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"Durbin may ask Bush to commute Ryan sentence"
In eight words this Chicago Tribune headline (Nov. 26) summed up everything you need to know about Illinois politics.
Yes, that is "Durbin" as in Dick Durbin, Illinois' senior U.S. Senator, a 25-year Democrat member of Congress, and the national co-chairman of the Obama presidential campaign. And the Ryan is none other than George Ryan, the disgraced former Republican governor sentenced to 6.5 years of breaking big rocks into little ones for operating a taxpayer-funded den of thieves as Secretary of State and then as Governor.
Durbin has all but said that Ryan's remaining prison sentence of more than five years should be commuted; now it is simply a matter of whether Durbin is willing to endure the political heat for taking action.
He certainly need not worry about heat from Republicans. Former Republican Governor Jim Thompson, Ryan's defense attorney (pro bono, because, hey, we're all friends here), was quick to lavish praise on Durbin. Former Republican Governor Jim Edgar also leaned that way saying, "George Ryan's paid a pretty big price...I'm not sure that a few more years (in prison) is all that much more punishment to him."
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