Twist of Fate

Monday truly suffered a tragedy when a jury in Illinois convicted former Governor George Ryan of 18 counts of federal corruption stemming from favors to supporters and family members that do not appear far out of line with the pocket lining of other similarly situated politicians. Yet the saddest aspect of this relates to the fact that the former governor took a political gamble that was unprecedented: namely, determining that the Illinois death penalty system was so thoroughly racist, biased against the poor and unreliable that he commuted the death sentences of all 167 prisioners sitting on Illinois' death row before leaving office. For death penalty opponents and supporters of human rights, he was treated as a spokesperson and honoree, even being nominated for a Nobel Peace Price. For those craving some measure of vengence, he "spit in our faces."

And while the charges against George Ryan revolved around him giving benefits and favors to his family members, perhaps we should compare with some other nepotism within the Republican Party:

• Michael Powell, son of former Secretary of State, Colin Powell, selected as head of the Federal Communications Commission;
• Mary Cheney, daughter of Vice President Dick Cheney, appointed to head a group called the Iran-Syria Operations Group, directly under the guidance of her dad;
• Eugene Scalia, son of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, appointed to the top legal position in the Department of Labor;
• Julie Myers, niece of Air Force General Richard Myers, to be head of the US Immigrations and Customs Enforcement Agency (Richard is now paying the Administration back by defending Dummy Rummy from seven other generals calling for his head);
• And a ton of other politicians of both parties;

And then of course there's the drunk moron. What would life have been like without President CIA Chief Dad?