Gov. Blagojevich allegedly tried to fire paper editorial board

I really debated hard about whether or not I should post about any issue relating to the arrest and indictment of Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, as this is not a political blog (there’s tons of those out there for your daily fix of politics).

But his alleged effort to fire the editorial board at the Chicago Tribune is deeply disturbing and is a matter of free speech, which I discuss here frequently. According to this article from the Chicago Tribune website, Gov. Blagojevich wanted the Tribune’s editorial board removed:

A criminal complaint filed in federal court outlines wiretapped conversations between Blagojevich and his chief of staff—who also was arrested Tuesday—in which the governor said he wanted the Tribune to fire its editorial board, which has called for the Illinois House to explore impeaching the governor. In one wiretapped comment in the complaint, Blagojevich is quoted as saying the Tribune’s owner should be told to "fire those [expletive]."

Ouch! And what would the governor do if the editorial board wasn’t fired? He was allegedly going to make it difficult for the Tribune, which is suffering from some serious financial problems, to receive help from the Illinois Finance Authority with regards to selling Wrigley Field and the Chicago Cubs.

So the editorial board criticizes the governor and calls for his impeachment, and the governor in turn threatens to withhold critical financial help if they are not fired. Only in Illinois does a scenario like this even seem possible.

The larger issue, however, is freedom of speech. The Tribune has every right to be critical of our politicians. It’s an important duty to the citizens who elect, and place their trust in, people like the governor. If newspapers can’t publish editorials and stories as it seems fit, because a politician is bullying them, then we have a big problem!

Hopefully this will be a wake-up call to newspapers and citizens around the country to be even more vigilant about protecting our First Amendment rights. I also hope that, if found guilty, Governor Blagojevich spends a long time in jail for such a blatant violation of public trust and abuse of power.

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