Althouse: "I intend to stay on the job and I will fight this thing every step of the way."

December 19, 2008

"I intend to stay on the job and I will fight this thing every step of the way."

"I will fight, I will fight, I will fight, till I take my very last breath. I have done nothing wrong."

Looks like Blago is not planning to resign.

65 comments:

LutherM said...: A BRIT said it better, but then, he was a better man in a more crucial fight.

"We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender"; 12/19/08, 4:39 PM
JohnAnnArbor said...: His hair dye has seeped into his brain, apparently.

Or he's the distilled essence of arrogant Illinois political corruption: "I'll ask for a bench trial and buy off the judge!"; 12/19/08, 4:40 PM
Zachary Sire said...: The Kipling invocation was fucking GOLD. Best 3 minute "press conference" ever. He is a true Christmas gift to all of us.; 12/19/08, 4:40 PM
Host with the Most said...: Where would a politician today ever get the idea that he should stay and fight even if he's been caught red-handed?; 12/19/08, 4:44 PM
Host with the Most said...: And when the defenders of Blagovich begin to succeed in defining this as a liberal vs bad conservatives kind of thing let us remember the Twinkie defense that so outraged so many in the Harvey Milk case. In other words, be careful what you wish for.; 12/19/08, 4:46 PM
SteveR said...: The prisons are full of people who say, "I have done nothing wrong".; 12/19/08, 4:49 PM
I'm Full of Soup said...: Have you heard the new(?) state slogan:

"Illinois- where the governors make your license plates"; 12/19/08, 4:53 PM
mccullough said...: Good for him. He'll be totally ineffective, which how I like my executives.

Now appoint us a Senator.; 12/19/08, 4:56 PM
Original Mike said...: You go, girl!; 12/19/08, 4:58 PM
john said...: Host said - Where would a politician today ever get the idea that he should stay and fight even if he's been caught red-handed?

If you ignore Fitzgerald's sanctimonious bullshit press conference, what really is there to prove a crime? Other than perhaps conspiracy, which may be all there is left since DOJ stepped in and saved everyone from a physical crime.

Prisons are also full of people who have done nothing wrong. Like one of Fitz's earlier convictions.; 12/19/08, 4:59 PM
JohnAnnArbor said...: Other than perhaps conspiracy, which may be all there is left since DOJ stepped in and saved everyone from a physical crime.

No, that would be the Chicago Tribune, which was about to publish the story over Fitz's objections.; 12/19/08, 5:02 PM
Ron said...: You go, Blogo! (Wow, what a slogan!)

Being a self-centered prick til the very end; that's Staying The Course!

[wipes tear from eye] I lurve America!; 12/19/08, 5:05 PM
john said...: JohnAnnArbor - interesting. What I don't understand is how the Tribune became privy to this wiretap. Did Fitz invite them?; 12/19/08, 5:06 PM
SteveR said...: john, the prisons AREN'T full of people who've done nothing wrong.; 12/19/08, 5:12 PM
JohnAnnArbor said...: Who knows? Reporters believe it's the highest ethics to get information by any and all means and publicize it, and never mind the consequences.; 12/19/08, 5:13 PM
john said...: "Misguided policies that create harsher sentences for nonviolent drug offenses are disproportionately responsible for the increasing rates of women in prisons and jails," Marc Mauer, executive director of the Sentencing Project, a Washington-based group that supports criminal justice reform, said in a statement. From 1995 to 2003, inmates incarcerated in federal prisons for drug offenses have accounted for 49 percent of total prison population growth.

Include those Martha-Stewart-type thugs and it really adds up.

Sorry for swerving OT, I will stop.; 12/19/08, 5:18 PM
knox said...: Being a self-centered prick til the very end; that's Staying The Course!

[wipes tear from eye] I lurve America!

LoL; 12/19/08, 5:24 PM
blake said...: Shouldn't there be some outrage or something?

