He probably removed everyone from death row so that if ends up in prison, the inmates will love him for doing that to fellow jailbirds--a nice way to gain some "protection" from the Bubbas of the hoosegow.


Former Gov. George Ryan indicted


TIMELINE: Key events in the Secretary of State office scandal

Jury convicts Fawell, Ryan campaign of fraud
March 20, 2003

Feds probe corruption at McPier
December 4, 2003

Fawell's longtime aide pleads guilty to perjury
December 3, 2003

U.S. indicts more Ryan insiders
May 22, 2002

Ryan: Corruption part of license office culture
March 8, 2000

Ryan takes blame for scandal
January 28, 2000

Associated Press

Published December 17, 2003, 12:52 PM CST

Former Illinois Gov. George Ryan was charged in a federal racketeering indictment today with taking payoffs, gifts and vacations in return for government contracts and leases while he was secretary of state.

Ryan, 69, a Republican known worldwide as a leading critic of the death penalty, gradually became the focus of a corruption investigation that began even before his 1998 election as governor. The growing scandal was a factor in Ryan's 2001 decision not to seek a second term.

The indictment alleges Ryan received illegal cash payments and gifts, vacations and personal services. It says members of his family got cash loans and gifts totaling $167,000.

The 22-count indictment charges that Ryan himself directed payments totaling more than $300,000 to prominent lobbyist Donald Udstuen.

It says Ryan and his associates engaged in a pattern of corruption that included performing official acts, awarding lucrative government contracts and leases, and using state resources to benefit himself, members of his family and his political organization.

Copyright © 2003, Chicago Tribune

[ September 16, 2005, 08:18 PM: Message edited by: MIB ]

Wow ... former Gov. Bill Janklow of South Dakota and now former Gov. George Ryan of Illinois. Who's next??

Allen, perhaps it will be Gov. John Rowland of Connecticut. See this link for a bit on the story.

Funny how all of these people are Republicans.

Another law and order Republican...

Im suprised that MIB didnt add:
"Oh, the hypocrisy"

MIB's hatred for anyone to the left of Attila the Hun, and his open contempt for such people in his posts is unfortunate. He has company on these boards (see postings by TomFord, for example).

This latest post just goes to show that he's letting emotion overcome judgment.

If Ryan is guilty (not a foregone conclusion; the current US attorney was hand-picked by one of Ryan's sworn political enemies) then he deserves to be punished.

But to suggest (even in jest) that Ryan commuted all Illinois death sentences to win favor with fellow inmates is a bit much, even for MIB. As someone who was in the thick of the death penalty fight, I can assure you that Ryan acted out of principle on that issue, and only at the conclusion of a process set in motion years before there was even a whiff of scandal about the administration.

It's possible to disagree with what Ryan did, but to ascribe cynical motive to it is to display a complete ignorance of the facts.

:confused: What just happened here??

I hate no one, which cannot be said about you folks on the Left. I just enjoy laughing at the hypocrisy of the Left, which is more prevalent than the hypocrisy on the Right. However, I must admit I find it titillating when Fundamentalists preach about morality and sex then are busted for soliciting sex from a minor or something similar. But I digress.



First of all, ski, I peppered my comments with a bit of sarcasm, which you obviously cannot infer. Secondly, because Ryan was truly a scumbag, I wouldn't put it past him to wipte out the death sentences of everyone for politically expedient reasons.

Do not accuse me of being ignorant of the facts. Are you an Illinois resident? I am. Instead, you're probably one of those rabid anti-death penalty folks who thinks Ryan would commute death sentences truly for compassionate or similar reasons. I live and work in this cesspool known as Illinois politics. For the record, I am not a proponent of the death penalty, so don't try to lump me into the Right's pro-death penalty crowd.

The fact that Fitzgerald was brought in by one of Ryan's "sworn enemies" as you put it is irrelevant because of the entire political climate here in Illinois. U.S. Senator Peter Fitzgerald (no relation to the U.S. Atty.) was begged and cajoled to recommend to President Clinton to appoint one of Illinois' Republican cronies. Several names were bantied about, including friends of George Ryan, former Governor Jim Thompson, and other country club Republicans in this state.

Senator Fitzgerald would have none of that. He was quite aware of the corruption and the cronyism in this state--by both parties. Therefore, he decided it'd be best to bring in an outsider with a tough but excellent reputation, someone who was considered to be above the fray. So he brought in Patrick Fitzgerald, who was well-respected by both Democrats and Republicans nationwide (except, of course, by most IL. Republicans).

Ryan's a piece of dirt, and was responsible more than anyone else for destroying the Republican party in Illinois. Funny how he always portrayed himself as a law & order type of guy. Oh! The hypocrisy! (There, you happy, Razor?)

