Hot Rod Lincoln
He knew that he was destined for greatness. The son of uneducated manual laborers, immigrants to Illinois, he was never much of a student, but he would become a successful lawyer. From a young age, though, his sights were set on political power. Through his political connections, he got himself elected to the Illinois House of Representatives and, later, to the U.S. Congress from Illinois. Gregarious when he wanted to be, he was known to all by his monosyllabic three-letter nickname, not his trisyllabic given name.
He was well liked by some, but despised by others. Very few people had a neutral opinion, and even some of those who liked him and supported him in his rise to power were disturbed by his odd, self-centered behavior. He seemed unable to show much human emotion for those around him.
Whatever else anyone might have thought of him, he was a masterful politician, attacking corruption while engaging in inside deals that helped him both politically and personally. Unhappy with the location of the Illinois capitol, he essentially moved it to where he was living. But his ambitions extended beyond Illinois, and he needed money and backing to fulfill his dream of rising from his modest roots to the highest office in the land. Washington beckoned, and nothing would stand in his way.
Or, at least, that is what Gov. Milorad “Rod” Blagojevich thought right up until the phone rang at 6 a.m. on December 9, 2008, waking him at his home on Chicago’s North Side, which he had transformed into the de facto capitol of the state of Illinois. That same phone had been his undoing, and at a press conference later that morning, federal investigators outlined a 76-page indictment filed in U.S. district court, which detailed numerous calls made to and from that phone.
In selections from the transcripts of those calls, Governor Blagojevich repeatedly instructed aides to hold up $8 million in state funds for a children’s hospital until the head of the hospital coughed up a $50,000 donation to Friends of Blagojevich; discussed using $1.8 billion in state funds as a reward to a public contractor, a road builder, if only he would raise a half-million dollars for the governor’s war chest by the end of 2008, when new campaign-finance rules would go into effect; and tried to tie state assistance to the struggling Tribune Company, owner of the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Cubs, to the firing of a writer for the Tribune who had penned editorials critical of Blagojevich’s conduct as governor.
The press conference was conducted by Patrick Fitzgerald, the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, who had successfully prosecuted Blagojevich’s predecessor, Republican Gov. George Ryan, on 18 counts of racketeering and fraud. Ryan had had the good sense to decline to run for reelection as the feds closed the net about him, and so he, like felonious former Democratic governors Dan Walker and Otto Kerner, avoided indictment while still in office.
Blagojevich not only ran for reelection in 2006 knowing that he was being investigated but as late as the day before his arrest declared to reporters that investigators were free to listen to his conversations because he had nothing to hide. Still, the transcripts showed that he was looking for a way out of the governor’s office so that he could rehabilitate his reputation—for a run for the presidency in 2016.
Milorad was probably too busy getting his trademark Serbian gangster hairdo coiffed for court that afternoon, but if he had a chance to listen to Fitzgerald’s press conference, the man who had consciously modeled himself on Honest Abe was likely cut to the bone when Fitzgerald declared, “The conduct would make Lincoln roll over in his grave.” Of course, Rod shares more with Abe than the Brooklyn-born Fitzgerald would like to think. The railmen who bankrolled Lincoln could teach today’s blacktop bosses of Illinois a thing or two. And as President, Lincoln didn’t need to use financial persuasion to halt criticisms of his conduct; he could—and did—simply sign an executive order for the arrest and imprisonment of “the editors, proprietors, and publishers” of newspapers and prohibit “any further publication therefrom.”
No, if Lincoln was doing anything in his grave on December 9, 2008, he was probably thanking the God he didn’t believe in that Alexander Graham Bell hadn’t invented the telephone until 12 years after his last Good Friday.
Most of Governor Blagojevich’s transgressions were politics as usual here in the Land of Lincoln, but Fitzgerald was compelled to act when it became clear that Blago was attempting to sell Barack Obama’s soon-to-be-vacant Senate seat to the highest bidder. But what about our new President himself? Time will tell, but some of us in Illinois could not help but chuckle when the President-elect—another politician who modeled himself on Honest Abe—announced that the centerpiece of his New New Deal would be the biggest load of asphalt since the construction of the Interstate Highway System. One thing is certain: The appointment of outgoing Illinois congressman Ray LaHood (R-Blacktop) as transportation secretary had little to do with bipartisanship.
You can take the boy out of Illinois, but you can’t take Illinois out of the boy.
