There are some things that I've been meaning to mention in my blog that have happened in the past week, but I kept forgetting, so I will lump them all into one post.
Albert Pujols: (or poo holes as my voice dictation software phonetically interprets the name) In case you're wondering who Pujols is, he's (or should I say WAS) a member of the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team until last Thursday when he signed a new contract with the Anaheim Angels. You might be wondering why this is such a big deal since players get signed/traded all the time, but it's a big deal since Pujols was a member of MY city's baseball team.
I was hoping that Pujols would choose to be a St. Louis Cardinal his entire baseball career. I thought it would be a neat legacy to have attached to his name that he could've signed a deal that would've been more financially profitable, but instead he took a slightly lower deal in favor of loyalty. Again, I don't know all of the details that went into Pujols' decision, so I'll just say, "Albert, thank you for all of your hard work as a Cardinal, and I wish you well as an Angel!"
Jerry Sandusky: for anyone living under a rock that doesn't know who Sandusky is, he's a former Penn State football coach who's been in the news for the past six or eight weeks as more and more victims have been coming out saying that Sandusky sexually molested them. Of cours Sandusky is maintaining his innocence, it's pretty clear that he's "guilty as sin" as my mom would always say. It's sad that he used his position to hurt so many boys. I'm glad he finally got caught after so many years because he probably thought that after getting away with it for so long he would get away with it forever. (Although I do have to say that even if he went his whole life and never got caught, he would/will eventually have to pay we he faces God.)
Rod Blagojecich: Rod (or "Blago" as he's commonly referred to in the media) is a former governor from Illinois that was sentenced to 14 years in federal prison last week for conspiracy to commit mail fraud/solicitation of bribery. What it basically boils down to is that he tried to sell Barack Obama's vacant Senate seat after Obama was elected president. Why are some people so cocky/pompeous to think that they don't have to abide by the same laws/rules as everyone else? They are either too rich and/or too powerful to care and they think they're above the law. What really bothered me about Rod was that instead of saying something like, "I wasn't doing anything wrong, but I can see how it would appear that I was." Instead he was constantly going on different TV interviews and joking about his situation, and he was even a contestant on the reality show Celebrity Apprentice. He never seemed to show any remorse/humility until he was found guilty and knew that there was a good chance he would be going to prison. He asked the judge to show him leniency, but the judge gave him 14 years which made me glad.
I don't know what it is about Illinois in particular, but they've had an especially bad track record when it comes to their politicians. With Rod being sentenced to prison last week, that makes him the fourth governor from Illinois to serve time in federal prison in the past 40 years. No wonder they call Chicago "the Windy City!"
It's too bad that there are so many corrupt politicians these days. It makes it really hard to be able to trust anyone, and it's sad that we've almost come to expect that politicians these days will have at least some sort of scandal or something that they are less than truthful about. I've said it before and I'll say it again – I'm sure our founding fathers are rolling over in their graves as they watch from above at what's happening to our political system!
Glad Sandusky got caught, and I do hope his age isn't used as a mitigating factor, as it so often has with aged child abusers in the UK who get reduced or suspended sentences. As for Blagojevich, I do agree he deserves to go to jail, but I think 14 years is excessive - more than someone would get for rape, for example.
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