Blagojevich gets 14 years in prison for corruption
41 Replies to “In Canada You Probably Wouldn’t Get This for Killing Someone”
It’s not that I don’t think he’s guilty. It’s just that I think he’s being asked to ‘take the fall’ for so many others. Who can seriously think that all that corruption is due only to him? The tentacles go out in many directions but the media and powers that be avert their eyes and minds.
I feel bad for people in Illinois where Chicago runs so much of their state in such a corrupt way — ‘The Chicago Way’ as it’s known. I’d like to see them follow the money and emails and phone calls, etc., and see where else they end up. It might surprise some how high up they’d find themselves.
I don’t think that Blagojevich was ever accused of trying to personally profit from the senate seat. I just suspect he was doing exactly what every governor filling a senate seat did in the past, playing let’s make a deal. He is guilty of the crime of being recorded and nothing more. 14 years is stupid.
Rod’s lawyer will make a killing.
The guy however really creeps me out, which has absolutely nothing to do with his predicament.
“He was convicted of corruption in June after a jury returned 17 guilty verdicts against him.”
Blago got what he deserved. The Governor has to set the example,the moral tone,and he failed on all counts.
It’s satisfying to see a Country that knows how to deal with political corruption,especially when witnessing it from a Country in which massive corruption is glossed over with a sham “Royal Commission” or “Inquiry” and only a low level minion ever does any jail time.
dmorris: I’m OK with him being found guilty. It’s just that he’s, by far, NOT the only one that should be in this case!
The little shit that dragged Grant DePatie several kilometers under his car which cause a most horrid death, got nine years, but got out in about three. He has since been committing more crimes and recently was at large after skipping out of his reintegration house.
You know, the place they stay until they can get their criminal careers back on track.
Grant DePatie, a 24-year-old gas station employee, jumped in front of the car late Monday night, trying to stop it from taking off with the $12.30 worth of gas its driver hadn’t paid for.
But the vehicle didn’t stop.
“His intervening resulted in him being run over by the vehicle and dragged under the vehicle a considerable distance,” said Cpl. Bernie Smandych of the Ridge Meadows RCMP.
The incident happened around midnight PT during DePatie’s overnight shift at an Esso gas station in Maple Ridge.
His naked body and what was left of his shredded clothing were found seven kilometres from the station.
I think the sentence is too harsh and is a red herring tactic, by which I mean that its harshness shovels all the dirt to one man, who takes the fall – and the corruption merrily continues elsewhere unabated.
The Chicago Way isn’t confined to Chicago. ‘Getting things done’ by contacts and personal favours rather than by due process is found everywhere. Setting up penalties against such tactics helps but fall-guy tactics don’t help.
We have our own examples here, well exemplified by Jean Chretien’s endless dealings with cronies and contracts and political appointees – and money to enrich him and his agenda. Corruption in Quebec is another example; it’s a way of life, as we’ve come to understand in the latest issue: the Quebec unions and construction industry.
Well the time being handed out probably reflects that he didn’t rat on his mob brothers.
I have no problem with this sentence.
Kate…re your title…A perp convicted and sentenced today in Canuckistan to “life” for 1st degree murder will be out before Blaggo. Lying scum Turdeau and his ilk suckered us,AGAIN
14 years in jail for joking in a private phone conversation that Obama’s seat might be available for a price. The first commandment: “Thou shalt not joke about the Obama-messiah, neither in thought nor in deed”.
Blagojevich should have come to Canada and shot Obama while he was visiting here instead — any Canadian knows that you only end up serving half that time for first degree murder here…
It’s the hair.
He’d be on probation if he had just cut his hair!
Poor bastard.
If he was one of “da liddle guy from Shawinigan’s” buds he’d be out by now and lecturing about corporate ethics at universities as part of his contrition.
lucky for him he didnt pull off the stunt in China.
over there they make the perp’s family pay for the firing squad bullets.
If Obama loses the 2012 election, Blagojevich will probably get a Presidential pardon in January 2013.
Here Oz, let me fix that for you…..
If Obama loses the 2012 election, Blago will sing like a canary.
