Why obsess over Ryan sentence?

Our society doesn't need to squander a single additional dollar incarcerating former Gov. George Ryan for public corruption. And bravo to Senator Dick Durbin for championing commutation of his six-year sentence to the single year served. Crooked politicians engage in corruption because it's hard wired into their brains and their character, and being put in charge of the cookie jar becomes an irresistible temptation. They watch as dozens, hundreds, of their colleagues destroy their lives and go to jail and they still do it. No sensible politician tempted to such shenanigans could look at 74-year-old Ryan getting out of jail to die at home in disgrace and say to themselves, "Gee, his personal destruction and year in the joint is not a bad punishment for the risk I take". Our now bankrupt country wastes billions of dollars a year incarcerating aging and harmless folks like Ryan while adequate police and rehabilitation resources go unfunded, allowing crime to escalate. America is mired in make believe wars in the Middle East that have killed over a million, and our economy is collapsing before our very eyes. Yet the hardhearted haters are coming out of the woodwork en masse to rant about a truly insignificant issue to the public good. If they are so obsessed in having Ryan continue to rot in jail until he's almost 80, they should take up a collection to pay for it and let our precious and disappearing tax dollars go for more urgent needs.

Walt Zlotow

Glen Ellyn