Another Editorial

Blagojevich brings the circus to town

Brittany Burrows

2/7/09

Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich is shameless.

For the past few months images of his sad pleading face have bombarded television programs and newspaper front pages. But is a media assault really the right way to make nice with the people of Illinois and America?

For those who have not turned on the TV, listened to the radio, read a newspaper, or turned on the computer recently Blagojevich was arrested on federal corruption charges in early December 2008. He was accused of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and also accused of bribery for allegedly trying to sell off President Barack Obama's vacant Senate seat.

Instead of laying low to diffuse the speculation of his alleged crimes Blagojevich and his army of public relations experts decided to turn it all into one big media circus. The former Illinois Governor hit every major news show on television as well as a number of day time and late night shows including The View and The Late Show with David Letterman. His appearances were all equally nauseating and phony as he sat next to the interviewer trying to appear victimized by the judicial system.

Blagojevich's television and radio appearances made a mockery of the serious crimes with which he is charged. Instead of accepting that he made a mistake and stepping down with some honor and respect he created a great spectacle and made a fool of himself and his administration. Since the charges may not be news to the people outside of Illinois, why appeal to the rest of the country?

Perhaps the most maddening aspect of the situation is the fact Blagojevich blew off the first day of his impeachment hearing, showing absolutely no respect to the lawmakers and the people of Illinois. On the last day of the trial he finally made an appearance only to regurgitate the same trite denial he spewed out on every major network and newspaper in the weeks before.

On Jan 29 Blagojevich was removed from office by a unanimous vote by the Illinois State Senate. He is also barred from holding elected office in the state again. Blagojevich's media assault did little to help him keep his job but did boost interest in the case against him. He probably had more interest in scoring a future six-figure book deal than in retaining his last shred of dignity.


Oddly Blagojevich is in Microsoft Word spell check but Obama isn't? Weird