As FBI agent Robert Grant put ever so eloquently on Tuesday, “If Illinois isn’t the most corrupt state in the United States, it’s sure one hell of a competitor.”

It was announced Wednesday that Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich’s Deputy Governor Bob Greenlee resigned, perhaps a smart move on his part to avoid the storm brewing over. Blagojevich, on the other hand, is caught in the storm cellar and the aftermath doesn’t look pretty. As he would put it himself, he’s bleeped.

In Illinois, a seedy politician involved in an even seedier scandal is hardly surprising, considering it holds the high prestige of having three governors jailed since the ’60s, and is currently looking at a fourth.

As a native of the Chicago area, I grew up with bedtime stories of Al Capone. We have a strange love/hate relationship with our shifty reputation and are quick to remind out-of-towners that the “Windy City” gets its name from the politics, not the weather.

But neither Chicago nor the state of Illinois has ever liked this guy. His approval rating was dismal, recently at 4 percent, putting him in grave danger of imminent impeachment, and from early on in his political career, he proved to be a dishonest contender.

In a quote from Chicago Magazine writer David Bernstein, “Privately, a few people who know the governor describe him as a ‘sociopath,’ and they insist they’re not using hyperbole. State representative Joe Lyons, a fellow Democrat from Chicago, told reporters that Blagojevich was a ‘madman’ and ‘insane.'”

It would appear that Chicagoans aren’t the only ones running the other way, including Blago’s own Bob Greenlee. Most Democrats are scrambling to wash their hands of him as well. President-elect Obama was quick to release a sound byte Tuesday insisting he knew nothing of the Illinois governor’s bad behavior.

The office of Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev. And the Senate majority leader, wrote a rather nasty-sounding letter directly to Gov. Blagojevich insisting he step down from office and that he absolutely not make an appointment to fill the vacant senate seat. Signed, all the love of the Senate Democratic Caucus. The same day, Blagojevich received another love letter from Illinois’ senior Democratic U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin — who had just a week before called the allegations against Blagojevich premature — also insisting he step down.

When The Chicago Tribune, which was long skeptical of his money, power and corruption-hungry office, caught wind of this latest development, transcripts of phone conversations and campaign office discussions show the governor pressured the paper to fire lead members of the editorial staff, hoping to silence an editorial board clamoring for his impeachment. It was no secret, either, to anyone in Illinois that U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald was hot on his tail, yet the governor continued to make very incriminating — and now very public — remarks over the phone on a tapped wire.

The Federal Government not only tapped and bugged his campaign office, but tapped his home telephone as well. These decisions proved to be crucial in catching this criminal red-handed.

The opening line on Blagojevich’s affidavit states, “This document contains language that some readers may find objectionable.” When saying that he will appoint a Senate candidate, he follows with, ” … But if they feel like they can do this and not f—ing give me anything, then I’ll f—ing go with [Senate Candidate 5].”

The FBI affidavit outlines a carefully-planned scheme to reduce the risk of impeachment and provide for his own financial security when he left office, however it happened. Said Blagojevich, “The immediate challenge [is] how do we take some of the immediate financial pressure off of our family.”

I won’t put it lightly; this guy is a scumbag. He’s not very bright, either, and the horrendous allegations brought against him should reflect on his poor character, not Illinois. It’s hard to believe anybody could be so corrupt and so cripplingly stupid in this day and age. And if they are, as Blagojevich has proven to be, then they shouldn’t be in office in the first place. Alas, now we know why his approval rating was worse than Bush’s — by a landslide.

Laura Brennan ([email protected]) is a senior majoring in communicative disorders.