This article was first published in the February 2009 issue of Chronicles: A Magazine of American Culture.
Entries(RSS)
At least Rod, unlike Abe, is not responsible for a vicious war that killed 600,000 of his countrymen and vandalized a whole region obstensibly to "save the union." Who knows, Rod Blagojevich may be needed to defeat the Jeb Bush juggernaut in 2016. Free Rod!
Mr. Leaberry,
That's just the sort of witty remark I've come to expect from you, and that has gotten me into trouble. On another website, a commenter accused me of being a "race traitor" and of hating IT professionals because I quoted you in my article on the economy in the April issue. It appears that references to "computer geeks" are indicative of a bias against white males. I protested that if I were really hostile to American IT professionals I would support the H1B visa program and would not have made a point of opposing it in the article, but to no avail. If you say "computer geek," you must hate white men, at least according to my accuser.
What an astonishingly clever opening!
Lemme guess Mr Piatak...AltRight? Its become the WN doppleganger of Takimag; from them I learned Nietzsche was a radical traditionalist! You learn something new every day.
BTW, good article Mr. Richert; a very apt comparison.
Mr. Maxwell,
You guessed correctly.
A clever article and one I am glad to see again.
Takimag...it has not been the same since John Zmirak left as editor. I'm not sure what will happen now with the American Conservative now that Kara Hopkins is on the way out. Both of them are reminders on the rare occasions when I am unhappy with something in Chronicles, how much worse the other paleo-con forums are.
I agree Rob. Paleo-dom is weak right now; AmCon is fatally infected with Unzism, Takimag is a ghost town, and AltRight is just AmRen light. I love Chronicles, but sometimes we'll only see a couple articles per week..it just seems like the content is lower lately.
Mr. Maxwell,
I would also agree. Takimag seems to be a shell of its former self. AltRight has a few good writers, such as Srdja Trifkovic and James Kalb, but they tend to be the exception. Interestingly enough a writing by famed neo-pagan, Alain de Benoist, has just been posted there.
AltRight is intended to be a big tent, so you get all manner of crazy there. Unfortunately, that's just the right for you...it tends to be pretty loony. Takimag is trying to be People magazine or something, and TAC is more antiwar libertarian than conservative these days. All three sites have their contributors that make visits worthwhile though.
... and we pray for our president, Milorad, civil authorities, and the armed forces. Phew! That was close. I suppose after one true confession he'll be absolved, and then he can spend the rest of his life redeeming his sullied reputation.
But, Rod is a lawyer ...
John Randolph Club in Charleston! Yess! Lunch at Jestine's(?).
It's only a 5 hour drive, which means guns and Virginia Gentleman whiskey, and no humiliating plane ride.
God save the South!
Given that de Benoist has received some praise, I was expecting more from him. That essay is just anti-Christian polemic--was it picked for AltRight for just that reason?
I bet it was Mr Chan. The Christophobia in the air at AltRight is so thick you could cut it with a knife. 'Radical Traditionalism' I guess means renouncing the religion of Europeans for two millennia and adopting Nietzschean atheism or a neo-paganism that never existed.
Some of the videogame forums I used to visit (yes, videogame forums) had many of these white separatist/nationalist/supremacist/whatever characters.
They are very anti-Christian.
The gist is that Christianity is a "Jewish" lie, used by Jews to manipulate superior Europeans for their sick purposes, when the religion later suddenly turned against them. But then the Jews won back their Christian sheep through evangelists or something.
Such nonsense talk is typical on unmoderated places like videogame forums (beloved places of such people), but the Christian white supremacists defend themselves from non-Christian white supremacists by saying that today's Jews are not the Jews of the past, but rather are Mongolians who converted to choose another means of global conquest.
I sometimes post on some video game forums, but since I mainly play the classics or strategy games (anything by Paradox Interactive) - both attract a better crowd. I've never noticed WN views at any game forum before.
I have no problem with keeping European countries European, but that crowd seems to think that all we need to save our societies is One Great White Race - nevermind that we destroyed our own societies without any outside help.
RPG centered forums attract these sort of wierdos, although they also mainly have Paradox Interactive fans and classics/strategy game enthusiasts.
