Newsvine - Talk me down! Might Blagojevich beat these charges?

Rachel -- Love your show -- you rock. Ok, here's one for the for you. With all the hoopla going on with President Obama's speech on Wed. to the children in America -- "He is going to poison our little ones minds and introduce them to socialism. etc." -- On the Friday Sept.4th - the 5pm and 6 pm NBC local news showed a clip that in Dallas the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders went to a school in Dallas and brought book bags to the children. You might say -- what's wrong with that? Well, they went in their costumes -- clevege showing, midriff showing and their short little outfits. Now, these gals have great bodies and are beautiful -- not one parent or school official said anything about that -- What kind of message did this bring to the girls in that class? -- That they have to have great bodies and etc., to succeed in this world? I'm not a prude -- I wear shorts and stuff with clevege showing too -- but not to school or church events. I just felt this was a little contradictory with all the comments coming in about our President.

Thank you for listening to me -- gave you all the info so you could check it out.
Barbara

— Barbara-1315214

RACHEL- WE JUST LOVE YOU!!! HERE'S ONE FOR YOU!
WE LIVE IN THE LOS ALTOS - ATHERTON AREA OF CALIFORNIA. THIS IS AN UPPER CLASS PROMINENT NEIGHBORHOOD. WE HAVE RAN A SERVICE BUSINESS FOR 26 YEARS HERE. OF COURSE WE LIVE IN CUPERTINO DOWN THE ROAD WHERE GOOD LITTLE DEMOCRATS STAY. RECENTLY WE HAVE HAD ON 2 OCCASIONS IN THIS SAME AREA THAT ARE DISTURBING.
MY WIFE AND SON UPON RETURNING FROM A SERVICE CALL WERE APPROACHED IN A GROCERY STORE PARKING LOT BY A DISGRUNTLED REPUBLICAN MAN WHO WAS ANGRY BECAUSE WE HAD OBAMA / HILLARY AND DEMOCRAT BUMPER STICKERS. HE BEGAN SHOUTING AND CURSING MY WIFE AS SHE WAS SPEAKING TO ME ON HER CELL PHONE. I TOLD HER TO DRIVE. HE CHASED HER, TOOK PHOTOS OF OUR VEHICLE AND SAID HE DID NOT WANT TO SEE US IN HIS NEIGHBORHOOD AGAIN! HE SAID HE HATED REPUBLICANS AND INTENDED TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! HE ATTACKED MY SON COMING OUT OF THE STORE. I RACED OVER AND CALLED THE LOS ALTOS POLICE WHO SAID THEY WOULD FIND HIM AND HAVE A TALK WITH HIM AS IT WAS A FREE COUNTRY. NEVER HEARD BACK!
THE 2ND INCIDENT WAS NEAR ATHERTON AND I GOT A CALL FROM A MAN WHO SAID HE WAS BEHIND OUR VAN AND SAID IT WAS BECAUSE OF DEMOCRATS LIKE US THAT OUR COUNTRY WAS FAILING AND HE FELT LIKE CRASHING INTO THE VAN! HE WAS GOING TO TELL ALL OF HIS FELLOW REPUBLICANS NOT TO USE OUR BUSINESS AS WE WERE BAD AMERICANS. I CALLED MY SON IN THE VAN AND TOLD HIM TO TAKE PICS OF THE SURROUNDING CARS. HE DID AND COME TO FIND OUT THIS MAN WAS SO STUPID THAT HE CALLED ME FROM HIS CELL PHONE THAT REVEALED HIS PHONE NUMBER! I FOUND OUT WHO HE WAS AND WHERE HE LIVED IN REPUBLICAN LAND!
WHAT DO WE DO WHEN REPUBLICANS GET LIKE THIS AND WHERE IS OUR FREE COUNTRY HEADED? MY WIFE IS SCARED TO LEAVE HOME, MY SON IS REALLY ANGRY AND ME AS A HUSBAND, FATHER AND BUSINESS OWNER I FEEL LIKE I MUST PRE-PARE FOR EPISODE #3 AND SO ON! WE FEEL LIKE WE ARE IN A POLITICAL WAR WITH BRAINWASHED PEOPLE THAT YOU CAN'T MAKE SENSE WITH. WE HAD TO DROP MY WIFE'S MEDICAL BECAUSE WE CANNOT AFFORD $1200.00 A MONTH FOR HER, WE ARE LOSING OUR HOME IN FORCLOSURE BECAUSE OUR BUSINESS INCOME HAS TAKEN A FALL FROM THE ECONOMY AND WE CANNOT AFFORD THE MORTGAGE PAYMENTS. THE IRS DECIDED THAT THEY WOULD CHIME IN AND AUDIT US AFTER 26 YEARS OF SQUEEKY PERFECTION. NOW THEY WANT OUR RETIREMENT MONEY WE HAVE LEFT AFTER OUR CROOKED FINANCIAL ADVISOR RIPPED US OFF FOR 35,000.00 OF IT! WE TRIED TO MODIFY AND NO ONE WILL HELP US. ALL OF THIS AND IT HAS NOT MADE US GO OUT AND ATTACK REPUBLICANS AND THEY CAUSED IT TO HAPPEN! WHAT DO WE DO?
RESPECTFULLY,
MAC, PHYLLIS AND MASON McCARTY / CUPERTINO, CA.