More info on this crook: SUN-TIMES ARTICLE

Mail fraud. Wire fraud. Tax fraud. Bribery. Corruption. Racketeering & conspiracy. All this and more is in the indictment. Read it HERE IN PDF FORMAT

U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald (I love this guy!) just finished a news conference where he spoke for 22 minutes, without taking a breath it seemed, listing the allegations. Wow! The list was enormous. Fitzgerald's talk sounded less like a press conference announcement and more like a trial's opening statement for the prosecution.

Pat Fitzgerald has got to be THE best U.S. Atty. in the country. Remember, he was the one who closed the door on the Gotti family. "Operation Safe Roads," Fitzgerald's 5+ year Illinois investigation, has thus far produced 65 indictments and 59 convictions, a rather impressive record here in Illinois' Northern District alone. BTW, of those 6 nonconvictions, two are fugitives.

[ December 17, 2003, 02:56 PM: Message edited by: MIB ]

Debbie, get off my tit.

Back to the topic: I hope this latest non-black non-Democratic indictment makes Philly Mayor Street feel better.

And your point is...? You're obviously not familiar with Illinois politics. Here, it doesn't matter whether you're a Democrat or Republican. Other than the actual party label, there's not much of a difference.

Democrats have historically run Illinois' largest county Cook, and its largest city Chicago, and have been mired in corruption for decades (or longer). Republicans, until now, have historically run the governor's mansion and at least half the state legislature, and their corruption has been at that level. Of course, Democratic governors have been imprisoned for corruption, too.

In short, the parties here behave in the same manner, through bribes, payoffs, cronyism--you name it. This is why, sadly, current Governor Blagojevich (D) is not well-liked. The Republicans sit back and laugh while the Democrats think of him as an immature fool. His fellow Dems look at him with the attitude of "Just who does he think he is, trying to tell us we can't do things the way we want?" or "He should learn how the game is played, or he ain't gonna get ANYthing he wants."

I give him credit for at least trying to change the system here, but I seriously doubt he'll succeed. The party politics is too deeply entrenched, and the only way to uproot it is to get rid of most of the state's current Democrats AND many of the old-time Republicans. Only Democrats with NO ties to Cook County, Speaker Madigan, or King Daley (in deference to fantomas with that one) will be successful in helping to change the system; and only conservative Republicans will be equally as successful.

Why do I say "conservative" Republicans? Well, to be honest with you, the current crop of old time Repubs are all of the leftward country club group, and the conservative ones are perceived as a threat to the old timers' existence. There are currently no other Republicans around who scare the current ones or who can change the system other than the right-leaning ones.

Now excuse me while I have to get up and wash my hands from commenting about all this Illinois filth.

No, because you didnt do the rolling eyes guy like you usually do. Are your hands clean yet?

Edited to add the little rolling eyes guy with whom Razor is so fetishly obsessed.

NOW are you happy?

Actually, his stance on the death penalty was one of the few things in his entire career that I could stand ... but I beat that horse to death when he commuted the sentences (so call me a speciesist or whatever ).

That and his support of the gay civil rights bill, which "Pate" Philip and the family values crowd from DuPage blocked (and which Rod the Mod failed to get passed with majorities in both houses :mad: ).

And fixing the roads, which was long overdue (but that's the cheesehead in me talking ).

As for prison ... if convicted, he'll go to one of those comfy federal ones where embezzling CEOS go ... probably Fox Lake in Wisconsin. eek!

But generally ... yeah, Ryan's a shining, or rather stinking, example of how corrupt Illinois politics is ... on both sides of the aisle, upstate and downstate. I couldn't even bring myself to vote for the first eight years or so after I moved here.

Not to mention the way he spent basically his entire tenure as secretary of state (an office that should be abolished, and the license offices transferred to IDOT) running for governor at state expense. You know, his face on every map and in every damn ad? Ugh.

Not even remotely.

It's traditionally very difficult for those who practice it to admit it, Jim, so your response was not unexpected.

Danimal, I have to admit that I do not believe he wiped out the death sentences just so he wouldn't be raped in prison or something. However, I DO believe that he did so, in part, to establish some kind of legacy for himself, most likely hoping it would overshadow any future criminal scandal. I have said before I am no fan of the death penalty; however, I do believe that Ryan granting a blanket commutation was completely wrong. Many of the death row inmates were clearly guilty, with so much evidence it was irrefutable. Instead of wiping out the sentences of all 150+ condemned, he should have more thoughtfully analyzed each case. He said he would, but he lied. (Gee, why am I not surprised?)

Perhaps he was being consistent in his pro-life position by commuting all death sentences. I guess we'll never know. Regardless, IMHO, he acted at least partly for political reasons.

His Illinois First program for the roads was a joke. Jacking up the taxes on a ton of goods and services was not the way to pay for what turned out to be patronage and political construction jobs.

