Chicago Tribune Editorial - The GOP suicide gene
Chicago Tribune Editorial - The GOP suicide gene
Copyright © 2006, Chicago Tribune
Published April 26, 2006
Given their party's devastating experiences with cronyism and insider politics, you'd think the Illinois Republicans in Congress would be careful about even the appearance of favoritism in choosing new federal prosecutors to enforce our public corruption laws.
But if you do think that, you're wrong. House Speaker Dennis Hastert, with an assist from several of this state's clueless GOP congressmen, has given President Bush the names of three candidates for the vacant U.S. attorney's post in central Illinois. One of the three is Darin LaHood, the son of, that's right, Ray LaHood, the distinguished GOP congressman from Peoria.
What is Hastert thinking? Cronyism is an equal-opportunity source of scandal for both Republicans and Democrats in Illinois. But with a federal judge about to frog-march former Gov. George Ryan to prison after his conviction for public corruption, Republican officials in particular need to avoid any whiff of favoritism for insiders.
That's particularly crucial in selecting federal prosecutors. Senior members of Congress, who get to propose to the White House candidates for the state's three U.S. attorney's jobs, have never wanted to choose aggressive outsiders with the moxie to reform the state's culture of political sleaze.
The recent exception, of course, was former Sen. Peter Fitzgerald. It was Peter Fitzgerald who urged President Bush to appoint New York native Patrick Fitzgerald as U.S. attorney for northern Illinois. Patrick Fitzgerald had no connections to Illinois pols and their pals. The result: an unprecedented, and still expanding, attack on thievery in high offices.
Hastert didn't even publicly disclose that a GOP colleague's son was on his short list for the central Illinois prosecutor post. Instead, the Peoria Journal Star dug up the scoop last week. That lack of transparency has Hastert looking tone-deaf, secretive and conniving.
Paradoxically, the victim in this debacle is Darin LaHood, now a Peoria lawyer. He's a former narcotics prosecutor in Cook County and a former felony prosecutor in Tazewell County. He also served as the Justice Department's lead anti-terrorism prosecutor in Las Vegas. His strong public record and solid-gold personal reputation suggest that he has never let politics influence his decisions as a prosecutor.
The Peoria paper quoted U.S. Rep. Tim Johnson of Urbana as saying, "I think it would be a form of reverse discrimination to take [Darin LaHood] out of the running simply because his father is a congressman."
Sorry, Congressman Johnson, but that kind of rationalization--trust me, trust my guy--has earned both major parties the scorn of Illinois citizens by the millions. Darin LaHood would make an excellent U.S. attorney--in any of 49 states. In Illinois, he's stuck paying for the egregious sins of all the insiders who've put a thumb on the scale to help other Illinois insiders.
Washington whispers suggested Tuesday that the White House will nominate another of Hastert's candidates to be U.S. attorney for central Illinois, subject to Senate confirmation. Those candidates are interim U.S. Atty. Rodger Heaton, who grew up in McLean County, and John Michelich, who was raised in Sangamon County and works for the Justice Department in Washington.
No matter how this plays out, we trust that Darin LaHood has the character and talent to survive the awkward role in which his father's pals in Congress have cast him. As for Hastert and the rest of those clueless pals, it's time they tamed their party's suicide gene. What part of the George Ryan verdict--a total repudiation of Illinois cronyism--do they not understand?
Copyright © 2006, Chicago Tribune
Published April 26, 2006
Given their party's devastating experiences with cronyism and insider politics, you'd think the Illinois Republicans in Congress would be careful about even the appearance of favoritism in choosing new federal prosecutors to enforce our public corruption laws.
But if you do think that, you're wrong. House Speaker Dennis Hastert, with an assist from several of this state's clueless GOP congressmen, has given President Bush the names of three candidates for the vacant U.S. attorney's post in central Illinois. One of the three is Darin LaHood, the son of, that's right, Ray LaHood, the distinguished GOP congressman from Peoria.
What is Hastert thinking? Cronyism is an equal-opportunity source of scandal for both Republicans and Democrats in Illinois. But with a federal judge about to frog-march former Gov. George Ryan to prison after his conviction for public corruption, Republican officials in particular need to avoid any whiff of favoritism for insiders.
That's particularly crucial in selecting federal prosecutors. Senior members of Congress, who get to propose to the White House candidates for the state's three U.S. attorney's jobs, have never wanted to choose aggressive outsiders with the moxie to reform the state's culture of political sleaze.
The recent exception, of course, was former Sen. Peter Fitzgerald. It was Peter Fitzgerald who urged President Bush to appoint New York native Patrick Fitzgerald as U.S. attorney for northern Illinois. Patrick Fitzgerald had no connections to Illinois pols and their pals. The result: an unprecedented, and still expanding, attack on thievery in high offices.
Hastert didn't even publicly disclose that a GOP colleague's son was on his short list for the central Illinois prosecutor post. Instead, the Peoria Journal Star dug up the scoop last week. That lack of transparency has Hastert looking tone-deaf, secretive and conniving.
Paradoxically, the victim in this debacle is Darin LaHood, now a Peoria lawyer. He's a former narcotics prosecutor in Cook County and a former felony prosecutor in Tazewell County. He also served as the Justice Department's lead anti-terrorism prosecutor in Las Vegas. His strong public record and solid-gold personal reputation suggest that he has never let politics influence his decisions as a prosecutor.
The Peoria paper quoted U.S. Rep. Tim Johnson of Urbana as saying, "I think it would be a form of reverse discrimination to take [Darin LaHood] out of the running simply because his father is a congressman."
Sorry, Congressman Johnson, but that kind of rationalization--trust me, trust my guy--has earned both major parties the scorn of Illinois citizens by the millions. Darin LaHood would make an excellent U.S. attorney--in any of 49 states. In Illinois, he's stuck paying for the egregious sins of all the insiders who've put a thumb on the scale to help other Illinois insiders.
Washington whispers suggested Tuesday that the White House will nominate another of Hastert's candidates to be U.S. attorney for central Illinois, subject to Senate confirmation. Those candidates are interim U.S. Atty. Rodger Heaton, who grew up in McLean County, and John Michelich, who was raised in Sangamon County and works for the Justice Department in Washington.
No matter how this plays out, we trust that Darin LaHood has the character and talent to survive the awkward role in which his father's pals in Congress have cast him. As for Hastert and the rest of those clueless pals, it's time they tamed their party's suicide gene. What part of the George Ryan verdict--a total repudiation of Illinois cronyism--do they not understand?
posted by Carlos T Mock at 6:21 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home