|
Comment on this article |
View comments |
Email this Article
|
|
News :: Miscellaneous |
|
State Journal Register calls for Governor Ryan's Resignation |
Current rating: 0 |
by Michael Walcher
Email: solaraycer (nospam) yahoo.com (unverified!) |
22 Jul 2002
Modified: 04:16:53 PM |
|
(WAND) A Springfield newspaper, The State Journal Register, is calling for Governor George Ryan's resignation because of allegations of corruption in the governor's campaign organization. |
NEWSPAPER CALLING FOR GOVERNOR'S RESIGNATION
(WAND) A Springfield newspaper, The State Journal Register, is calling for Governor George Ryan's resignation because of allegations of corruption in the governor's campaign organization. The newspaper actually endorsed Ryan for governor nearly four years ago. But, Sunday it ran an editorial calling for Governor Ryan to step down. The editorial says the governor has lost the confidence of the general public and the Republican Party faithful. Ryan Spokesman Dennis Culloton would not comment, but he says the governor will not step down. |
See also:
http://www.wandtv.com/SendPage.asp?2557
|
|
More on the SJ-R.... |
by gehrig
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
22 Jul 2002
|
The editorial asking Ryan to step down was more than a week ago, so it's not still available on their site (www.sj-r.com). This is a very conservative paper, part of the very conservative Copley Press, and they asked for Ryan to quit for the pragmatic, political reason that they fear a strong anti-Republican backlash in November's elections.
With friends like the State Journal-Register...
@%< |
|
Here is the Editorial from SJ-R |
by Michael Walcher
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
22 Jul 2002
|
Gov. Ryan should resign
FOUR YEARS ago this fall, we endorsed then two-term Republican Secretary of State George Ryan for governor. Today, we are asking him to resign.
In 1998, we criticized Ryan's opponent, Democrat Glenn Poshard, for running too negative of a campaign. We, like so many others at the time, were willing to believe Ryan when he said that he knew nothing of the unfolding corruption in the secretary of state's office.
"Was I involved in selling drivers' licenses to people illegally? Hell no, I wasn't. I didn't have anything to do with it," said Ryan two years later as the Operation Safe Road probe began to net more and more people, many of them government employees under Ryan. He went so far as to say that it would be "absolutely unfair" to hold him responsible for this mess that gave unqualified drivers commercial licenses, leading to deaths and injuries around the country - and, let's not forget, depositing $170,000 in bribe money in Ryan's campaign war chest.
THE NEWS has grown progressively worse. Some of Ryan's closest friends and associates have been indicted, including his former chief of staff, Scott Fawell. Federal prosecutors dropped a bombshell late last month - memos written by Fawell to Ryan that sound like something straight out of Watergate. In the memos, Fawell urges Ryan to fire internal investigators who were looking into illegal fund raising in the office. Fawell says they need "someone in there who won't screw our friends, won't ask about FR (fund raising)."
Of course, Ryan denies seeing the memos. But the inspectors were fired. In fact, the secretary of state inspector general's office became a tool during Ryan's tenure to cover up rather than expose nefarious deeds. Former inspector general Dean Bauer, a lifelong Ryan friend, went to federal prison last year after admitting his part in the cover-up.
RYAN HAS gone from forcefully denying any knowledge of the corruption to saying "no comment." If he truly didn't know, shame on him for winning an important elective office only to abandon it to corrupt underlings. If he did know, the federal prosecutors will find out. The lasso can't get much tighter without ensnaring George Ryan.
While Ryan may or may not see his day in court, the court of public opinion has already judged him. He has lost not only the confidence of the general public, but also the confidence of the Republican Party faithful. Last week, Republican gubernatorial candidate Jim Ryan suggested Ryan should resign - calling George Ryan's reign "one of the most corrupt administrations in the history of our state." Some will label that campaign talk. But it is also true.
SUCH IS THE sad state of the Ryan administration. It is especially sad because Ryan had the potential to go down as one of Illinois' more innovative and determined leaders. His $12 billion Illinois FIRST program, while controversial, helped rebuild our infrastructure from Chicago to Cairo. His decision to put a moratorium on the death penalty until the broken system can be fixed has stirred a national debate on the topic. And closer to home, the Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum probably would still be on the drawing board were it not for Ryan's leadership.
Good was accomplished. But that good is a veneer that covers a core of corruption. For the sake of Illinois and the sake of his party, George Ryan should step down. It is an embarrassment that "corruption" and "Illinois politics" are synonymous. For too long, people have said, "That's just how it is in Illinois." It should be that way no longer. Illinois deserves better. |
See also:
http://www.sj-r.com/sections/news/opinion/O07142002,a.asp
|
