Disassembling Blagojevich

The former governor of Illinois who is still serving time in prison, Rod Blagojevich, is the subject of much disdain for his behavior in office. As I learned more about him as a person since he left office - at least insomuch as is possible through television and other media appearances - my opinion of him as being capable of public service waned. But I had voted for him both times he ran for the governor's office and I had approved of two political initiatives he worked to enact while he was governor. And now I know personally of two situations in which people or families benefited from them and who show appreciation for them.

The first is called All Kids (www.allkids.com), an expansion of health care in Illinois to all children. The inclusive aspect to this was important because many residents who are not US citizens are excluded from a number of other public benefits. But this program was open to children of green card holders. I have two nieces who received dental and medical care because of this program.

They were not suffering any life threatening disease or were in any need of special medical care or attention. But as a parent, knowing that a child is free from a serious problem is not a trivial piece of information. Also, it does not last long. That is, if your child had been seen by a doctor and a month later they suffer from serious symptoms, you are only slightly, if not at all, comforted by the earlier visit. It becomes easy to recognize that the peace of mind accorded by the knowledge of available medical care for a child is incalculable.

Another program instituted by governor Blagojevich is called Free Rides for Seniors. It provides vouchers for senior citizens to ride the buses, subways and commuter trains in and around Chicago. Initially, this was open to all seniors, but later was changed to be means tested and so now benefits a much smaller number of people. But I met a woman on a train from Chicago one day who was riding the train because she "can sit still and not be accused of staying in one place too long." She is a homeless person, who I have since met and talked to on two other occasions. On this trip, she was quite liberal in her praise for Blagojevich and quipped, "any governor who does something to help the black community gets put in jail!"

On this day, she opined about wanting to do farming in Palatine. This was after I told her about where I lived and what we had planted in our garden. Her desire was striking in two regards; the first was the conception of Palatine as a farming community. This reflected her misconception likely resulting from the isolation and separation between her life in the city and the suburbs. The other part that struck me was her mention of wanting to plant tobacco. I could not help but think she was recalling a time and place from when either she or her family lived somewhere in the South.

It is easy to dismiss a political character like Rod Blagojevich. I do not intend any attempt at rehabilitating his reputation by pointing out two human stories that derive from policies he implemented while in office. However, I think these laws do show some measure of decency and regard for the condition of vulnerable people. And in this climate of disdain for government, they are significant for their purpose and for the lives they impact.