Spare Us, Please...

Oy. To be the butt of jokes for Jay Leno. To be the national embarassment. To have the FBI's SAC in Chicago say, "If it isn't the most corrupt state in the United States, it's certainly one *%&^ of a competitor." The un-lamented governor of the State of Illinois is under an extraordinary indictment in a pay-to-play scheme to sell President-elect Barack Obama's senate seat to the highest bidder. The man who once claimed that he had more "testicular virility" than the entire state legislature is in it up to his well-coifed hairline. Methinks Roddie-boy has been inhaling the fumes of whatever hairspray he's using. I know - innocent till proven guilty. But this guy has a really, REALLY bad case of "Ryan-itis." That's the ailment that plagues the LAST governor, George Ryan, currently a guest of the Feds on racketeering and bribery charges (a/k/a "pay to play" in a license for bribes scheme with PLENTY of collateral damage). You see, George is petitioning for commutation of his 6 1/2 year sentence (it could have been 22 years, buddy) - claiming that he's "old" and his wife is in frail health. Well, he was old when he committed his crimes. And while he was committing them, maybe he should have thought about Lura Lynn having to spend her remaining years by herself. Ryan won't admit he's done anything wrong. His lawyer, "Big Jim" Thompson, another former IL governor, who arranged for his multi-million dollar defense to be done pro bono (that's free for the rest of us), while costing the TAXPAYERS of Illinois major bucks, has drafted an appropriately conciliatory "note of sorrow" telling us how sad he is and how he regrets what he's done. Yet Lura Lynn says, "George told me that if he had it to do over again, he'd do everything the same way." Nice job. Roddy's lawyer, upon his client's arrest, said, "He's sad, surprised and innocent." And may I add delusional?? He thinks he's done nothing wrong. Look. Patrick Fitzgerald doesn't issue 78-page complaints because he's got nothing better to do. Federal judges don't issue permission to wiretap because they've got nothing else to do (the Current Occupant's unauthorized wiretapping being beside the point right now). If he IS, by some Christmas miracle, proved not guilty, then mazel tov. But the stain is there. Spare us the embarassment of being the nation's joke. Resign, Rod. Fitzgerald has your "testicular virility" in a wringer. You and Patti need to take the girls and just go away. Now.