Making overt what other politicians make covert

Jack Shafer at Slate puts it well:

"If Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich is immediately guilty of anything, it's of making overt what other politicians make covert, and doing so while the wiretaps roll." Read the rest here.

Is Blagojevich inept at playing the game? It seems so. Is he corrupt and rightfully destined to join his Illinois gubernatorial predecessors in prison? It seems so. Does anyone believe Blagojevich is unique in conflating his personal interests with his elected duty?

Today's exhibit A: Senate Democrats had enough Republican votes to pass the auto bailout but not enough to provide political cover, so no go. Read the rest at the Weekly Standard (via Instapundit). Either the auto bailout was in the best interests of the US and their constituents or it wasn't. Not proceeding with a vote because there wasn't enough "cover" seems to be the same game, albeit in a legal and socially acceptable form.

Governor Blagojevich: He's Just Like Us!

Everyone knows by now about Governor Blagojevich's adventures in Chicago-style politics. It's laughable. Like dumb and dumber try to play the graft game. Self-delusion to the extreme. It's got me thinking though of what separates someone like Governor Blagojevich from:

• Typical back-scratching politics (e.g. Murtha)?
• less subtle "networking" where people do favors and advance friends on the belief that they're collecting a war chest of "chips" they can cash in later?
• A CEO empire building by pushing M&A deals he/she knows are not in the best interest of their company?
  
• Any typical business school student?

All seem ruled by self-serving expediency where ends justify means. The difference is probably two fold:

• Blagojevich's willingness to grossly cross the line of what is actually illegal (as opposed to questionably moral)
• Blagojevich's ineptness
  

I suspect there will be many who fundamentally don't understand why what Blagojevich did was a big deal (illegal, sure, but probably not that bad!).