Blago's last day in office ????

The friendliest place on the web for anyone that follows U2.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
My guess is that he is in denial and shock right now
and thinks that somehow he will get through this.


But, I expect him to leave office in January 2009.
 
"I will fight, I will fight, I will fight until I take my last breath. I have done nothing wrong," Blagojevich said in a brief news conference in Chicago. "I'm not going to quit a job that people have hired me to do."

I hope he wins.
 
This guy is nothing but a 2 bit wanna be hood who is delusional and has no business being governor. I have read of no one, Democrat or Republican, in Illinois who liked or got along well with this guy. Out of all 50 governors, he had to have been the least inspiring, least intelligent(well, exception of Palin) and least effective. This guy was a total joke before all of this came out. Wikipedia will tell you that.

Try as he might, he has zero chance of keeping his seat for any length of time going forward. He either resigns before the legislature gets back, or they impeach his ass. In the very unlikely scenario impeachment fails, the people of Illinois will find some way to get a recall process started.
 
Race enters fight over filling Obama's Senate seat
Dec 30 04:36 PM US/Eastern
By LAURIE KELLMAN

Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - A House Democrat is daring Senate leaders to block a black man from taking President-elect Barack Obama's vacated Senate seat.

Rep. Bobby Rush of Illinois points out that Roland Burris would be the only black man in a chamber populated overwhelmingly by white senators.

Senate Democratic leaders earlier Tuesday added an explicit note of support for Burris personally, but not for his appointment by the embattled governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich. The leaders said the Democratic caucus would refuse to seat Burris if Blagojevich appoints him, and called their stance a reflection of the scandal-tainted governor.

Blagojevich denies charges that he tried to sell Obama's Senate seat for personal gain.

The 71-year-old Burris is a former Illinois attorney general.


I think they should seat Burris.

He was Attorney General. He has been in politics forever. I doubt if there is any corruption with him, and it will certainly come out real fast by any detractors, if there is any.
 
I say he's out by early February. I wonder what the feds are going to give to the impeachment committee. Seeing the committee members' faces while Blago's attorney presented his argument yesterday was priceless.

I don't think Burris is going to be seated. Jesse White (also African American btw) has said he won't approve the appointment. I hate that Bobby Rush (who is my rep) decided to play the race card.
 
Which is starting to look silly and petty.

There was obviously no payola or any other pay to play in this appointment.

A Caroline Kennedy appointment will be more tainted.
 
right, Fitz - the slayer, now, needs 3 more months , to make his slam duck case :huh:

you'd think Blaggo tapped his foot in a bathroom stall, or something.
 
Damn the Chicago Trib for trying to scoop poor Fitzy on this Blago story.

Surely if Fitz talked tough enough Blago would simply resign. Oops !
 
It would have been better for Fitz if Blaggo had stacks of hundreds wrapped in tinfoil in his freezer.

in the old 'quid pro quo'

it is better if the 'quid' exchanges hands
 
How did this guy manage to get elected (and then re-elected) in the first place? Was the competition that unpalatable, or he just snowed massive numbers of voters through masterful campaign PR, or what? I've heard nothing but relentless harsh condemnation of him coming from Illinois, and it makes me wonder why on earth he even lasted this long.
 
How did this guy manage to get elected (and then re-elected) in the first place?

According to Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill., Mr. Obama's incoming White House chief of staff, Emanuel, then-state senator Obama, a third Blagojevich aide, and Blagojevich's campaign co-chair, David Wilhelm, were the top strategists of Blagojevich's 2002 gubernatorial victory.

Emanuel told the New Yorker earlier this year that he and Obama "participated in a small group that met weekly when Rod was running for governor. We basically laid out the general election, Barack and I and these two."

Political Punch
 
How does that answer the question? I'm asking what voters saw in him. Why did he even win the primary (during which none of those people endorsed him)? I would expect other Democratic officials to endorse the winner of the Democratic primary.
 
In 2006 he ran against Judy Baar Topinka who still had the stink of former Governor George Ryan on her. (Ryan is currently in prison for selling gov't licenses, notably drivers licenses for truck drivers.)

