CE Week #1: “A Bitter End for Blagojevich”
Illinois Senators Vote 59-0 to Oust ‘Devious’ and ‘Unfit’ Governor
By Kari Lydersen and Peter Slevin
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, January 30, 2009; A01
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. Jan. 29 — The state senators stood up one by one in a hushed chamber on Thursday to call Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) a liar and a hypocrite who put his ego and his pocketbook ahead of the interests of Illinois.
One called him “devious, cynical, crass and corrupt.” Another said the evidence of abuse of power was “overwhelming.” A third said he was “without a doubt unfit to govern.”
Together, they voted 59 to 0 to reject Blagojevich’s theatrical last-minute pleas and remove him from office, ending a stormy tenure that left the nation’s fifth-largest state paralyzed by its governor’s alleged misdeeds and nationally ridiculed for its latest bout of corruption.
“I believe our state must enter rehab,” Sen. Randall Hultgren (R) told his colleagues before the vote. “Moral rehabilitation.”
Blagojevich’s repudiation in a state where he was elected twice to the governorship and three times to Congress could mark a dramatic exit from the national stage, which he commanded briefly but memorably. His next battle is expected to come in federal court in Chicago, where he risks losing his freedom over allegations that he schemed to trade official actions for political contributions and other favors.
Blagojevich, charged with wire fraud and bribery, is free on $4,500 bond.
Before Thursday’s speechmaking was over, and a pair of unanimous votes were cast to oust Blagojevich and bar him from Illinois public office for life, the governor had already taken his final flight home to Chicago aboard a state airplane. After he arrived, on a darkening winter afternoon, as his fate was about to be sealed, he went for a jog.
Talking with reporters later, he called the verdict “un-American.”
“The fix was in from the beginning,” Blagojevich said, insisting that he wants no pity.
“There are tens of thousands of people across America just like me who are losing their jobs, or who have lost their jobs,” Blagojevich said. “To the people of Illinois, God bless all of you. I want you to know that I haven’t let you down.”
Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn became the state’s 41st governor and said he would move right away into the Italianate red-brick governor’s mansion that Blagojevich disdained. Quinn supported Blagojevich during their reelection on the Democratic ticket in 2006, but the men have not spoken since August 2007.
“The rule of law prevailed in Illinois. We are ready to move forward,” Quinn said after the vote. “Something I’m going to work on night and day is to ask folks to put aside differences of the past and really focus on the common good. We’re going to make this a year of reform in Illinois.”
Quinn quoted labor leader Cesar Chavez, saying “Sí se puede” — “Yes, we can.”
The impeachment saga moved from drama to farce and back again in the 51 days after FBI agents arrested Blagojevich in the middle of what U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald called “a political corruption crime spree.” Along the way, Blagojevich bucked calls to resign and outmaneuvered Democratic leaders in Springfield and Washington to appoint Roland W. Burris, little known and years out of politics, to the U.S. Senate seat vacated by President Obama.
Instead of challenging his impeachment, he was 700 miles away when the trial began Monday, denouncing the proceedings in more than a dozen national television interviews as a “kangaroo court.” He showed up only on Thursday, to deliver his own closing argument.
It was a speech long on passion and short on answers, and it did nothing to help his cause. Blagojevich spoke of his immigrant parents, his hard-luck upbringing and good works he claimed as governor. He called the proceedings “an evisceration of the presumption of innocence.”
“There was never a conversation where I intended to break any law,” Blagojevich, 52, told the Senate. “How can you throw a governor out of office on a criminal complaint and you haven’t been able to show or to prove any criminal activity? I’m appealing to you and your sense of fairness.”
His defiance left his accusers unmoved in the face of evidence from witnesses and secret wiretaps that appeared to show that Blagojevich schemed to profit from his official actions: He allegedly tried to sell Obama’s former Senate seat and allegedly plotted to force the firing of Chicago Tribune editorial writers by threatening to withhold $150 million in state money for Wrigley Field, owned by Tribune Co.
Prosecutors said Blagojevich plotted to extort campaign contributions from a racetrack operator, a road contractor and an executive of a Chicago children’s hospital whose doctors were owed $8 million in Medicaid reimbursements.
Senators noted that Blagojevich refused to be questioned under oath about the 13 alleged misdeeds that House prosecutor David Ellis called an “unmistakable” pattern of abuse of power. Ellis paid particular attention to FBI excerpts of 60 taped conversations.
“Our point was on his words, his secretly recorded words, and who in the world was more qualified to testify about the governor’s words than the governor himself?” Ellis asked during his closing argument.
“He talked more about the evidence with Barbara Walters on ‘The View’ than he did in this chamber today, where he’s facing impeachment and removal from office. He could have been here, and he wasn’t.”
“The silence that spoke loudest was the absent voice of the governor,” Sen. Toi Hutchinson (D) said before she voted to remove him. “The price of corruption is high, and the people of my district are tired of paying for it, over and over and over.”
“He reminded us today in real detail,” said Sen. Matt Murphy (R), “that he is an unusually good liar.”
