Political Corruption

I'm not naive enough to think that there aren't other corrupt politicians.  In fact, I would bet that a vast majority of our lawmakers have committed some ethical, possibly criminal, offense at some point in their career.  But it seems to me that very few get caught, and those that do get prosecuted, still tend to get away with it.
For the past 2 years, my local news channels have felt obliged to discuss a certain individual far beyond what his accomplishments deserve.  Sure, he gave commuters the I-Pass, but beyond that, I can't think of a single good thing that he has done.  The bad things that he is accused of doing, however, have placed him front and center on just about every prime time broadcast I can recall for months.  If you live in anywhere near Chicago, like me, you know who I am talking about:  Rod Blagojevich.

For a long time, I have been embarrassed to tell folks that I am from Chicago if there is even the slightest chance that politics will come in our conversation.  But, the more I read about politics, the more I have found that Chicago is not alone.

So, to track this trend, I have decided to start a post on Political Corruption.

The first lucky entry:  S. Korean PM-to-be resigns amid pressure

The entire time I was reading the article, I felt as though I had just picked up a Chicago Tribune.

I bet I can find a dozen articles like this within a year about other politicians from all over the world.  I will be curious to see how many of them actually do time, or pay a fine.

___
Update: 8/29 6:24 PM
French prosecutor seeks Woerth case evidence

Well, well, well.  What have we here.  Another politician facing allegations of corruption?  This times, it's the Labor Minister of France.  When prosecutors are done reviewing the records, he may face charges ranging from receiving illegal donations, to showing favoritism on a national real estate deal.  Oh, and a billionaire heiress is involved.  I'll be very interested to see how this turns out.
___
9/27
Official:  Chavez allies win congressional majority

"Before the vote, the opposition had criticized an election law passed by Chavez's allies that redrew some legislative districts and gave greater weight to votes in rural areas, where the president remains more popular."

I wonder if Chavez would have known about gerrymandering if he hadn't seen the corrupt tactic employed by some of his American enemies. 

"Chavez also pitched his allies like a salesman, offering Venezuelans new, low-interest credit cards and discounted appliances from washing machines to TV sets. The government's "Good Life Card," which has yet to be widely distributed, is to be good for purchases at state-run stores and for travel, and the government has started a program offering cheap appliances imported from China."

He better watch out when all the crappy appliances start breaking, and his countrymen still owe on their shiny new credit cards.  Teaching his people how to spend on credit is one of the stupidest economic policies I have ever read about.
___
12/30
Former Israeli president guilty of rape, sexual harassment  (CNN, 12/30/2010)

As I read the story linked above, the only thing that kept going through my mind was that in the US, we have never seen an ex-President stand trial for anything.  And I can think of plenty of examples from my lifetime alone where a guilty verdict would have been a distinct possibility.