By Steve Rhodes
More tales from the front, from both pols and pundits, culled from various sources and reports.
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Best Blago Reaction Quote Ever: Edwin Eisendrath
“If we find him guilty, it’s an embarrassment. If we don’t, it’s an embarrassment. We found a way to do both.”
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Lamest Attempt To Politically Exploit The Verdict: Alexi Giannoulias
“Today, the jury found Rod Blagojevich guilty for lying, and on November 2nd, the voters of Illinois will reject Mark Kirk for lying. The people of Illinois deserve leaders they can trust.”
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Lamest Reaction To The Lamest Attempt To Politically Exploit The Verdict: Illinois Republican Party Chairman Pat Brady
“I fully support U.S. Attorney Fitzgerald’s decision to seek a retrial of Rod Blagojevich. Let’s be clear, Rod Blagojevich isn’t concerned about the use of taxpayer money; he is concerned about the use of Rod Blagojevich’s money to mount another high-priced defense.
“Well, Rod should be worried. With Broadway Bank closed, I’m not really sure where he’s going to find a bank willing to loan millions to a convicted felon.”
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Most Unexpected But Welcome Piece Of Editorial Page Rhetoric: The SouthtownStar
“[Blagojevich] is a scumbag, unfit to lead a dog pound let alone a state.”
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Worst Commentary By A Movie Reviewer: Richard Roeper
“There was no ‘smoking gun.’ No envelope stuffed with cash. No Swiss bank account bulging with an eye-popping number. None of that type of stuff you see in the movies or on TV.”
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Worst Boy Scout Rhetoric By A Phony Egotist: Pat Quinn
“Another former governor was convicted of a felony by a jury of 12 men and women good and true.”
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Best Argument For A Retrial (Tied): Tribune editorial page
The government’s accusations of racketeering and conspiracy are too serious to go unresolved. We trust that another jury will tell the people of Illinois whether the state’s only impeached and ousted governor is guilty or innocent of more than one felony.”
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Best Argument For A Retrial (Tied): The Springfield State Journal-Register
“If it costs each of Illinois’ 12.9 million residents a couple of bucks to get conclusive verdicts on the most serious charges against their former governor, a retrial will be the best use of taxpayer dollars this state has seen in some time . . .
“We believe the remaining charges against Blagojevich describe corruption and disregard for the duties of office so serious and so blatant that they must be addressed conclusively by a jury.”
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More Worst Boy Scout Rhetoric By A Phony Egotist: Pat Quinn
“I think the people of Illinois know they have the first honest governor in a long time . . . I think the people of Illinois are good and true . . . They know they have a governor who fights for honesty every day of my life.”
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Worst Commentary By An Editorial Board Obviously Not Paying Attention To The Evidence, The Law Or The Deliberations: The Sun-Times
“Fitzgerald’s problem was that Blagojevich may have broken laws, but he never reaped much from all that dark-of-night sowing – no sweet job, no big campaign contributions. About all he managed to cultivate was a no-show job for his wife, Patti . . . it’s hard to fault a juror who was looking for a little more ill-gotten gain by the ex-gov. A cash payoff, perhaps, or a George Ryan-style free Jamaican vacation.”
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Best Column By Far: Phil Kadner
“[The Adams’] have used the news media masterfully, hoping jurors would read about the case or watch the TV news, despite the judge’s order not to do so.
“I don’t believe there ever was a real disagreement between father and son over whether to put the former governor on the witness stand. And I believe they advised their client to bring his two daughters into the courtroom in hopes that a juror would sympathize with the man.
“Without a shred of evidence to prove that their client was innocent, they used everything else they could to try to win their case and deadlock the jury.
“But make no mistake about this: Blagojevich is not a victim here. He does not deserve public sympathy.
“Just about everyone who came in contact with the man – deputy governors, chiefs of staff, fundraisers, his best friend – have been convicted or pleaded guilty to criminal charges of corruption. One of these men committed suicide.”
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Most Ignorant Column By Those Whose Hindsight Isn’t Much Better Than Their Foresight: Mary Mitchell
To tell you the truth, the feds lost me when they wanted to take Rod Blagojevich’s house.
That’s pretty low.
I don’t have a problem with the feds seizing the homes of drug dealers and mobsters, but the federal case against the impeached governor never rose to the level of that kind of racketeering.
Unless Blagojevich managed to sneak his ill-gotten gains out of the country, there were no ill-gotten gains to speak of.
So why take the man’s house?
That just seemed like overkill.
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Lamest Attempt By Blago’s Favorite Patsy To Take Credit For An Obvious Prediction: Michael Sneed
“Wow! As Sneed reported Aug. 13 . . .’It’s a safe bet: The feds will retry Blago on every charge where the jury winds up being permanently deadlocked.'”
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Biggest Oops By A Good Government Advocate Confusing A Hung Jury With An Acquittal: Andy Shaw
“He and his cabal of thugs hijacked our government. It was disgraceful and reprehensible. But, at least to these 12 jurors, not illegal.”
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Representative Ridiculous Conspiracy Tweet/Joke: The Nation
“@thenation Ironic Patrick Fitzgerald did a better job covering up for Karl Rove, than he did convicting Blago..!”
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Worst Commentary By A Columnist Who Must Have Just Awoken From A Five-Year Slumber And Maybe Ought To Stick To Poems And The Weather: Mary Schmich
“Money wasn’t shown to change hands. Explicit deals weren’t caught on wiretap. The former allies who testified for the prosecution could be suspected of selfish motives. Key players never took the stand.
“It’s hardly a surprise then that at least one juror – and I’d bet more – added up those insufficiencies and couldn’t find him guilty.
“I wouldn’t have voted to convict . . .
“The state legislature impeached Blagojevich on the fuel of Fitzgerald’s fury. Consensus was born in the time that it takes to say ‘mob.’
“It became fashionable to speak about Blagojevich as if he were evil on a par with a genocidal dictator.”
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Worst Crowing By A Dubious Source That Continues To Mangle The Facts And Act The Fool: NBCChicago.com’s Ward Room
As Rich Miller of The Capitol Fax Blog wrote, there’s so much wrong with this it’s hard to know where to start. I’ll leave this one up to you, dear readers.
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See also:
* The [Wednesday] Papers: Blago pundits dream up every possible theory except the obvious one: It was a terrible jury and they simply got it wrong.
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Comments welcome.
Posted on August 19, 2010