Sen. Kirk Dillard (R) added, tongue in cheek, that Blagojevich has a bright future in Hollywood.
Blagojevich became the first Illinois governor to be impeached and expelled from office. Three Illinois governors since 1973 were convicted after leaving office, including his predecessor, George Ryan (R), who is still in prison.
The Blagojevich saga may be remembered for the target’s salty words, captured on the FBI tapes.
“I’ve got this thing and it’s [expletive] golden,” Blagojevich said of his authority to choose Obama’s successor, “and I’m just not giving it up for [expletive] nothing.”
As Sen. James Meeks (D) informed his colleagues that he was planning to vote to kick Blagojevich out of office, he said, “We have this thing called impeachment and it’s bleeping golden, and we’ve used it the right way.”
Slevin reported from Chicago.
“There are tens of thousands of people across America just like me who are losing their jobs, or who have lost their jobs,” Blagojevich said. “To the people of Illinois, God bless all of you. I want you to know that I haven’t let you down.” That is utterly ridiculous. I do not understand how he can justify drawing a comparison between himself and those who are or soon will be unemployed because of the state of the economy, that is unless he is actually saying that “there are tens of thousands of people across America” that are just as corrupt as himself and are losing their jobs for being so. I am also sure that he has in fact let the people of Illinois down, that is unless the people of Illinois wanted him to conduct his duties as governor as he did in which case he certainly did not let them down. “He called the proceedings ‘an evisceration of the presumption of innocence.’ ” Well, I think he might have a bit of a point there as I can hardly believe that he was presumed entirely innocent when his trial began as word of the scandal had certainly reached most of the state of Illinois.
Connection: Impeachment. An impeachment is the political equivalent of an indictment in criminal law. Blagojevich’s impeachment followed the traditional route of passing both the Illinois House and Senate. Following the passage of his impeachment, he was voted out of office.
It’s a good thing Blagojevich wants no pity because he certainly isn’t getting any and I’m not sure he deserves it anyway. In my opinion this guy is an absolute pig. He was caught red handed and there is evidence stacked up against him and he still has the guts to stand up in front of the people of Illinois and say he is absolutely innocent and he is sorry they have to suffer. The guy showed up at his own impeachment trial to give a closing statement. That may have just put him further in the whole. No one wants to hear any of the crap coming out of his mouth. Then he has the nerve to say the ruling was “un-American”. His ego absolutely amazes me. I saw one of the “mini press conferences” he gave on the news; how he was proclaiming his innocence and I didn’t believe one word. To the Senator who made the comment about Blagojevich having a bright future in Hollywood, here is my reaction to that statement: no basis in reality. I’m sure that was a sarcastic remark made by the Senator, but I’m not sure any American would go and see any movie of his. I sure wouldn’t.
In a way it is sad because Illinois is know for having corrupt politicians. Blagojevich seems to be no different from the others removed from office before him. The people of Illinois are the ones who have to pay for all the corruption.
Connection: Blagojevich tried to use the electronic throne in a reverse manner. It is often a tool used to get the support of the public when trying to push legislation through. Blagojevich tried to use his “power” [so to speak] to appeal to the American people. Maybe he thought if the American People or at least the people of Illinois were behind him he wouldn’t be removed from office. The reverse electronic throne method wasn’t very successful, obviously.
What interests me the most about this whole thing is the fact that Blago still seems to believe that he did absolutely nothing wrong. Why this is, I don’t know. Maybe it’s because he is oblivious to the fact that trying to sell a Senate seat is illegal. Whatever the reason may be, I’m just glad that he won’t ever be in office again.
I don’t know how he got into office, but from seeing these events, I don’t know why he was elected into office either. Now that he is gone, we don’t have to worry about him having to pick anymore replacements, but we now have to live with the one he did pick. I never really understood why they actually let him pick a replacement after trying to sell the seat off. When you are a governor, you shouldn’t get so many chances for something like that. Yes, people make mistakes, but this wasn’t really a mistake at all. He knew what he was doing. He just happened to get caught. As far as I’m concerned, you should lose responsibilities when you create this much of a problem. Yes, rules are rules, but in this case, some rules just seem like they need to be changed slightly.
I just hope that the replacement governor can get Illinois running in the right direction again. We all know that somebody needs to help their government, especially after this last escapade.
Connection: Throughout the last semester we have talked about this case. From the very beginning of it, it seemed like we always knew the latest information. We heard when he was caught trying to sell the seat, we heard when he was trying to pick a person for the Senate seat that hadn’t already made a bid, and we heard when he finally made a pick. Now that he is out of office, we won’t get to talk about him as much, but I’m sure some new scandal will pop up soon.
Governor Blagojevich’s actions were done out of mere greed and inexcusable. But I will say that his last words before being impeached, as the first Governor of Illinois to be impeached, hit the truth. “There are tens of thousands of people across America just like me who are losing their jobs, or who have lost their jobs,” Blagojevich. For him this may give him some humor, but I’m sure that Congress didn’t find it funny, nor did it help his case. Senator Hultgren made a good point when he said that Illinois needs to go into rehab. Maybe not “moral rehab” as he put it though since the ones being elected are the ones making big mistakes and getting caught. If you are put in a position of power over thousands of people, you better be thinking of them and not yourself. I think Blagojevich missed that part in Governing 101.
