A 21st Century Frank Capra Movie
ArchPundit
On acid maybe.
Uncategorized
Blagojevich on WLS
In the third bit, he compares himself favorably to Nixon.
The whole thing is quite a treat.
It’s About A Tax Increase
Gov. Blagojevich continued to hammer away at the rules governing his upcoming impeachment trial this morning, saying the “fix is in in” and Illinoisans would be socked with massive tax increases should he be kicked out of office.
“They want to get me out fast so they could put a huge income-tax increase on the people of Illinois,” the governor said in a 43-minute interview this morning on WLS-AM 890’s Don Wade & Roma show. “And they want to raise the sales tax on gas. . . . If I’m out of the way, they can quietly push this through.”
Even better:
Blagojevich reiterated statements he made yesterday that rules governing his trial are unfair and that he would like to call several witnesses to defend him, including White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and President Obama’s senior adviser Valerie Jarrett. He also said he’d like to call U.S. Rep Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.) and even U.S. senators Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and John McCain (R-Arizona), who he says had worked closely with him.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0HCPPItnYo[/youtube]
About 2 minutes in. I don’t think McCain has the same ‘recollection.’
We’re Back
The problem with all of those GoDaddy notices that you have an expiring domain is that there are so many you tend to ignore them. Oops.
Daily Dolt: New York Times Reporter Robert F. Worth
BEIRUT, Lebanon — The emergence of a former Guantánamo Bay detainee as the deputy leader of Al Qaeda’s Yemeni branch has underscored the potential complications in carrying out the executive order President Obama signed Thursday that the detention center be shut down within a year.
Yet, this happened despite Guantanamo Bay detention being open. And, of course, Obama isn’t suggesting that we release all of the detainees so dangerous detainees won’t be released, just moved depending upon their classification. This isn’t a complication of closing Guantanamo, it’s a complication of a bunch of boobs running our government for 8 years.
North Carolina Precedent
The State Journal Register has one of the finest encapsulations of the Blagojevich administration:
GOV. ROD BLAGOJEVICH has again found a creative way to skirt the intent of Illinois’ Freedom of Information Act in denying The State Journal-Register — and the public — the right to look at a clemency file.
The newspaper had sought the clemency petition of Latasha Lofton of Springfield, who pleaded guilty to misdemeanor battery in 1995, and was one of 22 people pardoned by Blagojevich in December. Throughout his time in office, the governor had been criticized for not acting on clemency petitions. It seems obvious to us that if court records of convictions are public record, as they are, the documents that reverse them should be public as well.
But the governor feels otherwise, and in denying this request, he cited a case decided by the North Carolina Supreme Court, a lawyer for the Prisoner Review Board said.
THE NORTH CAROLINA court ruled that such files are gubernatorial property and releasing them under public records laws would violate the separation-of-powers doctrine in the Tar Heel state’s constitution.
The lawyer, Ken Tupy, said the governor’s lawyers argued that since North Carolina’s constitution is similar, the North Carolina court ruling applies and that state law would have to be changed to release such records under Illinois’ FOIA law.
This is contrived nonsense, of course. North Carolina court decisions have no bearing on Illinois.
What’s great is that Tupy tells the SJR to wait for Quinn taking over because Tupy plans on asking Governor Quinn to allow Tupy to release the records.
And Remember, Death is Not an Option
Roland Burris or Kurt Granberg:
Kurt Granberg’s tenure as the state’s conservation chief might be short, but it will be lucrative. The former state representative started work Thursday as director of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, a move that will likely boost his eventual retirement pension by $40,000 a year.
Granberg was appointed by an impeached Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who faces a Senate trial over his ouster starting Monday.
A 55-year-old lawmaker from Carlyle who spent 22 years in the General Assembly, Granberg did not seek re-election last fall and resigned his seat before the House voted to impeach Blagojevich, who is charged with mismanagement and political corruption.
Governor to be Quinn commented on this without committing, but strongly suggesting he would make a change. The only question then is whether Quinn should keep Granberg on so he at least has to show up from time to time to get that extra 40 grand a year.
Like Pearl Harbor
Obviously when the Nazis bombed it:
CHICAGO — Illinois’ embattled but defiant governor, so fond of reciting poetry as he defends himself against federal corruption allegations, has turned instead to the history books to describe the emotional strain his arrest put on him and his family.
In an interview Thursday with The Associated Press, Gov. Rod Blagojevich compared his early morning December arrest by FBI agents to Japan’s 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor.
He says it was a “complete surprise” but he’ll prevail, just like America in World War II.
Rinse Repeat
Fortunately, we can absolutely count on Rod Blagojevich being convicted in both the impeachment proceedings and in the criminal court because he runs his defense team just like he ran Illinois government.
Just today:
1) Makes a major press announcement declaring his righteousness and everyone who opposes him evilness.
2) People suggest he’ll take one action (file a federal lawsuit to stop impeachment hearings) that will absolutely fail. (See also health care expansion, flu vaccine)
3) Someone contradicts 2 who had previously pushed 2 but was convinced the Governor wouldn’t do it.
4) Eventually 2 gets done, but in an even more haphazard so that it not only fails, but fails in a spectacular way.
5) He claims to be the victim along with whatever human shields he drags along for the day.
And for those who thought there weren’t enough human shields given his current status see exhibit A–Roland Burris.
Awesome Hire for Terry McCauliffe
Terry McAuliffe has hired Elisabeth Smith to be his press secretary. Smith, who goes by Liz, will work with Delacey Skinner, McAuliffe’s communications director.
Last year, Smith worked for Dan Seals, an unsuccessful Democratic candidate for Congress in Illinois. In 2006, Smith served as Sen. Claire McCaskill’s (D-Mo.) press secretary.
Lis is very smart and very talented.