Via Fritchey,
The State Journal-Register discusses the situation that allowed Ryan to flourish:
U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin gave some interesting insight into Ryan during a meeting with the newspaper?s editorial board on Monday. Durbin said he and Ryan worked well together – especially since they represent different political parties – and the senator credited Ryan as being instrumental in making the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum a reality.
But Durbin said sometimes Ryan would reminisce about the old days – 1950s and 1960s – and how deals got done back then. Ryan too often was ?looking in the rearview mirror, ? said Durbin.
It is obvious that Ryan feels he was judged too harshly by today?s higher standards – an indication that he has not accepted responsibility for his misdeeds and corrupt nature.
?The decision today is not in accordance with the kind of public service I?ve given to the people of Illinois over 40 years,? said Ryan after the verdict was read.
Translation: ?I gave you all that Illinois FIRST pork, the Lincoln museum, and hired lots of your cousins and brothers-in-law, and this is what I get in return??
Ryan definitely is a ?means justify the ends? sort of guy. But let?s look at some of the ends. They didn?t all result in a new museum to honor Lincoln or a shiny new firetruck for Carlinville.
I can’t remember or find the quote right now, but if someone can find it, something very similar was said about Rostenkowski. The person speaking essentially said, Rostenkowski hadn’t changed, the world around him had and he hadn’t adjusted.
The same thing can happen to parties. I have a lot of confidence that Madigan gets this especially–(talking on the phone in the hall?, but also the obsessiveness former staffers express about the line between state work and campaign time), but it takes more than keeping your nose clean, it’s also looking forward and creating a system that institutionalizes those changes.