Blagojevich Appears At Chicago Comic Con

theodp writes "Earlier this week, a federal jury convicted Former Ill. Gov. Rod Blagojevich of lying to the FBI and deadlocked on 23 other charges. Still, that didn't stop Blago from connecting with his 'loyal supporters' Saturday at the Chicago Comic Con, where the ex-Gov charged $80 for each photo taken with him and $50 for autographs. He even hob-knobbed with celebrities like Adam West and Richard Roundtree. 'I met Batman. I met Shaft, and I know something about getting the shaft,' Blagojevich said."

Comments

Getting the shaft?

[DurendalMac]

Oh, you're gonna know something about getting the shaft, all right. The shaft, head, balls, the whole thing. Blag is unbelievable. He's guilty as sin and everyone but him seems to know it.

Re:Getting the shaft?

[damn_registrars]

He's guilty as sin and everyone but him seems to know it.

It appears based on the jury results that there is at least one other person in the country who wasn't convinced. In spite of what you may believe to be the facts of the case, US law does say that for these charges a unanimous jury verdict is required to convict the accused.

Re:Getting the shaft?

[NormalVisual]

It appears based on the jury results that there is at least one other person in the country who wasn't convinced

Or perhaps was "convinced" to not be convinced...

Re:Getting the shaft?

[bhartman34]

The man was obviously corrupt as shit out of a whore's ass. How much would you like to bet that there was jury tampering involved here?

Re:Getting the shaft?

[GiveBenADollar]

The problem with cases like these is that the politician distances himself from the actual wrongdoing. It's the aids and other staffers that are making the deals, because they are both less likely to be prosecuted and easier to throw under the bus. It's not that surprising that Blagojevich was only convicted of one charge, it was the one charge he could not completely distance himself from. It's hard to prove someone was lying unless you have proof that they know the truth.So a politician can be dirty as sin, but so long as he has plausable deniability about the actions going on in his office he is still squeaky clean at trial.

Re:Getting the shaft?

[mr_mischief]

Yeah, a former state employee from Chicago voted not to convict the former state governor from Chicago. Shocking? No. This is Chicago we're talking about. She probably also voted for him four times in each of his two elections for governor in the first place.

If they want a truly fair trial for him, they need to move it to another federal district. If they want a sure conviction, they should move it somewhere in Illinois south of Interstate 80.

Re:Getting the shaft?

[Moryath]

Blago is your standard corrupt Chicago politician.

Remember, this is same the city where the dead rise to vote on a yearly basis.

Re:Getting the shaft?

[jmitchel!jmitchel.co]

I think he's slimy as eternity is long, and deserves to be in prison on straight principle. But going into the trial I wasn't convinced that the government had a case. Without sitting through the trial I'd hesitate to say one way or the other.

Re:Getting the shaft?

[Moryath]

Did you read the comments from the lone juror holdout? Who "just happened" to be a state employee, "just happened" to have worked on Blago's campaign, and was probably guaranteed a spot on someone else's campaign staff in the future as payoff for hanging the jury?

This is just typical Chicago corruption as usual.

Re:Getting the shaft?

[bhartman34]

How in the hell was someone like that not excluded from the jury?? Was the prosecutor in on the whole thing???

Re:Getting the shaft?

[CodeBuster]

They will probably have to separate Blago from the general prison population for his own safety. A nice white guy like him wouldn't last long in most American prisons or at least not without the sort of bargain being referenced by the parent above.

Re:Getting the shaft?

[Moryath]

Welcome to the land of "jury selection."

Essentially, each side only gets so many challenges. They can try to challenge for cause, but they get only a few "peremptory challenges" (removing someone they are worried about without saying why). Further, the peremptory challenges are restricted because you have to be extremely careful about striking certain people lest someone scream about "racism", "sexism", "ageism", etc.

Most likely, since the woman was not a "direct employee of Blagojevich", the judge ruled that she couldn't be struck from the jury with cause even though she was one of his former campaign workers, since campaign work is often a paid position and they could argue that it was "just a job." That would have meant that it would burn a peremptory challenge to get her removed, and there were probably some people the prosecution wanted on the jury even less that they'd already used all their peremptories on.

The other thing that potential tampered/"ringer" jurors trying to slip into a case like this will pull is trying to put themselves at the back of the line. Remember, voir dire works in sequential order, either one juror at a time or banks-of-twelve at a time. If the prosecution had already used up all their peremptories by the time she came up in the process, they were stuck with her.

Re:Getting the shaft?

[bhartman34]

Thanks for the link. I find the whole thing nauseating. What it basically says to me is that a clever defendant will always be able to hang a jury. It's a shame that common sense can't prevail, and that a juror like that can't be shown the door, by the judge, in the interest of a fair trial. Why even give both sides a certain number of challenges? If there are valid reasons to keep someone off the jury, both sides should be able to challenge every single person who's brought up, and the judge should decide whether it's valid to exclude them or not.

Re:Getting the shaft?

[Adrian Lopez]

He's guilty as sin and everyone but him seems to know it.

He knows he's guilty, but he thinks that if he lies often enough then people will believe that he's innocent. He's a pathological liar.

Re:Getting the shaft?

[mdmkolbe]

If the prosecution had already used up all their peremptories by the time she came up in the process, they were stuck with her.

Really? When I was called for jury service, the layers declared their peremptories after they interviewed all the potential jurors.

Re:Getting the shaft?

[hedwards]

They do, however they also presumably get to have jurors dismissed for cause, and in this case that seems like about as blatant a cause as any. The reason why they get those for cause choices is so that they can have problem jurors removed, as in jurors that are more than just undesirable removed.

Re:Getting the shaft?

[Tassach]

You don't understand the mentality of straight-party-ticket voters.

It doesn't matter what THEIR guys do, only what the OTHER team's guys do. The attitude is, "Well, he might be a crook but he's OUR crook".