Remember when politicians went quietly into that good night?; 12/19/08, 5:30 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: “I will fight, I will fight, I will fight.”
Governor Blago

The Captain wired in he had water coming in
And the good ship and crew was in peril
And later that night when his lights went out of sight
Came the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_8s2zsNhSM; 12/19/08, 5:33 PM
William said...: They say that over time dogs tend to resemble their owner--or perhaps owners pick dogs that resemble themselves. Perhaps a similar phenomenon goes on with lawyers and their clients. At any rate, if Blago's ward heeling soul could become flesh, it would look like Genson, his lawyer....Bruce Cutler got Gotti off a few times. but if I wanted to suppress thoughts of gangster ties, he is not the lawyer I would have picked.; 12/19/08, 5:37 PM
Anonymous said...: "Who will rid me of this meddlesome (hair)piece?"

--Obama; 12/19/08, 5:48 PM
GeorgeH said...: What I saw today was someone who's watched way too many reruns starring a young Robert Blake. He's got the hair, the body language, the speech patterns and accent down cold. All he needs is the cockatoo.; 12/19/08, 5:50 PM
Trooper York said...: Knute Rockne: We're going inside of ‘em, we're going outside of ‘em -- inside of ‘em! outside of ‘em! -- and when we get them on the run once, we're going to keep ‘em on the run. And we're not going to pass unless their secondary comes up too close. But don't forget, men --we're gonna get ‘em on the run, we're gonna go, go, go, go! -- and we aren't going to stop until we go over that goal line! And don't forget, men -- today is the day we're gonna win. They can't lick us -- and that's how it goes... The first platoon men -- go in there and fight, fight, fight, fight, fight! What do you say, men!
(Knute Rockne All American,1940); 12/19/08, 5:58 PM
MnMark said...: He's taking a page from the Clinton handbook: when caught, even red-handed, DENY, DENY, DENY. Just keep denying, and if you can do it for enough months and draw it out long enough, people will get bored with the story and then will actually turn against the accusers and argue that they are making a big deal out of nothing.

"It's just about sex" will become "that's just normal Chicago politics, nothing really wrong with that, all politicians do it."

He's got nothing to lose and Clinton showed that brazen lying can actually work. How many 100s of millions has he made since he left office, while Judge Starr's reputation was slandered?; 12/19/08, 6:05 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: So that's why we haven't heard from Joe Wilson lining up a gig with Obama.

Fitzgerald's Joe Wilson was in the Hillary camp - Ha ha ha ha ha.

Obama's Hollow "Judgment" and Empty Record - red Wilson's Huffpo piece.

http://tinyurl.com/2255fa

I tell you, I would not mind letting Blago bloddy Fitzgerald ... just a little bit, for partisan sake ;); 12/19/08, 6:09 PM
Trochilus said...: The Illinois Dems seem now to be painted into a corner.

If he will not go, they will have to impeach him -- which they do NOT want to do because it will get so ugly.

Or, they will have to cave into the Republican demands for holding a special election in order to fill the Obama Senate seat -- and maybe Rahm's seat as well. They can't leave that Senate empty until November!

But Blago already backed off the idea of making the appointment because of Harry's suggestion that the Senate would not seat the appointee. Shrewd.

So, unless Fitz gives him a much softer landing than he has been willing to do to date, in order to induce that quick departure, the Dems only have two unattractive legal options left.

If they go to a special election, perhaps holding it the first Tuesday of April when they already have certain local elections scheduled (and thereby saving a considerable amount of money), the Republicans could actually win the contest.

I'll bet BO wouldn't dare sit that one out like he did in Georgia!

But if they go for the impeachment, a lot of dirt could come out, depending on what the grounds for the impeachment are.

How about if they bring an action in lieu of mandamus to compel Blago to make the appointment to the Senate, and, when he doesn't comply, they impeach him for refusal to comply with a court order?

Heh!; 12/19/08, 6:18 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: the Dems only have two unattractive legal options left.