I think Blago just got run over by Barry’s campaign bus…
A woman who scalded her baby boy to death just got sentenced to 11 years today.
“by which I mean that its harshness shovels all the dirt to one man, who takes the fall – and the corruption merrily continues elsewhere unabated.”
Yes,but at least the guy at the top took the fall this time. Chretien was far more corrupt,and came out of the Gomery Inquiry unscathed. The corruption continued unabated.
I’d rather see the top guy take a BIG fall than a nobody do 18 months.
And I agree,oz,Blago is probably at the top of the list for Pres’ pardon.
Well, they jailed Martha Stewart for lying.
They jailed our Conrad Black for toting boxes out of his office with no proof as to what was in those boxes, well that’s all I can figure out of that sorry mess.
Seems they’ve got making examples of people in high places is their game.
tipical lefty, it took him to be found guilty before he admitted wrong doing, appears that was a big mistake as far as the judge was concerned
and to those who think it was business as usual and he got stiffed, BFD
Blago had the same judge as Conrad Black and she sent CB back to jail for having the temerity of appealing and having her original sentence trashed. CB was convicted of moving boxes in Canada, which, the last time I checked, was not under U.S. jurisdiction.
“CB was convicted of moving boxes in Canada, which, the last time I checked, was not under U.S. jurisdiction.”
Do you mean those boxes that were personal property that had been already checked for any useful evidence caught on video that Black had had installed. Some crime.
So far he’s got a longer sentence than Nidal Hassan.
I’m wondering why he’s still breathing my air.
Here Oz, let me fix that for you….. If Obama loses the 2012 election, Blago will sing like a canary.
~Eskimo
If Obama loses the election, he’ll be handing out the Presidential pardons in January 2013, one to Rod Blagojevich and one to Tony Rezko.
Blagojevich was a super delegate at the DNC which selected Obama as the Democratic candidate in 2008.
Blagojevich is part of the Chicago Democrat Political machine to which Obama is beholden.
Both Blagojevich and Rezko were big contributors and boosters for Obama.
Connect the dots.
“I think the sentence is too harsh…yadda, yadda…The Chicago Way isn’t confined to Chicago. …We have our own examples here… ET.”
Well, ET, are you happy with that state of affairs? If you are, good, keep up the slap-on-the-wrist sentences. It’ll help ensure the continuance of public corruption.
But if you’re not happy with it, if you’re enraged at public officials who prostitute themselves and betray their public trust, if you really want to start attacking corruption in public office, you have to start NAILING people convicted of it. That many aren’t now caught or really punished is part of the problem, not part of the solution. You start solving it by starting to deal out harsh sentences like Blagojevich just got to anyone who betrays all of society by their corruption.
Oz, after thinking about it, I think either of our scenarios could happen. Right now Blago is the proverbial man without a country. The 2012 election is a long ways away for a white bread guy with “boy, you got purdy hair” in the general prison population. Perhaps Gingrich should be paying Rod some very public prison visits, just to make the DNC squirm for a while. Both Blago and Gingrich know where there are bodies buried. It would be a great coup if the GOP could get to him first is all I’m saying!
I’ve only read the first half dozen comments and beside dmorris,I have to say ” What’s wrong with you people?”
You are apologizing,accepting,and excusing behaviour that strikes at the heart of the democratic system. I do think that 14 years is harsh,but it may make the next one think twice about ‘selling MY vote’,and that is what he did.
GOD BLESS AMERICA.
The price of corruption went up in Illinois! Blago’s immediate predecessor, George Ryan is still serving a six and a half year sentence for corruption, including selling commercial drivers’ licenses to unqualified people. Ryan’s crimes resulted in the deaths of 13 individuals, including six children of one family, which merited a far harsher sentence that that imposed on Blago.
Do not minimize Blago’s crimes! In addition to trying to sell Obama’s Senate seat, he also tried to extort money from a children’s hospital, which is particularly repugnant! The only reason that Blago did not profit from his crimes is that he was particularly inept as an extortionist.