I've been involved in state politics. It's unbelievable. I've seen guys with FELONY FRAUD CONVICTIONS get re-nominated time and again for their state House of Representative seat because they have the weight of the local political machine behind them (and, presumably, because they've got dirt on somebody higher up).

It happens at the national level, too. The only thing that can come up with that explains Michael Steele's continued tenure at the helm of the GOP after strippergate and all the other scandals is that he's got the key to a closet full of skeletons.

Re:Getting the shaft?

[bhartman34]

There's a substantial difference between voting in a booth and voting on a jury. In a booth, no one can see how you vote. On a jury, the other jurors can go to the judge and say, "This woman isn't considering the evidence and isn't following the law." It takes a lot more chutzpah to do something that brazen.

Re:Getting the shaft?

[Moryath]

On a jury, the other jurors can go to the judge and say, "This woman isn't considering the evidence and isn't following the law." It takes a lot more chutzpah to do something that brazen.

Actually, short of getting into a major fistfight, it's very rare and difficult for anyone to get tossed off of a jury, even if there is an alternate still available. Most of the time it requires someone getting physically violent. Only in the most rare circumstances - a juror sits in the corner, states something that should have been enough to have them removed before trial began but which they failed to bring up when the Judge asked the standard "is there any other reason you feel you cannot render a fair verdict?" - can a judge remove the juror otherwise. So as odd as it sounds, as long as the juror who was deliberately there to rig the verdict for Blagojevich kept talking, there's nothing that could be done once she'd managed to slip into the jury.

Once you are down to 12 jurors, the judge doesn't have room to toss anyone - should a juror need to be removed (major illness req. hospitalization, physical violence, etc) the only other option is to declare a mistrial without reaching any verdict at all.

Re:Getting the shaft?

[DavidTC]

While I generally believe you, and I don't doubt that Steele knows some stuff, I suspect a better explanation for him is that Republicans have no idea how to cope with race.

For the longest time, the right has complained bout 'racial quotas' and stuff, and I though they were just ginning up anger, but they're serious.

They simply cannot judge people of other race based on their merits, on their skills, on, as MLKj put it, the content of their characters. They look at a black person and they don't see 'good leader' or 'bad leader', they see 'black person'. If they are forced to hire black people they will, indeed, select them randomly.

With Steele, they managed to do that to their boss, which is just outright hilarious.

Of course, it didn't help that the pool of black people willing to work for the Republicans was pretty low to start with.

I don't doubt that there are a lot of skeletons in various closets, but I suspect that they wouldn't let Micheal Steele have access to them that fast. (OTOH, he did apparently know about the lesbian strip club.)

Re:Getting the shaft?

[bhartman34]

Doesn't a juror who has his/her mind made up, regardless of the facts or arguments of the other jurors, constitute someone who's failing to deliberate?

I mean, maybe I'm being too idealistic here, but it shocks and saddens me that it's this easy to buy a verdict, and it kind of makes me wonder: If it really works this way, how does anyone, anywhere, ever get convicted, if their attorney has an IQ even slightly above room temperature?

Re:Getting the shaft?

[Jeff DeMaagd]

One thing I don't get is why people would pay $80 for a photo of him, other than maybe a press bureau. Is it because he's the hair model of the Lego minifigs?

Re:Getting the shaft?

[Rivalz]

While in the eyes of the law you are not guilty unless you have been convicted.
How many truly guilty people get convicted? It is completely different to prove someone's guilt.
The way I look at it is if they had a big enough jury and needed unanimous verdict I could get away with anything.

Re:Getting the shaft?

[Schadrach]

...because their client lacks "jury tampering" money?

Re:Getting the shaft?

[Jah-Wren Ryel]

Blago is your standard corrupt Chicago politician.

And what is so unique about Chicago versus, say DC with guys like Marion Barry or any other big city in the USA?

Re:Getting the shaft?

[bhartman34]

Yeah, but that just makes it worse, doesn't it? Not only are the guilty going free, but they're going free on the basis of their money, putting poorer clients at a disadvantage.

Blagojevich is the epitome of all the corruption in the political and legal systems. If he's convicted at retrial, I'd support the death penalty. For what he's done, I think he deserves it.

Re:Getting the shaft?

[khallow]

Really? When I was called for jury service, the layers declared their peremptories after they interviewed all the potential jurors.

Jury selection varies by state and probably depends a little on the resource constraints of the court as well. In California, I was on a jury for a murder case (the actual sentence could have scaled from self-defense/no crime through involuntary and voluntary manslaughter up to murder one without death penalty) and we were selected in batches of six.

Re:Getting the shaft?

[CronoCloud]

You don't think the downstaters are just as corrupt? George Ryan was from Kankakee and the Republicans downstate are just as much as a machine as the Democrats in Chicago are.

Re:Getting the shaft?

[ErikZ]

How in the world do you get from "Being forced to hire someone on the color of their skin" (aka Racial quotas) to "They simply cannot judge people of other races based on the content of their characters"?

That's a serious pretzel mind at work there.

Re:Getting the shaft?

[SethraLavode]

Not that I disagree with the overall sentiment, but it's funny that Chicagoans consider Kankakee to be "downstate".

Re:Getting the shaft?

[DavidTC]

What are you talking about? The second sentence there is why people are complaining about the first. If they're forced to hire black people, they'll end up with incompetent boobs. Because they can't look at a black person and see 'hard worker' or 'goof off' or 'smartass who I should hire but keep away from customers'...they see 'black person'.

The premise of my argument is that right has a lot of closet racists who cannot treat black people like people. They're aware they aren't supposed to treat them badly, and to be fair they don't, but there's a large difference between that and treating them like any other 'normal' people. Black people are, instead 'the other'.

Hence the complaints about racial quotes, where they have to judge the competency of black people. I mean, I'll be as reasonable as possible and assume that none of the complainers have any actual problem working with black people, but there's still the fact they're so 'different' that it's impossible to figure out anything about them, like if they'd be any good in their job...

