1 Boring Old Man

Blagojevich: I’m the victim of plot to raise taxes

 

After keeping mostly out of the public eye since his arrest on federal corruption charges, Blagojevich reversed course with a series of interviews and public statements portraying himself as the victim of vengeful lawmakers eager to toss him out of office. "The heart and soul of this has been a struggle of me against the system," Blagojevich said at a news conference Friday…

He has chosen not to mount any defense in the Senate impeachment trial that begins Monday and could remove him from office within days. He may ask the Illinois Supreme Court to block the trial, arguing its rules are hopelessly biased against him…

"Under these rules, I’m not even getting a fair trial; they’re just hanging me. And when they hang me under these rules that prevent due process, they’re hanging the 12 million people of Illinois who twice have elected a governor," he said…

Blagojevich’s fight would have one fewer supporter as his chief defense attorney, Ed Genson, announced Friday that he would pull out of the federal criminal case. In announcing his withdrawal, Genson insinuated the governor didn’t listen to his advice. "I never require a client to do what I say, but I do require them to at least listen,"

Amid his defiant remarks, Blagojevich displayed a brief moment of contrition, acknowledging for the first time since his arrest that he wasn’t always perfect. "Notwithstanding mistakes and errors in judgment from time to time, most of the things I’ve done as governor have been the right things and have been things that helped people," he said.

This guy is a bit hard to imagine as the governor of anything in the first place. Since the damning indictment of the transcripts Fitzgerald released and his subsequent behavior, I’m having less trouble understanding why Fitz let so much of the cat out of the bag. Rod Blagojevich doesn’t know when to fold them and could well have gone through with selling Obama’s Senate seat, among other things. He talks like he thinks that there are actually people listening who might see him as a victim of some kind. I personally kind of doubt it. Says the Chicago Sun Times: "Gov’s plea: Save me. We say: Save yourself."

Obama: Quit Listening to Rush Limbaugh if You Want to Get Things Done

 

President Obama warned Republicans on Capitol Hill today that they need to quit listening to radio king Rush Limbaugh if they want to get along with Democrats and the new administration. "You can’t just listen to Rush Limbaugh and get things done," he told top GOP leaders, whom he had invited to the White House to discuss his nearly $1 trillion stimulus package.

One White House official confirmed the comment but said he was simply trying to make a larger point about bipartisan efforts. "There are big things that unify Republicans and Democrats," the official said. "We shouldn’t let partisan politics derail what are very important things that need to get done"…