Blagojevich: Typical Executive?
Mere days ago, few outside the state of Illinois had ever heard of Rod Blagojevich. We still may have trouble pronouncing his name, but everyone knows who the governor of Illinois is now. (Just a sampling from the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post, and Chicago Tribune.)
The governor won’t resign, so impeachment has been threatened. The Illinois legislature is also considering a bill that would take away the governor’s sole power to fill a vacant senate seat and another bill that would require a special election to fill President-elect Obama’s former seat. Both bills would require Blagojevich’s signature.
And now the Illinois Attorney General has filed a motion with the Illinois Supreme Court, asking the court to enjoin Blagojevich from serving as governor. The statute under which the motion was filed authorizes such action when the governor is incapacitated for health reasons. Perhaps the attorney general is saying Blagojevich is crazy, and while many would agree no doubt, his mental incapacity would be first subject to medical scrutiny.
Is Blagojevich that different from other executives? He began his career by working for law firms that housed high-powered Chicago politicians, gaining access to Chicago’s Democratic Party machine. He married into one of Chicago’s most powerful political families. By continuing to network with powerful people, he won a seat in the Illinois House, a seat in the U.S. Congress, and then the Illinois governorship, to which he was reelected. Now that he’s alleged to be a crook, there’s universal shock and outrage.
I don’t mean to diminish the concern over the governor’s alleged wrongdoing, but all the handwringing is a bit much. This is the way our political and business systems work. Maybe it’s worse in Chicago, but let’s be realistic. How do people reach the top? They marry well. They know powerful people. They network incessantly. They give favors and ask for them. (Ponder the difference between selling Obama’s senate seat for a half million and appointing an ambassador who raised millions in campaign contributions or a board member who made a hefty contribution to a favorite charity.) They’re audacious. They’re happily worshipped. They know there’s a line between criminal conduct and unethical activity or simply distinguishing between right and wrong, but they don’t always appreciate how fine the line is. And most of the time, their phones aren’t tapped.
Have the CEOs of the Big Three automakers offered to resign? Have the Wall Street tycoons who made millions while setting the stage for our current economic crisis offered to give back the money? Have they apologized? Are CEOs acceding to calls to reduce their compensation to something reasonable? Are they firing their friends and relatives and looking for objectively talented people to get us out of this mess?
Governor Blagojevich may deserve to be tarred and feathered, as well as put in jail. I don’t know. I do know that the standard to which executives are held is, at best, malleable.
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The whole situation is sad. I must agree with you on this one – the way to get ahead is not through hard work and persistence anymore. Rather, in both the political and business world, it appears bad behavior is one of the keys to advancement.
We expect our elected officials to behave ethically, and when they don’t we are shocked. Why are we so surprised?
There are 50 governors in this country. Are you suggesting all are crooks? There are thousands of CEO’s in this country. Are they all crooks?
I firmly believe that hard work, and yes, networking, will get you ahead. When people behave unethically, others stop doing business with them, and most are eventually caught with their hand in the till. For every bad apple, there are many more who work hard and do not forget their ethics. The bad ones are the ones in the news though. Your comments suggest you are coming to believe the media’s slant on things. Prejudices come in many forms and are not just against color, sex and religion. Sometimes it is easier to believe the ones making good are really crooks, just like it is easier to believe the false notions of people of color, etc. Maybe it’s time to look a little closer at your thought processes.
Everyone in this region knew something like this was coming for Blago… we were somewhat surprised by the brazen “come get me” attitude, though. Maybe he really is crazy – at least one Chicago reporter suggested as much on a national radio talk show. Shades of Gary Hart and Monkey Business…
LKS, Nae, and ACU Frank,
Thanks for weighing in.
LKS, it’s a bit difficult to be surprised by anything, but I suppose that’s really been the case for quite a while.
Frank, I hadn’t thought of the Gary Hart/Monkey Business analogy, but that’s not far off.
Nae, thanks for challenging me on this. I have no idea how many governors or CEOs are crooks. I certainly didn’t mean to suggest that all of them are. I hope you’re right that there are more good apples than bad ones, but I don’t believe for a minute that most of the bad ones get caught. It took decades to catch Bernard Madoff, and there’s no way to rectify the destruction he wrought.
I’ve been pretty hard on CEOs and politicians in some of my posts, but I don’t believe I’ve developed an unhealthy prejudice against them, at least I hope not. I do have a sense of deep disgust about many of the things that have gone on this year in both the political and business worlds.
As to believing the media’s slant, I’m not sure which slant you think I’ve been overly influenced by. There are so many of them. I’m sure the media has some effect on me, probably too much, but I try to form my own opinions.
There’s no question I need to look closer at my thought processes. I could use daily therapy. But I may be too far gone for that to do any good.
Thanks again to all of you.
John
Speaking of Madoff, is anyone else outraged that the bailout has been extended to include Madoff’s victims? Where are we going to draw the line? What about individual homeowners who paid fees to phony appraisers, mortgage brokers and the like? What about all the people whose 401(k)s were trashed while fund managers stood by paralyzed? If Madoff hadn’t ripped off congressmen and Hollywood moguls, do you think it might have been handled differently?
So many questions, so few answers…
Frank,
I hadn’t heard that the bailout has been extended to include Madoff’s victims. What’s your source on that? If that’s true, count me in the outraged category.
John