'Oh, look, the president is black. He seems like a nice black person. We better hire one to make sure people don't think we're racists.'

It's Racism Lite. It's where people have become aware they are supposed to treat black people the same, and do that as much as they can, but can't really mentally manage it. Black people are still 'black people' instead of 'people'. So, if the law or the force of political pressure required you hiring a black person, you just grab a random one, like with Steele.

OTOH, maybe I'm crazy, and Steele was literally the only black person that applied for the leadership of the RNC, and they could judge him fine and knew he was totally incompetent, but hired him anyway. Which is less racist but rather more sad for the current state of the Republican party.

Re:Getting the shaft?

[DavidTC]

Dude, you do realize we were actually complaining about the job performance of a black person, right? And wondering how the hell he got in charge of the RNC.

You know, the guy who recently said Afghanistan is a war of Obama's choosing? Which is an...odd position for the head of the RNC to take.

If it wasn't something to do with race, then the Republicans are just simple idiots for hiring Steele.

Re:Getting the shaft?

[IHateEverybody]

Blago is your standard corrupt Chicago politician.

And what is so unique about Chicago versus, say DC with guys like Marion Barry or any other big city in the USA?

The fact that it's not DC or whichever city the poster of the parent came from. There are basically three kinds of political cynics: Those who are cynical about all politicians. Those who are cynical about all politicians but the guy they voted for last November. And those who are cynical about Chicago/Florida/DC/insert your least favorite town here.

Re:Getting the shaft?

[CronoCloud]

I'm from Downstate. Trust me, Downstaters don't consider Kankakee "Chicagoland" even if it "sort-of" is. The sooner downstaters come to terms with the fact that there are 5 million people in Cook County which means Chicago is the REAL capital of Illinois, the better.

Re:Getting the shaft?

[Tassach]

Steele is a career GOP Apparatchik. It's not like they just found some black guy who looks good in a suit at random. They found a black guy who looks good in a suit who had worked his way up party ranks and has held elected office.

Re:Getting the shaft?

[DavidTC]

Yeah, and if they'd just ran him for some office I'd understand. But he's in charge of the RNC, which is rather more important, tactically. It is not a job for an empty suit.

There really are only four options:

1) There are no other black people available, and they thought they really really needed one. which raises the question of where the other Republican black people have gotten to.

2) Whoever decides on the leadership of the RNC can't judge the competency of black people.

3) Whoever decides on the leadership of the RNC can't judge the competency of people at all.

4) Steele is a really good conman.

WTF?

[mfh]

I can't be the only one who is wondering what the fuck this guy is doing at a comic book gathering. Are comic books becoming circus acts and carnivals now?

My childhood is at risk here, fellas.

Re:WTF?

[skids]

He's a clown. It's is natural instinct to search out the nearest carnival-like environment. Preferably one with lots of rolling cameras.

Re:WTF?

[camg188]

His haircut is comical.

Re:WTF?

[tverbeek]

Wizard World conventions are carnivals. Avoid at all costs.

Comics columnist Rich Johnston was there, and asked The Blag about him being at a "comic con": whether it was because he saw a future for himself as a "comic" or as a "con". The Blag caught the joke, and laughed it off, apparently still certain of his own invulnerability.

Re:WTF?

[wakingrufus]

It's not enough he ruined my state, he has to ruin my comic-con now too...

Re:WTF?

[Bing Tsher E]

It's not enough he ruined my state,

He's a Democrat. What did you expect?

Re:WTF?

[mjwalshe]

yes why the hell didn't the organisers have him thrown out its a private event and having such a dodgy individual doesnt to much for the brand.

Re:WTF?

[MickyTheIdiot]

I was there. I am ever going to another Wizard World con. They are crap... the last time I went to Chicago Comic Con it was not a Wizard Con, and it was great...

It's no surprise they allowed him to be there. There was very little to do with Comics at this Comic Con, and the celebrities were a joke.

Re:WTF?

[CronoCloud]

Well, at least three Republicans had a hand in Illinois current financial troubles.

Thompson from Chicago itself: Overspending and starting the tradition of sending a HUGELY obscene amounts of money to loyal Republican districts and cronies, which led to

Edgar (Suburban republican), the lying stupid ass skinflint caretaker who was too much of a skinflint. Edgar was the guy who accused his Democratic opponents of being "tax and spenders" but who nevertheless never actually stated he'd never raise taxes, which he did...after the election. Everybody with any brain knew he was going to have to, but he got away with it. which led to:

Ryan (downstate republican), who spent way too much and funneled even more money downstate and to cronies, which led to:

Blago, who wanted to shuffle the money to where there were actually people, but really needed to raise taxes, but didn't want to do so because he would have been branded a "tax and spend Democrat".

You can also blame those Republican supporting CEO's who sold out our manufacturing base to the third world.

Re:WTF?

[tompaulco]

Which just goes to show that it doesn't matter what party they are in, anyone who gets high enough in politics in Illinois must certainly be corrupt and not trustworthy.
Anyone want to take a stab at what state Obama was from?

Re:WTF?

[CronoCloud]

Obama's of the Goo Goo (Good Government) school of Illinois politics, like the current governor, they try to keep the crap to the minimum necessary to get shit done. They're not perfect, but their hearts are in the right place. On his better days, Edgar would probably be considered a Goo Goo. Hell, Blago himself might have ended up one if he'd had more guts. Problem is, neither the Republican downstate/suburban machine or the Democrat machine likes goo goo's.

Re:WTF?

[ErikZ]

This as sad as the Democrats whining about only having a super-majority in Congress.

Chicago is so locked in for Democrats that Republicans don't even bother to show up to vote anymore.

It also shows why Illinois will have to be destroyed by their budget before they start to fix anything. The complete inability to take responsibility for anything.

Re:WTF?

[CronoCloud]

Edgar was from Charleston? I thought he was collar county. As for Kankakee, it's a bit of a toss up as to whether it should be considered a suburb or not. Bradley and Bourbonnais are, though they are a touch further south than Braidwood and Coal City on I-55 are, but Kankakee is iffy.

