Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Gov's Gone Wild


            There has been a great deal of media attention paid to the sentencing of Illinois Governor Blagojevich who has just been given 14 years in prison for attempting to sell President Obama’s former Senate seat. But, what I find most interesting is that he is being sent to the exact same prison as his predecessor Governor George Ryan who was convicted of fraud and racketeering. They just need a few more Illinois State Governors and they’ll be able to start their own prison gang.
            It may seem cold to make light of such a terrible situation. Perhaps it’s the amount of time that I have spent in the entertainment industry. But, I can’t help thinking that this would make for an amazing reality show. Just imagine the first awkward conversation upon the two former Governors suddenly discovering that they’re going to be cellmates.
            Production costs would be incredibly low since the prison already has the entire building under video surveillance. You could use inmates on work release for crew to save on wages, and craft services could be covered by the prison cafeteria.
            However, there might be an incident when the boom mic operator would be accused of “wearing a wire”. Although that could lead to an entire episode of Three’s Company styled misunderstanding comedy.
            And, just imagine the hilarious Meatballs styled comedy when those wacky Gov’s tried to embezzle from the warden. Oh, how hilarity would ensue.
            All kidding aside, this situation is a truly horrible occurrence that highlights the severity of the corruption problem in America. A situation so wide spread that it has resulted in the creation of several independent citizens groups who try to draw attention to the issue through self-publishing articles such as “Corruption in America”.
            This is upsetting because The main stream media not only ignores many of the issues brought up by the independents, but the media then attacks the individuals for exercising the very First Amendment rights that make the media possible.
            The only conclusion is that the press has fallen under the influence of the corruption that they are meant to prevent by being the eyes and ears of America.
            If we want to solve this problem then we need to start with the press and follow the money back to its’ source.  Only with a truly free media can we ever hope to stop the spread of political and corporate corruption.