A GAME SHOW

The former Illinois governor, Rod Blagojevich, recently asked a federal judge for permission to leave the United States to go to Costa Rica to participate in an NBC celebrity game show. The ex-governor, who blew rasberries at the Illinois General Assembly during his impeachment “trial” until he went to closing argument stage and wagged his finger at each state senator about casting the first stone. Well, he was stoned out of office quicker than a biblical phrase. But Blaggo's self-centered personality disorder was on full hubris in the federal courtroom. First, is he a celebrity? No, he is a defendant in a public corruption trial. Second, is he a viable contestant in a game show? No, he is a defendant in a public corruption trial. Third, was he going to be paid $60,000 per episode? If true, no wonder network television is so bad.

It was an easy call for the judge to make. Two words (never mentioned by the lawyers or press): no extradiction. Costa Rica is one of those countries which does not deport criminals back to the United States to stand trial. It is a typical banana republic state where some money power brokers have found vacation homes in Central America. Rep. Rangel in Congress failed to report income on his Costa Rican villa . . . why is a representative of New York owning property in a country with no extradiction treaty??!!

Maybe we are just as dilusional as Blaggo if we thought he was just doing it for the money. If the criminal compalint states anything clearly, it is that Blaggo was always about the money. How to make as much money as fast as possible. So if a network exec wants to drop 60 large on a disgraced politician like Hot Rod, he thinks give me more.

But prosecutors have clearly said the indictment has added more years to a possible 25 to 30 year sentence. Blaggo does not seem to comprehend the gravity of the situation, as the judge speculated when he denied the request to leave the United States for Costa Rica. Blaggo believes he has never done anything wrong. But that defense has been proposed for decades by other fallen Illinois politicians . . . “it's just politics,” they said, on their way to their sentencing hearing.

We strongly thought that someone in the madness of Blaggo's mind, if he would have gone to Costa Rica, he would never come back to the United States. He would proclaim his innocence, and decry the federal government for taking all his money so he could not hire quality lawyers to defend him in court. He would say that the United States government has exiled him to Central America because he could never get a fair trial. He would shed a tear about leaving his family, friends and reputation behind. It would all make a Hollywood speechwriter's climax to his autobiography he is allegedly writing with his public relations firm. He would be able to claim he was the victim in this entire affair.

It would also be the only way Blaggo would not “talk” about the other folk involved in his alleged schemes. He grew up in the Machine politics of Chicago. He must know where the skeletons are buried; and maybe some other Illinois power brokers are worried about whether he will cut a deal and squeal like a pig for a lighter sentence. Blaggo does not seem the pretty boy type that would do well in a federal prison. Maybe some of his silent friends would give him some cash to start a new, quiet, life in a banana republic.

In Costa Rica, the local currency gives one about an 800 fold increase in buying power than that of the United States dollar . . . so depending if you believe Blagojevich saved no money from his alleged ill gotten gains, he could live like a prince that he could not do in Chicago.

He could start his new life as a tenant in Rangel's villa. He could squeeze all the morning and gossip show speaking fees for a while; but then out-of-sight, out-of-mind tunnel vision of the modern media would put his story into the archives. So in the end, the concept of leaving the United States for a game show could have easily been a ruse to get Blagojevich out of the country and be put in the reverse witness protection program. It would have been right out of a bad police drama script from a network television show.

Illinois Democrats are still in control of the State. They still control the General Assembly, the Governorship, the state treasury, Cook County and city hall in Chicago. The corruption stories did not rattle enough voters to get municipal elections to toss out many incumbents. Nonpartisan insiders continue their influence, because business is still business in state and local contracts. Money raisers, money bundlers, and state board appointees controlled a vase array of unreported, unbidded state service contracts. The usual scam was to guarantee an award of a contract to a friend in exchange for a kick back. Direct kickbacks of cash have been sophisticatedly removed to the more indirect forms of compensation: jobs for family members, campaign donations, fundraising events, trips, vacations, and gifts. A recent newspaper story lamented that this is just the way it is, so get used to it. It has been so institutionalized that it will never change.

Blagojevich will never change his attitude. He has two years before his trial begins to contemplate the gravity of the current situation. Maybe he will realize that the federal indictment is a game show for his life.

skirealnews.com

Opinion, Commentary, Editorial Cartoons by Ski.

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