Maybe Blagojevich can plead insanity

Could this be the start of "Obamagate"?

Pretty premeditated, I'd say, based on the quotes in that Complaint.

Not delusional at all.

Or, if delusional, the delusion was that his home and campaign HQ were somehow immune from wiretaps, and his longtime friends.

But selling the Obama seat: that seems to have been planned like an investment banker plans a hostile takeover.

Ditto trying to fire the Tribune editors.v

What is really stunning to me is that there has been no outcry from any in the media concerning the editorializing and verbal lynching by the incompetent U.S, Attorney, Fitzgerald, who gave us the minnow, Libby, when we should have had Charlie the Tuna, Cheney !! You talk about premeditated polluting of the jury pool, if the trial ever takes place. What professionalism, what impartiality !! This is the Bush Justice Department with a major assist from Mike Madigan, Governor Blagojevich political enemy and the father of the A.G. of illinois. It has to be the most contrived and orchestrated political stunt since U.S. Attorney Thompson rode a conviction of Judge Kerner, former Governor of Illinois into the Governor's mansion !
I am no fan of Governor Blagojevich, but I am not in favor of power plays, with the courts being used to facilitate such plays !! The impeachment of President Clinton is another example of this reprehensible tactic. Mike Madigan found an individual, in Governor Blagojevich, that wouldn't play his kind of politics and there has been a battle, between the two men ever since. I don't need to remind the readers, who is the more adept at finishing such a political battle !!
What is extremely disappointing is to hear our various elected officials speak as though Governor Blagojevich has already been convicted. elected officials all the way to Washington D.C. A witch hunt and a political lynching, spear-headed by a Bush hack in the office of the U.S. Attorney is not a fair trial and will never take the place of one.
I hope Governor Blagojevich fights the charges and proves the conspirators to be wrong !! This is not Russia, we have a legal system that was supposed to be based on, innocent until proven guilty, but I guess in the era of Bush, and his ilk, in whatever Party, that ideal is history. I hope not, but, I am afraid, that may now be the case !!
SUPPORT OUR TROOPS, BRING THEM HOME, ALIVE AND WHOLE. NOW.

Keep hoping. You ankle biters are wonderful at connecting the dots. WMDs-Iraq....Al-Qaeda-Saddam....Winning a war-no plan....Terry Shiavo-governments business....and the best yet...Trickle down!!!!!

Could this be the start of "Obamagate"?

Posted by: Paul | December 10, 2008 8:14 AM
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No.
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There sure are grounds for insanity. He's been under the spotlight for years now, and yet he tries to sell Obama's Senate seat bribe the Tribune -- pretty blatant badness there -- instead of lying low and trying to avoid further trouble.
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That's insanity or astonishing stupidity or maybe some of both.

Today, please don't allow this to be the only topic you cover. Today, the last day to block the unconscionable transfer of costs from the auto makers to the American taxpayers, please pay some attention to that critical and timely event. Only the light of public scrutiny will pierce the fog of rhetoric created by the government-carmaker-union lackeys like Dodd, Frank and Pelosi. Then, our children and grandchildren will pay the price.

Blagojevich wouldn't stand a chance of becoming President. He is delusional if he thinks he could someday.
As for the Republican party in Ilinois, they are highly disorganized and dysfunctional. They have no viable candidate for either governor or U.S. Senator.

It's arrogance - pure and simple. Sad thing is, he's not the only politician in this country who believe they are above the law. Funny thing is how indignant they all become when caught.

If Blago is/was delusional, what about the 49% of Illinois voters who re-elected this Democrat in 2006? Weren't they delusional as well?

Illinois voters keep electing corrupt Democrats to county-wide and statewide positions. Shouldn't some of the blame be placed on voters who don't care enough about honest government?

Don, buddy, you're full of it on this one. Blago is dirty, and that's been clear for a long, long time. The actions he has taken in this case, as shown by the recordings made of him openly and crudely discussing selling the representation of Illinois in the United States Senate are absolutely beyond the pale. That kind of corruption cannot be tolerated from any politician of any party.

Please take off your partisan blinders long enough to see Blagojevich as the corrupt schemeing peice of filth he is, and not just as a Democrat. I'm as against the Republicans as much as you are, but I will never defend Blagojevich on this one. For the good of the Party, the good of the State, and most importantly the good of the Nation he should resign immediately. If he is convicted after a fair trial, I hope he spend many decades behind bars.

Arrogance or insanity?

Blagojevich is not alone in his delusional behavior. There have been MANY in government and private industry who have gone down this same road. (Head of ADM and his price fixing scheme comes to mind.)

The first question has got to be WHY?

In many cases, the second question has to be are they insane?

Given everything that was going on leading up to this, how could Blago NOT think that the FBI was monitoring his every move and he should be concerned about EVERY conversation he was having with anyone. On the phone, or otherwise.

The sheer arrogance to think that he wasn't being watched, or he wouldn't be prosecuted amazes me.