Blago’s confederate, Tony Rezko was recently sentenced to ten and a half years and William Cellini, “Pope” of the corrupt bi-partisan “Illinois Combine” is awaiting sentencing.
Blago’s wife, “Potty Mouth Patti (for the number of “F-bombs” dropped on the wiretaps)” and Senator, Dick Durbin, who in the face of public outrage, unsuccessfully tried to have Ryan’s sentence commuted to time served before he had served more than a year, remain un-indicted.
Perhaps in time, they will be brought to justice too!
Notice there is no Kefauver Committee investigating Chicago’s unique brand of organized (politico) crime. Wonder why? Blago besmirched Obama, so they nailed him, to protect Obama’s rep. Obama will pardon him.
I do think that 14 years is harsh,but it may make the next one think twice about ‘selling MY vote’,and that is what he did.
~wallyj
You must remember that the jurors were Chicagans.
They know that the sentence ‘looks good’ while at the same time they know another Chicagan is going to reward Blago’s silence with a pardon.
Loyalty is the gold that politics runs on. Right now Blago is the proverbial man without a country.
~Eskimo
Who needs a country when you’ve got a party as rich and powerful as the American Democratic Party?
Does the name George Soros ring a bell?
Blago ain’t ratting, and if I’m lyin’, he’s dyin’.
Are prison guards union members?
I’m pretty sure that they are.
Valid points, Oz.
“The Untouchables” are alive and well.
Why is there no modern day Elliot Ness? Is everyone on the take or does the great State of Illinois suffer from collective shrinking grapes syndrome?
If you’re familiar with the movie, remember the scene where the judge switches Capone’s jury prior to sentencing? Trouble is, today it doesn’t matter what the verdict is…..it’s all a show.
OZ.you have misunderstood my point regarding “selling MY vote”,or I may have misunderstood your post.
I am not concerned at all about the possibilities of any future pardons,commutations,or any reduction in sentence.
My point is that,a politician collects your votes on promises and then melts them all down into a sweet taffy,and parlays that into a lump in his pocket.The lump is his nestegg. It does me squat.
I do wish our courts would look at the most victimized rather than accepting the least hurt,or an average, as a sentencing guidline.
Cheers.
In BC you get to be premier while the hired help takes the fall; nobody in the MFM notices.
I am with Oz on this. The 14-year sentence is pure theater, a pretense of “doing something” about corruption. Blago takes a fall, will almost certainly get a reduced sentence upon appeal, or a pardon from BamBam, and meanwhile the Chicago Machine whirs on unmolested.
Pat Fitzgerald is a Democrat attack dog and nothing more. He made enough specific mistakes early on in the case that, had the evidence trail gone to close to Obama, the case would likely have ended up being thrown out of court.
But like the Black case, the system was grossly manipulated by Dem Chicago insiders to create the outcome that was desired.
I agree that Blago took a fall – rather than a bullet.
you have misunderstood my point regarding “selling MY vote”,or I may have misunderstood your post.
~wallyj
I think I didn’t understand your point, wallyj.
Senators serve six year terms and a third of the senate is up for re-election every 2 years.
Incumbents have a name recognition advantage over contenders plus if the incumbent hasn’t done something which outrages voters, people have a tendency to send them back to office because they prefer the devil they know…
That is what Blogojevich was selling in addition to this Democrat super delegate picking someone whose vote could be counted on by the DNC.
Tawdry, corrupt, vile, dispicable…are there enough pejoratives to describe the undermining of the system of democracy?
Blogojevich should have to serve the full 14 years but I’d be surprised if he served much more than one single year.
Bill Clinton pardoned 456 people.
Some of them were ‘controversial’ to say the least. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_pardoned_by_Bill_Clinton
Blago was sentenced for obsessively buttoning and unbuttoning the middle button of his jacket and running his fingers through his hair. Obsessive grooming I think they call it. Slime ball deserves what he got. Hope Gordon Campbell and Christie Clark in B.C. have taken notice.
Oz, you beat me to it. Pardon in 2013, or horrors, in 2017.
Don’t cry for Blago. The prison he will go to has Cable TV, on 40 inch screens. Golf Courses. Condo cells that have their own Kitchens.