— MAC MCCARTY

As an Alabama native, I am stupified that our State Constitution provides for advance directives for the dying yet most in this state are alarmed by Obama's Health Care Program. This advanced directice, which can be found at Ala. Code 1975, Section 26-1-1, et seq., provides when the "advance directive for health care shall become effective," and even includes a "model" advanced directive form that one merely has to complete (in accordance with other provisions of Alabama law that govern the making of a will-and that are also specifically stated therein), makes medical or other decisions for the testator/testatrix in the event that he or she becomes too sick to speak for him or her self. It is my understanding that most, if not all, of our sister 50 states' respective codes contain similar provisions.

Given the lack of any meaningful concern about the purpose or intent of Section 26-1-1, et seq., expressed by Alabamians at the state level, I am mystified by the concern expressed by Americans at the national level about a federal statute that also allows our citizens to make exactly the same kinds of decisions, only with input from their own health care professionals. If I happen to be out-of-state and become irreversibly comatose or otherwise impaired, I would hope that decisions that I made in my Alabama Advanced Directive would also control the law governing whatever state or federal jurisdiction in which I am located when I become impaired. Otherwise, there would be little incentive for citizens of Alabama or any other state to make an advanced directive.

This of course, begs the question what is the true intent of those on the right wing for voicing their alleged concerns about the availability of a national advanced directive. Perhaps if the real intent of these politicians were to do something other than to instill irrational fear in our elderly voters, their concerns might be given more credence. Unfortunately, because the legal premises on which the right and far right have based their alleged concerns about a national advanced directive have little to do with reality are incredible and unworthy of belief, they have not been taken seriously by the vast majority of American voters. The only ones who who really seem to have been influenced by the misinformation being spread by the Republican fear-mongerers are the same voters to whom their false concerns were directed--the elderly and those in poor health--who deserve better.

Helen H. Moore
Birmingham, Alabama

— Helen H. Moore

Did you feel good last night on Conan O'Brien when you were lying about Obama Care opposition? A secret plan to kill old people? What a liar!

— 9sling

Hi Rachel,

You're fabulous, and I love watching your show, but... There is one area that you almost never touch on and I think maybe you need just a tad bit of education on the subject, then perhaps you'll consider it a more prominent issue; It is that of climate change and global warming. Please bear with me and "hear" me out. Many global climate scientist are now saying we could set evolution and the state of this planet back FOUR BILLION YEARS.

Most people concerned with global warming have no idea just how dire the situation is, and are unfamiliar with two aspects of environmental change, namely; Global Dimming and Methane Clathrates. Over the last 30 or so years particulate pollution has masked the effects of global warming, by perhaps as much as 50% by shading us from sunlight (insolation). As stronger anti-particulate pollution measures world wide go into place this phenomenon is beginning to reverse itself and we'll be getting more sun and therefore hotter here very soon.

The second aspect methane clathrates, As you probably know methane is now leeching from the permafrost in the arctic areas where there may be up to a billion tonnes stored. With methane being 10 to 20 times (depending on who you ask) more potent a green house gas than carbon this will have a horrific effect on the climate. But these amounts are nothing compared to the deposits under the North Atlantic Sea, something on the magnitude of over 10 TRILLION tonnes of methane that once it begins to leech cannot be stopped. Should this happen life on this planet will face an extinction level event the likes of which has not been seen for 250 MILLION years. or even as I mentioned before setting us back four billion years by wiping out ALL life on this planet but those very very few micro-organisms that can survive in extreme heat.

