Bill Richardson Steps Back from Commerce Role

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D) withdrew his nomination as President-Elect Barack Obama's commerce secretary today, attributing it to a desire to avoid letting a corruption investigation interfere with the launch of the new administration.

The fact that the corruption charges were no out-of-the-blue occurrence did not go unnoticed by some.

Richardson, who spoke at The Commonwealth Club June 12, 2007, during his short-lived presidential campaign [listen to audio of his program or watch video], was reportedly "stunned" by the Obama camp's move to have him withdraw, according to CNN. Apparently, the ongoing farce occurring in Illinois state government, with the arrest and impending doom of Gov. Rod Blagojevich, has made the incoming president's team quick to pull the trigger to do away with unwanted ethics problems.

Feds, 2; Illinois Governors, 0

In what is becoming the de rigueur exit strategy from the Illinois governor's office, that state's governor, Democrat Rod Blagojevich, has been "taken into custody" by federal agents in connection with an investigation into Blago (as he's sometimes known) trying to "sell" the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by President-Elect Barack Obama.

Blagojevich's arrest comes not long after he tried to get President George W. Bush to commute the prison sentence of his predecessor in the governor's mansion, Republican George Ryan. Ryan is serving a six-year sentence on federal charges of racketeering and fraud.

Blagojevich's alleged crimes include trying to extort money from people wanting to do state business, trying to get money and other considerations in return for appointing someone to fill in the remainder of Obama's term in the Senate, and withholding state help from the Chicago Cubs, who were trying to sell ol' Wrigley Field.

If you're a Chicago White Sox fan like I am, then that last charge is understandable. But the rest of the charges are jaw-dropping, and they are not the first to be aimed at Blago. Read this major article in Chicago magazine (which, like the Chicago Tribune, the LA Times, WGN TV and Radio, and much more, is owned by the Tribune company, which recently filed for bankruptcy).

If you're at all a clean-government devotee, then this latest development can do nothing to improve the historic image of Illinois as a den of political corruption.

12:43 pm ADDITION: The Wall Street Journal offers this handy listing of corupt Illinois governors. Clip it out and carry it around in your wallet.