Give Rod Blagojevich a Fair Trial

America loves a political scoundrel. And we've seen a lot of them.

James Michael Curley ruled Boston as Mayor, from his prison cell. Wilbur Mills had his Ways and Means with stripper Fannie Fox. And James Traficant chanted "Beam me up, Mr. Speaker" - all the way to federal prison.

But we've never seen anyone quite like Rod Blagojevich.

On the day his impeachment trial got underway in the Illinois State Senate, Blago was in New York, making his case on national television. On "Today," "Good Morning America," "CBS Morning News," and "The View," he not only proclaimed his innocence, he compared himself to Jimmy Stewart, Gary Cooper, Mother Theresa, Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, and Gandhi. Only humility, I guess, prevented Blagojevich from comparing himself to Jesus Christ.

But, for all his brazen self-promotion, this must be said: Blagojevich has not yet been convicted of any crime. No doubt, he will be impeached by the Illinois State Legislature this week, without being allowed to respond to any of the charges made so publicly by U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald. In other words, he will be impeached not because he's guilty, but because he's unpopular.

And that's not fair, not even for Rod Blagojevich.

He may be a scoundrel, but until he's actually found guilty of committing a crime, Blago should be allowed to remain in office.

Comments

[person]

Illinois' constitutional impeachment standard does not require conviction of "high crimes and misdemeanors" like the U.S. Constitution. There need be no crime. Given that it seems rather silly to suggest that he must be found guilty of committing a crime before he is removed.

Also, as others have pointed out, Blagojevich is simply not telling the truth when he says that he is not being allowed to call witnesses or mount a defense.

I am not sure if the media members are not doing their homework when they allow him to make that claim, or what is happening.

To me, as an Illinois resident, it seems goofy that the N.Y. crowd would be interviewing him in the first place. And then to let him tell his heroic tale about his single handed fight to save Illinois from the people of his own party. Please... Make it stop...

[Daniel Plainview]

Please don't be fooled by Governor Blagojevich's red herrings. Impeachment is a political process and is part of the system of checks and balances the federal government and most states have set up. Because of this executives do not need to be "convicted" of anything to be ousted from office. If a state legislature dominated by Democrats ends up kicking him out of office I am quite certain that the result will be fair.

Lastly, I (a former resident of Illinois) should point out that the reason why Governor Blagojevich is so unpopular is that one needs only to open his or her eyes to see the pervasive corruption that has existed under his administration. He is not the victim here--the people of Illinois are the victims.

[Evan Coonrod]

One of the reasons he's refused to appear at the trial is his claim that he's unable to call witnesses. This is completely untrue, he simply never filed the paperwork required. Blagojevich actually has several avenues of legal recourse that he hasn't gone down because he prefers to play the victim.

http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2009/01/26/blago-can-call-witnesses-even-if-he-complains-he-can%E2%80%99t/

He's basically given up hope at this point, preferring instead to appear on Access Hollywood and The View.

[Peter007]

Sentence first than the trial. Thats only logical.

[LeftRight]

This is not a sentence. If the IL state Senate finds him guilty of impeachable offenses, then they will remove him from office. That's a trial followed by a sentence.

And in the case of CRIMINAL charges, he will have a trial on THOSE as well, once the govt gets all the evidence together and the judge sets a date. If he is convicted in THAT trial then he will get a DIFFERENT sentence.

Now then, I do happen to think that the General Assembly in IL is not properly considering the evidence, and I think that they will convict him in the Senate whether the evidence is there or not, but it's NOT a case of him being sentenced before his trial!!

[looseheadprop]

Impeachment is a politcal process, not a criminal process.
An office holder does nt have to committ or be convicted of a crime to be impeached or merit impeachment.

There is no reason for Gov. Blagojevish to defend against his criminal case in the state senate trial. To drag those chargew into the senate trial would be an attempt to taint the evidence for his future criminal trial (see Oliver North) and cause a future mis-trial.

This is a bait and switch tactic by Blagojevich. You cna't blame a desperate man for trying every trick in the book, but that doesn't meant he tricks should be allowed to work.

[colloquor]

Blago has already been impeached, by a vote in the Illinois House. He is now in an impeachment trial in the Illinois Senate, and if convicted, he will no longer be Governor. The impeachment trial in the Illinois Senate is NOT a criminal trial, therefore he is not allowed to offer witnesses in his defense. Apparently, Bill Press, and the majority of the national media don't understand this differentiation. Again, this is NOT a criminal trial, thus does not receive the constitutional protection that he, and others, would receive in a criminal court. The Illinois Constitution, as well as most other states' constitutions, plainly prescribes this.

Blago WILL receive a fair trial in the criminal court system. Given his recent media blitz, where is the national media in support of the people of Illinois? This man has financially destroyed this state: schools from elementary to the public university level have been starved for state educational funding since he took office. Most are in very dire financial straits, including the state's flagship university - the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Blago and his wife decided to not live in the Governor's Mansion in the state capitol - Springfield. In fact, he's hardly at the capitol, and he spends most of his time in Chicago. Contrary to most American's opinions, Chicago is not the capitol of Illinois. Springfield, approximately 200 miles south of Chicago, is the capitol, but you'd never know it listening to Blago or the national media.

[dbartenstein]

If Rod Blagojevich doesn't get a fair trial there will be no one but himself to blame. He is doing his best to have his trial in the media..... then the media will be his judge.

[LeftRight]

And one more point. As dmacgregor pointed out, the Governor has REFUSED to present a defense to the IL Senate who are holding his trial this week. He's not being denied his chance to defend himself, he's CHOOSING NOT to defend himself!!

[LeftRight]

Bill,

I will grant you that the IL General Assembly is moving rather quickly, and they do not appear to be looking at the evidence rather than looking for what they want to see.

On the other hand, the Governor has been under investigation for YEARS, and many issues have come partly to light. Blagojevich will likely be going to jail once he IS charged, though not likely for attempting to sell the Senate seat.

In addition to that, I don't know about IL impeachments, but I DO know that the POTUS is unable to be charged with a criminal violation while they are in office, so an impeachment must take place FIRST in that case, rather than waiting until he's convicted of a crime!

[dmacgregor]

"No doubt, he will be impeached by the Illinois State Legislature this week, without being allowed to respond to any of the charges made so publicly by U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald­."

How can you claim he isn't being allowed to respond? He's chosen to not attend the impeachment proceedings. That makes it his choice not to respond. Its not like anyone is not allowing him to.