Connection: Abuse of power is evident in this case. Blagojevich had the power to appoint a Senator in place of Obama, and he decided why not make money off of it. Now I know those who hold political office don’t get great pay, instead they get the perks, but in this case there was a lot of money to be made.
I had to laugh at the lambasting of Blagojevich by the senators quoted in the article. “Unusually good liar?” Even in going after a nationally despied figure, senators have to hold back the barbs for fear of a PR reprisal. Or some of them just don’t feel that strongly about it, but why wouldn’t they? The funniest part of it all is Blagojevich’s protestations of his innocence, and how he’s weaving it with apologies to the Illinois population, and tying others unemployment to his own. The fallacy is so hilarious it seems almost deliberate on his part, trying to hog screen time since he’s proven guilty. I have no knowledge of his replacement, Quinn, but the fact that the two haven’t spoken in so long makes me rather confident he’ll only be mildly crooked. It is Illinois after all. That said, I have to wonder if Blagojevich was appealing to peoples ignorance of the justification impeachment requires (Next to none.), in addition to lying about the evidence. But either way, crooked politicians come and go (from Illinois), and we can just remember the loud ones for awhile after they’re gone.
Connection: Orchestra Pit Theory: Of all the senators in the Illinois state legislature, only a few are quoted directly, and not even for very long. Blagojevich wouldn’t have recieved such media attention if he hadn’t committed a crime, and would be as anonymous or unmemorable as one of those senators if he hadn’t.
“The impeachment saga moved from drama to farce and back again in the 51 days after FBI agents arrested Blagojevich in the middle of what U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald called ‘a political corruption crime spree.’” Impeachment saga is right! I feel like we’ve heard it all from our favorite newly impeached Governor. (Who, surprisingly enough is the first to be impeached and removed. Illinois politics… We’ll just leave that alone.) Since the beginning, we’ve known that Blago was going to get to boot. There’s not politician in his right mind who would stick up for him. It’d be like political suicide. So, surprise, surprise that he got a 59-0 vote. People don’t like corruption. This relates to Watergate, at least it’s after effects. After the disillusionment in our government leaders, we tend to have the stigma that all politicians are evil and corrupt. (Most of all, untrustworthy.) Blago’s senate seat hay-day is just adding the negative image our government already has. Other senators such as Sen. Toi Hutchinson, have had to make a strong statement that they don’t approve, and wouldn’t follow in such wrong footsteps. You have to do something to keep the constituents right?
I suppose the most humorous part of the whole Blago saga, is he stands by as being an outstanding citizen. “’There was never a conversation where I intended to break any law,’ Blagojevich, 52, told the Senate. ‘How can you throw a governor out of office on a criminal complaint and you haven’t been able to show or to prove any criminal activity? I’m appealing to you and your sense of fairness.’” Well Blago, you and Nixon are just two peas in a pod. Whether or not your actual sense of moral justice believes that you were just or not, everyone’s going to remember you as another corrupt politician. Amazing how easily high popularity (multiple reelections for Blago, and fairly high popularity and election to President for Nixon) can slide away so easy and lead to impeachment.
I find Blagojevich an absolute idiot and extremely disgraceful to the political system. He tried to deny that he wanted to sell off Obama’s senate seat even though the evidence was stacking up against him. He was caught video saying that he would sell of the seat, and then he has the gall to try and deny these allegations! Does he think that the American public is truly that stupid? How can you deny something that has been proven numerous times? Furthermore, I find it ridiculous that instead of attending his own impeachment trial, he was traveling across the United States trying to prove his innocence. He appeared on half a dozen talk shows and lied to millions of Americans who were watching! How could we trust someone who was that corrupt? He didn’t own up to what he did, because he still maintained that he was innocent. He tried to make everyone believe that he was wronged and that they should truest him. To make matters worse, he said that he was fired like the thousands of people who lose their jobs everyday. This is so far from reality! He’s not like those people who lost their jobs due to the economy! He’s a senator who won’t have to worry about how to pay his bills and afford to live in this recession. He will be able to live comfortably in his house and rake in thousands from book deals and television appearances. The residents of Illinois must be deeply shamed by his behavior. He sounds like Nixon when he said “I am not a crook!” In both cases this turned out to be true.
Connection: In class we learned that the governor has the power to appoint a new senator in the case that the old senator steps down or is elected to a higher office. Also, from the mass media chapter we learned that the media can hurt or help a politician’s career. When the media gets a hold of a tape, photo, or quote that attracts national attention, the politician better be ready for what the media will dish out. Once the media smells blood in the water, they are on the attack!