Blago and Entertainment

[Sponge Bath]

If Blagojevich wants to entertain, I say he and Tom DeLay should be dropped on a deserted island to fight to the death in a televised event. The survivor would get a comfy pillow in his jail cell and a coupon for a free McDonald's happy meal. Get your popcorn and get ready to rumble!

Re:Blago and Entertainment

[mr_mischief]

Nah. We should make it an all-convicted-governors bash. George Ryan, Rod Blagojevich, Dan Walker, and Otto Kerner (except Otto Kerner already died and so needs to be disqualified).

Corruption in Chicago area politics is nothing new, and it making its way into the governor's office is nothing new, either.

Re:Blago and Entertainment

[The Wild Norseman]

except Otto Kerner already died and so needs to be disqualified

Exactly. Now that he's dead, he's eligible to vote in Chicago's elections which would give unfair advantage to Blago.

Re:Blago and Entertainment

[mr_mischief]

Yeah, in eleven years he went from clean as a whistle to embezzling a million dollars from one of his businesses. He did at least despise Daley, which is a good thing.

Corruption threatens "soul and fabric" of U.S.

[hessian]

I don't believe Blagojevich was innocent. I think he was found not guilty. But he's not alone.

This article from 2009 illustrates what I mean:

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE5B74AI20091208

The USA is facing a silent wave of corruption, eroding our institutions from within. Normally, I'd disparage alarmist panic, but in this case, I think it's legitimate because it's rising along with the other symptoms of a nation decaying to third-world levels of disorganization:

* Oligarchy
* Corruption
* Debt
* Crime
* Urban decay

My man Plato/Socrates noted this cycle of decaying civilizations in Greece long ago: when they start going downhill, it's a path through third-world levels of disorganization and dysfunction that allows tyrants to take power.

Re:Corruption threatens "soul and fabric" of U.S.

[halowolf]

Well "Not guilty" and "Innocent" are 2 different legal terms that many people get confused over, as Judge Judy likes to point out.

Re:Corruption threatens "soul and fabric" of U.S.

[Wyatt Earp]

Is facing? Corruption, especially in Chicago and New York has been widespread for generations. Look up the Chicago Machine for example.

Crime in the US overall continues to fall 4-8% depending on the type.
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2010/0524/US-crime-rate-is-down-six-key-reasons

Excluding Detroit and New Orleans, what cities are suffering from urban decay?

National debt is up, but personal saving rates are up.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Savings-Rate-zacks-3817749700.html?x=0&.v=1

Re:Corruption threatens "soul and fabric" of U.S.

[mr_mischief]

He was not found not guilty. He was convicted on one of 24 counts and the jury deadlocked on 23 counts. A deadlocked jury doesn't count as an acquittal or a conviction, and he can (and most likely will) be retried on 23 counts.

Re:Corruption threatens "soul and fabric" of U.S.

[bsDaemon]

I heard on NPR that the judge declared a mistrial with regards to the remaining 23 accounts and has ordered a retrial. Of course, going into that with wide-spread public knowledge of the other conviction, plus constantly pulling stunts like this, isn't really going to help him. Although, I think the big question is, who would pay $80 to get their picture taken with this greasy douchebag?

Re:Corruption threatens "soul and fabric" of U.S.

[Sarten-X]

And yet, Greece is still there, and still enjoying a pretty decent quality of life overall.

In a few hundred years, I'd wager that America will still be here, still in decline. We were in decline when that crazy president freed all the slaves. We were in decline when the Communists were infiltrating our government and industries. We were in decline while jobs were outsourced overseas. Now we're in decline because politicians are corrupt.

Hyperbole aside, I think that what we're facing now is very similar to the McCarthy crusade. We see a few corrupt investors/politicians/executives, and start investigating others. As usually happens under increased scrutiny, more are found. The cycle continues until a new threat grabs the public attention, and all the while the media (and people talking to the media) claim that "America's values are eroding away!"

Are there more corrupt investors/politicians/executives than ever before? Probably. Is there a higher percentage? Probably not. Humans have a tendency to see the past as being superior, while forgetting that the past had its own troubles. As a species, we've screwed up a lot, and this is just another screw-up.

Re:Corruption threatens "soul and fabric" of U.S.

[ivan_w]

I was under the impression that for a correct application of common law and/or civil law, you were innocent until proven guilty..

So to me, "innocent" is true unless a "guilty" status is achieved. Therefore "Not Guilty" is a sufficient condition to name the defendant "innocent".

Of course, "not guilty" doesn't mean acquitted, so a retrial is possible without risking double jeopardy. (but he still has an "Innocent" status).

But IANAL of course.

--Ivan

Re:Corruption threatens "soul and fabric" of U.S.

[dkleinsc]

Who would pay $80 to get their picture taken with this greasy douchebag?

If they'd be able to get away with it, some guy with a cream pie to apply to Blago's face first.

Re:Corruption threatens "soul and fabric" of U.S.

[shma]

And from basic logic, not not guilty is the same thing as guilty. So logically, he must be guilty if he's not not guilty.

I rest my case.

Re:Corruption threatens "soul and fabric" of U.S.

[ivan_w]

Forget it..

Of course..

Not Guilty "Implies" Innocent
Innocent "Does NOT imply" Not Guilty

Duh !

--Ivan

Re:Corruption threatens "soul and fabric" of U.S.

[hedwards]

He wasn't found not guilty, the judge had to declare a mistrial on quite a few of the other counts, and he was convicted on one. He'll go to prison where he belongs, it's just a question of how many of the other charges stick for the next go round. Which likely will be a substantial number seeing as he won't have the funds for anything other than a public defender. Presumably that's what his appearance at the comic show was about.

Re:Corruption threatens "soul and fabric" of U.S.

