Governor Church and State

A good read on this $1 million grant to Pilgrim Baptist church gone astray to the Chicago Loop Lab School. Quite a cast--Governor Blagojevich, an ex-felon for school director (aggravated battery for fighting with a police officer), a sexually harassing personnel director, and throw Jesse Jackson into the mix--he met the future school director at that Decatur HS demonstration where he was defending those third year freshmen who beat people up at a football game. Then there's the convicted felon (who happens to be an FBI mole in the Rezko trial), who owned the new school building.

The governor's office blames lawyers for the initial mix-up, apparently they suffered from an excess of zeal in pursuit of the separation of church and state. Tribune:

Abby Ottenhoff, Blagojevich's spokeswoman, said the administration continues to review what happened. "It appears that as lawyers cautioned to be extra careful about avoiding church-state separation issues, they focused on the school that was housed at Pilgrim Baptist," she said. "By the time the grant reached the execution stage at the agency level, the focus was on the grant's details and not the grant's original purpose."

You see, they were too virtuous. Oh, and we should applaud the Blagojevich administration for forgiving the back taxes owed by the school even as the felonious director was pardoned and they forked out the grant money. Governor Church and State. Beyond compare in both realms.