Blagojevich deserves to go to prison. Although I am upset that his bail is only $4,500… It should be much more because it is such a big deal that he was trying to sell a Senate seat. I don’t really think that there is really all that much wrong with it PERSONALLY, but I think that if you are dumb enough to get caught, well, then you’re pretty much ****ed. If you get caught, you need to pay for your actions. I know that this kind of stuff used to happen all the time back in the day. This is just like the Chicago machines that used to control the past. It was impossible to get someone in there by actually doing it the right way. Well, Blago tried to bring back a fad that clearly was crushed, and failed. So yes, I feel he should have a good couple of years in prison (although that is not going to happen, I don’t think) and I feel it is a good thing that he got busted, because that’s one less fraud we have to worry about.
Linkage stuff: Patronage. This is a perfect example of patronage. It is the boss seeking to gain a good gain from his “employees” if you will. He tried to sell off the seat, but, instead was caught, and now faces imprisonment. And he wonders why patronage isn’t around today…?
Wow. This guy is completely ridiculous. The fact that he is willing to compare his job loss to the devastating unemployment of countless Americans is disgusting, but there are other aspects of his behavior that simply make me laugh. It is very interesting that he was not present for more of the hearing. I also think that he made an interesting point when he brought up the fact that no one has been able to “show or prove [his involvement in] any criminal activity.” In a way, he is correct. I’ve never heard of a law that explicitly states that a governor cannot simply sell a legislative seat to the highest bidder. I strongly agree that the Illinois Senate did the right thing in removing him from office, but I almost feel as though they may have gone about it in the wrong way. Unless I am missing something, it seems as though the trial should have aimed to impeach him on the grounds of immoral conduct rather than criminal behavior. Although selling a seat is undoubtedly unethical, it doesn’t plainly and unarguably seem to be a crime.
Connection: Senator Burris-
Burris’s appointment to the Senate has been greatly tainted by the fact that it was Governor Blago who put his name forward. Although Burris was a fairly obvious candidate for the seat and would, most likely, have been considered anyway, the fact that he was put forward by Blago made many Senate leaders hesitant to accept him purely out of principle.
In response to Renee Davidson:
As we have learned, if the Senate seat is in need of filling the Governor of that state has the power to appoint a person of his or her choice. “As far as I’m concerned, you should lose responsibilities when you create this much of a problem. Yes, rules are rules, but in this case, some rules just seem like they need to be changed slightly.” Renee. I understand where you are coming from, but I don’t think rules need to be changed because one state happens to pick some crummy politicians. Yes Illinois is raking up a list of crooked politicians, but what is one out of fifty(I’m not saying that the other 49 states have perfect politicians, Illinois just has more news coverage). Tweaking the rules isn’t as easy as one, two, three, and if we changed rules because of things like this all the time, no one would know what was going on. After a while you would get into the “buts” which could run miles long. A person should lose their responsibilities if they are corrupt, but then again, that is why we have impeachment. And in this case, it was used correctly.
“I’ve got this thing and it’s [expletive] golden,” Blagojevich said of his authority to choose Obama’s successor, “and I’m just not giving it up for [expletive] nothing.”-And Blagojevich says he is being charged without evidence…what do you call the wire-taps and witnesses? The fact that this obviously corrupt man is trying to compare himself to those hard workig people who have lost their jobs is ridiculous. He lost his job due to his own fault, they lost their jobs for other reasons like the recession we are currently in. For the former Illinois governor to not even show up to his own trial until the last day is even more of a reason to find him guilty. If he doesn’t even care enough to defend himself then why should he even be rendered the chance to get his job back? One of his statements made me laugh a little when he said how he hadn’t let the people of Illinois down. Does he really believe that people are going to applaud his actions? The main point is that he did some shady things (trying to sell off the Illinois Senate seat) and he got caught. Now he has to deal with consequences.
Connection: This article relates to the process of Impeachment which is to remove an elected official from office. In this case, Blagojevich was the first Illinois governor to be impeached and expelled from office due to his shady dealings with trying to bribe and sell the vacant Senate seat.
Blagojevich is gone. It’s seriously about time. One thing that still puzzles me is why the Senate would still seat Burris. Just because he’s black (excuse me, African-American)? That’s ridiculous. If there’s one thing that works me up more than anything, it’s affirmative action and reverse discrimination. Let’s give some random African-American or Hispanic a full ride to Harvard or MIT because he’s a different race. That’s fair. Heck, if I were black or Mexican, I’d probably be looking at Princeton. It makes perfect sense… lets give less qualified people (that HAPPEN to be a different ethnicity) seats to more prestigious schools and positions (such as Burris) because their ancestors were discriminated against decades ago. Why don’t we punish the Germans because they caused the Holocaust 60 years ago? I don’t know… maybe because they didn’t do it? Just a thought. The fact that not one politician in the Senate will stand up to Burris and question him is concerning. Oh well, there’s America’s politics in a nutshell. Make way for the new age of affirmative action. And Blagojevich, rest in peace in prison. Because you’re going to be there for a long time, and don’t think you’re going to get any sympathy with your cute theatrics and drama. Go to Hollywood.
Connection: Affirmative action and impeachment. Nobody questions the fact that Burris is unqualified, picked by a now-removed then-impeached Governor, and could possibly be Blagojevich’s successor (in a weird way) because they would be coined racist by the media. Media… you suck. Seriously.
