Chicago Theater

Suppose your Congressman were to be under federal investigation for misuse of campaign funds (which means taking campaign contributions for personal use rather than for the campaign costs). Then suppose that that same Congressman disappeared from view for a month only to reveal later that he or she was hospitalized. Suppose it later was announced that the hospitalization was for depression and other problems. Would you be happy to keep that person in office? The answer from Chicago is a clear yes. Representative Jesse Jackson Jr. was re-elected in the third district of Illinois with something like 80% of the vote. Since the election, Jackson has had to resign in the face of the federal investigation. While there is no proof of this, it looks suspiciously like Jackson resigned as some part of a deal to avoid prosecution.

There is now a special election scheduled for February to fill this seat. It makes one wonder why they even bother with the special election here. If Jackson could win with a landslide despite all of the problems he was facing, the voters in the district could best be described as brain dead. Indeed, Jackson is the third Congressman from the district in a row to leave office under a cloud. Let's hope that the next representative can avoid that fate. Indeed, let's just hope that the next representative from Illinois-3 is not a felon.