[hedwards]

No, courts get 3 choices, guilty, not guilty and mistrial. Not guilty means that the jury decided that the prosecution didn't meet the legal requirements for a guilty verdict, it does not now nor has it ever been the same thing as innocent. Sure many, and hopefully most are innocent, but it just means that the evidence wasn't sufficiently compelling to warrant a guilty verdict.

Once you're found to be guilty, the focus of the courts turns to the proceedings as you're now legally guilty whether or not you really did anything wrong. Which can come back to bite you on the ass if you later want to serve in the military, even if you were ultimately cleared, they may still hold it against you.

Re:Corruption threatens "soul and fabric" of U.S.

[Jedi Alec]

He's a US politician. Offer him enough cash and he'll let you do anything you want with that cream pie...yes, yes, even the thing with the Sailor Moon costume.

Re:Corruption threatens "soul and fabric" of U.S.

[tverbeek]

I think he was found not guilty.

No, he was not found guilty.

To clarify with parentheses:
You said "found (not guilty)" which is incorrect.
I said "not (found guilty)" which is correct.

The hung jury/mistrial means his guilt on the 23 counts is currently indeterminate. Schrödinger's catbox has not been successfully opened.

Re:Corruption threatens "soul and fabric" of U.S.

[sco08y]

I heard on NPR that the judge declared a mistrial with regards to the remaining 23 accounts and has ordered a retrial. Of course, going into that with wide-spread public knowledge of the other conviction, plus constantly pulling stunts like this, isn't really going to help him. Although, I think the big question is, who would pay $80 to get their picture taken with this greasy douchebag?

If he was just a greasy douchebag, it'd be one thing, but he's also a real character. So is Roland Burris; I'd want my picture with both of them.

Re:Corruption threatens "soul and fabric" of U.S.

[NoOneInParticular]

Ah the law of the excluded middle rears its ugly head. No, according to this logic, this is not the case. What this means is that not having proof for one proposition, does not logically mean that you have a proof for its negation.

Your case is not rested. It might have taken a nap, but could still use some sleep.

Re:Is a party switch coming up?

[jimbolauski]

really? cause I can't remember a day where there wasn't some liberal politician crying about fox news.

Re:Is a party switch coming up?

[drinkypoo]

which generally isn't in the playbook of the party he ran under - although it is very much in the playbook of the other party.

What other party? Trying to draw a meaningful distinction between the lying democans and the lying republicrats is the joke.

Re:Is a party switch coming up?

[mr_mischief]

It's Chicago. It's one corrupt political machine vs. another corrupt political machine. The last governor of Illinois before Blagojevich served federal time for corruption himself and was a Republican.

Re:Is a party switch coming up?

[damn_registrars]

which generally isn't in the playbook of the party he ran under - although it is very much in the playbook of the other party.

What other party? Trying to draw a meaningful distinction between the lying democans and the lying republicrats is the joke.

While the political platforms of the two parties have reached a point of being nearly interchangeable, the tactics still have a slight distinction.

chutzpah

[Shivetya]

Something that seems to be too prevalent among politicians today, both locally and nationally. He is displaying nothing less than many of those in Congress or White House (as in certain Chairmen who were would have been in jail concerning their IRS problems if they were mere "voters). No, its the problem of the political class, they feel immune because they control the laws and worse they have enough lackeys among large organizations that get out the word. Hell, look at the even more recent Countrywide revelations, sweetheart deals all the way.

Vote Democratic or Republican and you get what you deserve, as soon as people start to realize both sides are equally bad and there is no such thing as voting for the lesser of two evils we might get somewhere.

Re:chutzpah

[Mitchell314]

This is why we should vote for the greater evil. True villains don't have the time to waste on petty scandals.

He belongs there!

[AnonymousClown]

See, he's sitting in the Batmobile.

Now, look at his name "Blagojevich".

Remove the vowels...."Blgjvch"

And....TA DA! Batman villain! He's incognito, though. When he's in his villain mode, he wears a brightly colored suit with skin tight pants with both political party's symbols all over it.

There's many more like him. And there's another political villain called "Three face" - he's a Conservative, then a Liberal, and then a Centrist.

They're out there and only Batman can save us!

Re:He belongs there!

[hedwards]

Damn, if only Adam We weren't so busy trying to figure out who was stealing his water.

he's delusional

[sribe]

It's a powerful insight into his personality that he keeps using the word "vindicate" to describe 11/12 people voting to convict, with the 12th not quite convinced the prosecution proved the case. Also, that he claims that he is certain that a second trial will exonerate him, in other words he expects to improve from 1/12 to 12/12 by re-telling the same story in a slightly different way, and that he will then return to politics and run for office again.

Re:Robin

[lorg]

Don't people like him get sent to "Club Fed" and not your standard drop the soap prison.

Zombie constituents

[Dogtanian]

Blago is your standard corrupt Chicago politician. Remember, this is same the city where the dead rise to vote on a yearly basis.

They should put up a candidate with the surname "Brain" then. Or "Brainsssssss". He'd win a landslide....

Well, assuming he didn't get his.... well, brains eaten, that is.

Re:Zombie constituents

[fizzup]

They should put up a candidate with the surname "Brain" then. Or "Brainsssssss". He'd win a landslide....

Well, assuming he didn't get his.... well, brains eaten, that is.

I don't think that would be an impediment to victory...

Re:Zombie constituents

[darthdavid]

Hell, considering we spent 8 years with Chimpus Caesar as our leader a lack of brains could well pave the path for a presidential run...

Re:Zombie constituents

[Moryath]

I'm confused.

Are you referring to Bush or to Clinton?

Re:Zombie constituents

[darthdavid]

Bush the Lesser. Clinton was mediocre. W's dad was shitty. Regain was a disaster. Carter was a disaster for completely different reasons. Obama's been a disappointment. It's been a while since we've had a halfway decent president....

Re:Zombie constituents

[darthdavid]

Goddamn spell check. Regain. lol...

He didn't do anything that the rest of them don't

[moxley]

The guy may be slimy, but what he did is business as usual in American politics - particularly in Chicago.....

