Case may define gov's troubled legacy
'NEW DAY OF INTEGRITY' | Promises early in 1st term now ring hollow
SPRINGFIELD -- Tony Rezko's upcoming trial could show how a governor who rode into Springfield pledging every ethical reform in the book was, at best, neglectful and, at worst, a fraud.
Gov. Blagojevich has much at stake in Rezko's trial, beginning with the question of whether the governor himself faces potential criminal liability over an alleged kickback and extortion scheme run ostensibly in his name.
(Rich Hein/Sun-Times)
But regardless of whether the criminal trial presents a legal threat to the governor, the Rezko trial will be a blinding distraction for this administration.
Signs of that have already emerged this year, beginning with the governor's undersize, 20-minute-long speech last month touting a new state budget -- a plan that almost appeared as an afterthought and seems dead on arrival.
As Rezko's trial plays out and Blagojevich's legal problems possibly deepen, he very well could carry the air of a lame duck unable to advance even the most basic things in Springfield, including a budget.
While Blagojevich continues to struggle, Illinoisans can look back to a legacy that was supposed to be different -- that of a governor who promised to "change business as usual" as successor to the corrupt George Ryan.
"The people of Illinois expect a new day of integrity, of openness and accountability," Blagojevich told Illinoisans barely a week into his first term, "and they deserve a government as good and honest as they are."
The Rezko trial could end up showing how Blagojevich allowed that promise to go unfulfilled.