:shrug: I did not vote for him in the 2002 or the 2006 primary. I did vote for him in 02 and did not vote in the general election in 06.

"Blagojevich made what the hip-hoppers call a gangster move," (Al) Sharpton said. "You got to give it to him. Whatever his motive, he put on a move that put everybody in this situation."

lmao. Rod is gangsta.

I'm still hating the race card Burris is playing.
 
2 words:

Chicago
Politics


<>

Oh, diamond, if you did your homework you'd see that the support that Blago needed to win in 02 came from southern Illinois and not Chicago.

Don't really know about re-election though. I feel safe in saying it was not the Chicago political machine. He was at odds with his Chicago alderman father-in-law by that time.
 
I think they should seat Burris.

He was Attorney General. He has been in politics forever. I doubt if there is any corruption with him, and it will certainly come out real fast by any detractors, if there is any.


Once again, we have the Conservatives fighting for rights (civil).


Conservative group sues Senate for barring Burris

1 hr 43 mins ago

WASHINGTON – A conservative watchdog group has sued the Senate for refusing to immediately seat Roland Burris as the new senator from Illinois.
The lawsuit was filed Wednesday in federal court in Washington on behalf of an Illinois resident. The suit was filed by Judicial Watch, whose lawyers say the Senate's refusal to seat Burris is unconstitutional.
Burris was appointed by Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (blah-GOY'-uh-vich) to the Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama.
Senate Democrats and Obama have said anyone appointed by Blagojevich, who is embroiled in a corruption investigation, would be tainted and should not be allowed to represent Illinois.
The Senate on Tuesday refused to swear Burris in with the rest of the new senators. But Burris said Wednesday he should be able to join the Senate soon.
 
He's a wacky guy. I don't think it's just bordering on delusional.

I'm a cowboy, on a steel horse I ride. Wanted, dead or alive...

Blagojevich: I'm the victim of plot to raise taxes

By CHRISTOPHER WILLS and DEANNA BELLANDI, Associated Press Writers

CHICAGO – Launching an all-out media blitz as his impeachment trial draws near, Gov. Rod Blagojevich compared himself Friday to an honest, hardworking cowboy and said he was about to be lynched by a band of black-hatted political insiders eager to raise taxes.

After keeping mostly out of the public eye since his arrest on federal corruption charges, Blagojevich reversed course with a series of interviews and public statements portraying himself as the victim of vengeful lawmakers eager to toss him out of office.

"The heart and soul of this has been a struggle of me against the system," Blagojevich said at a news conference Friday.

Blagojevich denied any wrongdoing but wouldn't discuss the federal corruption charges filed against him last month. Instead, he focused on his efforts to expand government health care programs without raising taxes.

He has chosen not to mount any defense in the Senate impeachment trial that begins Monday and could remove him from office within days. He may ask the Illinois Supreme Court to block the trial, arguing its rules are hopelessly biased against him.

Blagojevich, a fan of Western movies, drew a long analogy Friday between his situation and that of a cowboy falsely accused of stealing a horse. His story ended with one cowboy suggesting the accused thief be hanged, with the other suggesting he first be tried, then hanged.

"Under these rules, I'm not even getting a fair trial; they're just hanging me. And when they hang me under these rules that prevent due process, they're hanging the 12 million people of Illinois who twice have elected a governor," he said.

The Democratic governor told The Associated Press on Thursday night that he's willing to sacrifice himself for principle by standing up to lawmakers he believes are violating the Illinois Constitution. "The fight will continue," he said.

Blagojevich's fight would have one fewer supporter as his chief defense attorney, Ed Genson, announced Friday that he would pull out of the federal criminal case. In announcing his withdrawal, Genson insinuated the governor didn't listen to his advice.

"I never require a client to do what I say, but I do require them to at least listen," Genson said.

Blagojevich said Friday afternoon that he was surprised by Genson's announcement and had no further comment.

Blagojevich also suffered a legal setback Friday when a federal court ruled that state lawmakers could hear a handful of FBI wiretaps made in the corruption investigation that led to Blagojevich's arrest.

