Everybody Hates Rod

I can not even believe that Governor-for-now Rod Blagojedouche is a Cub fan. It's embarassing to be associated with him in even the smallest way. Its not even fair to call him a douchebag or jagoff because it is an insult to douchebags and jagoffs everywhere.

At this point, everybody knows that Rod was being investigated by the Feds for corruption and instead of curtailing his corrupt activities, he dared the Feds to bug his phones and went on his merry way attempting to sell President-elect Obama's Senate seat to the highest bidder.

When he got arrested at his home for "staggering" levels of corruption, and snippets of his conversations were leaked out to the press, detailing his efforts to sell the seat (or appoint himself to avoid future impeachment), his chief of staff promptly resigned, as any sane person in the same position would. Not Rod though.

Rod posted bail and went back to work. He started governing like he has never governed before. He showed up at his office bright and early and put in a full day's work of governing. He governed his fingers to the bone.

Meanwhile, his lawyer started mounting a defense that involved the taxpayers paying for Rod's defense. Not the "if you can't afford a lawyer, one will be appointed to you" kind of lawyer, a high-priced, super-lawyer that you might find at an O.J. trial (the first one).

The Illinois House, who collectively couldn't come to a consensus on the color of the sky, voted 113-0 to form an impeachment committee. The United States Senate came out and said they would not approve ANY appointment made by Rod. His approval rating hit 8%. Eight. His approval rating makes George Bush shake his head with pity.

So he is hated locally by virtually everyone not named Blagojevich, he has absolutely no political support at any level, and he is a national joke.

But Rod can not be deterred. He keeps going into his office like the little governor that could. He appointed Roland Burris to the Senate seat, and continues to try to settle an ongoing budget dispute that has involved cuts to education and child and family services, as well as leaving the state behind in payments for special education, transportation, and early childhood development. Oh... and he unilaterally decided to post honorary Jim Hendry Way signs in Park Ridge.

Park Ridge politicians and residents are angered by the governor's decision to post the signs without anyone's permission. I can not get past the fact that state bills are going unpaid, but Rod is out hanging signs to honor a general manager that hasn't won anything.

My girlfriend contracts with the state to evaluate small children for developmental delays that affect their ability to eat, walk, use their hands, speak, or learn problem-solving skills. She said that until the age of three, children have what is called neural plasticity. She explained to me in small words and a few drawings that neural plasticity is the ability of the brain to make new neural connections. Essentially, if the brain has bad connections, before the age of three it is much easier to redirect the connections and correct the issue. After the age of three, the neural connections slow significantly, making correction of issues much more difficult. So it would seem that delaying evaluations and therapy for these little guys would be not only wrong, but potentially tragic for families of undiagnosed children.

The state is over 3 months behind in payments to her for evaluation and therapy services. She hasn't been paid a nickel since the beginning of December. Luckily, my girlfriend is smart and knows the state of Illinois can't be trusted to pay their bills, so she has set aside cash to weather dry spells like this (this is not the first time the state has neglected to pay for long periods). Unfortunately, many individuals and small businesses don't have the resources and will be in danger of bankruptcy.

But Rod is sneaking around in the middle of the night hanging street signs that nobody wanted. He tried to make the outcry go away by saying he would pay for signs honoring White Sox general manager, Kenny Williams as well. That is not the point, Rod! Stop spending money on things that no one gives two shits about! Stop trying to resurrect your approval rating by doing nonsense things that you think will score you points with the uninformed.

You are an elected official that is supposed to be acting in the best interests of the state! You are supposed to be deciding how best to spend the tax dollars of your electorate. How do honorary signs that nobody wants somehow trump the state's ability to pay for children being able to learn to walk, speak, or even eat?

I hate that he is a Cub fan. It makes me feel dirty.