Watching the Blagopalooza of Fun and Corruption, listening to the pundits, politicians, and writers discussing the Chicago machine, I have come to realize something that came as a bit of a surprise to me: outside of the folks in Louisiana, you would have a hard time finding a group or citizens with a higher toleration for corruption than the people of Illinois.

Don’t misunderstand: I’ve always known that politics in Illinois tend to the debauched. What I didn’t quite get was precisely how compliant the voters were and just how nonchalant they seem to be about the reality of their politicians. Hopefully a successful prosecution of Blagojevich (please, God, please) will teach the politicians that the path of perfidy runs the real risk of sending you to jail; and hopefully that same prosecution will teach Illinois citizens to hold their system to a higher standard.