I just finished listening to Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s rambling 47 minute closing argument. In it he condemned the proceedings as unfair and defended his record as governor. For a detailed rundown, just short of a transcript, see here.
I have no idea of whether he helped himself with the Illinois Senate with his statement. He may actually have picked up a vote or two. He didn’t help himself with me.
A couple of the interesting points he made were (1) I did things you guys do; and (2) these complaints involve conduct which the public re-elected me for doing. Some blame to throw around, no?
But will a Senator say, “Hey, we all do this”?
I wonder how close this might be if Emil Jones were still there.
Blago knows he’s toast, he’s taking the state plane back to Chicago before Governor Quinn confiscates it from him.
I thought his most interesting complaint was about Rahm Emanuel to the effect that if I’m removed from office shouldn’t he be too for suggesting it?
Yeah, I thought he wanted Emanuel and others for the purpose of showing that there were some people from whom he didn’t solicit a bribe. I don’t think that stuff would even be relevant. You can’t disprove a jay-walking allegation by proving that at other places and time you crossed at the walkway.
But this is a new wrinkle: the Governor is being impeached for doing something he should have known was illegal. That he was doing so at the suggestion of a prominent and respected politician might be relevant, though its persuasiveness would depend upon the context. A lot of people think importing drugs was a good idea, but they campaigned to change the law, not break it.