You have such a wonderful way and are so widely respected among progressives, I hope you'll take some time and use your platform to educate people about the seriousness facing our planet due to our own lack of action here in the U.S. and not setting a good example and putting pressure on China and India as their power infrastructures expand drastically. Just how long can we wait before it is too late? Politics and economy is important, but this is like having a asteroid the size of England heading towards us, and having the technology to stop it, but doing nothing. This madness has got to stop and it takes people like you held in such high esteem to bring to the attention of the people.

With Greatest Appreciation,
Corinne Civish

ccivish@gmail.com

— Corinne Civish

– Show More

{"commentId":4457134,"authorDomain":"Sassy79"}

Sassy79

I think it's too early to tell what kind of strength his has. Lawyering is sometimes like a chess game.. lots of strategy, making several different moves and finally unveiling what he has.

Fitzgerald's reputation is solid and unimpeachable. He is very savvy and well educated in the way goverment works. His litigation in the Libby case taught him well.

He must have felt going public now was his only option to keep something truely bad from happening with Obama's seat. As your other guest pointed out..sunshine is the best disinfectant.

As for the case, the wiretaps are the smoking gun. Usually when cocky *@!$ like Blago operate, they get sloppy. I would be interested in knowing what kind of paper trail is out there. I think Mrs. Govenor Potty mouth is key this this whole web too.

{"commentId":4457134,"threadId":"446386","contentId":"2220744","authorDomain":"Sassy79"}

#1 - Tue Dec 16, 2008 10:42 PM EST

{"commentId":4457261,"authorDomain":"eliza-haran-itazvia"}

Eliza Haran Caplan

Rachel, I'm no lawyer but even if it is "all talk", I do believe some speech acts are illegal..extortion? As an educator I am required to report to the proper authorities instances in which a child discloses that they have been injured or...At Risk of injury. Indeed my litmus for At Risk are the performative speech acts of threats, posturing, using language to power over, more rational forms of authority. Blagojevich's behavior is predicatable, very much like an abuser who seeks to connect with a base of sympathizers, those who have at one point been victimized and dissuaded from any form of confrontation. Blagojevich can count on this because he undoubtedly has been able to get away with this before. He has probably had enough people say on his behalf, "oh he didn't really mean it," or "he's going through hard times." The reification of such behavior, that is, the agreement that behaviors that are unsavory somehow exist outside of the person. Thus, reified behaviors are forgivable, inconsistent with their "true essence." If words were not tied to action why then do we laud those who cohere individuals in meaningful action to achieve good. Rachel, I wouldn't dare talk you down on this one. I'm hoping you will keep talking it up! Up/Down either way, I think your segment centered on the power of talk is apropos.

{"commentId":4457261,"threadId":"446386","contentId":"2220744","authorDomain":"eliza-haran-itazvia"}

1 vote

#2 - Tue Dec 16, 2008 10:58 PM EST

{"commentId":4457396,"authorDomain":"jdkaufman"}

Old Doc

YOU must read the article on PSYCHOPATHY in New Yorker mag @5-6 weeksag. Best I have read on subject, andI am a professional. The diagnosis covers a broader spectrum/populace than you can imagine. It will make Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, etc far more understandable...The"GOV" as well

TheOld Doc says:"READ IT"

YOU are one bright "COOKIE", as we said in the olden days. You areGOOD !!!!!

{"commentId":4457396,"threadId":"446386","contentId":"2220744","authorDomain":"jdkaufman"}

#3 - Tue Dec 16, 2008 11:16 PM EST

{"commentId":4458255,"authorDomain":"pgerdine"}

Quesaisje

Scott & Eliza make strong cases, I want to find support for a solid legal case against this dirt bag, but I have lingering doubts, Fitzgerald's "unimpeachable" reputation notwithstanding. And it's not just due to your soulmate Pat Buchanan's insistence that this guy has "done" nothing wrong, & that this kind of "horse trading" goes on all the time. The question for me is: When does speech, however salacious & replete with "f" words, become act or crime? In this context, of course. And is it possible that our friend Fitzgerald has in fact overreacted & gone public much too soon? I hope this is not the case, so to speak! And, by the way, it's "Saltiyo", not "Saltillo", the double "ll" is pronounced as a "y". You can believe me! I have a PhD in Romance languages, including, of course, Spanish! And I also survived 4 years at Scott Turow's alma mater Amherst, & I do mean "survived"!

