From Rick Moran: ENOUGH WITH THE ILLINOIS BASHING ALREADY

This is one of the best - and funniest - things I've read on our most recent corruption kerfuffle. The rest of the country just doesn't get it, and now Rick Moran at Right Wing Nut House is inviting know-nothing media outsiders out of the discussion of Illinois political corruption:

"Indeed, it is sickening to have commentators who know nothing of Illinois or her people spouting off about the corruption in state and local government here. To all who are not from this state who have found the Blagojevich scandal a perfect opportunity to feel morally superior to us Illinoisans and write vicious, ignorant screeds about our “culture of corruption,” I say butt out!

Just what do you think you know about it, huh? And who do you think you are? If anybody is going to throw bricks at our politicians, it’s us. And we don’t need any help, thanks. We’ve been doing it for 190 years and by God we’ve got it down to a science and don’t need outsiders horning in on our fun. Our rope necktie parties are for locals only – no Cheeseheads or Hawkeyes allowed."

The man is speaking my heart. These out-of-state butters-in have been bugging me all week - it's just not fun when they do it. It's a beautiful thing to read a good writer and think, "Yeah! Exactly what I was thinkin'!", especially when he says it with more panache than I can work up in my most wishful waking dream:

So quit your yapping about stuff you really know little about. Whatever corruption scandals you’ve had in your own state cannot possibly prepare you to think, write, or spout about the Olympian nature of Illinois political stink. Our pols are greedier, more inventive in their criminality, more brazen in their disrespect of the law, and more breathtaking in their deeds of derring-do as they try to stay one step ahead of the prosecutor and two steps ahead of that former business partner they’ve cheated out of ill gotten gains.

Oh, yes. Thank you, Rick Moran. If you're from Illinois, go savor the whole thing, from his defense of Illinois to the "combination of Greek tragedy and Vaudville comedy". It'll make your day.