When you say, "that crowd seems to think that all we need to save our societies is One Great White Race", it does kinda hit onto the core of the issue - there was one Frenchman who complains that France's deterioration into a welfarist, integrationist, government controlled society is to be blamed on Algerian and Morrocan immigrants, somehow. Was it not native Frenchmen who did all the things in the first place that eroded France into becoming what it is, and thus encouraging all those North Africans to rush in to France?
The blame can never go to natives, it is only outsiders, because a native would not do such terrible things; he can only be manipulated by the outsider. And in the case of our Frenchman, it begs to be asked which outsider would be rich and powerful enough to change local politics? Algerians and Morrocans are not powerful. Which outsiders? It's Jews, he alleges. It's a pretty contrived case to make, considering that a country of ~50 million people is being forcefully molded by an ethnic group of 70,000 people.
But you know what, if Jews really are running France, it would be wonderful revenge. It would be wonderful revenge for all those days when an innocent Jew would rot in jail for the crimes of a guilty Frenchman, of those days when lawyers, villagers, and policemen would wait to rat out a Jew on a false crime, and of those days when many French officials gladly assisted the Germans in deporting Jews. Because what have Jews done in revenge to France other than build a few media empires and fund a few political parties?
The Land of Lincoln is an appropriate title for a state that harbors Blagojevich, Obama and the corrupt legions before them.
Mr.Leaberry @1
The Son of Lincoln, Rod can't inaugurate a savage war as Father Abraham, but the other Son of Lincoln,Obama certainly can.
We posted this column, hoping to spark some discussion, but it's gone off in a different—and rather fascinating—direction. Thanks to all for their kind comments.
Mr. Maxwell @8: Unlike AltRight and TakiMag, Chronicles main presence is and always will be the print publication. The number of posts to the website will fluctuate in part because of our production cycle, and in part because of other activities (such as book projects and Summer School). We appreciate the readers of the website, but our first duty is, of course, to our subscribers.
Oh its not a complaint Mr Richert - you all here at Chronicles are a more thoughtful bunch so I dont mind some space in between postings. I ought to get around to finally subscribing to the actual print edition.
Also Mr Richert, if I remember right you also deal with the website, and I am wondering if there is ever a chance of putting back the archives, or maybe putting up older long out of print issues (say, 5 years or older). In some older Vdare articles, its frustration at times because they will link to a long-dead link to a Chronicles article.
The problem with our old archives is that we're using a different CMS now, so everything needs to be tweaked significantly to get it back up. We do put up pieces as they become relevant again (for instance, we reposted all of the pieces of our debate with Tom Woods from a few years ago when we ran the four-part critique of Woods by Thomas Storck).
Yeah I've notice that and I appreciate it. Chronicles isnt exactly a magazine you commonly see back issues of (believe it or not - I first read you guys in 1993 from copies obtained from the library); and not to mention you have robots.txt so I cannot peak at the archives at archive.org. It would be nice to see in particular the pieces done by Rothbard and Francis put up.
Mr. Piatak, I regret that you were scurrilously labeled a "race traitor" on my account. I stand with my previous statements regarding IT guys and computer geeks, most of whom I've come to be acquainted with being socially liberal, soft, neurotic, anti-social, drive cars like Priuses and Volvos, and are in love with a sort of torture apparently misnamed "technomusic", a "music" that is actually worse on the ears than rap. Give me a plumber, carpenter, painter, auto repairman or even trashman any time. The "bitter clingers" as our elegant president named them. They do something valuable for a living unlike millions of their betters. It remains to be seen that IT guys do much more than allow adult children to watch You Tube, twitter and tell us about their boring lives on Facebook.
To steal a thread for a moment, professional conservative movement types are puzzled that Republican Bob Portman is not soundly ahead of Democrat Lee Fisher in the Ohio Senate race this year. Perhaps these conservative limpwrists don't realize that Ohio, after having its industrial heart devastated by two decades of absolutist free trade (a passion as dear to hearts of Portman and a majority of Republicans as tax cuts, Middle Eastern wars and the Interstate Highway System) might not be so amenable to the globalist Portman. And perhaps working as a failed OMB chief for George W. Bush is not something that most Ohioans think should reward Mr. Portman a higher office. I would guess Tom Piatak, son of Ohio, could tell us why Portman is not the shoo-in that professional conservatives think he should be.
