Blagojevich

[mrmitchell]

First I really like the way the boards look now. And it looks like activity has rebounded some too, but then, I haven't been on in months. College is sweet.

Just so this thread isn't contentless, here's a link to a news article

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-blagojevich-impeachment-removal,0,5791846.story

The Illinois state senate voted 59-0 (unanimously) to impeach. He is officially out of the job.

A few discussion points

1) Does anyone else other than me think there may be something more than meets the eye with this guy? From the way he ran the state (bearing down on the children's hospital, "this thing is f***ing golden," etc.) to the bald defiance, from reciting Tennyson at a press conference to boycotting his impeachment trial, he is definitely not doing anything the conventional way. At the very least, he is a scumbag that knows how to go out with class (and by class I mean while grabbing the most attention possible).

2) On a darker note - is it possible he actually has some kind of mental disease? Are we about to see an insanity defense if so?

3) If I was caught red-handed in a career-ending corruption case with no chance of innocence, I think this is the best way to go out in the interest of self-preservation. He has a thousand times the name recognition that he did before the scandal broke, and 90% of that is because he's been keeping himself in the news with his antics.

4) The Senate also unanimously voted to bar him from holding public office in IL ever again. Assuming he ran for and won another election, what are the odds that such a resolution will actually hold up in court? Does it matter if it's state (say if he was elected IL Attorney General) or local (Mayor of Urbana, or Springfield Dog Catcher)?

I gotta say this guy fascinates me. It's like the old "train wreck that you just can't look away from" but you're not quite sure what it is. I'm eager to see how his real trial goes, even if he does just come out to be a colossal d-bag, I'm sure there will be more laughs along the way.

[Ming]

While they have tons of evidence... He still technically hasn't been convicted of anything yet. I can see him being impeached, but it's still too early on the "political death sentence". That can wait until he is eventually convicted

[-Jrabbit]

According to radio chatter today, attorneys beieve that Blago's conviction is far from a slam-dunk. The thing is, the states attorney only has him on tape planning to auction off Obama's Senate seat. But he didn't actually do the deed. It's arguable whether planning a scumbag crime that never happens is, in fact, a crime in itself.

Hopefully, there are other clear-cut and definitively provable examples of corrumption. But I can't help but wonder if Fitzgerald didn't tip his hand too early.

The one sure thing: the trial will be a total circus.

[Kuciwalker]

4) The Senate also unanimously voted to bar him from holding public office in IL ever again. Assuming he ran for and won another election, what are the odds that such a resolution will actually hold up in court? Does it matter if it's state (say if he was elected IL Attorney General) or local (Mayor of Urbana, or Springfield Dog Catcher)?

I assume that the bar is a power explicitly granted to the IL Senate.

[Ming]

According to radio chatter today, attorneys beieve that Blago's conviction is far from a slam-dunk. The thing is, the states attorney only has him on tape planning to auction off Obama's Senate seat. But he didn't actually do the deed. It's arguable whether planning a scumbag crime that never happens is, in fact, a crime in itself.

The story in the Trib (linked in the OP) seems to have a lot more than just the "auction". It includes other possible corruption. It had stuff that I haven't heard from the talking heads on the radio yet.

[Joseph]

Before Gray Davis was kick out of Calif. he wanted 250 million from the Teacher Union before he would sit down and talk to them.

[DaShi]

I think he should just wait it out with Karl Rove.

[Swissy]

The US Attorney hasn't revealed but a tiny portion of what he has on Blogo. As for the insanity defense, it will depend on whether Fitzgerald goes after Patty Blagojevich. They have been looking into a number of real estate transactions which she received commisions and envolved Blogo appointees. If that happens, Blogo is done and will have to cut a deal to keep her out of prison. Or, he may just be the cold hearted bastard many think he is.

[-Jrabbit]

I hope this info is correct -- that they have massive and irrefutably damning evidence. All of us here have known pretty much from the get-go that he was scum.

The great irony, of course, is that he was (easily) elected as a reformer, ready to change the world from the previous evil cabal of (Repub) George Ryan.

[Naked Gents Rut]

he is a scumbag that knows how to go out with class (and by class I mean while grabbing the most attention possible).

Amen to that. All Chicago politicians are scum, but at least Blago was entertaining.

[rah]

Of course this has given us another you know you're from Illinois.
If you can pronounce Blagojevich without thinking about it.

The tapes I heard was him trading signing legislation for race track owners to get a cut of gambling revenues for a 100g contribution to his election fund. Pretty damning. Those were the tapes the Illinois senate heard.

All of his positioning this week along with his whirlwind tour of NY was not designed to keep the governorship but to help him when the criminal trial starts.

And I'm with swissy, it will be interesting to see how they handle his wife since it seems she will be having issues also. Will he throw himself under the bus and deal to keep her out of jail, or will he be true to form and just protect himself.

[snoopy369]

True to form, I have no doubt.

What I can't believe is not that we elected him once, but that we elected him twice. Just proves that when Americans are asked to choose the lesser of two evils, they inevitably fail to do so.

[chequita guevara]

I always though there had to be more to it. Quid pro quos in politics are pretty standard and it seems that trading political favors for a Senate seat isn't really corruption. It's politics. Still, if he were talking about money, it was necessary for Fitzgerald to nip that in the bud.

[rah]

True to form, I have no doubt.

What I can't believe is not that we elected him once, but that we elected him twice. Just proves that when Americans are asked to choose the lesser of two evils, they inevitably fail to do so.

We did elect Bushie twice also. Or close enough anyway

[Blaupanzer]

At what point does talking about a crime, especially one as vague as corruption, become the crime itself: conspiracy? Most likely Blago is going to be charged with conspiracy to commit corruption. Apparently this charge can use the APPEARANCE of commiting a crime to prove you planned on doing it even if the Government can't PROVE you did it. For this racketeering type of criminal charge to work, the First Amendment has to be ignored completely. Per that amendment, talk is just talk and you can do all you want if you don't act. These days talk is plotting, and criminal planning is a crime with almost the same penalties as the deed itself, whether or not the deed occurred.

You have to admit, Blago is very good at spinning and creating misdirection when in the national limelight. Still a scumbag, but one with an oratorical gift.