Illinois Governor Blagojevich, like Nixon, full of arrogance

There is nothing difficult to understand about Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, except perhaps the pronunciation of his name.

Which is to say that corruption in politics is more commonplace than we like to admit to ourselves. While often it involves the exchange of monies, it includes the variety of ways that office holders use to exploit their positions for gain. The standby alibi dismissing the sins of the miscreant of the day as the only rotten apple in the barrel has long ago worn out.

So Blagojevich's strenuous efforts to make money from his power to appoint the senator to serve out the two years remaining of President-elect Barack Obama's old job is politics as usually practiced. One of several great failings that impeded the governor (repeatedly attempting to spell his name correctly in a newspaper tempts fate) was that he made his solicitations over the telephone and he was taped by the FBI.

Even an ordinary person would have had the wit to find more discreet ways to accomplish these ends, especially because for years he has been under federal scrutiny for a gamut of alleged criminal acts.

The tapes did him in, just as they had Richard Nixon, who took it a step further than the Illinois governor by ordering the installation of the taping device in his office.

Both were afflicted with the same malady, one that threatens all in positions of power, namely full-blown arrogance that assures them that they are above the rules of behavior and the laws that apply to everyone else.

Being caught red-handed makes all the difference.

JFK, unlike WJC, got away with philandering in the White House because his intimate friends held their tongues, so to speak, while Clinton's friend was thinking ahead, retaining DNA evidence of their association, surely for the historical value of a presidential artifact.

Look to the halls of Congress and see how the members reward themselves with special privileges and allowances — even if they routinely or occasionally do good work.

Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., comes to mind, as does Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., who stashed thousands of extorted dollars in the freezer of his home refrigerator.

Our political system is vulnerable to exploitation and always has been. Very long ago, Mark Twain said we have the best Congress money can buy.

The answer to maintaining the integrity of our governmental institutions rests on the American people and their ability to rise up in righteous indignation when official wrongdoings are revealed, in which the much-despised media has a major role.

Thomas Jefferson observed: ''Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and cannot be limited without being lost.''

Enough said.

Harry Rosenfeld, editor-at-large of the Times Union, can be reached by e-mail at hrosenfeld@timesunion.com