Via CNN: Blagojevich says he has done nothing wrong
Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich appeared before state senators Thursday for the first time during his impeachment trial, saying he has done “absolutely nothing wrong.”He said there’s been a “rush to judgment and an evisceration of presumption of innocence.”
The impeachment trial is based on allegations that the governor abused his power.
“How can you throw a governor out of office on a criminal complaint, and you haven’t been able to show or prove any criminal activity?” he asked.
Of course, as has been pointed out on numerous occasions, the process is a political/administration one, not a judicial one, so there is neither a presumption of innocence nor a requirement for proof of criminal activity. And, despite the Governor’s appeal to his election, and hence his alleged legitimacy via the ballot box, one suspects that if Illinois had a recall process, the voters would yank him from office by large margins.
And, proving yet again that no matter what else he is, he isn’t stupid:
Because Blagojevich, a Democrat, is giving a closing argument, not testimony, senators will not be able to question him, and he will not be cross-examined by the prosecutor for the House of Representatives
January 29th, 2024 at 4:15 pm
Maybe they need to reapproach the process of allowing voters to yank him out of office.
January 29th, 2024 at 4:19 pm
THE KANGAROOS OF CORRUPTION
It´s time to move from Illinois–
Corruption rules the land:
Blagojevich, a whipping boy,
Took his defiant stand,
But, since his manner did annoy
(No evidence to hand)
Due process thereby to destroy
Voted an angry band.
The legislators painted him
A kind of reckless goof,
Because his words weren´t always prim–
Yet still they had no proof:
The angels and the seraphim
May fly up near the roof,
But in the chamber men were grim
As justice turned aloof.
Presumption of one´s innocence
In this case having waived,
The mobocrats, they did commence
Upon the path they paved
Long in advance–and who knows hence
Their precedent depraved
Will lead to what? The consequence
May be freedom enslaved.
He strove to do the people´s good,
The governor´s words came rich,
But still the motley angry brood
Preferred to bait-and-switch:
Although his truth they understood
It was a witch-hunt which
To judgment rushed, and him they booed
As though he were a snitch.
Sententious proud the Mighty Quinn
He led them in their jeers,
The angry throng, and by his spin
Turned truth, from what appears
Self-evident, to something thin
Which mob concensus clears,
And though the governor sought to win
Commonsense no one hears.
“A world of allegation doth
Not make a criminal act,”
So said he, but, as behemoth
The mob cared not for fact:
“Impeach, impeach!” they cried, none loath
Reticence to retract,
Conjectures hurling rancid wroth
As calumnies attacked.
So their removal of the Guv
Went off without a hitch–
Whom none might bend so they did shove,
Wrath wrought to feverish pitch;
Ill-tempered legislators of
Corruption in each niche,
Sans justice–much less human love–
Due Rod Blagojevich.
Yet, whom all shun, the gods salute,
And so man´s race is run:
Although the facts men may confute
Colluding everyone,
Who falls so low in men´s repute
The heavens do not shun,
Telling him, “Your speech was a beaut,
And you a man, my son.”
Before the mob he had his say
But they removed him anyway
Ere evidence came into play:
Good people, it is time to pray
That when the court your work reviews
In calumny and wrathful ruse
The judgment-sitters in their pews
Be not the same ole kangaroos.
.
January 30th, 2024 at 8:09 am
My favorite part was when Blago goes, “Now I’m just like millions of
Americans who have lost their jobs in these difficult times.” Boo hoo.
January 30th, 2024 at 3:07 pm
Why are all of these seemingly good people doing bad things? Let me state for the record that I don’t think it is wrong that Haggard is gay, just that he lied to his family and the rest of us about it while condemning other gays as wrong. I am upset with what I am reading on the news lately about these seemingly good people who are doing really bad things. Why is this happening? I recently read a book that I thought had a very interesting theory. The book is called, “Why Good People Do Bad Things”, by Debbie Ford. In this book Ford makes the argument that we all have the capability of doing really good things and really horrible things. Ford says that when we suppress the, “dark-side” of ourselves then we act out. I thought it was really relevant that right after I read this book I read an interview with Haggard where he says that he, “gave in to his dark-side”. Debbie Ford says in her book that when we can learn to love and embrace our whole self, the good and the bad then we wont act out. Maybe if Blagojevich had embraced his greed he could have accepted it as a part of him and it wouldn’t have ruined his career. It is truly sad to see these public figures disgraced. Maybe if we all embrace our whole self we wont act on out…