 |
| SMITH: Dirksen Bldg., rather than Capitol |
He’s
the West Side-based legislator whose presence in the General Assembly has been
an embarrassment to the powers-that-be, and whose timing of his trial has also
managed to complicate things.
DERRICK
SMITH IS going to be remembered by political observers far longer than his
accomplishments in the Legislature would merit.
Smith
is the legislator who faces federal charges in U.S. District Court because of a
letter of recommendation he wrote on behalf of a day care center operator who had
applied for a $50,000 state government grant.
Prosecutors
contend the only reason he wrote such a letter was because he was given a
$7,000 cash payment. A simple matter of bribery – although Smith contends he was
merely offering support to someone who wanted to locate a needed service in his
district.
It
will be up to a jury that has yet-to-be-picked to decide whether Smith’s
account has any legitimacy, or if he was just trying to enrich himself with
some extra pocket cash.
THE
ACTUAL CRIME for which Smith is alleged to have committed is petty. Even taking
into account that the actions for which political people often are convicted
don’t amount to large amounts of money, this incident is unmemorable.
But
Smith will get remembered because he just won’t wither away.
 |
| COLEMAN: Will have Smith's attention |
He’s
the guy who got kicked out of the Legislature back in 2012 – just over a year
after he was originally appointed to fill a vacancy in the Illinois House. His
colleagues overwhelmingly decided he was a disgrace to their collective
reputation – which is saying something significant considering some of the
clowns who have served there.
But
he managed to get re-elected in the 2012 general election cycle – on account of
the fact that his name was already on the ballot. And for whatever you want to
think about idiotic voters in the district casting a knee-jerk vote for the
Democratic Party’s candidate, the other candidates on the ballot really weren’t
any better.
THE
VOTERS CHOSE to stick with the political organization they were used to, rather
than let Republicans play ideological games with their West Side legislative
district.
 |
| MADIGAN: Down a vote |
But
it still creates the laughable condition of an indicted man getting re-elected
to office. The pathetic part, however, was that it took federal prosecutors so
long to get this case to trial that he served just about the entirety of that
term in office.
He
was even on the ballot back in the primary. We could have repeated this whole
condition.
Insofar
as Smith himself, he falls into the masses of the Legislature. I generally find
that there are about 20 to 30 members of the General Assembly (177 members
total) who have some special skill or knowledge to be notable. The rest, like
Smith, take up space, and cast votes when needed.
WHICH
EXPLAINS WHY Smith’s name cropped up into the news in recent weeks. He actually
wanted a delay in his Wednesday trial date. The Legislator’s leaders wanted him
to be available for the entire week so he could cast his vote on efforts to
pass a state budget and determine how funds will be raised to pay for things.
It
was presumed that Smith would be a reliable vote for whatever it was that
Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, wanted done.
But
that’s not going to happen. U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman made it
clear she expects Smith to be in her courtroom on Wednesday. Although
considering how confused the political people are as to what they will do, I
don’t think Smith’s absence will make a difference.
-30-
No comments:
Post a Comment