Internet access, conjugal visits. Set in nice woods with councilors instead of guards.
He will be out running again in two years.
Posted by: wallyj at December 8, 2011 7:56 PM
Thumbs up!
It’s not that I don’t think he’s guilty. It’s just that I think he’s being asked to ‘take the fall’ for so many others. Who can seriously think that all that corruption is due only to him? The tentacles go out in many directions but the media and powers that be avert their eyes and minds.
I feel bad for people in Illinois where Chicago runs so much of their state in such a corrupt way — ‘The Chicago Way’ as it’s known. I’d like to see them follow the money and emails and phone calls, etc., and see where else they end up. It might surprise some how high up they’d find themselves.
I don’t think that Blagojevich was ever accused of trying to personally profit from the senate seat. I just suspect he was doing exactly what every governor filling a senate seat did in the past, playing let’s make a deal. He is guilty of the crime of being recorded and nothing more. 14 years is stupid.
Rod’s lawyer will make a killing.
The guy however really creeps me out, which has absolutely nothing to do with his predicament.
“He was convicted of corruption in June after a jury returned 17 guilty verdicts against him.”
Blago got what he deserved. The Governor has to set the example,the moral tone,and he failed on all counts.
It’s satisfying to see a Country that knows how to deal with political corruption,especially when witnessing it from a Country in which massive corruption is glossed over with a sham “Royal Commission” or “Inquiry” and only a low level minion ever does any jail time.
dmorris: I’m OK with him being found guilty. It’s just that he’s, by far, NOT the only one that should be in this case!
The little shit that dragged Grant DePatie several kilometers under his car which cause a most horrid death, got nine years, but got out in about three. He has since been committing more crimes and recently was at large after skipping out of his reintegration house.
You know, the place they stay until they can get their criminal careers back on track.
I think the sentence is too harsh and is a red herring tactic, by which I mean that its harshness shovels all the dirt to one man, who takes the fall – and the corruption merrily continues elsewhere unabated.
The Chicago Way isn’t confined to Chicago. ‘Getting things done’ by contacts and personal favours rather than by due process is found everywhere. Setting up penalties against such tactics helps but fall-guy tactics don’t help.
We have our own examples here, well exemplified by Jean Chretien’s endless dealings with cronies and contracts and political appointees – and money to enrich him and his agenda. Corruption in Quebec is another example; it’s a way of life, as we’ve come to understand in the latest issue: the Quebec unions and construction industry.
Well the time being handed out probably reflects that he didn’t rat on his mob brothers.
I have no problem with this sentence.
Kate…re your title…A perp convicted and sentenced today in Canuckistan to “life” for 1st degree murder will be out before Blaggo. Lying scum Turdeau and his ilk suckered us,AGAIN
14 years in jail for joking in a private phone conversation that Obama’s seat might be available for a price. The first commandment: “Thou shalt not joke about the Obama-messiah, neither in thought nor in deed”.
Blagojevich should have come to Canada and shot Obama while he was visiting here instead — any Canadian knows that you only end up serving half that time for first degree murder here…
It’s the hair.
He’d be on probation if he had just cut his hair!
Poor bastard.
If he was one of “da liddle guy from Shawinigan’s” buds he’d be out by now and lecturing about corporate ethics at universities as part of his contrition.
lucky for him he didnt pull off the stunt in China.
over there they make the perp’s family pay for the firing squad bullets.
If Obama loses the 2012 election, Blagojevich will probably get a Presidential pardon in January 2013.
Here Oz, let me fix that for you…..
If Obama loses the 2012 election, Blago will sing like a canary.
I think Blago just got run over by Barry’s campaign bus…
A woman who scalded her baby boy to death just got sentenced to 11 years today.
“by which I mean that its harshness shovels all the dirt to one man, who takes the fall – and the corruption merrily continues elsewhere unabated.”
Yes,but at least the guy at the top took the fall this time. Chretien was far more corrupt,and came out of the Gomery Inquiry unscathed. The corruption continued unabated.
