Today the crazed Illinois governor Blogo went on national TV to attempt to sway public opinion. We taped the various shows, and having watched Illinois politics for a lifetime, sat down and watched this totally amazing spree.
Geraldo ambushed the governor on the way to “The View” and actually let him off pretty easy. On his lawyer’s leaving:
It was like rats jumping off a sinking ship!
On “Chicago Tonight”, the great Chicago public television news program, Dennis Culloton, who represented our former incarcerated governor George Ryan as press secretary, when asked if he’d represent Blogo:
I would have to say no for the same reason his attorney Ed Genson pulled out of his case last Friday. He strikes me as someone who will not listen and who will just impulsively dive headlong into whatever crazy idea happens to come before him rather than try to approach this with some modicum of dignity
Then on Chicago Tonight they had an interview with Daniela Schreier who is a clinical psychologist who specializes in psychopaths. Here is a link to her profile. Here are her comments on whether or not he is truly a psychopath (she said he seemed to ACT like one, and looking into his blank eyes it seems like the truth):
Complete lack of remorse… very shallow affect… he is a great showman
He was also on with “The View”. When he said that he was interested in picking Oprah, Joy Behar said:
Oprah will just give you a car!
And then she tousled his hair and told him to put up his arms like Richard Nixon saying “I am not a crook.”
There were some actual journalists involved. Barbara Walters actually tried to ask him tough questions, and so did Diane Sawyer. But Blogo doesn’t even pretend to answer them, he just sticks “on message” with his rambling that 1) the trial is unfair because that he can’t call witnesses 2) the “fix is in” because he fought the state of Illinois.
From all of this he fails to point out that impeachment is a political process, and not a legal one. He doesn’t have the same rights as a governor as you’d have as a criminal defendant. He is not being charged by Republicans… he is being charged by everyone in Illinois.
This is an insane process and it is hard to imagine how even Saturday Night Live can improve on it. They probably will just play it straight.
A sorry, sorry, sorry day for Illinois.
Cross posted at LITGM
I will say the same thing here that I said at LITGM:
What a total circus. I am sure he has the goods on a LOT of people and will spill the beans when the time comes.
Nobody seems to want to mention the GIANT elephant in the room, and that is the fact that this delusional criminal was reelected to the governorship as recently as 2006, which says a lot about not only the people of Illinois (many of whom will vote for anyone with a D after their name), but the sorry state of the Republican Party there. The good news is that the Repubs can’t get any lower than rock bottom. Can they?
I can see why Chicagoland is like Chicagoland – it’s just a joke for the radio stations, an eye-roller at the water cooler, but, there is no groundswell to do anything serious about the situation.
I continue my lame campaign to the local paper, where I complain in quarterly letters, about wealth-transfers, my taxes, and overspending by local government.
The process is working. Between the DOJ and the impeachment process a guy who may be literally nuts, but who is certainly a crook, is being pushed out. Too bad it does not happen more often.
I see no “failure” in the fact that he was elected then reelected. The public is focused on other stuff. When one party screws the pooch badly enough, it is sent to the wilderness to fast and purify itself. The Illinois GOP should be able to seize this moment, but I am afraid that they are still in a state of total disarray. By the time the next election rolls around, Quinn will have been governor for a decent amount of time and will seem “normal” and relatively untainted by Blago. No ray of sunlight for the GOP, probably. Blago is perceived as a one-off, not part of a larger problem — or not one that impacts the Ds more than the Rs.
Y’all keep saying he’s crazy, following the lead of that staunch republican conservative Mayor Daley.
The “crazy” bit is I think part of the narrative being used to avoid the implication of systemic corruption, somewhat like Lex says above.
Lex, I think you are giving the people of Illinois a bit too much credit. It isn’t like there wasn’t anything going on with Blago in ’06. Seems to me they are getting what they deserve, which is one of the most corrupt, horribly run states in the union, and they WON’T SEND THEM HOME. I am not saying Topinka was the second coming of Christ, but geez, what do you have to do to get unelected in Illinois?