Or just pay him to resign ;)

Just pay him off (under the table of course); 12/19/08, 6:24 PM
Ron said...: Oh, no!
There goes Chi-ca-go!
Go, go, Blagzilla!

Oh, no!
They say he's got to go!
Go, go, Blagzilla!; 12/19/08, 6:31 PM
Meade said...: "They can't leave that Senate empty until November!"

They can't? Why can't they? I mean it's not exactly like it's been filled these last four years, is it?; 12/19/08, 6:42 PM
Blue@9 said...: "I will fight, I will fight, I will fight, till I take my very last breath."

Considering the nature of Chicago politics, is this a challenge?; 12/19/08, 6:43 PM
Bart Hall (Kansas, USA) said...: It's really all about the cash. He can't walk away from his cash-cow because the only way he knows how to make money is by using political office to shake it out of others wanting favors.

The used-car and door-to-door vacuum cleaner markets are kind of soft these days.; 12/19/08, 6:45 PM
dbp said...: It would be rational for Blago to fight to stay in office: If he resigns it is not as if Fitz is just going to drop the Federal charges. If Blago is lucky he will serve out his term (in office not the pen) and if he fights his (inevitable) book will sell that much better.; 12/19/08, 6:45 PM
Trochilus said...: Lem said...
the Dems only have two unattractive legal options left.

Or just pay him to resign ;)

Just pay him off (under the table of course)

6:24 PM

Which is why I said they only had "two unattractive legal options left."

There are lots of options, and I know this is Chicago . . . but (at least for now) the limelights are on this drama.; 12/19/08, 6:50 PM
former law student said...: The Senator thing was just the most sexy part of the complaint. Even if those discussions were completely innocent, there were two serious pay-for-play charges as I recall.

I'm starting to agree that Blago is impaired. He's certainly delusional, out of touch with reality, and for that reason should be locked up for his own safety.; 12/19/08, 6:52 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: More than 50 ways to leave office.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91euERWH2M4; 12/19/08, 7:02 PM
dick said...: I just read a couple of things that I found interesting about this mess.

Blago would be entitled to all the tapes with Rahm Emanuel once the indictment is in place.

Rahm Emanuel has made no plans so far to resign his congressional seat and be replaced.

Sorta makes you wonder what is really going on there, what is on those tapes and if Rahm Emanuel is home free to be the go to guy for Obama.; 12/19/08, 7:30 PM
reader_iam said...: A question, just for fun: Among those announced so far as appointees in the upcoming Obama administration, who has and has not officially tendered resignation from whatever current position/job they hold?; 12/19/08, 9:10 PM
reader_iam said...: Sorry--I ought to have keyed: "... he or she holds?"; 12/19/08, 9:27 PM
I'm Full of Soup said...: Reader:

I don't know the answer to your question. I did howver read that Congresscritters can not be replaced. There must be a special election to replace a congresscritter.; 12/19/08, 9:27 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Dont forget the player Jesse Jackson JR.

Will he be rewarded (with the senate seat) or condemned to run for the congressional seat he now holds, for life; either way he is politically scarred.

There is quite a bit of drama in this "thing" as Obama's Jon Favreau would have put it.

There is enough here to make the recent unpleasantness that was this years early November a distant memory.

I got my Star Report to prove it ;); 12/19/08, 9:32 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: A question, just for fun: Among those announced so far as appointees in the upcoming Obama administration, who has and has not officially tendered resignation from whatever current position/job they hold?

Hillary has not officially resigned?

BTW - The longer the Blago death watch goes on the worst it gets for the prospects of Hillary on the hot seat beign compelled to answer questions under oath.

I'm sneezing just thinking about it ;); 12/19/08, 9:42 PM
reader_iam said...: Separately, though certainly in extension:

On line, on screen, in print, off line--whatever: I keep gettin' the pings about "Wow!--We haven't had anyone name all his choices so early [since then]!"

OK, then. Call me whatever--but why is that? Oh, I get the meme. But what I really want to know is: Why is that?

