“He therefore is the truest friend to the liberty of his country who tries most to promote its virtue, and who, so far as his power and influence extend, will not suffer a man to be chosen into any office of power and trust who is not a wise and virtuous man… The sum of all is, if we would most truly enjoy this gift of Heaven, let us become a virtuous people.” ~ Samuel Adams ~

As the entire country knows, Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich was arrested by the FBI early on Tuesday morning on corruption charges. To say that Rod Blagojevich violated the public trust would be to trivialize what he has purportedly done. 

The revelations contained in the complaint filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office have stunned a city and state long inured to political corruption. Perhaps the breathtaking degree of the corruption is the knock upside the head Illinoisans need to awaken them from their moral slumber. And perhaps this breathtaking corruption is the painful price we have to pay for our willful ignorance and the complacency it facilitates.

Too many of us fail to exercise properly our civil liberties and civic responsibilities. The freedoms we have in this country, the freedoms that people throughout the world can only through fear and tears dream about, we treat with cavalier disregard. If we even muster the energy to vote, we often do so with little to no understanding of the character and political positions of the candidates for whom we vote. 

According to one study the average American adult watches five hours of television per day, and yet we can’t seem to find the time to learn about the men and women who make laws and set policy that will determine the fate of America.

Let’s learn from the alleged despicable actions of Rod Blagojevich never to be complicit through either our ignorance or our complacency in the election of someone of such base character.