow, Illinois taxpayers are getting gypped. (No ethnic negative intended.)
(PHOTO: AG's office featured Ms. Madigan in her role as faux toothpaste brand fighter. Evidently, there was a life-threatening rash of counterfeit Colgate on Chicago discount store shelves last July.)
AG Madigan is using the same reasoning GOP AG Jim Ryan used as to why he didn't follow up on accusations about the Secretary of State's office corruption during George Ryan's tenure -- something Democrats used effectively to elect Rod Blagojevich over Jim Ryan in 2002.
Lisa doesn't want to step on toes, she says, so she stays out of Patrick Fitzgerald's way. One has to wonder how far into a Madigan Administration we would have to wait to find out how badly Governor Blagojevich screwed up the state budget per Auditor General William Holland's assessment again this week or what deals were promised to get the IDOT office moved way downstate into endangered State Senator Gary Forby's district, or what happened to the $2 million dollars that was supposed to go to rebuild a burned down historic church.
If we have to wait on the U.S. Attorney to take care of all these problems, why not simply shift funds going to AG Madigan's office into matching federal funds and double the staff of the U.S. Attorney who will get something done about our rampant political corruption?
Please. How simple-minded do they think we are?? Mike Madigan not only has been Speaker of the Illinois House for almost three decades (with a two year hiccup when the GOP took the majority), he has been and is the Illinois Democratic Party Chairman. Tell me the Democrats wouldn't be squealing if the GOP Chairman Andy McKenna ruled the House and the Party at the same time and had his daughter in a place to keep a cloak around Republican corruption.
Please. The Democrats -- the DEMOCRATS -- benefit tremendously when they hand off any investigations of Democrats -- including those that should be taking place in the Daley and Stroger administrations -- to a non-partisan, non-elected U.S. Attorney, rather than have a potential statewide gubernatorial candidate stir intra-party animosity and endanger the Democrats' hold on the clout-ridden state and county job market.
Why does AG Madigan leave the heavy-lifting to Patrick Fitzgerald? She chooses not to exercise legal muscle that comes with the AG's office simply because Daddy Madigan doesn't want Lisa to hurt herself . . . or the apparent Democratic aristocracy he has set into motion.
