Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Two Peas in a Pod

Harold Meyerson hits the nail on the head:

On Monday, Sam Zell, the nation's only newspaper mogul who genuinely detests journalism, placed Chicago's signature Tribune Co. into bankruptcy -- effectively wiping out his employees' equity in the company and a share of their pensions, while still managing to come out pretty well himself. Yesterday, Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich was indicted for allegedly trying to dispose of what had been Barack Obama's Senate seat in a private auction, with all proceeds to go to the care and feeding of Rod Blagojevich.

By arresting Blagojevich and releasing the mind-boggling transcripts of his pea-brained conversations, federal prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald did Zell a favor: knocking him off the front page. At their core, however, the stories of Blagojevich and Zell tell essentially the same tale -- that of men in positions of great power who believed that their only real responsibility was to themselves.

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