{"commentId":4458255,"threadId":"446386","contentId":"2220744","authorDomain":"pgerdine"}

#4 - Wed Dec 17, 2008 1:42 AM EST

{"commentId":4463045,"authorDomain":"chrisboese"}

Chris Boese

You and David Foster Wallace. What, and you didn't write two undergraduate honors theses in both philosophy and literature? (see last week's NYTimes Magazine, an interesting discussion of Wallace's time at Amherst, and the inpenetrable philosophy thesis he wrote)

Wallace and I both were graduated from college the same year (I don't know what year Turow, but I suspect it is close), and I simply can't imagine working at that level at that age. But then I dreamed of Amherst, if for the co-location with Emily Dickinson's grave if nothing else, but I had no chance in hell of ever even getting in there, let alone surviving.

{"commentId":4463045,"threadId":"446386","contentId":"2220744","authorDomain":"chrisboese"}

#4.1 - Wed Dec 17, 2008 11:55 AM EST

{"commentId":4461284,"authorDomain":"SSrb1098"}

SSrb1098

Wait... I thought you said on your sho thst you have been offically Talked Down. We need to do it again?

{"commentId":4461284,"threadId":"446386","contentId":"2220744","authorDomain":"SSrb1098"}

#5 - Wed Dec 17, 2008 10:12 AM EST

{"commentId":4462952,"authorDomain":"chrisboese"}

I was shocked to see you talked down last night, but it was a refreshing change <G>.

But I have to say, despite references all over to exact wiretapping transcripts, I was troubled by what I DIDN'T hear in the transcripts, and it struck me as odd.

I mean, last time I checked, talking about doing something (selling a senate seat) is not the same as actually DOING it.

Talk is cheap, and there are blowhards in this world who will say anything, but unless they are yelling "Fire!" in a crowded theater or conspiring against the government (for some reason conspiracy is one crime where you only have to talk about it drunkenly in a bar, and you can be prosecuted, go figure), generally the Department of Pre-Crime does not yet exist.

Is there any proof that the Illinois governor was talking to anybody in the form of actual transactions in those wiretaps, or was he just boasting to some call girl, bar buddy, or janitor to boost up his own image? Spectacular wiretap quotations do not in and of themselves prove a crime.

I wonder if Fitzgerald will appear so "unimpeachable" in his perfect reputation after all this is over.

{"commentId":4462952,"threadId":"446386","contentId":"2220744","authorDomain":"chrisboese"}

#6 - Wed Dec 17, 2008 11:50 AM EST

{"commentId":4463326,"authorDomain":"pwtenny"}

Paul William Tenny

When the singer R. Kelly was facing really quite mind-blowing underage sex charges, a Chicago lawyer named Ed Genson defended him successfully. Mr. Kelly was acquitted of those charges. Mr. Genson has now moved on to defending... Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich!

Add in Bago's "will he get off" to Kelly's circumstances and this scandal has taken on an entirely new and unfortunate meaning. On the other hand, Kelly didn't have Patrick Fitzgerald prosecuting him.

And yet...they had more against Kelly (a video tape) than they have against Blago (audio tapes), so who knows. How much do you want bet though, that if he does get off, that all we hear for the next five years is how he pulled an O.J.?

Inevitably we'll hear pundit debates on whether or not Blago is dumb enough to keep doing dumb things like O.J. did, and end up in prison anyway.

{"commentId":4463326,"threadId":"446386","contentId":"2220744","authorDomain":"pwtenny"}

#7 - Wed Dec 17, 2008 12:10 PM EST

{"commentId":4465419,"authorDomain":"maryjudithconklin"}

NuclearphobicJudy

I am looking up at this situation from the bottom. The people I know who have encountered the justice system have done so with court-apponted lawyers at their sides.

The article brought up the problem with this and so many other high-profile cases--guilty until proven innocent. This one's particularly tricky because it involves abrogation of the public trust, dishonesty, graft, and every other thing the powerless at the bottom assume elected officials do all the time.

What, should we somehow assure a Machiavellian conviction just so the American voter can see this son of a vich get his? That wouldn't be justice, either.

