Text size: increase text sizedecrease text size Removing the stink from politics

One of the greatest metaphors in American law is the one about the poisonous tree. It's about evidence. You cannot admit evidence that was not legally obtained. It is like fruit that falls from a poisonous tree, so tainted that it is dangerous to consume. It has to be rejected.

I think we have reached that stage now in the troubling story of Illinois' attempt to appoint a replacement for President Barack Obama in the U.S. Senate. Everyone connected to the process has been tainted, poisoned beyond any use.

The latest chapter in this strange story has Sen. Roland Burris, apparently the last mess former Gov. Rod Blagojevich left on the desk before he was impeached, admitting he actually did discuss fundraising with the governor's brother in advance of his Senate appointment.

The parsing of this will no doubt take quite a while. The story is likely to change again, a clear sign that someone is not being truthful someplace.

It is very easy to lie. Telling it is not the hard part.

It is not very easy to get away with a lie because, forevermore, you have to remember exactly what you said. When you get beyond simple statements, "I like cheese," for example, and into "Sometimes, I like cheese in casseroles and on pizza but not necessarily by itself," it gets too complicated to remember. A cheesy embarrassment is likely to ensure.

That's what we have here, a cheesy embarrassment.

I think we need to recognize the nature of what the people of Illinois are facing in the wake of the former governor's behavior, and for that matter, the governor before him too.

I fear the metaphor of the poisonous tree applies as well to Illinois politics as it applies to law. Anyone who touched that man or his way of doing business has become tainted beyond repair. There is no soap strong enough to get rid of that blemish.

Illinois (and certainly Chicago) has been through these kinds of embarrassments before. We love to label these things, "pay to play" and so on. But we are reluctant to attack them with the aggression they deserve because, in cutting out that tumor, you frequently find you have killed the patient.

What happens to Burris happens to Burris. My sense is he deserves whatever is coming.

But I think to address this problem, the state has to recognize two realities: 1) It was not created solely by the despised former governor, and 2) It has tainted just about everyone you can think of, either directly or by association.

Walk through this system and you get dirty. This, of course, is not true of everyone. But we have no way of sorting out the mess. So I think we should just change the conversation.

In the old days (and in this case, I'm referring to the very old days) a panel of clear-minded and decent citizens would have emerged to sound the clarion and push so hard for reform that it would have to happen.

We need that now, call it a Panel of 50, call it whatever you want. It should find some way to form itself from the ether and tap a candidate for the Senate position first and for the governor's race later and for any other significant race in the interim. It should urge boycotts of any fundraising efforts but its own. It should put tight limits on what money it can raise and how it can be used.

It should be nonpartisan and exist beyond the network and control of contemporary Democratic or Republican politics in Illinois. Its issue should be corruption and it should make loud noises until that problem is solved.

It should present a slate of candidates for public office who are in no way connected to the poisonous tree that has sprouted and thrived and now infests government and politics, root and branch.

New faces, please. It's time. source>>>

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