The Flyover View: There Goes The Neighborhood
The arrest of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich has far-ranging implications for the state, the Democratic Party and maybe even Pres.-Elect Barack Obama. But for a certain group of Chicagoans, the scandal strikes particularly close to home. Literally. Local reporters have fanned out across Ravenswood Manor, Blagojevich's neighborhood, to get reaction to the corruption charges levied against the governor from the people who live closest to him.
From the Chicago Sun-Times:
Reaction from neighbors was mixed, ranging from sadness for Blagojevich's family and support for him, to outrage.
"Are we nuts in this state?" said Suzy Thomas, who has lived in the neighborhood for 15 years. "Selling the Senate seat? I find that ludicrous. . . . I guess they think they can get away with it."
"I think [neighbors] were just waiting for it to happen," said Noreen McGowan, who lives in the area, of Tuesday's arrest.
Chicago public radio giant WBEZ sent a reporter to Blagojevich's block, too, and captured an anonymous audio montage of a neighborhood where all politics is local.
Excerpts from the multiple interviews:
"There's something wrong with politics in this city. In this state. And I've enough of it."
"It's very sad...I mean you think that he would have learned his lesson with what happened to Gov. Ryan. I mean, let that be a lesson to you, right?"
"Acutally, this is kind of politics as usual in Chicago, unfortunately. And in Illinois. I think now we have the record for the number of governors that have been indicted -- I don't know, that's kind of a bad record to have."
"Oh yeah, we would see him all the time and, you know, he'd always be jogging and say hello as he'd go by...a couple of times I almost hit him with my car 'cause he would just kind of run down the middle of the streets. When he first became governor, he would come around on Halloween with his kids. Yeah, he's just kind of part of the neighborhood now."
(EVAN McMORRIS-SANTORO)
Join the Discussion
The National Journal Group has the right (but not the obligation) to monitor the comments and to remove any materials it deems inappropriate.
Comments powered by Disqus