Governor Sourpuss Ryan will go down in history as one of this state's dirtiest politicans, even if he's acquitted. Interesting footnote here: Last week, anticipating his indictment, Ryan hired high-powered attorney Dan Webb. Remember him? He's a former U.S. Atty. for the northern district here, a predecessor to the current Patrick Fitzgerald.

[ December 17, 2003, 06:46 PM: Message edited by: MIB ]

MIB - Just making a general observation on how these scandals always seem to snowball on one party over another. Not a comment on Illinois politics specifically. Sorry if I offended anyone with my posting.

BPT, no need to apologize. I agree with you. Whenever one party has too much control, it's dangerous. Some states (Louisiana, Rhode Island, New Jersey), however, are notorious for corruption no matter which party is in control (though in the cases of the first two, it has traditionally been the Democrats). George Ryan was extremely sleazy, and I do agree with MIB that some of his actions were an attempt to improve his legacy before he left office and faced imminent prosecution (which is occurring now). That doesn't blunt the importance or humanity of what he did with those on Death Row; that was an act of courage, even if arising out of political expediency, that deserves praise.

Now, when is George Pataki, the Republicrat, going to be put on trial? Or everyone's beloved mayor-dictator, Rudy Ghouliani? Or the GOP sleazebag who really deserves to be examined fully but won't because of the legislature's assistance and the fact that his brother runs the entire show: JEB BUSH?

BP, fantomas is correct. You don't need to apologize. I just didn't want you to fall into the partisan mode of thinking only one party was really corrupt. Statistically, in Illinois' history there have been far more Democrats--from IL. governor to Chicago alderman--who have been indicted and convicted than there have been Republicans, but this is irrelevant. It's not some contest about which the GOP can boast "We've only got 22 of ours convicted but the Dems have 73" (numbers used only as examples).

Simple numbers can lead one to obviously conclude that because Democrats hold more offices in Cook County and Springfield that there are bound to be more Democrats in trouble. Again, this is irrelevant, and as I've said before, there aren't many differences between the two parties in this state. They all take care of each other in one way or another, and they're all content to wallow in the mud together, not realizing that it is the Illinois taxpayer who is getting screwed in the end.

Sadly, nothing here will change until and unless there is some major overhaul of the system itself, and since the party members control the system, this ain't gonna happen. frown

Whoa! Did I just get MIB and fantomas to agree on something?? eek!

I guess I should have combined my two posts to avoid confusion. Thanks for understanding.

Much better, thank you.

You're welcome, Razor.

And NO, for the umpteenth time, I will NOT go out with you New Year's Eve. wink

Once in a great while he says something that actually makes sense. wink

Long list of crooked Illinois Governors

Well, ok, Im sure my partner will be happy to hear that. wink

[ December 19, 2003, 02:04 PM: Message edited by: RazorbackTX ]

And the first one on the list (Matteson) has a town named after him.

It's Illinois' "Parade of Stars," featuring crooks like Ryan, Walker, Matteson, et. al.

If Ryan's convicted, I wonder if they'll rename Springfield after him.

And to think this is the home state of "Honest" Abe Lincoln. Sheesh.


And Raze, denial is one of the first signs. Acceptance comes later.

[ December 19, 2003, 04:46 PM: Message edited by: MIB ]

Hey, has anyone compiled a list of state leaders who were crooks? As I said above, Louisiana would certainly be up near the top--Edwin Edwards (the Democrat, who was jailed, right?) actually had as his motto "Laissez les bons temps rouler" (Let the good times roll)!

Actually, the governor position is not one usually associated with financial and ethical probity, but I do believe that some states have had a far worse run than others.

In terms of Illinois, that state's history was dominated for many years (from the 1850s through the early 20th century) by Republicans, right? The first great Republican leader of the USA came from Illinois (Mr. Lincoln). Chicago, on the other hand, has been a Democratic stronghold for quite some time, but this is probably the case for most major US cities, where the Democrats drew immigrant votes (especially the Irish) and then black votes to hold onto power. In some cases this is still the winning combination (cf. Chicago, Boston, Washington, Houston, Atlanta, etc.--with gay voters, educated straights, Latinos and Asian voters now in the mix).

[ December 23, 2003, 09:34 AM: Message edited by: fantomas ]

I'm reviving this thread not because fantomas enjoys reading about Illinois's lovely political landscape, but because Ryan's trial starts in a few days. There have been many complaints lately by the U.S. Attorney's office complaining that Governor Ryan is running around doing all these interviews now to influence the potential jury pool.

Not to be outdone by Ryan's problems, the big news today in the Land of Lincoln is that our current Governor, Rod Blagojevich, is somehow involved in corruption. Gasp! Say it ain't so, Blago!

The story