No apology, no justice

I'm incensed at the idea of George Ryan serving anything less than his full, light sentence for the numerous appalling crimes he committed against the citizens of Illinois and, if you think about it, the entire country.

Since when does the health of a spouse have any bearing on sentencing guidelines? How dare Senator Durbin presume to speak for the citizens of our state when he sells out justice for his sense of mercy! We citizens of Illinois have had enough of the blatant breach of trust from those elected to serve in government.

With regards to Mr. Ryan's apology, he was selling it (a hard habit to break even from prison), but I'm not buying it. I take exception with his statement that his bribe-taking "may have played a role in the deaths" of the Willis children. I'm no mathematician, but I can absolutely guarantee that Mr. Ryan was 100% to blame for this tragedy. It was precisely the exact sequence of events which started at the Secretary of State's office that led directly to their deaths. The odds of the Willis crash happening if Mr. Ryan hadn't sold out our citizens' safety are astronomical.

Mr. Ryan proceeds to characterize his heinous actions as "mistakes." I am a public school elementary teacher. I inform my students that a mistake is when we do what we think is right, but it is wrong. What Mr. Ryan did was no mistake; it was intentional. Mr. Ryan needs to understand that when he makes a bad decision, he has absolutely no control over the consequences of that decision. Now he must live with the knowledge of the full weight of his crimes, and justice demands he serve his entire sentence.

I urge all Americans to write President Bush and ask him not to pardon George Ryan.

Greg Isaacs

Schaumburg