I thought it funny to read that he might be able to claim insanity just after hearing a friend say he might seriously be losing his mind.

Maybe he was hoping to get the state vote to run for president from the elderly on the recent FREE bus fair.

He must have felt awfully protected in what he was doing to be so blatant as he was with it all. I think he was in this protected bubble way up here in Chicago away from the rest of the world caught up in some of the dirty poltics we're known for and just didn't think anyone would ever notice one more bad politician. He went above and beyond.

I think what makes it real for some who might otherwise feel pitty is the language that he spoke ' f ' this and ' f ' that, it' tells you he puts on quite a different show for the public.

Seems the national party machines have gone beyond simple gerrymandering of districts and by agreement have ceded whole states to each other.

Illinois was ceded to the Democrats.

Only problem is the voters might not go along with one party states.
Every state can't be like Idaho.

When you gerrymander whole states, you get a phenomenon like Blagojevich.
The only political check on him was from his own party, from figures whose hands were, if not as dirty as his own, nevertheless unclean.
Intraparty infighting is not a substitute for a two party system.

Is some form of campaign finance reform the answer??

When they wrote the antitrust laws in the 19th century, they first studied the practices of Rockefeller and Standard Oil to discern patterns of conduct to outlaw.
Maybe the Blagojevich Tapes will provide a similar playbook for some new wave of reformers.

But don't count on it.

I would say Blago was more arrogant than delusional.

Don Fitz!!!! You, who struggle to string coherent sentences together, call Fitzgerald incompetent? Ridiculous. But your bizarre attack on arguably the nations best prosecutor is at least predictable. There is no doubt in my mind that if Fitzgeralds investigation leads him in any way to Obama, then his flock of adoring sheep will attack Fitzgerald with everything they have.

Rod should just plead S T U P I D..

There is no doubt in my mind that if Fitzgeralds investigation leads him in any way to Obama, then his flock of adoring sheep will attack Fitzgerald with everything they have.

Posted by: Herbie H | December 10, 2008 10:40 AM
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Hey Herbie, do we have to remind you about the way your conservative sheep friends attacked Fitz after the Libby conviction and to justify Bush's commutation of his sentence?

I'll take corruption coupled with policies giving free transportation for senior citizens and healthcare for children over corruption coupled with policies leading to the needless deaths of over 4000 young soldiers any day.

ornery,

I seem to be missing something about your post on gerrymandering.

Since the governor of the State of Illinois is elected by the state as a whole, whatever district you live in doesn't come in to play.

Am I missing something?

tistrue- discribe which type of corruption Obama is for me !?

“Is delusional behavior sufficient grounds for an insanity defense in the criminal case of Gov. Rod Blagojevich?”
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It is possible, but not likely.
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Illinois, I believe, uses the ALI test for an insanity defense. Under that test, "a person is not responsible for criminal conduct if at the time of such conduct as a result of mental disease or defect he lacks substantial capacity either to appreciate the criminality of his conduct or to conform his conduct to the requirements of the law." That is about as broad a definition of insanity as there is. Therefore, delusional behavior could well provide evidence of an insanity defense.
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But do you really think anyone will buy it? Even if Blagojevich weren’t the governor, people still wouldn’t like it. The insanity defense is very difficult to use in practice. Most people believe insanity pleas are phony, and that those who claim insanity or “temporary insanity” are malingerers who don’t want to accept responsibility for their actions. Thus, in practice, the defense has a very steep burden of proof to satisfy a normally skeptical jury that a defendant is insane under any test. So after the prosecution calls all of Blagojevich’s staff, family and political contacts to demonstrate all of his normal behavior, what’s the likelihood that a jury is going to believe their governor was too crazy to know he was doing wrong, or to keep from committing a crime? That isn’t going to happen. They had better start building a governors’ wing in the state pen now.

They had better start building a governors’ wing in the state pen now.

Posted by: John W. | December 10, 2008 1:52 PM

John W, we already have a Governor's wing, but it's getting overcrowded.

Liz, I dont have any friends, sheep or otherwise. Not sure you know what you are talking about, buy hey, dont let that stop you. I thought Fitzgerald did a good job in the Libby case under very dfficult circumstances. I have total confidence in him with this case too, and let his investigation lead where it may.

Didnt see a Swamp story on this, but David Axelrod said a few weeks ago that Obama has been in contact with Blago several times re the open seat. Axelrod released an extremely lame clarification after the indictment saying he was "mistaken" . . . . I guess on several occasions.

Teresa,
This post is not about Obama. It is about Blago's corruption. I was comparing that to the Bush Admin's.

My point was, the national parties seem to be writing off whole states. Illinois is now Blue. Reps. don't even field any credible candidates in Illinois any more. So the statewide offices go by default.
Sort of like gerrymandering, but on a state by state level.

Insane? Perhaps. But could it be ... SATAN?

See http://notionscapital.wordpress.com/2008/12/11/blagojevich-legal-defense/