Hard to feel compassion for man who can't acknowledge shame

Impeached former Gov. Rod Blagojevich emerged from his burrow on Groundhog's Day, and didn't see even a shadow of shame. So the citizens of Illinois are in for six more weeks of public humiliation.

The jogger governor who rarely found the time to get to Springfield now racks up the frequent-flier miles. He is scheduled to start off this morning on the "Today" show, run the gauntlet of Larry King and Greta Van Susteren and finish our viewing day with his appearance on "Late Show with David Letterman." Let's hope the disgraced politician avoids the temptation to bring a Top Ten list.

After spending most of last week ridiculing Blago, I felt a tinge of guilt when - the day he was removed from office - the entry on my Dalai Lama desk calendar was all about forgiveness.

I felt empathy for the two young daughters in the Blagojevich family, wondering if any of the darts fired at their father - everything from he's "cuckoo" and "delusional" to he's a "scumbag" and "liar" - caused them pain.

How awful it must be to lose everything and be a walking punch line for everyone. Blagojevich reminds me of a child who wants so much to be accepted that he'll let himself be bullied, humiliated and ridiculed on the playground just for the attention. At some point, it's no longer funny to be among the crowd pointing and laughing.

In his role as executive director of Christian-based Prison Fellowship for Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin, Rod Williams has given love and compassion to perpetrators of the very worst crimes imaginable.

"If you were Rod Blagojevich, what kind of response would you look for from people?" Williams asks.

We have to rise above, no matter how low Blago stoops.

"If there's an apple on the table and you want to call it an orange, I can let you do that, because I know it's still an apple," Williams says.

But how do you feel compassion for a man who wears criminal charges and an impeachment as if they were the latest fashion accessories?

"We cannot control others; we can just control (ourselves)," says the singularly named Thammawat, a monk at the Buddhadharma Meditation Center in Hinsdale. "If others practice bad, you can't control them."

Still, you have to admit that Blago is kind of asking for it.

"We show acts of kindness to all people. All people are our friends," Thammawat says. "We all have the same experiences - everybody has pain; we all get sick and die."

Blago's pain doesn't keep him off talk shows.

"I have compassion for him," says Thammawat, who has been following the impeachment trial and criminal charges. "There's no need to be angry. If you are angry, it means you are suffering."

Taxpayers and honest residents who don't like to see our state get more laughs than New Jersey are suffering. Can't we at least make the TV-craving Blagojevich stop showing off?

"With the law of karma, if somebody does bad, bad things occur in (his) mind," Thammawat says. "Suffering occurs in his mind, but (other people) don't know,"

Even with a hardened criminal sitting smugly in his seat as a jury convicts him of murder, you don't know what he really is thinking, Williams notes. Plus, their loved ones, often completely innocent, feel the pain.

If Blagojevich took some responsibility for this mess or asked for forgiveness, feeling compassion might be easier. Instead, he plays the victim.

"Drug guys, murderers, that's what they do," Williams says. "With so many things coming at him, the right environment hasn't been there (for Blagojevich)."

Even a dog understands the concept of restitution and reconciliation - if given the chance.

"You can see it in their expression, putting their ears down and hanging their head low," Williams says. "What we have to communicate to Rod right now is how to get it right."

Until Blago gets it right, it's tough for the rest of us to watch him.

"It is a challenge," Williams says of the Christian call to forgive and love unconditionally. "That's why we have so many prisons."