Category Archives: Pay to play politics

Blagojevich trial, AP article, Fluff article on Blagojevich

“The past is whatever the records and the memories agree upon.
And since the party is in full control of all records, and in
equally full control of the minds of it’s members, it follows
that the past is whatever the party chooses to make it. Six
means eighteen, two plus two equals five, war is peace,
freedom is slavery, ignorance is strength.”…. George Orwell “1984”

I shook my head in disbelief as I read the following article. Is there a gameplan scripted by the Obama camp controlling articles written by the AP? The AP article written in 2008 regarding the announcement by HI Health Department Director Dr. Fukino was at best misleading and at worst an outright lie. Read the following exerpts and then full article and compare them to the legal documents describing Rod Blagojevich’s activities over many years. See how they mesh.

From the Chicago tribune May 30, 2010.

“Former Ill. governor faces fight of his life”

“In the year and a half since his arrest, Rod Blagojevich has lost his job and become a political pariah and a comic punch line. But he’s maintained the bravado that defined him as governor with repeated declarations of innocence that are vintage Blago: Confrontational. In the limelight. Never giving an inch.

“There has always been a damn-the-torpedoes aspect to his personality,” says State Rep. John Fritchey, a friend-turned-critic.

That’s been obvious as the impeached governor has popped up everywhere: Early morning radio, late-night TV. On stage with Second City comic actors lampooning him. At a block party where the avid Elvis fan crooned one of The King’s songs.

And most recently, Blagojevich, now 53, was on “The Celebrity Apprentice,” where he seemed baffled by a computer, and was, for the second time in a year, fired.

“I think people are intrigued by him, fascinated by him,” claims Glenn Selig, his Florida-based publicist.

So is it wise for Blagojevich to be clowning around while facing serious charges?

“I think he has a great sense of humor and he’s willing to laugh at himself,” Selig says. “Self-deprecation is not necessarily a bad thing. He’s the real deal.””

“”His ego won’t allow him to give up the stage,” says Kent Redfield, a professor emeritus of politics at the University of Illinois-Springfield. “He has this supreme confidence in his ability to win people over.”

Blagojevich’s loose-lipped style has some former associates wondering if the ex-governor’s endless patter is designed to show potential jurors he’s full of political bluster, not criminal intent.

Blagojevich has his own explanation.

“I … have this need to tell everyone and anyone who would listen that I didn’t do anything wrong and that I am innocent of any criminal wrongdoing … ,” he wrote in “The Governor.”

Blagojevich maintains he wasn’t trying to sell or trade Obama’s Senate seat and was trying to arrange a deal in which he’d appoint Lisa Madigan, the state’s attorney general. In exchange, her father, House Speaker Michael Madigan, his nemesis, would push through a public works bill the governor wanted.”

“Milorad “Rod” Blagojevich has long regarded himself as a fighter for the little people.
He sees his life as an American dream that unraveled into a tragedy of Shakespearean proportions: The son of a Yugoslav-born steelworker, he was raised in a blue-collar family, attended law school and climbed the political ladder, he says, only to fall victim to betrayal and jealousy.”

“”He’s personable,” Green says. “He speaks well on his feet. He’s good-looking. … And he was able to raise an awful lot of money.”

When Blagojevich was elected in 2002, he already was eyeing a bigger prize: the White House.

Democrats were thrilled to have one of their own in the governor’s chair for the first time in 26 years. But Blagojevich soon made enemies on both sides of the aisle.

“He enjoyed the sexy part of government, the glad-handing, the attention of followers,” says Fritchey, the state lawmaker. “But at a certain point, you’ve got to get out of campaign mode and into governing. That’s where he had difficulty.””

“Blagojevich claims in his book that he’s a “big picture” guy who didn’t want to be “slowed down by having to spend my time mired in a bureaucracy that could be like quicksand.” ”

“Still, Blagojevich, bolstered by a Democratic majority, racked up a list of accomplishments: He raised the minimum wage (angering some business groups), provided state-subsidized health insurance to every child in Illinois, banned discrimination of gays and lesbians, increased education spending, won approval to expand preschool and increased mammogram and cervical cancer screening for uninsured women.

“He did a lot of good,” says Clifford Kelley, a former Chicago alderman who now is a talk show host on a black radio station and has welcomed Blagojevich as a guest. “Once two ladies called to thank him for saving their lives” with mammograms, he says.”

“Blagojevich plans to testify at his trial, one more step in his high-profile campaign. Will it succeed?

“I don’t know if it’s a plan or it’s just goofy,” Green says. “… If it does work, he’s a genius … and I guarantee you he’ll run for office again — as a victim.””

Read more:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-us-blagojevichtrial-,0,2339978.story?page=1

Sharon Cohen, a national writer for The Associated Press based in Chicago, wrote this article. I wonder if Sharon read the criminal complaint or indictments against Blagojevich?

Blagojevich documents can be found here:

http://www.justice.gov/usao/iln/pr/chicago/2010/index.html