Blagojevich was convicted of virtually every account. That is understandable, since it was pretty obvious that he was guilty. But the real question is whether it ends here. Unfortunately, the main stream media is likely to just move on, ignoring the obvious and repeated connections with Barack Obama, Rahm Emanuel and even Jesse Jackson, Jr.
It is hard to predict what Blagojevich will do. Personally, he has little left to lose, but that is not true of his family. He will almost certainly be encouraged to keep his mouth shut and do his time. Since there is a tradition in Illinois of Governors being convicted of felonies, we already know what to expect. Governor Ryan was sentenced to six-and-a-half years. He has already served three years of his sentence. He is trying to get an early release because his wife is terminally ill. Ryan is a guest of the Federal Correction Institute in Terra Haute, Indiana. My guess is that Rod Blagojevich will be his new neighbor.
It would appear that Governor Ryan’s corruption was much more serious than that of Blagojevich’s.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,192019,00.html
Blagojevich was convicted of attempting to commit a crime while Ryan had actually done the deed. That would seem to indicate a shorter sentence. However, Blagojevich has been a pretty high profile case, so he may get a tougher sentence.
Perhaps I am wrong, but it just seemed like the prosecutor went out of his way to avoid involving either Obama or Emanuel. This is the same guy who spent a fortune pursuing Gordon Libby for perjury. No one even accused Libby of lying about Valerie Plame. He was accused of perjury because he said that Tim Russert told him about Valerie Plame and Russert said he didn’t. [Note: Andrea Mitchell said that everyone at NBC knew about Valerie Plame, which would have included Russert.] Russert testified that he took no notes regarding the conversation with Libby. Libby was the top aid to Dick Cheney. Seems hard to believe an experienced newsman like Russert would have had a conversation with him without taking any notes. Later, when Andrea Mitchell realized her comments made Russert look like a liar, she changed her tune.
http://newsbusters.org/node/10771
She was not allowed to testify at the Libby trial:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeralyn-merritt/libby-trial-live-andrea-m_b_41121.html
It sure seems like Mr. Fitzgerald is quite selective on who he targets.
Blagojevich was guilty as sin, but he just wasn’t the brightest bulb in the bunch. He must have been either really desperate or really dumb to carry on these types of conversations over the phone. In any event, Blagojevich is now a convicted felon. He probably deserves his fate, but it is unlikely that he was the only fish swimming in this cesspool of corruption. My guess is that the big fish are the ones who got away.
TDM