The surprise of the public regarding corruption allegations of Gov. Rod Blagojevich is the only part of this equation that shocks me. Despite his robust, wholesome, youthful, well-dressed image, it proved to be a stressful, demanding job to playact the part of a decent, honest man. You can’t polish a turd. He failed to exercise discretionary caution during phone conversations, tapped by federal investigator, and within his “bugged” offices where he was unveiled as just another bleepin’ thug, with his contemptible behavior bordering on pathological, another member of a popular, non-exclusive governmental club.

The American public have been victims of not only governmental disappointments and corruption from the top office on down to local level, but also corruption in the Catholic Church, police forces across the nation and in most arenas of power and authority. At this point, there is no excuse for naiveté. Americans are looking for a savior…a hero…a saint. The fact that President-elect, Barack Obama has a smoking habit is reassuring to me and reinforces the “human” factor. He need not concern himself with “violating” the White House with tobacco use. Those walls have been stained with the addictions of every previous occupant.

Some have already stated that Barack Obama is the best president the United States has ever had. Hope springs eternal, but rushing to judgment is self-defeating and creates an unrealistic standard that no one can meet. I am going to take a hopeful “wait and see” approach and incorporate my mother’s solid advice that it is wise to “believe none of what you hear and half of what you see.

Amy Becherer
Hillsboro