Part of me would love to think that it's simply to provide the best, most transparent transition (and beyond) ever. But another part thinks: Could this be a strategy to entrench those in the next layer[s] as supporters (or at least not dissenters), on account of their own systemic interests, further down on the food chain?; 12/19/08, 9:42 PM
reader_iam said...: AJ: That's right, of course: Rahm Emanuel's position, for example, must be filled by special election, which process is triggered by, among other things, resignation.; 12/19/08, 9:46 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Of course Hillary on the hot seat and wimp republicans actually making her sweat are as far apart as Mars is from Venus.

http://foreign.senate.gov/about.html

Oh shit. There was only Coleman there.

That was fun, while it lasted.; 12/19/08, 9:51 PM
reader_iam said...: Ain't it cool how the whole Blag thing (which I do not treat, nor have not treated [see previous comment sprinkled here and there] lightly), among other things, has distracted everyone from asking other sorts of questions? Hey, well!--at least we got fun, baby.; 12/19/08, 9:54 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 12/19/08, 10:02 PM
reader_iam said...: All of that is partly why I appreciate Althouse having put up Blag posts regularly, and in the ways in which she has. I love the anti-flow tension embedded in the ongoing flow. Don't you?; 12/19/08, 10:03 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Hillary not resigning is moot at this point - Isn't it?

I mean they got this poor woman making the rounds like a long weekend intern at a brothel ranch only to tell her later she ain't got the job?

http://tinyurl.com/4wwfby; 12/19/08, 10:05 PM
John Stodder said...: What are the chances that Illinois Dems start drifting back into Blago's camp?

Someone high-minded could write a piece in, say, New Republic, suggesting Fitzgerald is on a witch hunt and didn't have the goods. A few right-wingers, still pissed about Scooter Libby, might go amen. That might be enough to stay impeachment and let Blago come up with a face saving way to make the senate appointment -- maybe via a panel of advisors who will send him three names. Meanwhile, Obama can "reward" Fitzgerald for his investigative prowess by appointment him Drug Czar or the head of some new cabinet-level ethics department. The snow will melt, trees will bud with Spring, and all will be forgotten.

It could happen.; 12/19/08, 10:08 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: I love the anti-flow tension embedded in the ongoing flow. Don't you?

I do. Alhouse runs a good ship.; 12/19/08, 10:08 PM
MadisonMan said...: Here is what the State Legislature should do.

Zero out the pay for the Governor, and for his staff. Pass laws taxing the Governor for just about any breath he takes. Sell the Governor's Mansion. Tax toupees.; 12/19/08, 10:14 PM
reader_iam said...: OT (and I DO mean that, because I just--just, meaning after my previous comments here--learned): Did you all know this? I missed that bit about Ezekiel Emanuel.; 12/19/08, 10:14 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: BTW reader_iam

We have Blago complaining about the Tribs Editorial articles

We have the Illinois Legislature considering articles of impeachment

You must very busy these days ;); 12/19/08, 10:16 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Hey, there is an Ari Gold in HBO's Entourage?

It's written after Rhams brother?

Ari (from the show) drops the F bomb all the time.

No, you think?; 12/19/08, 10:25 PM
reader_iam said...: Thanks for the feedback. I appreciate it more than you know.; 12/19/08, 10:29 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: The only thing missing from the Blago extravaganza is the sex.

Hey, you cant allways get what you want ;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiw_3olyJ2c

Here they are rolling out Bush.; 12/19/08, 10:37 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Thanks for the feedback. I appreciate it more than you know.

Drudge is all but one man ;); 12/19/08, 10:43 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: You cant allways get what you want

Actually that is not entirely true

http://tinyurl.com/42mpxa; 12/19/08, 10:51 PM
Cabbage said...: Fitzgerald! To the last, I will grapple with thee... from Hell's heart, I stab at thee! For hate's sake, I spit my last breath at thee!