In response to Johanna Stafford’s comment, I would have to say that I agree with the majority of what you say. However, even if Blagojevich’s comment (“There are tens of thousands of people across America just like me who are losing their jobs, or who have lost their jobs”) is true, I don’t know if I would necessarily take pity on him for saying this. Although yes, there are many Americans losing their jobs, and although it is sad, these Americans are not like Blagojevich!! They did not commit a federal crime by basically auctioning off a senate seat. They are hard working Americans who have earned their job and many only got laid off because of the current economic status we are in. Blagojevich lost his job because he made a stupid decision only thinking of himself. I think its safe to say, that if he wouldn’t have made this decision, he would still have his job, even in this economic state. So he really can’t compare himself with all those Americans out there who have lost their jobs, because that would mean that all these people threw away their jobs, like Blagojevich did. And like Johanna said, Blagojevich was just thinking about himself.
Blagojevich said that the verdict that was reached in his case was, “un-American.” He is still standing strong with his belief that he did absolutely nothing wrong, how can he still put on this act? Dillard was right, he would make a fantastic actor and would do well with a career in Hollywood. This is unbelievable, especially since it seems that he is only “pleading” the courts to save some of his pride, he isn’t truly sorry, he doesn’t even think he did anything wrong!!! He is greedy and he did something that back-stabbed the American people and the state of Illinois. Claiming that they have no proof, but then trying to play the poor guy act in court is just ridiculous. How can he compare his story to the fact that other people around us are losing their jobs? Yes, they are, but for very different reasons than the reasoning behind the loss of yours. I feel bad in a way for Obama because he was even scrutinized about this. He also says he is appealing our sense of “Fairness”, when he was auctioning off the seat to the highest bidder, isn’t that unfair!? To Illinois, America and the well qualified people who would have filled the position nicely.
Connection- Patronage. Getting a job because of your affiliation with someone in it or because of your social staus/monetary value, and not because you are actually qualified for the task at hand. If Blagojevich had actually pulled this stunt off, it would have most likely been a result of Patronage.
59 – 0 vote, I guess he really messed up. When Clinton was impeached it was a split vote.
Question for Kautzman: Was the vote that strong concerning other Illinois governors that have been convicted? Answer: No other governor was impeached, I believe two were put on trial after leaving office and were found guilty.
Anyway, I can’t say I feel sorry for Blago. He deserved it. I know in class we have talked about the fact that a lot of people do this sort of thing and that Blago just happened to get caught. But it doesn’t mean that he shouldn’t have been convicted because it is wrong regardless. I liked Quinn’s quote “Something I’m going to work on night and day is to ask folks to put aside differences of the past and really focus on the common good. We’re going to make this a year of reform in Illinois,” because Illinois does have a bad reputation. I can’t believe three of the past governors have been convicted. Blago is the first one to be thrown out of office, however, which is pretty significant. I also think it is bad taste that Blago was touring talk shows during his trial. I didn’t see any of his interviews, but I heard that he was making jokes, paticularly on the view.
Connection: Impeachement. We have learned about the house’s right to impeach and the senate’s right to try. Impeachement does not happen easily or often (unless you live in Illinois). Anyway, the governor was not only impeached, but thrown out of office, which really is rare.
First of all, it’s interesting how much media attention Illinois politics gets. It seems like everything I see on The Daily Show, or everything I read about on the blog website has something to do with Illinois. Of course, our current president is a former Senator from Illinois, but recently there seems to have been lots of scandals turning up in that state. I liked how Senator Randall Hultgren put it, “I believe out state must enter rehab, moral rehabilitation.” Illinois has been getting beat up lately; the citizens of that state must be a little embarrassed.
Anyway, getting to the point, I am happy that Blagojevich finally got what he deserved. Its too bad that a significant leader in our country can dip that low. What makes it even worse is that he continues to play it off like nothing happened. The least he can do at this point is show a little respect for the American people and his fellow leaders and admit his mistake and accept a life without politics.
Connection: In the last chapter, we learned about impeachment. Impeachment is originated in the House of Representatives, and the trial is held in the Senate. In the House, Blagojevich was accused of trying to sell the Illinois senate seat. In the Senate, a conviction requires a 2/3 vote. In Blagojevich’s case, the senate voted unanimously to remove him from office.
Hopefully Blagojevich can keep his mouth closed. I am really tired of seeing him trying to claim innocence. How can you complain about due process of the law, when you do not even bother to take advantage of it by being in Illinois when you are being impeached? I guess he kind of has a point in saying that he was presumed guilty before any criminal activity has been proven. I am not saying this excuses him, but I do think that you are innocent until proven guilty. But besides that, he has been utterly obnoxious and he has just been soaking in the lime light.
His appeal to the American people was also despicable. “There are tens of thousands of people across America just like me who are losing their jobs, or who have lost their jobs,” Blagojevich said. “To the people of Illinois, God bless all of you. I want you to know that I haven’t let you down.” Honest, hard working people loose their jobs because of the struggling economy, while he looses his job trying to embezzle money by selling President Obama’s Senate seat. But I guess he did not let the people of Illinois down, since their expectations probably were not that high to begin with.
