Jersey vs. Camelot

The big story all over the news today is the arrest of Rod Blagojevich. Federal prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald alleges that Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (see video below) sought kickbacks as he considered a replacement for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by the president-elect.

Is this a negative for the already contaminated view of Chicago politics? Sure it is. Could Blagojevich spill his guts and bring down more people? Of course he could. It is interesting that stories are reporting that Rahm Emanuel is the person who let this situation be known. Is there a possibility that this could reflect poorly on Obama and his team? I am sure that it can and probably will. Does some of Blagojevich's conversation sound more like an episode of the Sopranos than it does the political arena? It sure does. Here is a small snippet:

On Nov. 5, Blagojevich allegedly told an adviser: "I've got this thing and it's [expletive] golden, and, uh, uh, I'm just not giving it up for [expletive] nothing. I'm not gonna do it."

On Nov. 11, Blagojevich said he knew that Obama wanted a specific candidate for the open Senate seat but added: "They're not willing to give me anything except appreciation. [Expletive] them."

Of course this is quite a story, but the similarity (and often link) between crime and politics has had a long history. I find it ironic that for days before this story broke, the media was telling us how Senator Ted Kennedy is working hard to try to get Caroline Kennedy to be the replacement for Hillary Clinton's senate seat. Is that much different than the situation with Blagojevich? The main difference seems to be is that the Kennedy money is old and their power is more understated and less direct. It wasn't that many years ago that John F. Kennedy's father supposedly used organized crime assistance to help get his son elected as President. My question is, in reality, how far is Tony Soprano's New Jersey from the Kennedy-Hyannasport version of Camelot. I tend to see it as a pretty short walk.