Blago in chains or Merry Fitzmas:
Well, if you’d never heard of our Governor before, you have now. My reflections on this inside.
I gotta say that the arrogance and stupidity of the man surprised even me, and the sheer mendacity and greed…ooof. I will try to read the FBI’s indictment this morning on the way to the eye doctor’s office, but he had to know that the feds and Patrick freaking Fitzgerald was all over him, looking for stuff to nail him on, and he even says while talking on the phone on the tapes that you have to be careful about saying stuff on the phone - and proceeds to say all sorts of stuff on the phone that will get him sent to jail.
I was in the hospital yesterday for my monthly IVIG treatment, and the reaction of the nurses was hilarious…they were all over the thing. And they all wanted to see Blago get sent to jail. The whole business of the guy trying to shake down an administrator at a local Children’s Hospital for money or else he wouldn’t get $8 million of state funds for the hospital came out later, and that didn’t help his standing with the nurses, nossir.
Anyone who thinks that they know what Blago will do next, in my opinion, is playing a dumb guessing game. It’s Blago. He could come out of his front door wearing a Daffy Duck outfit. Heck, he could appoint Oprah to the Senate seat for kicks - or me - or Rich Rostrom. Who knows? He could do a Palin, and act as if the whole Federal indictment was a silly charade, and ignore it in public while fighting the whole thing legally to the last kopeck. Someone else’s kopeck.
Earlier today, the governor, wearing a light blue running shirt and tight, dark-blue running pants, had walked slowly into a packed courtroom accompanied by a federal agent. After being escorted to the defense table, Blagojevich smirked and shook his head as he read documents given to him by his attorney.
Smirked. Good God.
My personal guess is that he will be forced out of his job within a month. He has no support in the legislature or with the state political powers that be, including all the elected statewide officials, and most would like to see him in jail. The Lieutenant Governor, Pat Quinn, is somewhat dippy (think a younger version of Jerry Brown, somewhat toned down) but he’s bone-honest, and he’d be an improvement over Blago.
The question is more the mechanism. In Illinois, Impeachment is handled much the same as in the Federal Government; the House (through committee) draws up article of impeachment, a simple majority passes it on to the Senate, and a trial ensues with the Chief Justice presiding and a 2/3ds majority needed for removal from office. Nobody doubts that this sort of thing would fly through the legislature; as I have said many times, Impeachement and removal from office only works as a political thing. You have to have the votes, and then you can yank the guy for eating a ham sandwich in a mosque.
The problem with this is that Blago would. Drag. It. Out. He’d throw every legal roadblock possible in the way to be able to keep collecting his salary. Of course, my question is - who would pay for his lawyers? The State? In that case, he’s gonna fight this forever.
There’s another method that Pat Quinn outlined last night on WGN radio that sounded weird; have the Attorney General ask the Supreme Court of Illinois to declare him unfit for office and remove him that way. The state Attorney General, no pal of Blago’s, is willing to do this but would prefer the legislature to act.
Me, I think the court removal rule is possible, but dicey. It’s more for a disability situation like Woodrow Wilson’s stroke, or the situation outlined in Fletcher Knebel’s excellent Night of Camp David where the President has gone crazy.
I think the way to force him out is through his wife and kids, awful as that may sound. His wife was in the tapes, cheering him on in his illegal behaviour. The state won’t pay for her, and the feds could potentially add her into the whole thing as a co-conspirator. The idea of both Blago and Mrs. Blago going through legal hell plus jail time might make him think. Then again, he could come out and do an Agnew and resign ten minutes after saying he would fight on forever. We’re talking Blago; anything’s possible.
Nobody in their right mind would try to do a deal with Blago for the Senate seat at this point. Anyone who was seriously negotiating with Blago for the seat (such as probably Jesse Jackson, Jr.) is probably going to find that the FBI is going to be all over them as well. And anyone Blago appoints at this point would probably be rejected by the Senate, who can refuse to seat them. And the legislature will probably yank his power to appoint as soon as possible - which he will then veto, and they will override, and he will challenge in court - you get the picture.
It all depends on who’s paying Blago’s legal bills, and how soon he wants to give up. The case against him sounds devastating, and I trust Fitzgerald on this sort of thing. He’s toast, but it’s a matter of how long the toast tries to hold out.
Oh, yeah, Obama: Apparently Blago heard from Obama on the Senate seat, and Obama suggested Valerie Jarrett. Whereupon Blago starts suggesting What He Wanted In Return - to somone. (I gotta read the indictment for all the details.) At that point, Obama quick as a bunny dropped the idea of Jarrett, pulled waaay back from the process, may have tipped the feds, and gave Jarrett a White House job instead. Blago, fuming, growled about Obama’s unwillingness to pay him off on the tapes. Simple appreciation from Obama isn’t what he needs, Blago said…