The ignominious conviction of Rod Blagojevich brings to a merciful conclusion the traveling circus that had become the former governor's life. From his often painful media interviews to his ill-fated turn on The Celebrity Apprentice, it seemed as if the shameless and awkward Blagojevich had one core competency: drawing attention to himself. Although Blago is hardly the first Chicago politician to be laid low by scandal and graft, he is unlikely to be the last.
But the former governor's downfall may yet mean curtains for another product of Chicago's political machine. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., long viewed as having aspirations for higher office since being elected to Congress in 1995, has found himself badly tarred by the former governor's corrupt efforts to fill the Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama after he was elected president. Initially accused of offering money to induce Blagojevich into appointing him, the allegations surrounding Jackson were soon broadened.
The scandal forced him to cop to an extramarital affair that all but doomed his hopes to run for Chicago mayor. Now, he faces the very real prospect of an ethics probe that threatens to shadow him for the remainder of his career.
The full extent of Jackson Jr.'s ethical woes remains to be seen. Having said that, it places the congressman in conspicuously dubious company. Over the last few years, more than a few black congressmen have found themselves ensnared in ethics violations -- the most embarrassing of which featured Charles Rangel, the raspy-voiced dean of the New York Congressional delegation, at its center. Jackson's case is only just the latest example of just how thoroughly the miasma of corruption has infected several high-profile African-American House members.
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