He pissed somebody off or stepped on some toes and THAT is why he's being prosecuted - then, rather than lying down, which would have resulted in lesser charges or some sort of deal, he told the powers that did this to him to "fuck off" and grandstanded, which they really didn't like, so they're going after him....

I would say "that's American politics in 2010" for you, but I'd imagine there are plenty of other countries where this sort of shit goes on too....Apparently Finland and Norway and Sweden are the places to live if you want relatively uncorrupted politicians...(though I suspect there must be some corruption there).....

Re:Is a party switch coming up?

[Cwix]

fox news doesnt count as "the media" its more along the lines of entertainment a la the onion

http://www.theonion.com/

"loyal supporters"

[Culture20]

People are paying $80 a photo to get a joke photo. Something they can show a friend and say "look, blag showed up atcomic con. What a desperate loser." and that coming from comic con goers is mighty damning.

Re:Is a party switch coming up?

[Anonymous Coward]

I dunno, there does seem to be a real difference:

Democrats lie during the process, bringing in dead voters and tampering with elections, voter intimidation, and whatnot, then carry out the Democratic agenda when they get into office.

Republicans lie about their intentions, getting elected on the false pretense that they're for smaller governemnent, and whatnot, then carry out the Democratic agenda when they get into office....

Does Blago feel guilty?

[elucido]

Oh, you're gonna know something about getting the shaft, all right. The shaft, head, balls, the whole thing. Blag is unbelievable. He's guilty as sin and everyone but him seems to know it.

The real question is whether or not he is capable of feeling guilt.

With almost universal knowledge

[Quila]

That Chicago politicians are usually corrupt, how the hell did we elect a Chicago politician as president?

Re:With almost universal knowledge

[tverbeek]

Airlifting Obama out of Chicagoland to Washington was a rescue mission.

Re:With almost universal knowledge

[Bing Tsher E]

Well, it was an attempt at a rescue mission, but Chicago is still in deep shit.

The machine has deep roots, and excising one crook, albeit to put him in a 'higher office' doesn't change that.

Re:With almost universal knowledge

[mr_mischief]

Well, it all started with Jack Ryan (no relation to George Ryan, the disgraced and convicted former governor). You see, Jack was running for US Senate from Illinois.

You see, Jack Ryan used to be married to the actress Jeri Ryan. They got divorced. Their divorce papers were sealed by the courts because Jack was kinky in certain ways Jeri didn't necessarily like. Jeri had cheated on Jack with one of the production team for the series Star Trek: Voyager on which she was a regular. While that all was relevant to the divorce, it really didn't need to be embarrassing public knowledge. All parties involved agreed, husband, wife, and the court.

When Jack Ryan was running for senator, the Democratic Party decided they didn't have much chance to win the seat. They had this young guy Barack Obama who had barely served much time in the state General Assembly. Jack Ryan was a former Goldman Sachs finance guy who left that high-paying career to teach history and English at a Catholic high school. Jack graduated from Dartmouth summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, then went on to get both his JD and his MBA from Harvard. He was a Republican running to replace the popular Republican incumbent Peter Fitzgerald who had decided not to run.

So, the Chicago Democratic machine started turning. The LA Times, the big-name paper in the movie capital where Jack and Jeri got divorced (LA County Superior Court) is owned by the Tribune Company, based in Chicago with a flagship paper called the Chicago Tribune. The Democrats decided suddenly that sealed documents about a divorce in 1999 were suddenly very relevant to the senatorial race for the election of 2004. They sued to get the documents unsealed, and published private facts about the couple's breakup as front-page news.

After 18 months of suit, the same judge who had ordered the documents sealed opened them to the public. Both he and former wife Jeri gave public statements that the allegations made against him in the previously sealed documents held no bearing on his abilities as a father or as a Senator. Jack denied the allegations altogether and said they were merely foul play by his wife's legal team to win custody of their son.

Jack eventually pulled out of the Senate race in June 2004, with the election less than five months away. Alan Keyes, who would have to move into Illinois from out of state if he had won, replaced Jack on the ballot. Obama won his senate seat basically by default.

Then, this young, "popular" US Senator who had supposedly overcome age and experience to get his seat was pushed forward as a dark-horse candidate by portions of the Democratic party to run for President. America loves an underdog, but somehow doesn't always back one. Obama and his team somehow got past Clinton and then McCain and the parodies of Palin despite never serving a full term in the US Senate.

So that's how you got a Chicago machine President. Happy politics, America.

Re:With almost universal knowledge

[Elbereth]

So, all those people who supported Barrack Obama since 2000 don't count? And all the people who voted for him in the primary don't count? And so on.

You can say the same thing about any politician. Ronald Reagan was a Hollywood Halfwit, but none of the Republicans ever mention that. It's easy to criticize and ridicule any politician. It's not like you have some special insight into the candidacy and election of Barrack Obama.

No politician is ever as good or bad as the ideologues allege.

Re:With almost universal knowledge

[CronoCloud]

Oh please, Fitzgerald decided not to run because ANY democrat would have kicked his ass. He got lucky in facing Mosley-Braun. He won because of collar county racism and downstate racism, but that couldn't last, and he knew it. Also the Republican establishment didn't like Fitzgerald at all, he wasn't popular with them or voters, no the way Alan J Dixon was. The Fitzgerald seat had been held by a Democrat since 1970! It was going to go to a Democrat and everyone knew it.

And as for Jack Ryan, Obama was leading him in the polls BEFORE all that mess came out in the media. He had 0 chance of winning in 2008, whether against Obama or Dan Hynes. You do remember that 2004 speech Obama made at the Democratic National Convention. I watched it and said out loud to the rest of the family: He's going to be president someday", however I expected that to happen in 2012 or 2016.

Re:With almost universal knowledge

[mr_mischief]

Ronald Reagan was president of a nationwide labor guild before he was ever governor of California, and governor is more executive experience than Obama ever had before he was in the White House.

