Governor has a lot of gall to suggest lack of fairness

Fairness. It's a foundation of good relationships and good government. Who wouldn't agree with the concept that everyone should be treated fairly? However, when our impeached Gov. Rod Blagojevich, whose Senate trial starts Monday, complains of unfair treatment at the hands of lawmakers, it's hard to take him seriously. "What the Senate and the House and Legislature is trying to do is to thwart the will of the people and remove a governor elected twice by the people without a fair hearing, without due process," Blagojevich said Thursday. He made the remark outside his home before his morning jog. He reiterated his complaints at a news conference Friday afternoon. Blagojevich might as well ask whether the Illinois Constitution is fair, because that is the basis for the impeachment process. The House impeached him by an overwhelming vote on many counts of misconduct and abuse of power. The Senate is preparing a trial that, from our observation, appears to be a fair process. It's not the Senate's fault that Blagojevich and his lawyers have not cooperated. After a fair trial, Blagojevich will be convicted and removed from office, or acquitted and allowed to stay. Since he brought up the issue, Blagojevich shouldn't mind answering a few questions about the fairness of his actions as governor. Sir, was it fair to Illinoisans that you allegedly tried to benefit personally from the appointment of a U.S. senator? After you were arrested, was it fair to go ahead and appoint Roland Burris as senator? Was it fair to solicit and accept campaign contributions from people and companies doing business with the government? Was it fair to pressure the Chicago Tribune to fire its editorial writers? Was it fair to the Sauk Valley to close Castle Rock and Lowden state parks, and threaten to close the Hennepin Canal Parkway? Was it fair to withhold money for months from Extension offices and soil and water conservation districts? Was it fair to Medicaid providers to delay state reimbursement payments for months? Was it fair to cut funding for social service agencies? Was it fair to waste $2.6 million for flu vaccines that eventually had to be destroyed? Was it fair to skirt state hiring laws that gave preference to veterans? Was it fair to ignore the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules and launch an expanded state-subsidized health insurance program? Was it fair to rule Illinois from your Chicago home instead of from the governor's office in Chicago, or for that matter, Springfield? Was it fair to govern so ineffectively that Illinois' roads, bridges, schools and public buildings are crumbling from the lack of a capital spending plan? Faced with his unfair pattern of governing, this impeached governor has a lot of gall to complain about purported unfair treatment toward himself. Blagojevich now faces a Senate trial and possible ouster. However, it's not all gloom and doom. If he's removed from office, at least he'll have more time for jogging around his Chicago neighborhood - until his federal corruption trial begins, that is. The truth of the old saying was never more evident: Turnabout is fair play.