Appalachian corruption

Hey, remember all those stories during the primaries and caucuses about Appalachia? Even in some midwestern states where Obama was doing quite well, he kept losing to Hillary in the Appalachian counties, etc.

Well, check out this interesting little map from USA Today charting levels of corruption in state government. It suggests that there's a disproportionately higher rate of government officials being convicted in a lot of states following the Appalachian Trail.

What's up with this?

Also of interest is that Illinois doesn't stand out as particularly corrupt in this map. Perhaps because they have relatively few convictions. Still, it's surprising, given that, as John Stewart points out, you have a better chance of going to prison if you get elected Illinois' governor than if you kill someone.