In a court motion, U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald said the conversations show Blagojevich conspiring with a lobbyist to collect campaign money in exchange for the governor signing gambling legislation.

Blagojevich's main fight now is a public relations battle, and he called Friday for Illinois newspapers to publish editorials demanding the Senate change its trial rules. Federal prosecutors have alleged he put pressure on company executives to fire the editorial board of the Chicago Tribune for writing unflattering opinion pieces about him.

It's not clear what, if anything, Blagojevich hopes to gain from his strategy of boycotting the impeachment trial and defending himself through the media. He has planned appearances Monday on "Good Morning, America" and "The View."

Several legal experts said refusing to participate in the trial or resign from office makes little sense.

"There's no benefit at all, except to make himself look ridiculous. In addition, anything he says can be used against him later" in court," said Leonard Cavise, a law professor at DePaul University.

The FBI arrested Blagojevich on corruption charges, including the allegation he schemed to benefit from his power to name President Barack Obama's replacement in the U.S. Senate, after years of investigation.

The governor's office, responding to a request under the Freedom of Information Act, released 43 federal subpoenas Friday, including some seeking records involving Obama advisers David Axelrod and Valerie Jarrett.

His arrest triggered impeachment proceedings, and the House voted almost unanimously to send his case to the Senate for trial. A Senate conviction would remove him from office but have no impact on the continuing criminal case.

Blagojevich can stay in office if 20 of the Senate's 59 members vote for his acquittal. It's possible he hopes defending himself in interviews will inspire the public to pressure senators to support him.

Or Blagojevich may hope to build sympathy among potential jurors in some future criminal trial.

"All of these things are designed, I guess, to create grassroots support. I think it borders on delusional, to be honest," said Chicago trial attorney Matt Belcher.

Shortly after his arrest, an independent poll found his job-approval rating had dwindled to just 8 percent. A recent poll for the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform found that nearly 8 out of 10 Illinois residents believe the state is on the wrong track.

The combative approach is a return to a favorite Blagojevich tactic.

Since taking office six years ago, he has often portrayed himself as a lone champion of the people, outnumbered by uncaring lawmakers, a lazy bureaucracy and slick lobbyists.

"I took that system on. I challenged that system," he said Friday. "That's what this is all about."

The governor twisted facts or exaggerated to support his version of events.

He has repeatedly said he wouldn't be allowed to call witnesses in the Senate trial, but that's not correct. Trial rules prohibit witnesses that federal prosecutors feel would interfere with their criminal case, such as Jarrett or Obama aide Rahm Emanuel, but Blagojevich could have called other people.

He has specifically mentioned wanting to call governors and senators to testify about all the good he's done. Nothing in Senate rules would have barred those witnesses. Blagojevich never asked to have them testify.

The trial rules also would have allowed him to introduce a report by Obama's transition team concluding that none of the president's aides received improper proposals from the Blagojevich administration. The governor also could have introduced any public comments they made.

Amid his defiant remarks, Blagojevich displayed a brief moment of contrition, acknowledging for the first time since his arrest that he wasn't always perfect.

"Notwithstanding mistakes and errors in judgment from time to time, most of the things I've done as governor have been the right things and have been things that helped people," he said.
 
How did this guy manage to get elected (and then re-elected) in the first place? Was the competition that unpalatable, or he just snowed massive numbers of voters through masterful campaign PR, or what? I've heard nothing but relentless harsh condemnation of him coming from Illinois, and it makes me wonder why on earth he even lasted this long.

EXACTLY!!! This guy comes off as such a tool. It amazes me that he ever got elected in the first place. Are people in Illinois THAT stupid??? Really.
 
This man has been impeached,
and most likely will be convicted? by the Illinois State legislators later today.

I think there is a very good chance that Fitzgerald will not get a conviction at the trial. I had the opportunity to speak to a former Chair of the Federal Elections Commission, he said all of the information he had seen in the public did not appear to be enough to get a conviction. He also said it was typical of Politicians to do discuss 'horse trading" for support or appointments.

He said, perhaps Fitzgerald had something more concrete, that has not been made public, that will be enough to secure a conviction.

This will be interesting.
 
Back
Top Bottom