I'd like to see your numbers for who supported Barack Obama since 2000. As I recall things, he was barely known outside of Illinois until about 2006.

Who exactly did vote for him in the primary? The Democrats who listened to the same corrupt party machine that got him elected to the US Senate in the first place? These are the same people who got Blagojevich elected to the governor's mansion -- oops, he never stayed in the governor's mansion, instead bilking the taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars in commuting costs from Chicago to Springfield. They're the same people who back Roland Burris.

Honestly, if you knew anything about Illinois you'd know that nobody trusts a Chicago politician, not even other Chicago politicians. Michael Madigan and Radomich Blagojevich hardly spoke while Madigan was Speaker of the Illinois House (and state party chair) and Blagojevich was Governor, and refused to even meet with one another to discuss budgets.

Re:With almost universal knowledge

[mr_mischief]

Yeah, I guess Jesse White really suffers from his massive popularity because of "downstate racism". For that matter, you know Alexi Giannoulias and Rod Blagojevich aren't exactly WASPs, right? And if "downstate racism" is such a problem, how did Barack Obama fair so well in the Senate race? You say he would have won either way... Oh, and I guess you're next going to say it's all Republicans that are racist, what with Alan Keyes being the replacement candidate and all. Please. Stop your bigotry calling everyone else but you a bigot.

Re:With almost universal knowledge

[CronoCloud]

Sure, I know about Jesse White, but he didn't do things to remind the voters he's african-american like Moseley-Braun did. No trips to Africa for him. Moseley-Braun's problem was that after wining her Senate seat she came across to downstaters as "too black" and too focused on the needs of "North of I-80". She actually won Livingston county in 92! And as far as Blago and Giannoulias, there are Italians and Poles downstate, and ethnicity other than race, doesn't count for as much.

Also it's been a decade since Jesse White became Secretary of State and things change. For example, in 1998 the idea of an African American getting nominated for President by either party was unthinkable. The Republicans would have NEVER nominated Powell, and the Democrats thought they HAD to have a Southerner. By 2004, Illinois was even more "Blue" than it was in 1998. As I have said, no Republican could have won that seat, and anyonw who knows Illinois knew it.

As for Keyes, he was drafted by the party leaders after others they asked (including Mike Ditka) declined.

I don't believe that all Republicans are bigoted assholes, only some of them. I do believe that the Republican party is soft on bigotry and tolerates it in the party to a certain extent, because they know that those who are bigoted tend to vote republican and they NEED those votes. They can't win elections with just the Country Club Republican vote, there simply aren't enough of them. The "Southern Strategy" exists for a reason.

Re:With almost universal knowledge

[SethraLavode]

Never mind the fact that the Chicago Tribune has always been one of the flagship conservative newspapers in the nation.

Re:With almost universal knowledge

[mr_mischief]

There are blacks downstate, too. I guess you've never been to Springfield, Decatur, Peoria, East St. Louis, the Quad Cities, or anywhere else outside the collar counties to say such a thing.

As for the "North of I-80" issue, politicians thinking only of the northeastern corner of the state really is a problem. More than half the population of the state lives outside the Chicago and suburban Chicago areas. We deserve to benefit from our own taxes for schools, arts, and transportation just as much as the huge conglomeration on the lake.

Re:Is a party switch coming up?

[hedwards]

Rupert Murdoch just made a huge donation to the Republican party to elect Republican candidates in gubernatorial races. He's also an individual who's been known to bribe the odd politician here and there. When he purchased his American media holdings, he wasn't at the time legally allowed to do it due to a ban on foreign ownership of the media. A suspiciously large book advance to Newt Gingrich and a bit latter he's legally owning a media conglomerate. And since then his "news" organization has been overtly advocating for conservative candidates, which is an absolute no-no for a news organization to do.

Re:Is a party switch coming up?

[hedwards]

Um, the Republicans are fascists and the Democrats are centrists. You can't have the kind of seriously polarized political environment if both sides are completely identical.

What did it cost?

[arctan1701]

What did it cost to punch Blago in the face?

Re:What did it cost?

[gman003]

Depends who's on your jury.

I'm ashamed

[roc97007]

...to be associated with any comics con attendees who paid $80 for a photo of Blago. Just ashamed.

Re:He didn't do anything that the rest of them don

[ravenshrike]

You forgot New Jersey.

Comic-con seems appropriate...

[jd2112]

Since he's an example of a real-life supervillan.

I'm going to sell Barack Obama's Senate seat to the highest bidder! Buahahaha!

Re:He didn't do anything that the rest of them don

[yyxx]

And it's high time that "business as usual" get cleaned up.

(Besides, his hair alone should get him convicted.)

III, lll, IlI, or lIl?

[HalAtWork]

Is it III, lll, IlI, or lIl? I can't really tell without changing the font...

Blago needs no makeup

[twoears]

He doesn't need any makeup to make himself look like a clown. From the beginning he has projected himself as the joker he is, a wannabe Jerry Springer. For somebody who admitted after the trial that he talks too much, he sure talks too much. It can't be too soon for his cellmate Bubba to give him the shaft.

Re:Is a party switch coming up?

[PaulBu]

"seriously polarized political environment"? Really? Which just happens to be split right at the middle, 50/50, with statistical fluctuations deciding which side will be in power for the next 4 years, do you think this is not intentional? With "major" proclaimed policy differences between two sides boiling down to things like abortion, gun rights, gay marriage -- topics very emotional and relevant to tiny percentage of voters, but blown out of proportion.

Why not discuss monetary policy? Imperialism? War overseas? Hey, distinguish yourself by denouncing internal "Wars" (drugs, terror, etc.).

No, it is basically down to abortion vs. gun rights, make your pick, and do not ask any deeper questions.

Paul B.

