Friday, July 9, 2010

Leggo my Blago

I'm "all in" for the Blago Trial.

Thoughts so far:

- He's incompetent and delusional. And LeBron is a shameless self promoter. Tell me something we don't know.

- Speaking of LeBron, it would be great if they had a "Sportscenter" type Blago wrap up on the tube, although I must say this time old fashioned print journalism trumps TV, especially with tapes we are privy to in transcript form.

- The testimony is damning yes, but how? From what I can tell, Blago is guilty of being a naive idiot and betraying taxpayers by making a sham out of his time in office, but it sounds like he never took money and failed with his "schemes." In other words, he couldn't "close the deal" and as a crook he is quite the amateur. Will "honest services fraud" hold up once the defense phase begins?

- Speaking of defense, what surprises await once the defense has a chance to cross examine and bring their own witnesses? Illinois is bipartisan in corruption, and both parties have to fear this trial continuing into election season. There have to be a few state politicians shaking more than hands these days.

- Half a mill on clothes? Wow. How much does he pay KidSnips for a trim?

- After his trial and (hopefully) jail term end, Blago will have a long career as an political entertainer. It's downright Shakespearean the way he waves to the crowd and poses for pictures each day on his way from the courthouse. It's not a crime to be a national joke, and it can be quite profitable. Think Jersey Shore or Clara Peller.

2 comments:

  1. The Blago trial has been absolutely fascinating. A couple of thoughts:

    1. When I heard that they were drowning in debt, I wondered how in the world that could happen to the governor who has a job that pays $170K or so per year and let's face it, gets comped for an awful lot of stuff, even the legitimate stuff. Then you hear about $400K on clothes, you have your explanation. Makes the prosecution's evidence early in the case about Rezko holding the cash for them start to be a little more plausible. Keep in mind that after Rezko got too hot and then went to jail, you start to hear Blago putting the arm on people himself. He's realizing that the out-of-office payoff is gone, and needs to do something to replace it.

    2. There is no way that Patti should testify. It's a miracle that she avoided indictment, but if she gets on the stand and perjures herself, there is no way they will let that slide.

    3. My take: acquittal on some but far less than half of the charges. The conspiracy charges will be tough for them to beat because all that requires is an agreement to do something illegal and an act in furtherance (like making a phone call or going to a meeting). Prediction: at least twice as much jail time as George Ryan got because a) Blagoevich is younger and b) Blago was trying to pocket the money himself, whereas Ryan was basically accused of looking the other way.

    4. I actually feel bad for Dick Mell, whose rant got this all started. He has to be killing himself for the amount of pain that he has caused his daughter and grandkids.

    5. I would give anything to see the psychological profile on Blago's sentencing report.

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  2. I will always remember Dick Mell dancing on his desk during the mayoral mess of the early 80s.

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