“I pledge no allegiance, *expletive* *expletive* the president’s speeches (Bush), I’m baptized by America and covered in leeches, The dirty water that bleaches your soul and your facial features, Drownin’ you in propaganda that they spit through the speakers, And if you speak about the evil that the government does, The Patriot Act’ll track you to the type of your blood” (Immortal Technique “Bin Laden”).
Blagojevich is a despicable devious hypocritical individual plain and simple.
Connection: Impeachment. This is just a political move, rather than a criminal move. And I have no doubt that Blagojevich will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law during his criminal trial when it comes. Illinois basically exiled Blagojevich from politics with his unanimous impeachment. But is impeachment really fair if someone is still going to trial? In most cases an impeachment trial will sway public opinion and it would be hard to find people without a predisposition to a case where someone was already impeached.
Hurray! The corrupt full of crap crackpot is finally gone! How a person can be that stupid is still beyond me. Hopefully, Illinois will get a governor who is not corrupt this time, although their track record is not very good. I find it rather sad that, upon leaving office, Blagojevich had a lower approval rating than the United States Congress. A rather bittersweet thing about this affair was that it was completely bipartisan. Both Democrats and Republicans thought he was incredibly guilty. The scariest thing to me is that Blagojevich actually thought he did nothing wrong and probably believed he would be acquitted. Why else would he spend the day of his trial touring morning talk shows trying to boost his PR, other than to avoid testifying? “How can you throw a governor out of office on a criminal complaint and you haven’t been able to show or to prove any criminal activity?” says Blagojevich. To answer him, it’s easy; we haven’t. There are recordings of him saying he wanted to do what the prosecutors said he was planning on doing, and Blagojevich is still in denial about it. Does he hope if he believes they don’t exist, that everyone else will follow along? Well, goodbye and good riddance to Blagojevich.
Connection: Bipartisanship and the FISA courts. This shows bipartisanship because the only elected official in the Illinois state legislature that did not vote to impeach and remove Blagojevich was his sister-in-law. This shows that it is possible for Democrats and Republicans to work together. And we read an article in class earlier that talked about the FISA courts. For surveillance on Blagojevich, or any other person suspected on dealing in illegal activities, the government can use the FICA courts to secretly obtain a warrant.
Blagojevich is really quite funny. Even after all the evidence screams foul, he still adamantly denied ever doing anything illegal. I don’t know much about Illinois or national law, but even if I don’t think he did anything wrong, there are more powerful people who seem to have taken offense and are the ones responsible for his future. His best bet would be to appeal to them.
So then why the heck is he out cavorting around shirking his responsibility of testifying to his innocence? If he’s as innocent as he claims, or as honorable, the thing he should be doing is trying to save his butt in the courts, not whining about how disappointing his life is to Barbara Walters and millions of slightly amused Americans. I mean really, they aren’t the ones holding the rope to that guillotine you so artfully constructed for yourself.
But oh well. Knowing Illinois, there’ll be some one else ready to take on the “corrupted politician” role. If they haven’t learned by now, they probably won’t anytime soon. And that’s okay. The nation could use a little entertainment now and then.
Connection: Blagojevich has only been on the news, like, a billion times since this whole ordeal erupted. Those wiretaps have him pretty much done in for. Perhaps if he could control his potty mouth, he wouldn’t be in as much trouble. People always seem to expect figures of authority to be clean. Or moral. None of which Blagojevich seems to hold at the top of his priority list. We’ve also talked about him and his habits plenty of times in class.
Some of the things Blagojevich said were just really stupid. It is obvious that he is guilty because they have all the evidence from the wire taps but he still says things like, “How can you throw a governor out of office on a criminal complaint and you haven’t been able to show or to prove any criminal activity?” I guess if I were in his position I would try to prove myself innocent until the very end but when everyone turns against me and it becomes obvious that I’m guilty then it is probably a good time to give it up. And what was he trying to mean by saying, “There are tens of thousands of people across America just like me who are losing their jobs, or who have lost their jobs”? People across America aren’t losing their jobs because they all became criminals and got fired for it. That statement he made just makes him sound stupid, no wonder he got caught, he was too stupid by not keeping it secret. And the thing I don’t understand is why he doesn’t realize that there are people watching his every move. Of course there are going to be wire taps, it’s the future, they’re watching you, especially when you become an important person, they watch you even more closely. If Blagojevich did it more secretly he could have pulled it off.
Connection: Blagojevich’s situation is definitely connected to impeachment. He is being impeached and removed from office. The definition of impeachment is on page 397 and it is the political equivalent of an indictment in criminal law prescribed by the constitution.
