Jeff Wartman

With the recent scandal involving Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, some people think so…

Here’s an excerpt…

SPRINGFIELD — “The defendant will please rise.”

Those words have been directed toward five of the last eight men elected governor of Illinois.

Think about that, folks. Most of the people we have elected governor during the last 50 years have ended up becoming criminal defendants. Three ended up in prison, one was acquitted.

And then there is Rod Blagojevich. They say he tried to sell an appointment to the U.S. Senate.

Mr. Reform N. Renewal was arrested Tuesday. There is a good chance he’ll spend the rest of his days wearing orange flip flops, worrying about the balance in his prison commissary account and fighting over who has to sleep on the top bunk.

I asked a professor friend if he had ever heard of a senate seat being put up for sale. His response: “Yeah, in ancient Rome.”

I did a little more digging to see if anyone has ever been accused of bribing their way into the U.S. Senate.

The last time it happened was in 1909. And yes, the politician was from, where else, Illinois.