If I were Blago’s mother …

January 30th, 2009 at 01:07pm Linda Grist Cunningham

Thursday morning, I sat with the Rockford Register Star’s Editorial Board and watched (via live video streaming at rrstar.com) our former governor, Rod Blagojevich, defend himself before the Illinois’ senate’s impeachment hearings. A couple hours later, he was gone and Pat Quinn was in.

Friday morning the newspaper’s front page headline was “Bye-Bye Blago.”I suspect most Illinoisans have wanted to say that for a long, long time. We are embarrassed by our former governor, we are frustrated and fearful of the damage done over at least three years. We knew he had to go if we were to fix things and move forward.

And, yet …. I sat there watching Blago’s 46-minute-10-second, stream-of-consciousness in which he told of his childhood and wandered onto such as Elizabeth Taylor and John Warner. And, I thought, “what if I were his mother….”

Thursday-Blago was a little boy run amok; a child seriously in need of an adult to take his hand and lead him — even screaming — out of the room. Thursday-Blago was sad and everyone who watched did so waiting for a train wreck. Thursday-Blago embarrasssed himself and no adult did a thing to help.

If I were his mother, I simply could not have sat back and watched him implode. For the sake of the little boy he once was, I would have gotten him away from that podium and taken him to someone who could help.

I am not his mother. Bye-bye Blago.

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