I’d rather see the top guy take a BIG fall than a nobody do 18 months.
And I agree,oz,Blago is probably at the top of the list for Pres’ pardon.
Well, they jailed Martha Stewart for lying.
They jailed our Conrad Black for toting boxes out of his office with no proof as to what was in those boxes, well that’s all I can figure out of that sorry mess.
Seems they’ve got making examples of people in high places is their game.
tipical lefty, it took him to be found guilty before he admitted wrong doing, appears that was a big mistake as far as the judge was concerned
and to those who think it was business as usual and he got stiffed, BFD
Blago had the same judge as Conrad Black and she sent CB back to jail for having the temerity of appealing and having her original sentence trashed. CB was convicted of moving boxes in Canada, which, the last time I checked, was not under U.S. jurisdiction.
“CB was convicted of moving boxes in Canada, which, the last time I checked, was not under U.S. jurisdiction.”
Do you mean those boxes that were personal property that had been already checked for any useful evidence caught on video that Black had had installed. Some crime.
So far he’s got a longer sentence than Nidal Hassan.
I’m wondering why he’s still breathing my air.
Here Oz, let me fix that for you…..
If Obama loses the 2012 election, Blago will sing like a canary.
~Eskimo
If Obama loses the election, he’ll be handing out the Presidential pardons in January 2013, one to Rod Blagojevich and one to Tony Rezko.
Blagojevich was a super delegate at the DNC which selected Obama as the Democratic candidate in 2008.
Blagojevich is part of the Chicago Democrat Political machine to which Obama is beholden.
Both Blagojevich and Rezko were big contributors and boosters for Obama.
Connect the dots.
“I think the sentence is too harsh…yadda, yadda…The Chicago Way isn’t confined to Chicago. …We have our own examples here… ET.”
Well, ET, are you happy with that state of affairs? If you are, good, keep up the slap-on-the-wrist sentences. It’ll help ensure the continuance of public corruption.
But if you’re not happy with it, if you’re enraged at public officials who prostitute themselves and betray their public trust, if you really want to start attacking corruption in public office, you have to start NAILING people convicted of it. That many aren’t now caught or really punished is part of the problem, not part of the solution. You start solving it by starting to deal out harsh sentences like Blagojevich just got to anyone who betrays all of society by their corruption.
It’s what Blago wanted.
Assuming he was given a choice of taking the rap with a pardon likely or honour suicide (remember Vincent Foster?)
http://whatreallyhappened.com/RANCHO/POLITICS/BODIES.html
Oz, after thinking about it, I think either of our scenarios could happen. Right now Blago is the proverbial man without a country. The 2012 election is a long ways away for a white bread guy with “boy, you got purdy hair” in the general prison population. Perhaps Gingrich should be paying Rod some very public prison visits, just to make the DNC squirm for a while. Both Blago and Gingrich know where there are bodies buried. It would be a great coup if the GOP could get to him first is all I’m saying!
I’ve only read the first half dozen comments and beside dmorris,I have to say ” What’s wrong with you people?”
You are apologizing,accepting,and excusing behaviour that strikes at the heart of the democratic system. I do think that 14 years is harsh,but it may make the next one think twice about ‘selling MY vote’,and that is what he did.
GOD BLESS AMERICA.
The price of corruption went up in Illinois! Blago’s immediate predecessor, George Ryan is still serving a six and a half year sentence for corruption, including selling commercial drivers’ licenses to unqualified people. Ryan’s crimes resulted in the deaths of 13 individuals, including six children of one family, which merited a far harsher sentence that that imposed on Blago.
Do not minimize Blago’s crimes! In addition to trying to sell Obama’s Senate seat, he also tried to extort money from a children’s hospital, which is particularly repugnant! The only reason that Blago did not profit from his crimes is that he was particularly inept as an extortionist.
Blago’s confederate, Tony Rezko was recently sentenced to ten and a half years and William Cellini, “Pope” of the corrupt bi-partisan “Illinois Combine” is awaiting sentencing.