Let's look at the OJ Simpson case for a moment. He had the Dream Team beat the murder rap, and then lost a civil suit in an upper-middle-class white venue. Does anybody realize that the judge in Vegas wasn't sentencing him for threatening his thug buddies? The harsh sentence said the judge knew he killed Nicole and now he was going to get his.

That isn't justice.

As I've mentioned ad nauseum on these threads, my boyfriend of 17 years is African American. All I heard during the original OJ trial in that community was that "The Man" was sticking it to OJ because his wife was white. The poor in general and the African American comminity in particular believe The Man will get them at every turn and that they have no hope, ever, of the blind justice that is portrayed in the statue.

We've also all been brainwashed by the vicious ex-prosecutors who are all anchors over at FOX. FOX and right-wing talk radio spent years hardening and prejudicing listeners and viewers against the poor, demonizing them as shiftless and lazy and responsible for their own poverty. They rant for justice the minute any arrest is made, vilifying the accused beyond repair.

Nancy Grace is also a fine example of this trend. I had very much hoped Caylee Anthony would be found alive for her own sake. But my personal fantasy was for her to be found alive while Nancy Grace, the harpiest of harpies, was on the air. I wanted to see her take a fit of apoplexy, after she ran her nasty show on the backs of the Anthonys for six months. I am so sorry this witch was proven right. (If you are a pagan, please forgive me, because Grace is about the most foul person in broadcasting.)

Get my drift?

The most important thing is that Blago gets real justice, whatever that may mean when all the evidence is in.

I don't want him to get some kind of justice-from-above that would ALSO be fixed to ensure that voters see that crooked politicians are dealt with and Don't Get Away with Stuff.

That wouldn't be justice, now would it?

The most important thing has already been accomplished. He won't pick Illinois' next senator and he won't get a quarter-million-a-year job.

THAT's the important thing.

{"commentId":4465419,"threadId":"446386","contentId":"2220744","authorDomain":"maryjudithconklin"}

#8 - Wed Dec 17, 2008 2:08 PM EST

{"commentId":4465712,"authorDomain":"maryjudithconklin"}

Rachel, just one of the many fantastic things about your show is the Lame Duck Watch. I end up watching Keith Olbermann at 10 p.m. Eastern because I end up doing a Nancy Grace Watch.

The one exception to the vicious-prosecutor-turned-anchor thing over at FOX is, of course, Greta van Susteren. She, at least, reports things responsibly. She also--refreshingly--wasn't a prosecutor.

But I cannot understand how Nancy Grace was ever a prosecutor because her thought processes aren't rational and she doesn't know diddly about logic.

Her contention on a recent show was that someone who was truly worried about a missing child coudn't possibly eat. She then went on to tell us about the time someone in her family was missing and she couldn't eat for three solid weeks. Finally, she sighed, she was able to take a glass of orange juice.

She then took up about 15 minutes of network time reading Casey Anthony's commissary list, replete with Ding-Dongs, Doritos, and Nacho Dip. This former prosecutor then honed in on the conviction--Casey Anthony couldn't possibly care about little Caylee and eat all THAT!

Hell, I'm from the po' side of town. Did she ever stop to think that Casey WASN'T eating it? Maybe she was buying it for the girls on her block so they'd let her stay alive behind bars!

I realize this got a bit off-topic but it makes the point of news nets convicting people on the air.

{"commentId":4465712,"threadId":"446386","contentId":"2220744","authorDomain":"maryjudithconklin"}

#8.1 - Wed Dec 17, 2008 2:24 PM EST

{"commentId":4466863,"authorDomain":"maryjudithconklin"}

I realize this, too, is off-topic but am hoping to cheer everyone's day.

Did anybody else ever notice that Nancy Grace's Caylee Anthony bounty hunter never changes his clothes?

Did anybody else ever notice that one of her twins looks like it has encephalitis and is made out of plastic and is still covered in cellophane?

Did anybody else hear Mommy Dearest's OTHER whopper about the time she and the twins were in NY and they developed heat prostration and she climbed fully-clothed into the tub with them at the hotel to cool them off?

AND, FINALLY, what I was REALLY hoping for, had precious Caylee been found alive, was to see Nancy Grace swell up and explode like one of the corpses whose rate of decomposition she discusses so unstintingly. (Don't eat a late supper while you watch!)

