Three old men got the opportunity to ask God one question.

The old Russian asked, "When will my country become prosperous?"

"In one hundred years," God said.

The old Russian burst into tears and said, "I won't be around to see that day!"

The old Indian asked, "When will India finally be free of the caste system?"

"In 50 years," God replied.

The old man burst into tears and said, "I won't be around to see that day!"

The old Illinoisan asked, "When will the Illinois government be free of corruption?"

God burst into tears and said, "I won't be around to see that day!"

The joke is funny because it seems to be true.  But it doesn't have to be this way.  Of the three situations presented in the joke, cleaning up Illinois politics is the most achievable.

Thanks to cameras, the internet, a "Secretary of State Police Department," and the RICO statutes, we have all the tools we need to end corruption in Illinois politics forever.  We just need to use them.

First, the Secretary of State Police need to stop protecting politicians and start policing them.  The last speaker of the Illinois House committed crimes for 50 years right under the nose of the Illinois Secretary of State Police Department, and that department needs to be held accountable for not doing anything about it. 

Second, public office holders need a little more public, and a little less office.  And when they aren't in public, they need to be monitored all the time with livestream cameras broadcasting everything they say and do, and body cameras on except when in the bathroom.

Politicians should have less of a right to privacy than we do, not more.  Alexa and smartphones can be used to monitor and record anyone, not just private citizens.

We should be privy to every word of every meeting our elected representatives have.  They are supposed to be working for us, not themselves. 

Illinois politicians have had a century to clean things up, and they have systematically chosen to enrich themselves and engage in corruption.  It's time we treat them like the criminals they aspire to be before they have a chance to become them.

If Illinois politicians aren't doing anything wrong, they have nothing to fear from the (cameras) public being able to scrutinize their every move, do they?  

We need to act now to stop the statehouse-to-prison pipeline in Illinois, before we create another generation of former governors with ankle monitors.

Image: Pixabay, Pixabay License.