Oh my goodness, I found myself laughing even before reading this article simply by checking out the title. “A Bitter End For Blagojevich.” In my opinion, Blago, I really don’t think you could have anticipated the fairy-tale ending you so greatly desired for. And truth be told, I’m not sure many people were pulling for your escape from conviction. “Together, they voted 59 to 0 to reject Blagojevich’s theatrical last-minute pleas and remove him from office” (Lydersen and Slevin). Sounds pretty clear to me. A quick clarification for Haley Nelson’s post: you mentioned you would never see any movie starring Blagojevich, which left me puzzled as to what you meant. “Sen. Kirk Dillard (R) added, tongue in cheek, that Blagojevich has a bright future in Hollywood.” The key phrase was “tongue-in-cheek,” meaning that his remark was not to be taken literally, yet contained the subtle hint of sarcasm. Senator Dillard was simply trying to articulate what a convincing liar Blago has been lately, referencing how actors can successfully transform into different characters for the appropriate roles. But I do agree with you that with the slight chance Blago would ever join the film industry, I would probably never see any work of his.
Connection: Inevitable Impeachment. Poor Blago. All he wanted to do was stimulate the economy by gathering extra cash for him to spend, but all he got in return was a federal indictment and huge slap on the wrist by the American people. Pobrecito. Now that he’s been charged with a serious misconduct while in office, I suppose he’ll just have to work his way up from the bottom, if that’s even an option still. Sorry again Blago, but you brought this upon yourself, and there’s no way you will ever relate to the many Americans losing their jobs the REGULAR way.
I am not surprised to see that the vote on Blagojevich’s impeachment was a unanimous 59 to 0. I was surprised by his statement though, “There are tens of thousands of people across America just like me who are losing their jobs, or who have lost their jobs,” Blagojevich said. “To the people of Illinois, God bless all of you. I want you to know that I haven’t let you down.” This seemed like a pretty big stretch for Blagojevich to make, to compare his situation with the tens of thousands Americans who are losing their jobs? He was a corrupt governor who tried to sell off a senate seat, which is nothing close to the average American who has lost their job within these difficult times. And “Instead of challenging his impeachment, he was 700 miles away when the trial began”. Blagojevich did not deserve the position of governor. Hopefully the new governor Pat Quinn will be more able to govern the people of Illinois. Quinn has already taken the usual steps of reassuring the people that things will change, “We’re going to make this a year of reform in Illinois.” Now it will be interesting to see what steps he takes to fulfill his promises.
Connection: This article is connected to chapter nine Orchestra Pit Theory. The attempt of someone to sell a senate seat is something the media hopes for everyday. That this seat had been held by Obama made it even more appealing to the media.
I don’t see how people in such high political positions, like Blagojevich or even Bill Clinton, think that they can do things that are very clearly against the rules, let alone the law, and get away with them just because they are high in authority or even think that they are above the law.. Or for example, in this case, Blagojevich thinks that he is sneaky enough to get passed everyone with secret wiretaps. Ya right. People in that high of positions are always highly monitored for errors and or corruption because that is what people look for is all that bad stuff.
So clearly Blagojevich was caught in the act and clearly he did what the FBI says he did, wire fraud and bribery, and clearly he broke the law or the FBI would not have been all over his case, so why did he down right deny it? “There was never a conversation where I intended to break any law. How can you throw a governor out of office on a criminal complaint and you haven’t been able to show or to prove any criminal activity?” states Blagojevich. He would not even be in the situation if there was no evidence.
Connection: Like in the rules of Hardball, I think that Blagojevich should have done a better job at trying to get out of what he did by putting a spin on it or maybe even hanging a lantern on it and pointing out his faults so that the people would be more forgiving and possibly not as harsh on him for the clear mistakes that he made.
Blagojevich got exactly what he deserved. A scheme like his, to sell off Senate seats sounds like some scandal straight out of the 1930’s. I thought we had moved past this type of politics. I do realize that many politicians still do lie, but not nearly to this extent. And what did Blagojevich think would come of this? He couldn’t honestly expect to walk away with a mere slap on the wrist, or actually think that nobody would find out. And in this case, once everyone did find out, it was a 59 to 0 vote pro- impeachment. If there is anything we have impounded into our brains this year from class, it is that we know congress (especially Senators) can hardly agree on anything. With that said, if 100% of them agreed on impeachment, then you KNOW you did something horrifically wrong. Not even Nixon or Clinton was threatened with a 100% vote in agreement of impeachment! And to top it off, Blagojevich didn’t even show up to his own trial. All that says to the American people, and the people of Illinois in particular, is that he truly does not care whatsoever; he does not care about his duties to fairness and to the office, he does not care about the people he represents, and he does not care about the responsibilities he holds or the reputation that his actions will bring upon himself and other governmental officials. There is no redemption or proper explanation for so many numerous mistakes.
Connection: Medicaid…
I found it interesting that most of my previous knowledge about the Blagojevich scandal was merely about selling off the Senate seats. Gaining free perks and gifts is not so surprising to me either, but I had no idea that Medicaid would be involved in this event at all. “Prosecutors said Blagojevich plotted to extort campaign contributions from a racetrack operator, a road contractor, and an executive of a Chicago children’s hospital”, and the executive was owed $8 million in Medicaid bills. As if placing bids, accepting gifts, and lying about campaign contributions isn’t already enough mistakes, but under Blagojevich’s actions in office, Medicaid was failed to be paid off/supported, too. I mostly just found this fact to be interesting because most authors who cover these scandals would only analyze the literal and most obvious mistakes rather than including the failures of supporting their government programs and failures to help pay off debts like Medicaid.
