What else was for sale?

December 12th, 2008 at 04:59pm Wally Haas

The controversy that surrounds Gov. Rod Blagojevich makes you wonder what else might have been for sale, which brings me to one of my favorite topics: state parks.

After this week’s allegations, it would not be a stretch to think that the governor’s end game with closing state parks was to sell them. When I floated that theory to colleagues, they dismissed it, saying the public backlash would be too great for him to ignore.

He already ignored thousands of petition signatures, pleas from other lawmakers and rallies across the state. He’s ignored calls from the president-elect on down for him to resign, so it does not seem he can be pressured by his peers or the public to do the right things.

If you believe the charges against the governor, it also would explain why he’s been so slow to appoint a permanent director of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. Perhaps the bidding didn’t get high enough for him to replace Sam Flood, who has been acting director for about three years.

If Blagojevich resigns, Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn could start the process of fixing the damage done to the DNR during the last six years.

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