I wanted to see her deflate and whizz around the room like a balloon losing air!

{"commentId":4466863,"threadId":"446386","contentId":"2220744","authorDomain":"maryjudithconklin"}

#8.2 - Wed Dec 17, 2008 3:43 PM EST

{"commentId":4466966,"authorDomain":"maryjudithconklin"}

Actually, the kid looks like it's made out of celluloid. I'll shut up now!

{"commentId":4466966,"threadId":"446386","contentId":"2220744","authorDomain":"maryjudithconklin"}

#8.3 - Wed Dec 17, 2008 3:52 PM EST

{"commentId":4467111,"authorDomain":"chrisboese"}

Nuclearphobic Judy, I both empathize and pity your Nancy Grace Watch! Yeow! I am all too well aware what kind of deep pain it is to endure that unwatchable awfulness. At least it is no longer followed by Glenn Beck. Because of those two, I was embarrassed to say I hailed from that network.

You might note that Grace was never a GOOD prosecutor, or even a respected one. In Atlanta, she was disciplined I believe on 3 different occasions for prosecutorial misbehavior, all instances, I believe, involved withholding evidence from the defense.

Her most notorious claim to fame comes actually from the death of her fiance, from Valdosta, an incident I believe happened sometime after I lived there in the early 90s. The thing is, her representation of how her fiance was killed is completely disconnected from the facts of the case (the hitchhiker/person he picked up was not a random killer unknown to him, it was someone he worked with, etc.).

So Grace often tells a narrative that she has become such a staunch advocate for victim's rights (which means she prematurely accuses and accosts anyone she independently decides is guilty, to the point of driving one woman to suicide), as the story of her fiance, the narrative that motivated her career as a prosecutor and TV commentator. Yet that very narrative has been strongly challenged and found to be embellished, at the very least.

{"commentId":4467111,"threadId":"446386","contentId":"2220744","authorDomain":"chrisboese"}

#8.4 - Wed Dec 17, 2008 4:06 PM EST

{"commentId":4479914,"authorDomain":"maryjudithconklin"}

WOW. Well, I'll pray for her. I already prayed for the twin who didn't look quite real. Both little ones look fine now. It almost looked as if photos of one of the twins had been photoshopped, because the kid actually looked like celluloid--almost like a realistic computer-generated baby.

The sad part is that she, and the vicious, vituperative prosecutor-turned-attorney anchors at FOX, have become the norm. Anybody who watches them is being subliminally trained to condemn the accused right up front.

{"commentId":4479914,"threadId":"446386","contentId":"2220744","authorDomain":"maryjudithconklin"}

#8.5 - Thu Dec 18, 2008 3:16 PM EST

{"commentId":4484489,"authorDomain":"eliza-haran-itazvia"}

You commentary gave me much to consider.

{"commentId":4484489,"threadId":"446386","contentId":"2220744","authorDomain":"eliza-haran-itazvia"}

#8.6 - Thu Dec 18, 2008 8:59 PM EST

{"commentId":4480050,"authorDomain":"linart21"}

Linda-778938

As a casual observer of Illinois politics, I'd like to call your attention to several completely unrelated situations: Back in the day Gov George Ryan incured the wrath of his own party when during the windfall years of the Clinton administration instead of useing the extra funds to cut taxes, he instead embarked upon his Build Illinois program, using the money to repair roads, build schools, etc. His own Republican party were the ones who led the attacks on Gov Ryan's administration, accusing him of a whole laundry list of sins, before 'getting' him on the drivers lisence scam.

Gov Blagojevich has had similar conflicts with his own party, with different opinions about where the money should go. Most recently he cut some highly valued local projects like parks and outreach programs to pay to guarentee health insurance for every child in the state. The were some other issues that I don't recall...as a casual observer. But it occures to me that it might be interesting for someone with the resorces and objectivity to look more deeply into this.

It would be strange if both parties demanded that party line be followed or else, turning in their own as punishment? Hhhhhmmmmm?

{"commentId":4480050,"threadId":"446386","contentId":"2220744","authorDomain":"linart21"}

#9 - Thu Dec 18, 2008 3:23 PM EST

{"commentId":4508127,"authorDomain":"pclearylaw"}

Wheaton Pat

Name two differences between Blago and Grover Norquist?

