George Ryan going to jail
I wrote about his conviction here at Illinoize last year. I discussed that he was on a public access program in Chicago on a show whose intended audience was black. The reason for it was simple.
A lot of people may have looked up to George Ryan because he got a lot of bruthas off death row. I explained that in my post because this program was a live call in show and a lot of people expressed their support and admiration for the ex-governor. On the other hand I also explained that I was suspicious of the "why". Why did then Governor Ryan commuted all death row sentences before he left office in 2003?
In that post I leapfrogged off of a Sun-Times Column by one Rich Miller. And I explained at that point that it indicated what I would have always suspected. He did that to say he had a positive legacy or as Miller stated...
The other question I hear a lot is, "What was Ryan's motivation for veering so far to the political left by emptying Death Row and changing his mind on gay rights and women's rights?" Some believe he was cynically playing to the liberal
Democratic jury pool in Cook County. The thinking goes that he knew he would end up on trial and he wanted to create as much sympathy as possible. Others think he changed because he was somehow trying to atone for all the laws he broke -- as if becoming a social liberal would get him in good graces with God.
Obviously since whenever we pick up a paper we complain about how Illinois is a corrupt state or that Illinois is full of inept or incompetent politicians it's bound to be obvious that not too many people sympathize with the ex-governor right now. So I want to go in another direction here.
I was looking at the Wikipedia article on Ryan. Trying to find some quick facts on what sent him to prison and I found this post by a blog called Urbangora.
This post gives a list of some of politician's in Illinois who might have righted high on the integrity scale. And I'll open up the floor to those of you who might want to talk about who else that either was in politics or currently serve in politics who might rank high on the integrity scale.
BTW, I write about it because it appears he's going to have to report to prison in Duluth, Minnesota on November 7th. That is provided that the US Supreme Court comes to his rescue before he reaches prison.
3 comments:
This is how that column continued after your snip...
===Both of those explanations are far too black and white for my taste. I've known some criminals and ex-criminals in my life and most of them weren't thoroughly bad people. There is good in almost everybody.
I've also known a whole lot of politicians (some of whom were also criminals), and I've seen how they change when they decide not to run for re-election. For the first time in their lives they're free to search their souls and vote the way they want, unless they're angling for a cushy job after retirement, and then they vote the way they're told.
Within a month of Ryan taking office it was pretty clear that he would never be able to run again. And so I think he had the freedom to do what he thought was right on the grand issues of the day. The ridiculous tragedy is it never occurred to him to stop breaking the law.===
I could possibly consider that Ryan had a change of heart and wanted to do the right thing by commuting the death sentences, IF he ever showed any remorse or humilty in his criminal case. Perhaps it has just been for the purpose of appeal, but for him to keep saying he did nothing wrong and that HE is a victim really burns me.
Express a little doubt George, and MAYBE I'll feel bad that you'll be away from your wife and grandkids. Until you do that, I think of the Willis family when someone mentions your family.
George wanted to curry favor with criminals because he knew he would eventually be in jail with them.
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