Fitzgeraaaaaaaaaaaaaaald!; 12/19/08, 11:21 PM
Michael McNeil said...: Cabbage: LOL!; 12/20/08, 2:35 AM
GeorgeH said...: B HO has already promised to replace all US Attorneys on day one.
So, on Jan 22 Fitzgerald will be unemployed and Blago will be negotiating with a new US Attorney who's a Chicago democrat with an interest in making the whole mess go away.; 12/20/08, 8:36 AM
Anonymous said...: George H -- That is absolutely false. It's a putrid thing to say.

There's no way that Obama -- or any sensible president at this time -- would bother replacing every U.S. attorney, or even a lot of them. It takes too much effort. He particularly won't be replacing Fitzgerald.

Perhaps you are confused. Perhaps you don't understand that the ceremonial letters of resignation that all ambassadors, U.S. attorneys, etc. offer are not actual resignations. Nor are they firings.

Or perhaps you are just a moonbat.; 12/20/08, 10:13 AM
Trochilus said...: Meade, quoting me earlier, you said at 6:42 pm last night:
"They can't leave that Senate empty until November!"

They can't? Why can't they? I mean it's not exactly like it's been filled these last four years, is it?

While I take your point about the seat having been vacant in the sense that Obama was primarily using it as a platform to run for POTUS, having it actually vacant is an entirely different thing.

Politically, the failure to fill the seat makes the Democrat leadership in Illinois appear inept, impotent and a bit suspicious to boot. The Republicans would rightfully take advantage of that situation to politically hammer them on a daily basis, demanding that a special election be held (which would resolve the problem) and also that the impeachment of the Governor move forward.

It is bad enough that the Governor, a Democrat, appears to have recklessly engaged in negotiating over the sale of a United States Senate seat for personal gain. But when you add to that, the inability and unwillingness on the part of the remaining Democrat leadership to act to set that situation right, it would become intolerable, especially given the fact that there are very specific and obviously appropriate actions they can take.

Frankly, at some point the suggestion will be made, and perhaps a public debate will break out, about what the most important public policy goal is that should be served moving forward . . . carefully preserving the ability of the United States Attorney to pursue his criminal case (apparently against just two men, the Governor and his Chief of Staff), or taking actions to help stabilize the very political structure of Illinois state government, and filling a vacant United States Senate seat.

If that debate breaks out, and, if the latter appears to most people to be the correct answer, someone may well suggest that the United states Attorney issue some form of presentment by which he could make all the tapes publicly available, so that there does not appear to be any form of coverup. Such an action would make them all available for the impeachment process to move forward, and would take the initiative away from Blago.

One can certinly imagine that there are ongoing discussions between Blago's legal team and the United States attorney's office about a deal to get him out, and for him to plead to at least some charges. But Blago is playing real hardball, singing his fight refrain, and quoting Kipling -- as if he ever read one word of what the man wrote! And it is obviously very much in his interest to stall now. This stalemate is a win for him.

In addition, the prospect of an empty United States Senate seat will also be a constant reminder of just exactly what kind of cesspool the incoming President came out of, and that is definitely not something that he and his team relish either, especially since the lack of resolution of these matters also leaves a cloud over his designated Chief of Staff.; 12/20/08, 12:13 PM
bearbee said...: You're a foul one, Mr. Grinch.
You're a nasty, wasty skunk.
Your heart is full of unwashed socks
Your soul is full of gunk.
Mr. Grinch.

The three words that best describe you,
are, and I quote: "Stink. Stank. Stunk."
Your A Mean One
To sing along

George H -- That is absolutely false.

I was wondering if the statement was based on a fantasy scenario or one based on fact.; 12/20/08, 12:17 PM
Methadras said...: Host with the Most said...

Where would a politician today ever get the idea that he should stay and fight even if he's been caught red-handed?

When their lawyer tells them that just talking about committing a crime really isn't a crime. Afterall, it's just talk, no money ever changed hands right?; 12/20/08, 1:54 PM