Illinois Governor in Federal Custody (Press Conference)

[BlueJessamine]

Run time: 10:02 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aszVARt-Tcc   Posted on YouTube: December 09, 2008 By YouTube Member: Views on YouTube: 0   Posted on DU: December 09, 2008 By DU Member: BlueJessamine Views on DU: 870

 

[Pharaoh]

1. God Bless Patrick Fitzgerald

It gives hope that there are truly some decent people in government working for the people :patriot: A true Patriot

[JDPriestly]

4. He made a lot of accusations. The accusations are based on a lot of

assumptions. He had either done a great job or a horrible job.

I am skeptical because I recall that in the Libby case, Fitzgerald's investigation raised more questions than it answered. He was able to get a conviction of Libby for perjury, but the actual crime if there was one beyond perjury (not to downgrade the heinous nature of perjury) was never even defined, much less prosecuted. That does not speak particularly well of Fitzgerald's ability as an attorney.

I hear a lot of ifs and maybes and suggestions from Fitzgerald that certain conclusions can be drawn. It sounds like he is trying to paint himself as having acted heroically to stop a crime in progress. Other than conversations about hypothetical activities in the future with aides, I'm still not clear what was done. Where's the quo in the quid pro quo to paraphrase the first President Bush. Sounds like Blagojevich was contemplating soliciting donations in exchange for political favors, but it was unclear to me whether these things were done.

Let's see now, refusing to help the Tribune. Blagojevich may have a good defense if he can show that he had other good reasons for refusing to help them. The current financial squeeze comes to mind. The statements about the firing of Tribune editors may have been stupid jokes or may have been serious. Was Blagojevich under any obligation to help the Tribune? No one seems to suggest that. Hey, I canceled my subscription to the L.A. Times and told them I would not subscribe again unless they changed their editorial policy. This allegation takes a lot more context than Fitzgerald gave us. Hard to tell.

The statement about not funding the Children's Hospital. Again, was there maybe some other consideration at issue? Maybe the City doesn't really have the money? I got the impression that Fitzgerald has witnesses on this who will testify that they were asked to provide money quid pro quo for the money to the hospital, but I'm not sure.

This is certainly a story that plays on the heartstrings, but what more is behind it? I'm not sure. This could be a solid allegation, but it too is a little vague. I used to raise money and write grants for a non-profit. Deciding whether to give an organization like a hospital government money is very discretionary. There are far more requests than therer are funds. Getting turned down is an every day event at a non-profit.

Non-profits are very vulnerable to political pressure. But the pressure doesn't work very well because people in non-profits don't have that kind of money and don't have much to give in terms of services. Stevens apparently got some renovations or construction for his trouble. What does a Children's Hospital have to give? It's possible that board members were being pressed go give money to Blagojevich's campaign. It would be hard to prove that the donation was a prerequisite for the granting of the money to the hospital.

Even if the pressure was brought and the donation was made, it is hard to really tie the two together especially if the money was not given to the hospital. Again, the amount of money available is limited. Politicians ask for donations all the time. And if neither the donor nor the hospital got anything in return, it is hard to say a crime was committed. There may be other reasons for not giving it at this time of economic crisis.

Then there is the bill sitting on Blagojevich's desk that hasn't been signed. Apparently no money has been handed over, and nothing has been done. Again, Blagojevich may have legitimate reasons for refusing to sign it. There has to be more than Fitzgerald announced today.

I bet Blagojevich refuses to sign bills even when people give him donations. I'm not defending Blagojevich because I don't know the facts. I'm just pointing out that we are hearing allegations here of plots to do certain things. I didn't hear Fitzgerald say that Blagojevich had demanded money and gotten it and then done something. I did hear of a pattern of this sort, so maybe there is more to the story than was announced today.

[Mrspeeker]

2. WOW

I can't believe this,WTF is wrong with this government

thanks Fitzgerald :)

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

3. Fitz deserves a medal for his hard work

All corruption of this type MUST be stopped--Democrats as well as Republicans.