Chicago’s shame

Image by stuckinseoul via Flickr

Being from Illinois is just too embarrassing. A year after our governor is indicted on federal corruption charges (and becomes a laughingstock on national TV), the primary to replace him has close to the lowest voter turnout in state history and in the end, we chose another cast of ridiculous characters.

And the most ridiculous of all is Scott Lee Cohen. Cohen is now the Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor and it turns out, he’s been arrested on a domestic violence charge. His former girlfriend accused him of holding a knife to her neck and his ex-wife had an order of protection against him at one point. None of this came out during the campaign although his opponents say they told both candidates for the governor’s seat.

No one cared. Not even the voters care about who’s in office anymore, voter turnout is estimated at just 25 percent. Maybe we’re all just too exhausted by the unending parade of lousy candidates and even lousier officeholders. How else can we explain electing Cohen, a pawn broker with a controversial past who financed his own campaign?

The election isn’t until November and we still have 10 months of campaigning and scandal to endure. Cohen’s revelations are just the tip of the iceberg, this is Illinois after all. I just hope it doesn’t interfere with the current TV season. Rod Blagojevich is on “Celebrity Apprentice” next month.