“F’n A,” Illinois.
With the state’s most recent governor already doing time in a federal penitentiary on corruption charges, current Gov. Rod Blagojevich (pronounced bluh-GOY-uh-vich) – who won his seat on a promise of ending corruption in government – could soon be joining him.
In one of the most egregious examples of a “pay-to-play” political mindset that is increasingly prevalent in our country, Blagojevich is noteworthy only in that he got caught.
Specifically, he was busted yesterday trying to sell Illinois’ vacant U.S. Senate seat to the highest bidder, according to transcripts of recorded conversations released in a 78-page indictment.
“Unless I get something real good … f*ck, I’ll just send myself, you know what I’m saying?” Blagojevich allegedly says on the tapes. “I’m going to keep this Senate option for me a real possibility, you know, and therefore I can drive a hard bargain.”
“I’ve got this thing,” he allegedly says on another recording, “and it’s f*cking golden. And I’m just not giving it up for f*cking nothing. I’m not going to do it. And I can always use it. I can parachute me there.”
Keep in mind that this guy’s approval rating stood at a ridiculously-low 4% before this scandal broke, thanks to dozens of questionable, unethical and potentially illegal acts committed in the six years since he was elected.
According to the indictment, Blagojevich is also featured on the tapes cursing President-elect Barack Obama, with whom he has repeatedly fueded, as well as threatening to have editorial writers at the Chicago Tribune fired and trying to parlay his Senate appointment power into a lobbying contract for his wife.
And speaking of Illinois first lady Patti Blagojevich, she’s on the tapes, too, dropping more than a few “F-bombs” herself as she schemes behind-the-scenes against her husband’s enemies.
Sadly, this sort of stuff is not uncommon in politics, it’s just that Blagojevich was stupid enough to not only engage in such illegal behavior, but to do it brazenly, all while apparently knowing full well that he was being investigated and wire-tapped by the feds.
Our bet is that if the private conversations of most of our politicians were made public we’d be utterly dumbfounded at the extent of pay-to-play corruption that goes on.
Anyway, the Chicago Tribune (whose parent company incidentally filed for bankruptcy yesterday) has all the goods on its website, which is not surprisingly all-Blagojevich this morning.
Blagojevich is the second Democratic governor to be indicted this year, following New York’s Eliot Spitzer, who resigned his office after being implicated in a high-end prostitution ring.
UPDATE - How funny is this … a week ago, Patti Blagojevich selected “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas” as the December selection for her children’s reading club. Nice …
By ~=~ December 10, 2008 at 12:47 pm
I bet Abraham Lincoln AND Dan Fogelberg are spinning on their heads about this slimeball — and Wifey too!
By Liberal Confessions December 10, 2008 at 1:54 pm
This just in: with Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s recent fall from grace, Time Magazine has announced, with great regret, that Sanford has been moved up a notch on its governor rankings — this despite the blistering assault that Sanford has stepped up in recent days on Big Government bailouts.
By Frank December 10, 2008 at 2:58 pm
What is the difference in Govenor Blagojevich’s actions and Lexington County Senator Jake Knotts’ actions? when I read about what this Govenor is alleged to have done, I see no difference in what Senator Jake Knotts does and have done. For example, The DHEC criminal case that Senator Jake Knotts got so involved in to the point that he would not stop until DHEC investigator Christopher Phillips was removed from the investigation or fired. Sounds that the allegation of Obstructing Justice is suitable in this case when you think of Senator Jake Knotts and how he conducts business.
By Mike Licht December 12, 2008 at 1:25 am
America wants to know: What’s with the HAIR?
http://notionscapital.wordpress.com/2008/12/11/whats-with-the-hair/