Re:Robin

[Bing Tsher E]

Just about anybody who isn't a violent scum lumpen-criminal who is convicted at the Federal level gets sent to a pretty nice prison. I know someone who is a tax evader, on a fairly high level, but he's just a regular guy in most respects, an 'up from the working class' sort who frames houses for a living. He's at a minimum security prison now. He's a regular churchgoer, active in his community, etc. He doesn't do drugs, and he isn't part of an inner-city underclass.

We need a lot more airlifts to rescue Chicago

[Quila]

That's only getting one corrupt politician out of Chicago. That doesn't do much to rescue Chicago. Need to get the rest.

But then you saddle the rest of the country with corrupt Chicago politicians by bringing them to Washington. Not very nice.

What a fucking douche bag.

[Charcharodon]

If it walks like a douche bag, and talks like a douche bag, and has a douche bag's haircut...it must be a............?

Re:What a fucking douche bag.

[roc97007]

Donald Trump?

A computer illiterate too.

[antdude]

In the last season of Celebrity Apprentice, he didn't even know how to type, use a MacBook, and Office! But then I am not surprised by these types of people. Heh. You can see the embedded video clip on here (probably only works for American locations).

Perfect villain

[unity100]

In perfect setting.

3-5 years maybe less if you take a deal

[Joe The Dragon]

3-5 years maybe less if you take a deal

that was for show!

[Joe The Dragon]

that was for show!

Re:that was for show!

[antdude]

So did he really not know how to type and use a computer, or not? We obviously see him use a cellular/cell phone just fine.

Adam West, eh?

[denebeim]

I guess he was there to see if Batman could hook him up with the joker for hair styling tips.

I do wonder though how much he'd charge for a photo of him tied up in a chair by batman.

NWA's Chinese animation of him.

[antdude]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3n9ng5h2Nuk -- "Ex-Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich lost his job for suspected corruption. But at his trial, the jury could not reach consensus on whether he tried to sell Barack Obama's old senate seat. As a result of the hung jury, the judge declared a mistrial. However, Blago was found guilty on one count of lying to the FBI. The prosecutors are planning to re-try the case as soon as possible. In the meantime, Blago is declaring victory."

Seconded -- I was there too

[JimTheta]

I was at the show too, and I assert the parent AC's post was accurate regarding the Blago-booing. They made three different announcements regarding the start of his signing, and every one of them was greeted by a steady hum of boos on the floor.

Re:Seconded -- I was there too

[MickyTheIdiot]

I was there too. The booing was the best moment of what I thought was a rather lackluster con.

Re:Is a party switch coming up?

[MickyTheIdiot]

The Onion has a lot more accurate information.

PAYING for autographs and photos?

[trawg]

I'm sorry, what? I cannot imagine anywhere here in Australia ever willingly handing over money to a politician for a photo or an autograph. Is that a normal thing for an American politician to do?

I can understand people paying actors, celebs, writers, artists etc at a ComicCon for that sort of thing. I personally wouldn't do it (and I say that as a pretty avid comic fan), but I can understand why people would. But politicians?

Re:PAYING for autographs and photos?

[Higaran]

Yes, I agree with you, but he's not really a politician any more, he's trying to be a celebrity now. You see in the US celebrities rarely get convicted of anything, and if they do, the the barely go to jail for hours most of the time. It's all for show, like on the last day of the trial, he brought his kids to court, that was the only time his kids came, right before the jury got to start talking about his fate. The guy is a career politician, he knows all the tricks, that's why he did celebrity apprentice, and his wife did I'm a celebrity get me out of here. When people see you on a somewhat regular basis and can connect you as a person, then there is less of a chance they will convice you. As for the $80 a picture, the guy is broke, his last trial cost him what like probably like $20 million by his lawyers and, and now he has got to go through another one. I believe that his wife acutally has a job, and I'm sure that their house is paid off, other wise I'm sure it would have been in forclosure already, this guys hasn't been working for almost 2 years, pretty soon he'll be so desperate he'll be taking pics with people, just for buying him lunch at mcdonalds or something. As for his guilt, I don't think he is guilty, that's not to say I don't think he did anything wrong. He did alot of things wrong, but that is just how politics works in our state, you can't get the janitor to resupply the toilet paper in the washroom with out having to hire his wife as your new maid. Nothing happes around here with out at least a dozen back room deals first.

Re:Is a party switch coming up?

[MickyTheIdiot]

You might be correct about the side issues... and we're mostly talking about side issues by design.

Both "sides" a corporatists. The law and the courts are taking the corporate side on all the REAL major issues. There is no one in power in government that is taking a side against the corporatists.

What a fucking asshole!

[Chas]

Sorry, I'm from Illinois. Specifically the Chicagoland area.

This assmunch did jack shit for people during the time he was in office.
About his greatest achievement was bringing in campaign dollars for himself like they were going out of style.

And, even for an Illinois politician (for whom corruption isn't just a word, it's a lifestyle) ex-governor Haircut was just completely beyond the pale.

Yeah, he'll probably get shipped to some country club prison (like other former government officials). But this guy doesn't deserve to be walking the streets.

Re:He didn't do anything that the rest of them don

[ErikZ]

He made Obama look bad.

If he's selling the seat to the highest bidder, does that mean that's how Obama got it in the first place?

Blago got booed a lot

[karchie]

I was there and the whole day was unpleasant due to the insane crowds drawn by a chance to see Shatner and company. However, whenever the PA announced the ex-Governor Rod was signing, you could hear thousands of people booing. I saw people taking pictures, but almost none going up to see him. I doubt he made much money.

Re:He didn't do anything that the rest of them don

[moxley]

Quite true...Strip malls, boardwalks, pine barrens, marshes, suburbs, golf courses.....and corruption out the ass.

Re:Is a party switch coming up?

[damn_registrars]

really? cause I can't remember a day where there wasn't some liberal politician crying about fox news.

There is a significant difference between individual politicians complaining about one biased network and basing a party platform around the concept of "vast liberal media conspiracies".

Re:Is a party switch coming up?

[Cwix]

Excellent point, I offer my apologies to The Onion for comparing them to fox news.