As for Hot Rod Blagojevich, he is just one of the many dishonest, egocentric and self-deceptive polecats that dominate American politics these days. Hot Rod as presidential material indeed. Where did Blagojevich get the idea, from his roughhewn wife? Then again, a President Blagojevich would have a Kossovo policy that Tom Fleming and Srdja Trifkovic could approve. Always look on the bright side of any dark vision.
Mr. Leaberry,
No problem. I quoted you becuase your comment was witty and on target, as your observations generally are. My view of IT professionals is actually more positive, but there was nothing in the quote justifying the absurd conclusions being drawn from it. You are right about Portman and about what free trade has done to manufacturing in the Buckeye State. Free trade is a drag on the GOP in Ohio, even in what should be a Republican year. Portman may end up winning but, if he does, it would be in spite of his position on trade, not because of it.
Mr Leaberry, I dont think that is what is driving the electorate here in Ohio at all. Lately businesses have not been fleeing out of the country, but over to states in the South or West. Portman's opponent is all around terrible, the worst kind of left-Jewish Democrat. The last thing Ohio needs now is another Metzenbaum clone.
Mr. Maxwell:
We have two problems in Ohio. One is the competition between nations, a contest Ohio is losing because of America's embrace of free trade. Ohio manufacturing jobs are still going overseas because of that. Just recently, a plant making plastic fixtures in northeast Ohio shut down, with the jobs going to Mexico. The other is the competition among the states, another contest Ohio is losing because of our taxes and regulations and labor costs. I don't think Mr. Leaberry was urging a vote for Fisher, just making the correct observation that Portman's views on trade hurt him with voters here.
"Then again, a President Blagojevich would have a Kossovo policy that Tom Fleming and Srdja Trifkovic could approve."
Yes, it would have been nice to see something like: "Welcome to Camp Bondsteel, a joint facility run by Serbia and the USA."
While I disagree with the absolutist anti-free trade position, a big problem down here in southwest Ohio is we still have lingering labor laws that date back to the 1940s. Rightly or wrongly, many potential businesses see Ohio as another Michigan. It isnt all free trade. Im sure you heard about NCR, but this part of Ohio is more driven by farming. Fisher's opponent is one of those Ohioians who only cares about the northshore along the Erie; they dont try to understand (mostly) rural and dont want to.
*That should be 'Portman's opponent'. Mr Richert, any chance we could start having the ability to login and edit posts? I must seem like a klutz with some of my posts and I have no way to hide it!
@9. I wish Jim Kalb's articles were published here rather than over there.
Bruce, especially considering some of the nutty stuff theyve been posting at AltRight lately. Sometimes I wonder if half of the site is satire.
If I were a Buckeye voter, I would reluctantly hold my nose and vote Portman. Not that he deserved it.
Ironically, it might just be the Amish who save Ohio. They practically live off the credit grid, so an economic crunch doesn't affect their small-scale farming, and they have lots of children.
Anyway, the Buckeye State is larger than many European countries, and could be a self-sustaining state with the right vision. They could deal with their undesirables IDF style. Use bulldozers on Euclid Avenue.
"There was a land of Cavaliers and Cotton Fields called the Old South. Here in this pretty world, Gallantry took its last bow. Here was the last ever to be seen of Knights and their Ladies Fair, of Master and of Slave. Look for it only in books, for it is no more than a dream remembered, a Civilization gone with the wind…"
Perhaps memories of Industrial Ohio will one day inspire such words. Somehow I doubt it.
Outstanding article, Mr Richert.
If I could highlight what absolute free trade has done to Ohio, I would mention my wife's hometown of Wadsworth, former home of Ohio Blue Tip matches. Although the factory was shuttered in the 80s and the manufacturing moved elsewhere, the town still holds a Blue Tip festival. The building, at least the last time I visited Wadsworth, remains dormant not far from downtown.
I think Mr Leaberry I have to admit some ignorance of the severity of the situation in the more northernly areas of Ohio. Dayton has only recently started to get hit hard, and for different reasons, so we far a long time were spared the fate of much of the rest of the state.
Perhaps Providence will save Ohio. I will pray so. I remember in the late 1970's when Texas was overrun by Ohio refugees.
Bryan, did they integrate well? Most Ohioans are decent people.
Daniel @41
Yes for the most part. Although after 30 plus years some still don't know the significance of April 21st. We would rather have Ohio than Mexico.
Lincoln preferred to be called by his last name but we may forgive Gov. B for preferring "Rod" (a guy in my army unit with a similar last name was universally known as "Alphabet").