By: Diane Benjamin
Steve Vogel never fails to entertain as he looks at trees and misses the forest. His column today is no exception. Aaron Schock’s corruption is going to cost us a lot of money, but why does Illinois have so many corrupt politicians Steve?
Vogel failed to ask how this fresh young face evidently decided go to the dark side. Vogel failed to question why Schock failed his oath of office:
“I, (name of Member), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God” (5 U.S.C. §3331)
Funny how there is nothing in the oath about having clout or holding a power seat on some committee in DC. Vogel’s column lament losing both.
What happened to Aaron Schock? He got by with a lot of stuff for years. The media treated him like a rock star. He felt invincible. Finally somebody investigated, not local media of course.
But the whole situation is much worse. Media does the same thing to every politician. Local press didn’t investigate his shenanigans. Area media would rather be friends of government instead of watchdogs. The politicians soon learn they can get by with almost anything.
Locally, I can think of at least 3 examples. See this post: http://blnnews.com/2014/05/05/pay-to-play-okay-if-nobody-prosecutes/
Mayor Renner announced AT a City Council meeting that his office now has an art gallery – and it’s for sale! It didn’t matter to the media that at least one painting was by a campaign contributor. It didn’t matter that State law clearly says public property can only be used for public purposes. Instead of calling Renner out, the Pantagraph sent reporter Rachael Wells to his office to do a huge story on how great it is to have a gallery at City Hall! http://tinyurl.com/nqfwnwv Nice cover for him Pantagraph.
How the Pantagraph handled the art gallery is very similar to how they handled Renner’s rant on my site. I knew Renner and the Pantagraph were plotting what to do before I ever posted his vile comments. Both checked frequently all morning waiting for me to post it. Meanwhile, Scott Black is watching his mentor get by all kinds of questionable acts under the media’s protection. If he decides to run for higher office, he will already understand corruption is no big deal when media likes you.
One last example: Well over a year ago Alderwoman Stearns filed an Open Meetings Act violation against the City for things Renner said in Executive Session (their secret meetings). When it happened the Pantagraph did write a story complete with the Attorney General’s letter saying they would investigate. Last June the Council released the minutes of the meeting in question – most likely because they knew the AG would require them to. I don’t remember the Pantagraph reporting on what they released, I did: http://blnnews.com/2014/06/04/absolute-proof-judy-stearns-was-right/
If the Pantagraph really cared, they would be contacting the AG’s office for an explanation on why a final ruling has never been issued. The AG investigation was completed close to a year ago, are they refusing to rule because Madigan and Renner are both Democrats? 18 months after the meeting the City is allowed to destroy the tape. The AG won’t even tell them NOT to destroy it, it should be released to the citizens of Bloomington so they can hear their Mayor giving marching orders to his potted plants.
Corruption in Illinois is rampant because the media is corrupt. Abiding by the law doesn’t matter when the media won’t investigate, won’t report, and even colluded to cover up the facts. The Renner rants and less-than-censure are obvious examples. Aren’t you tired of getting him out of trouble yet Pantagraph? He hasn’t even been in office for two years! Keep in mind that Renner and you created Scott Black.
The bird cage droppings paper is only interested in what sells. I recount how they tried to do a FOIA on the Gee family murder to find out what the search warrant was for if I remember correctly.
Someone at the county Coroner’s office was telling me they called to see what they could find out on Bryan Wright who died in the surfing accident down at Puerto Rico. I filled them (not the bird dropping paper) in on what happened. Criminey worse than some gossip rag on display at a grocery store check out lane.
The same bird droppings paper that deletes comments on their website if they don’t like them. I don’t know how many times I’ve seen people asking why did they delete their comment or someone else comments that what they saw there is gone.
For the bird cage droppings paper gossip sells from their perspective. Heaven forbid they print David Hale’s salary in an article and question how he doesn’t deserve to be paid that much. Drive around a few Bloomington streets and try to explain that salary justification.
Bloomington-Normal – once a great place to live, now in rapid decline as local council members refuse to read the obvious writings on the wall. So many bad decisions, so much money absolutely wasted.