Friday, January 9, 2009

"Bruised but not Broken" - Blagojevich a media joke or Rahm's worst nightmare?

For countless media outlets, Gov. Rod Blagojevich was the joke of the day as he responded to his impeachment by the Illinois House today. Seems no one was really listening to what he actually had to say - too busy laughing and asking, "What is this guy talking about?"

He said a lot. To a few people. And in their continued unbalanced, "Obama love" - the media missed it all. Call me a conspiracy theorist, but here's some of what I heard:

Click :38 - "Let me tell you what I'm not going to do. I'm not going to do what my accusers and political enemies have been doing and that is talk about this case in 30 second soundbites on "Meet the Press" or the TV news." (emphasis his) Direct hit - Sen. Harry Reid.

Click :59 – “And I want to assure everyone who’s here and everyone who’s listening, that I intend to answer every allegation that, uh, comes my way. However, I intend to answer them in the appropriate forum – in a court of law.” (emphasis mine) Direct hit - Obama & Co. on that first part. He let them know that he plans to tell it all (unless of course, in requisite Chicago-style, they do something to get him out of this mess). The second part, direct hit - Illinois House. He told them to kiss his behind. He didn't show up to their kangaroo court because a court of law is the finder of fact - not them.

Click 1:46 – "Now I know there are some powerful forces arrayed against me. It’s kind of lonely right now. But I have on my side the most powerful ally there is. And it’s the truth." (emphasis his) Direct hit - Obama & Co. Just a reminder, if it comes down to it, he's tellin' the whole truth.

Click 1:05 - "From the very moment of my reelection, I've been engaged in a struggle with the House to get things done for the people...The House has stood in the way...In my view, those of us who make the rules ought to be able to uh, follow a simple lesson that I was taught to believe in in Sunday school. It's called the Golden Rule. That you do unto others as "you would have them do unto you." That sounded like a veiled threat to e-e-erbody!

When he entered, I said, "Now why did he bring all these people up there?" He answered, here:

Click 3:09 - 4:43 " So the House's action today and the causes of the impeachment (emphasis his) are because I've done things to fight for families who are all with me here today. Now I'm gonna talk about some of the examples that I'd like you-to share with you and some of the counts that the House is actually choosing to impeach me on. For example, The "I- Save" Prescription Drug program is among the things the House said I should be removed from office for. That was a program we began, I believe it in late 2002, or early 2004. That was a program brought to me by then-Congressman Rahm Emanuel (emphasis his) who suggested that since the big pharmaceutical companies had a tremendous amount of sway with the FDA (emphasis his), that too many senior citizens were being forced to ration their medicine or couldn't afford to buy their medicine...that maybe we should try somethin' different and go to Canada. And Go to the place where ya' make the exact same medicines, for the exact same companies only if you have free and open trade (emphasis his) and go to Canada you can help our senior citizens save up 30-40-50 percent on the cost of their medicines. We did that in Illinois, being the first state in America to defy (emphasis his) the FDA and the big drug companies. And I'm happy to say we were joined by the state of Wisconsin, the state of Kansas and the state of Vermont and a lot of senior citizens in Illinois have had the benefit of being able to afford their medicine at prices they can afford. The house is impeaching me for that. Is that an impeachable offense?"

The 11th Article of Impeachment reads, "The Governor's actions with regard to, and responsibility for, the I-SaveRx Program, as more fully detailed in the Final Report at Section IV-F and in the Committee Record as a whole."

The House Committee on Impeachment's report , upon which the articles were based, is a detailed accounting of the governor's alleged, illegal activities involving the I-SaveRx program (Pgs 39 - 42). And Rahm was right there with him. So why is Blagojevich headed to federal court, while Rahm is headed to the White House "Court" to sit at the Changeling's right hand? Will anybody in the mainstream media ask that question? Particularly since there's this pesky, little thing over at the Illinois state government site.

"Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and Congressman Rahm Emanuel (D-Chicago) were joined by Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle for the launch of the new I-SaveRx prescription drug importation program -- the first program in the nation to allow Illinois and Wisconsin residents to purchase lower cost, safe prescription drugs from Europe and Canada."

I don't know if it's an impeachable offense or not but, Direct hit - Obama & Co., Senate Dems, Illinois legislature and especially, Rahm Emmanuel! Blagojevich made sure we knew that he and Rahm had been "talking" way before his "President-elect Advisor" status popped up in Fitzgerald's complaint (not indictment as I'd said previously - shame on me for picking up the media's terminology).

And if the President-select's right-hand man was "talking," with the governor for all that time, I'd venture a guess -he was not alone in doing so (no wonder he's all but blended into the background since the story broke. I guess they figure if he draws no attention to himself, no one will ask the important questions). People, we are fiddling while Rome burns.

(Blagojevich - 5/Democratic leadership - 0)

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