Editorial: Commutation of Blagojevich sentence opens new questions about trust in government

In a speech to students at Eastern Illinois University the year after he sentenced former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich to 14 years in prison on a corruption conviction, federal Judge James B. Zagel reflected that the real crisis point facing a democracy would come when people just assume nothing can be done about government corruption.

“That will be the worst day for America,” he said, “when the national slogan becomes, ‘Where's mine?' ”

That sentiment underlay everything about the Blagojevich case and much of what defined his term and a half as Illinois governor. The question today, after President Donald Trump has determined that Blagojevich has paid enough for his crimes against the citizens of Illinois, is have we averted the slogan that Zagel feared?

Shortly after Zagel issued Blagojevich's sentence in December 2011, Connie Wilson, the foreman of the jury that found the impeached governor guilty, said she hoped the judge's action would send a message that “We just don't want this (corruption) anymore.”

Today, one has to wonder whether that message has gotten through. And, whether a new one — of a very different, distressingly sinister tone — has replaced it.

We have often lamented the blanket constitutional prerogative that has allowed presidents to pardon criminals and commute sentences, often on purely political grounds. We expressed reservations in June 2018 about how prepared President Trump already had shown himself to take advantage of this prerogative for his political friends. His decision Tuesday to commute Blagojevich's sentence along with clemency actions for 10 other people convicted of fraud and other felonies — in the midst of a controversy over his insertion of himself into the upcoming sentencing of his friend Roger Stone — can only resurrect images of the political dystopia Zagel feared.

Not that Blagojevich hasn't paid a heavy price for the pay-to-play environment he fostered as Illinois governor. He spent almost eight years in prison. He missed some of the most important years a father can have with his young daughters. His family was ruined financially. There is a message in there somewhere surely — though, considering the headlines out of Illinois politics within the past year, it appears clear many elected officials still aren't getting it.

And so, we are left to wonder as we ponder a future with the possibility of Rod Blagojevich back in the public eye in some capacity, just what we are supposed to think about our government. The words of Judge Zagel just before he handed down Blagojevich's sentence eight years ago suddenly hold a menacing new ring.

“The harm here,” Zagel said, “is not measured in the value of property or money. The harm is the erosion of public trust in government.”

No matter where we look, we can find no sign that this erosion has been stemmed. Indeed, we fear it may even be getting worse.