Blago’s wife, “Potty Mouth Patti (for the number of “F-bombs” dropped on the wiretaps)” and Senator, Dick Durbin, who in the face of public outrage, unsuccessfully tried to have Ryan’s sentence commuted to time served before he had served more than a year, remain un-indicted.
Perhaps in time, they will be brought to justice too!
Notice there is no Kefauver Committee investigating Chicago’s unique brand of organized (politico) crime. Wonder why? Blago besmirched Obama, so they nailed him, to protect Obama’s rep. Obama will pardon him.
I do think that 14 years is harsh,but it may make the next one think twice about ‘selling MY vote’,and that is what he did.
~wallyj
You must remember that the jurors were Chicagans.
They know that the sentence ‘looks good’ while at the same time they know another Chicagan is going to reward Blago’s silence with a pardon.
Loyalty is the gold that politics runs on.
Right now Blago is the proverbial man without a country.
~Eskimo
Who needs a country when you’ve got a party as rich and powerful as the American Democratic Party?
Does the name George Soros ring a bell?
Blago ain’t ratting, and if I’m lyin’, he’s dyin’.
Are prison guards union members?
I’m pretty sure that they are.
Valid points, Oz.
“The Untouchables” are alive and well.
Why is there no modern day Elliot Ness? Is everyone on the take or does the great State of Illinois suffer from collective shrinking grapes syndrome?
If you’re familiar with the movie, remember the scene where the judge switches Capone’s jury prior to sentencing? Trouble is, today it doesn’t matter what the verdict is…..it’s all a show.
OZ.you have misunderstood my point regarding “selling MY vote”,or I may have misunderstood your post.
I am not concerned at all about the possibilities of any future pardons,commutations,or any reduction in sentence.
My point is that,a politician collects your votes on promises and then melts them all down into a sweet taffy,and parlays that into a lump in his pocket.The lump is his nestegg. It does me squat.
I do wish our courts would look at the most victimized rather than accepting the least hurt,or an average, as a sentencing guidline.
Cheers.
In BC you get to be premier while the hired help takes the fall; nobody in the MFM notices.
I am with Oz on this. The 14-year sentence is pure theater, a pretense of “doing something” about corruption. Blago takes a fall, will almost certainly get a reduced sentence upon appeal, or a pardon from BamBam, and meanwhile the Chicago Machine whirs on unmolested.
Pat Fitzgerald is a Democrat attack dog and nothing more. He made enough specific mistakes early on in the case that, had the evidence trail gone to close to Obama, the case would likely have ended up being thrown out of court.
But like the Black case, the system was grossly manipulated by Dem Chicago insiders to create the outcome that was desired.
I agree that Blago took a fall – rather than a bullet.
you have misunderstood my point regarding “selling MY vote”,or I may have misunderstood your post.
~wallyj
I think I didn’t understand your point, wallyj.
Senators serve six year terms and a third of the senate is up for re-election every 2 years.
Incumbents have a name recognition advantage over contenders plus if the incumbent hasn’t done something which outrages voters, people have a tendency to send them back to office because they prefer the devil they know…
That is what Blogojevich was selling in addition to this Democrat super delegate picking someone whose vote could be counted on by the DNC.
Tawdry, corrupt, vile, dispicable…are there enough pejoratives to describe the undermining of the system of democracy?
Blogojevich should have to serve the full 14 years but I’d be surprised if he served much more than one single year.
Bill Clinton pardoned 456 people.
Some of them were ‘controversial’ to say the least.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_pardoned_by_Bill_Clinton
Blago was sentenced for obsessively buttoning and unbuttoning the middle button of his jacket and running his fingers through his hair. Obsessive grooming I think they call it. Slime ball deserves what he got. Hope Gordon Campbell and Christie Clark in B.C. have taken notice.
Oz, you beat me to it. Pardon in 2013, or horrors, in 2017.
Don’t cry for Blago. The prison he will go to has Cable TV, on 40 inch screens. Golf Courses. Condo cells that have their own Kitchens.
Internet access, conjugal visits. Set in nice woods with councilors instead of guards.
He will be out running again in two years.
Posted by: wallyj at December 8, 2011 7:56 PM
Thumbs up!