1. Grover got the money

2. Blago got indicted by repubs

{"commentId":4508127,"threadId":"446386","contentId":"2220744","authorDomain":"pclearylaw"}

#10 - Sat Dec 20, 2008 7:07 PM EST

{"commentId":4527339,"authorDomain":"richabuck"}

richabuck

December 8 - Governor Rod Blagojevich announces the State of Illinois will cease doing business with Bank of America.

December 9 - Governor Rod Blagojevich, who has been reportedly under investigation by the federal government for three years, is indicted based on a recent wire tap.

If he is as dirty as he is being portrayed, why did it take three years to find something on him?

Also...

When is the last time you saw a governor take a high profile stand for a small business and working people against a multinational bank?

The FBI sure shut that down quick.

What convenient timing they have.

A little insight...

The FBI has been wire tapping Blagojevich for years.

This means they knew in advance that he was organizing a campaign to throw a spotlight on:

a) big banks who choking their clients credit lines even after they received their free billions from the tax payers

b) employers who are booting employees without warning, severance, or making good unused vacation time as required by law

They could have dropped him at any point, but they waited until this campaign started to resonate nationally.

Crooks they can live with.

Crooks who also happen to speak effectively against big banks and employers, they have a lot of trouble with.

{"commentId":4527339,"threadId":"446386","contentId":"2220744","authorDomain":"richabuck"}

#11 - Mon Dec 22, 2008 7:30 PM EST

{"commentId":4693980,"authorDomain":"doorcodad"}

R. Girard

I generally agree with Rachel, but I took offense at her referring to Illinois as "the state of Blagojevich" tonight on her show. I think it smears our state. when Blagojevich first ran for office he looked like a fresh clean cut guy, and I voted for him. Over the last few years, I would say that most of the people I know have become very disappointed, no disgusted with him. He has done a poor job as governor before this scandal came out, and identifying our state as "the state of Blagojevich" is adding insult to injury.

{"commentId":4693980,"threadId":"446386","contentId":"2220744","authorDomain":"doorcodad"}

#12 - Tue Jan 6, 2009 9:31 PM EST

{"commentId":4694265,"authorDomain":"chrisboese"}

Just go to show ya: suspect ALL fresh, clean cut guys! What are they hiding?

I mean, hell, look at Dan White. He was playing that Ken Doll thing massively, until the Twinkies kicked in....

{"commentId":4694265,"threadId":"446386","contentId":"2220744","authorDomain":"chrisboese"}

2 votes

#12.1 - Tue Jan 6, 2009 9:55 PM EST

{"commentId":4740232,"authorDomain":"theo-cusick"}

Mr. T-806653

I just had the pleasure of watching Governor Blagojevich's press conference, and while I giggled like a baby through much of it, I was left ultimately with the sober feeling that he IS on his way out. Like most things that make me laugh (Arrested Development, Eddie Murphy from the 80's, etc.), this too must come to an end. Rod's tenure as America's most outrageous sociopath is a constipation in the bowels of Justice. Poor Justice: blind as a bat, groping her aching, distended belly, all because this villain can't read his own tea leaves. Blagojevich can avoid taking responsibility a little while longer, but sooner or later he simply must go.

{"commentId":4740232,"threadId":"446386","contentId":"2220744","authorDomain":"theo-cusick"}

#13 - Fri Jan 9, 2009 5:36 PM EST

{"commentId":4743063,"authorDomain":"chrisboese"}

Yeah! Eddie Murphy from the 80s! GI Joe is swimming in the water.... You ain't got no ice cream, ain't got no ice cream, ain't got no ice cream!

{"commentId":4743063,"threadId":"446386","contentId":"2220744","authorDomain":"chrisboese"}

#14 - Fri Jan 9, 2009 9:06 PM EST

{"commentId":4777667,"authorDomain":"mrhobbs"}

EmbarassedconservativeinIdaho

I'm kinda confused here as to what Blago is guilty of? I guess it's selling a seat you don't have. Normally the seat someone's in that's for sale.

{"commentId":4777667,"threadId":"446386","contentId":"2220744","authorDomain":"mrhobbs"}

#15 - Mon Jan 12, 2009 2:01 PM EST

Talk me down! Might Blagojevich beat these charges?

Published to:

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Talk me down! Might Blagojevich beat these charges?

Published to:

FUN STUFF:

COMPANY STUFF:

LEGAL STUFF: