They’ll Never Do It

Reminding us of the incident, 46 years ago, when John Rhodes, Hugh Scott, and Barry Goldwater advised President Nixon that there weren’t enough votes in the Senate to prevent his being impeached, Chicago Tribune columnist Eric Zorn wonders when Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan will face his “Nixon moment”:

So when are leading Illinois Democrats going to have their Nixon Moment with veteran House Speaker and state Democratic Party chair Michael Madigan?

Last month, Commonwealth Edison agreed to pay a $200 million fine after federal prosecutors charged the utility with orchestrating a bribery scheme that provided jobs, contracts and other perks to allies of “Public Official A,” whom the feds identified as the speaker of the House.

Madigan, who controls the movement of legislation through his chamber, has not been charged and has categorically denied wrongdoing, saying in a statement that he “has never made a legislative decision with improper motives.”

He may never be charged, of course. He’s famously cautious in what he says and how he acts, and the documents in the ComEd case quote one of his close associates agreeing with the nod-and-wink expression, “that which is understood need not be mentioned.”

Madigan may even have been oblivious to the slimy machinations going on all around him. More unlikely things have happened, though I can’t think of any off the top of my head.

It will almost certainly take years for the truth to come out.

But right now, Madigan is a Nixonian albatross on his party. His adjacency to scandal threatens every Democratic lawmaker in a close race this fall, and the idea that the imposition of graduated state income tax rates would put more money under Madigan’s control is animating opposition to the Democrats’ so-called Fair Tax amendment. To pass, that amendment needs approval from a supermajority of voters in November.

I don’t believe it will ever happen. For one thing there probably aren’t three clean people in the Democratic leadership and certainly none with the courage to confront Speaker Madigan with the bad news. He knows where the bodies are buried. They’d rather let the speaker take the Illinois Democratic Party down with him than change things as they are.

6 comments… add one
  • Drew Link

    “His adjacency to scandal threatens every Democratic lawmaker in a close race this fall,”

    Apparently Mr Zorn likes to tipple while he writes. The view will be “he may be a scoundrel, but he’s our scoundrel.”

  • Does anyone seriously believe that ComEd was the only company being shaken down? Or that no other “Democratic lawmaker” was involved? They’re all dirty or so close to all that it doesn’t make any difference.

  • Also, I doubt there were very many in Illinois who didn’t believe that Madigan was a crook before the ComEd revelations about Politician A.

  • Drew Link

    “Does anyone seriously believe that ComEd was the only company being shaken down? Or that no other “Democratic lawmaker” was involved?”

    No. But when was such adjacency not so? And when have the voters not known, and taken action? Blago, Greylord and Silver Shovel were all the Feds entering the fray. Madigan must be a veteran of 25 or more scandals, and they just keep pulling the lever.

  • they just keep pulling the lever.

    He’s been good to the voters of the 22nd District and it only takes about 10,000 of them to win.

  • TarsTarkas Link

    ‘He’s been good to the voters of the 22nd District and it only takes about 10,000 of them to win.’

    And he’s got enough money to buy a landslide if he wanted to. And probably enough dirt on his accomplices to ensure they never turn on him.

Leave a Comment