Blogojevich did the unforgiveable; he said "no" to the godfather. And, that ended the service to the State of Illinois of this twice elected governor. Do I love Blogojevich? Can't say that I do; or, that I don't. I really don't know all that much about him. From the network news and newspaper accounts, he seemed like a typical Chicago politician.
But, there he was getting himself impeached. The Illinois legislators, by near unanimous vote agreed to dump good ol' Rod. But why? And, that's the puzzle. What exactly did he do? As far as I can figure out, he appointed a person to fill the seat vacated in the Senate by Obama. And, in the process of doing that, he let it be known that he wanted to gain something for his appointment. Is that wrong?
I'm not a lawyer, but whether Blogojevich was wrong or right in seeking to gain something for appointing an interim Senator depended on whether it was cash he sought, or whether it was enhanced political power. If he asked for cash, it would, as far as I know, have been illegal. Indeed, it would have been criminal. If what he was seeking was enhanced political power, it would not have been illegal. It would not only have not been illegal, he would have been acting pretty much the way every other governor in the U.S. behaves under like circumstances.
But, here is the thing: They impeached Blagojevich, but they did not presecute him. He has not been brought to trial and, as far as I can tell, there has been virtually nothing done to bring him to trial. Is there something going on that you and I don't know about? Rod's humiliation by late night comedians has been pretty thorough. At the time of Blogojevech's fall, Jay Leno always managed a cheap laugh by referring to Rod as "Blogo-son-of-a-bitch." There never seems to be a politician so injured without the benefit of a trial that good ol' Jay can't run his Hummer over him one more time. (Now that he's on from 10 to 11, it seems Jay is beginning to understand what that feels like.)
As far as I can tell, Blagojevech's fatal sin was not acquiescing to Obama's choice for filling this Senatorial position. Emmanuel told Rod what was expected to him and Rod wouldn't listen. Didn't Rod know why Emmanuel is called Obama's "muscle"? Apparently not.
Rod will never be brought to trial because if that were to happen, Emmanuel's role in this sordid saga would become transparent. Enforcers always do their best work behind a curtain. And, of course, if Emmanuel's role were to be made clear, so would Obama's. No, it is unlikely that Rod will ever be charged with a crime. Emmanuel and Obame have already meted out what they see as political justice. More than that other politicians have watched the drama and learned what happens when you say "no" to Obama.
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