Could Corruption Save the LA Times?

by Jim Washburn

Until a few moments ago, I had no idea one of our states was governed by a man named Rod R. Blagojevich. Christ, what next, Jar Jar Binks? At any rate, Blagojevich is governor of Illinois, which means he has some pretty big shoes to fill when it comes to corruption. Even his immediate predecessor is in prison for corruption.

Some governors, that sort of precedent would knock the wind right out of their sails, but not this guy, evidently, as he’s just been charged this morning with all manner of corrupt doings, including trying to sell off Barack Obama’s recently vacated Senate seat. The FBI even has a recording of him saying the seat “is a fucking valuable thing. You don’t just give it away for nothing.” And that’s how sausage is made.

If the allegations are all true, Blagojevich (which is pronounced bluh-GOY-uh-vich according to the New York Times, but maybe that’s just their rye Jewish humor at work) a veritable Costco of corruption: You name it, he’s got it, in jumbo sizes. And one of his schemes touches on something we’ve been covering: the slow demise of the Los Angeles Times’ parent Tribune Co. Among the assets Tribune Co. is trying to sell off is the Chicago Cubs. Toward that end, they were seeking state help in refinancing Wrigley Field, which could have saved them oodles of capital gains taxes (How? I dunno) and made the Cubs more appealing to potential buyers.

In exchange for that, it appears Blagojevich wanted the Trib’s Sam Zell to fire Chicago Tribune editorial board members who had been critical of him, or as Blagojevich had put it in native Chicagoese on an FBI recording, “Our recommendation is to fire all those fucking people, get ‘em the fuck out of there and get us some editorial support.” (The transcript I read just said [expletive], but I’ve got the decoder ring.)

I’ve read and said some mean things about Zell and his perhaps esteeming profit above the press’ noble task of keeping our nation informed. It’ll be curious to see what comes out in this case. According to the transcripts, Blagojevich’s chief of staff, and now co-defendant, John Harris had the impression that Zell “is very sensitive to the issue” and they had some expectation that the offending board members would be shuffled out in a pending reorganization at the paper.

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