Ill. gov scandal shows political deals now less 'sneaky': publisher
"Have our politicians lost all sense of creativity?" writes Wilkes-Barre publisher Richard Connor in CQ. "We know that propriety has been on the downslide for many years, but we did not know that being sneaky and discreet was out, too."
Most Americans see politics as a personal, profit-making business, so they're not surprised to see Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich arrested for allegedly planning to sell President-elect Obama's U.S. Senate seat and to have Chicago Tribune writers who critized him fired, writes Wilkes-Barre Times-Leader owner Richard Connor in Congressional Quarterly here.
Says Connor, "If there is any genuine surprise, it might be that Gov. Blagojevich... thought himself so protected that he was not more discreet and circumspect... What ever happened to folks conspiring in phone booth conversations and underground parking garages? Have our politicians lost all sense of creativity? We know that propriety has been on the downslide for many years, but we did not know that being sneaky and discreet was out, too."