Blagojevich is ridiculous. That he would compare his situation with the unemployment of others is just jaw-dropping to me. In my opinion, he should just take the “honorable” path and admit that he committed a crime – his repeated pleas of innocence just come off as being foolish. He claims that there is no evidence that he was using bribery, that he should be treated “fairly.” Frankly, it is fair that he was given a trial because the evidence is clear! It is recorded on tape! I do not think that he truly believes he is innocent – even he can’t be that blinded – but he is too prideful to admit that he was caught. What truly amazes me is that he would actually attempt such a feat. It was President Obama’s seat that he was going to fill – of course people would be paying keen attention to who he would choose. It was a good decision, I think, to have him impeached and removed from office. Such actions, like the abuse of power, should not be tolerated, especially in this nation where equality and fairness is so valued.
Connection: Political Patronage
Though such actions seem out of date in our current society, they still go on, surprising as it seems. There are no more “Bosses” and “Party Machines”, but as Blagojevich has proven, corruption in the form of patronage is still present.
In Response to Rebecca:
Like you, I think it would be very hard to go into the trial with the mindset that Blagojevich was innocent; however, I do not think this is necessarily a bad thing. When people go into trial and are “presumed innocent”, this is, many times, merely a demonstration that they have a right to defend themselves, merely “show”. I think many times, like in the case of murder, it is obvious that a person committed the crime – it would be hard not to with all the technology we have. But in being “presumed innocent”, this person still has a right to defend themselves instead of immediately being sentenced to death. While a person on trial for murder may have DNA samples against them, Blagojevich was not an exception to technology. He had recorded tapes against him.
What I am trying to say is I think that it is nearly impossible to just go into a trial thinking someone is innocent when all the evidence says he is guilty. I do agree that this person should be able to defend themselves even if they are guilty – everyone should have the right – but with technological innovations, and the simple human nature to have biases and hold opinions, it is nearly impossible to presume someone is innocent.
In response to Cole Ziegler, I hardly believe that Burris was seated merely on the fact that he is an African American. “Let’s give some random African-American or Hispanic a full ride to Harvard or MIT because he’s a different race. That’s fair. Heck, if I were black or Mexican, I’d probably be looking at Princeton. It makes perfect sense… lets give less qualified people (that HAPPEN to be a different ethnicity) seats to more prestigious schools and positions (such as Burris) because their ancestors were discriminated against decades ago.” Race is not a strong indicator of how likely the chances of a person getting into a college are, but they could be offered scholarships based on their academic performance and the fact that they are a certain race. For some reason, African Americans tend to have lower incomes and less access to higher level education, so many schools have scholarships to account for that. It is not entirely true that discrimination is decades behind us. In some cases, individuals have faced discrimination because they are of another race or gender because there are still individuals that discriminate. I really think that politicians did not and do not have anything against Burris personally as the real problem behind his appointment was that he was being appointed by Blago, not whether or not he was qualified to assume the position because he is as qualified as Barrack Obama was when he ran for the seat now occupied by Burris.
In response to Rebecca:
I think you are painfully oblivious to affirmative action programs nationwide. There is not a single school who doesn’t look at race when examining your admission application. It’s important to them, the more African Americans, Hispanics, Asians and Native Americans they admit to their school the more government grant money they get. It’s the same for corporations. It is not something that they like to advertise publicly but it something in considered in their hiring practices and at every school it is a factor considered in their admissions decisions. It happens to everyone. I have three friends two white girls and one of Native American descent, they all met with the dean of the University of Washington. He asked the two Caucasian girls what their GPAs were, one has a 4.0 and the other has a 3.8. The girl of native descent has only a cumulative of 3.3. Which do you think will get accepted to the University of Washington? Neither of the Caucasian girls were accepted. In essence the moral of this story is affirmative action is everywhere. Illinois politics to college admission. In my opinion Burris was probably considered more heavily than he should have been simply to keep the African American presence in the United States Senate.
In response to Matt:
I agree with what you had to say, as I believe everyone else would too, except for one little thing. At the end of your comment you had a quote from Blagojevich. “There was never a conversation where I intended to break any law. How can you throw a governor out of office on a criminal complaint and you haven’t been able to show or to prove any criminal activity?” Not that I am trying to defend this idiot, but he did say he never intended to break the law. Yes, he probably was lying, but maybe he didn’t think he was doing anything wrong. There is a possibility that he didn’t know that it was illegal. I doubt that such an instance has happened for a long time, if at all, so it is possible that he didn’t think that there was anything wrong with it. You made it sound like he knew that he did wrong and was just lying about it. I agree with you that after he had been convicted of the crime with plenty of evidence, he should have stopped the whole “I’m innocent” act. He still hasn’t let up and it’s really irritating. The good news is we don’t have to worry about him ever doing it again.