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I’ve made no secret about my feelings on the Blagojevich scandal and Blagojevich specifically. Based upon the content of the wiretap recordings, he is a sleazy character not fit to hold the office he now tenaciously refuses to vacate. But I have to say, I can’t wait for him to open his mouth about this whole thing (see here), purely for its potential to throw the political establishment into chaos. It'll make great television too.
In my mind’s eye, I see a dark, smoke-filled room in which several sweating, panicked politicians of both state and national prominence sit around a long conference table, mopping their brows with monogrammed handkerchiefs and talking in hushed tones about the “Blagojevich problem” that threatens to expose all of their involvement in his corrupt dealings. They fear what the fool will say when he steps in front of the microphones at last, who he will expose and drag down with him as he descends into the abyss. They fear what an impeachment trial will bring to light; they will not allow it. They talk about “dealing” with the problem before it destroys them all.
I see Blagojevich naming names in front of the cameras, like Jesse Jackson, Jr, Richard Daley or Rahm Emanuel. No one cares if he’s lying or not. It’s great television. As he lets loose his scripted tirade, the journalists jot down frantic notes and formulate their headlines: “Obama Implicated in ‘Blago-gate’” or “Corrupt Governor Seeks to Deflect Blame with Lies.” The impeachment trial embarrasses a notoriously corrupt political establishment and the voters who swept them to power. Some of those nervous men in that dark, smoky room are outed, others manage to cut yet more corrupt deals to save themselves or spin their way to safety.
Or I see an alternative. I see an avoidance of conviction on criminal charges by Governor Blagojevich, whose lawyers may point to Patrick Fitzgerald’s impassioned press conference in which he may have stepped over the ethical line and convicted the governor in front of a national audience before a trial was conducted. How is an impartial jury to be found? A crime may not have even been committed, though the attempt to commit multiple crimes was certainly discussed. While Blago’s career is certainly over, his conviction is far from certain.
In either circumstance, a tell-all autobiography is inevitable.
In my mind’s eye, I see a dark, smoke-filled room in which several sweating, panicked politicians of both state and national prominence sit around a long conference table, mopping their brows with monogrammed handkerchiefs and talking in hushed tones about the “Blagojevich problem” that threatens to expose all of their involvement in his corrupt dealings. They fear what the fool will say when he steps in front of the microphones at last, who he will expose and drag down with him as he descends into the abyss. They fear what an impeachment trial will bring to light; they will not allow it. They talk about “dealing” with the problem before it destroys them all.
I see Blagojevich naming names in front of the cameras, like Jesse Jackson, Jr, Richard Daley or Rahm Emanuel. No one cares if he’s lying or not. It’s great television. As he lets loose his scripted tirade, the journalists jot down frantic notes and formulate their headlines: “Obama Implicated in ‘Blago-gate’” or “Corrupt Governor Seeks to Deflect Blame with Lies.” The impeachment trial embarrasses a notoriously corrupt political establishment and the voters who swept them to power. Some of those nervous men in that dark, smoky room are outed, others manage to cut yet more corrupt deals to save themselves or spin their way to safety.
Or I see an alternative. I see an avoidance of conviction on criminal charges by Governor Blagojevich, whose lawyers may point to Patrick Fitzgerald’s impassioned press conference in which he may have stepped over the ethical line and convicted the governor in front of a national audience before a trial was conducted. How is an impartial jury to be found? A crime may not have even been committed, though the attempt to commit multiple crimes was certainly discussed. While Blago’s career is certainly over, his conviction is far from certain.
In either circumstance, a tell-all autobiography is inevitable.
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