Gubernatorial hijinks in Illinois and Nevada

As you may know, cynical old journalists (no names, please) just love to make fun of self-important politicians. And they " the politicians " make it so easy. Take Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons for examples.

Of course "Blago" is in a league of his own. He set a new record for brazen political corruption by attempting to sell President-elect Barack Obama's Illinois Senate seat in a sleazy "pay to play" scheme. The Illinois House of Representatives impeached the governor on a 114-1 vote Jan. 9, and he will soon face trial in the State Senate. If convicted, he'll be removed from office.

But in the meantime Gov. Blago has made life difficult for his fellow Democrats, including Obama and our very own Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, by naming former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris to replace Obama in the U.S. Senate. After initially refusing to seat Burris because he was appointed by Blago, Reid did an about-face and enjoyed a public love-in with Burris, who was sworn-in as a senator Thursday.

When high-powered U.S. Attorney for Northern Illinois Patrick Fitzgerald announced felony political corruption charges against the mop-topped governor, Fitzgerald said Illinois " Obama's home state " may be the most corrupt state in the nation. Obama's chief of staff-in-waiting, Rahm Emmanuel, is believed to have discussed the vacant Senate seat with Blago. How embarrassing!

Nevertheless, Illinois will have to work hard to overtake Louisiana as the nation's most corrupt state. After Hurricane Katrina, I questioned whether the federal government should pour millions of taxpayer dollars into a very corrupt city (New Orleans) in a very corrupt state (Louisiana). Shortly thereafter, ex-Congressman William Jefferson, a New Orleans Democrat, was indicted for storing $90,000 worth of ill-gotten gains in his home freezer. Fortunately, Jefferson was defeated by a Vietnamese-American immigration attorney, a Republican, in last November's general election.

The case against Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons doesn't involve corruption but it does demonstrate bad judgment. As Gibbons was taking office two years ago he was accused of playing hanky-panky with an attractive cocktail waitress in a Las Vegas parking garage. He dodged that bullet, however, when the Vegas D.A. declined to prosecute for lack of evidence.

That dubious achievement was followed by the colorful divorce action in which the governor and first lady Dawn Gibbons traded thinly veiled insults in the media. When our chivalrous leader tried to evict his wife from the Governor's Mansion, she moved into an adjacent guest house, where she remains. Although they haven't made a joint public appearance in several months, she continues in her first lady role, such as it is.

Cynical journalists also are enjoying the current dust-up between fellow Republicans Gibbons and Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki, who heads the state's Tourism Commission. As my longtime friend Sue Morrow wrote in a rival paper, "The (Gibbons/Krolicki) feud ... is a rift that keeps on giving." It sure does as Krolicki and commissioners continue to reject Gibbons' candidate to head the commission.

Not long ago Gibbons announced that he had been cleared in a federal investigation of allegations that he had accepted expensive gifts " including a luxury vacation trip to the Caribbean " from a Reno-based defense contractor while Gibbons served in Congress. Although Gibbons denies any wrongdoing, the case remains in the Justice Department's inactive file.

Now I don't want to be too hard on Gov. Gibbons. The silver-haired former fighter pilot photographs well and he does fine in public as long as he doesn't say anything. Following the example of a handsome but dim-witted ambassador I worked for, our embattled governor should smile for the cameras and let someone else do the talking.

- Guy W. Farmer, a semi-retired journalist and former U.S. diplomat, resides in Carson City.