Posted something earlier about Chris Kennedy running for Roland Burris' about-to-be vacant US Senate seat. He'd launched an exploratory committee, and told the papers he was launching an exploratory committee. The old trial balloon.
Last week, Kennedy announced he won't be running for the Senate, nor the Governor's office. I found that odd, and oddly timed.
Today, Gov. Pat Quinn announced that he is appointing Chris Kennedy to the University of Illinois board of trustees. A few weeks ago, Quinn said the entire board should resign after it was discovered that Illinois politicians and power-brokers were using their connections on the U of I board to gain admittance for less than stellar but powerfully connected high school seniors.
Of the 9 trustees currently on the board, 7 have offered to resign. The two holdouts will be leaving, I assure you.
And the University of Illinois has Chris Kennedy on the Board of Trustees. Nice guy and all, but Chris comes from a background where connections carry clout, and name recognition opens doors. Wonder what the hell Quinn is up to. Guarantee you he's up to something.
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Powerfully connected high school seniors: bad. Powerfully connected administrators: super! I take it that the kids weren't that powerfully (or lucratively) connected.
ReplyDeleteIn the last week, we've had Daley defending one of his Alderman (City Council yes-man) for using clout to get his son in at U of I. "Hey if the guy makes a phone call on his son's behalf, that's not illegal. Ha ha ha ha!"
ReplyDeleteAnd, we've had Sen. Durbin's name mentioned for the same reason. Phone calls.
Big names are being dropped, and the whole story is really beginning to stink like a pile of shit.
It's been a big deal here because it's more fallout from Blago. But Quinn's as big of a wheeler-dealer as Blagojevich was, as this Kennedy appointment should make obvious.
And just today, the plot has thickened. I posted that the holdout trustees would be leaving, either on their own or by being fired.
Turns out I was wrong on that.
Quinn, it seems, asked the 9 board members to submit resignations as a group with the implication being that after review, those who hadn't been pulling strings for politicos and mobsters would be rehired. After much Quinn huffing and puffing about firing them, those who refused to resign will instead be retained. Quinn's bluff has been effectively called. Now, those 7 that resigned are beginning to like those resignation letters were more that just a show of good faith. And here comes Chris Kennedy, apparently not too busy running Merchandise Mart Properties to get involved in some behind the scenes Illinois politicking.
I'm always amazed when Illinois politicians blatantly display their not-so-legit art and craftiness. Who wouldn't suspect something was up here? Illinois politics are like a never ending floating crap game. Always more of the same, but occasionally we get new players.