There was no remorse or even accountability in the words of Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich as he spoke for the first time since his arrest. A defiant man, one who was late to his own press conference, blamed those who oppose him as being corrupt.
For the first time since his arrest, Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich addressed the charges in a press conference. However, the scene was anything but apologetic or sympathetic.
Preceded by several "regular" people, the governor sent out an entourage of human shields to stand beside him during his speech. Then, showing up himself almost half an hour late to his own press conference, he took to the mic in a very aggressive and oppositional tone.
He told the state that he refuses to resign and said publicly that he "has done nothing wrong" despite federal charges on corruption and an overwhelming majority to impeach. However, he did not go into the charges against him or even discuss the "allegations" of corruption that are the reason for his pending impeachment.
In a local
Chicago news report, it was explained that his defiant behaviour was best expressed during this statement:
"I will fight. I will fight. I will fight until I take my last breath," he said. "And I'm not going to quit a job that people hired me to do because of false accusations and a political lynch mob."
further defending his ambiguity by telling the public how much he is "dying" to answer the false claims and how he is "dying to show" his innocence.
He asked for patience and the presumption of innocence. He called himself lonely in light of the "powerful forces" against him.
He did talk about mammograms and gynecology exams, though, somehow relating the whole event to those powerful forces disagreeing with his policies that are geared to helping people, like those standing beside him. It had, according to the governor, nothing to do with wiretapping, cash transactions and abuse of power.
Illinois State Rep, John Fritchey (D), among an overwhelming number of others, voted yesterday to impeach Governor Blagojevich. Fritchey stated on the Rachel Maddow show that Blagojevich's behaviour is not surprising and that he has a pattern of ignoring the law. He also went onto describe how Blagojevich attempted to "shake down" children's hospitals, withholding millions of dollars unless they provided campaign contributions, calling it an irony.
Blagojevich ended his oppositional speech with a quote from the end of the
poem "if" by Rudyard Kipling:
If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you. If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you and make allowance for their doubting too. If you can wait and not be tired by waiting or being lied about, don't deal in lies. Or being hated. Don't give way to hating."
Then he refused to answer questions, handing that daunting task over to his legal staff. His defense attorneys actually heightened the defensive attitude, with Sam Adam Jr. shouting into the mic in a further display of anything less than professional behaviour.
There was some speculation during the Q & A portion that the governor would step down if the people of the state were hurting. So the question that needs to be asked: Are the people hurting and have they been given a voice in all of this?
