Is it possible that Blagojevich didn't break the law ?

[Blarch]

Poll question: Is it possible that Blagojevich didn't break the law ?

Is it possible that Blagojevich didn't break the law ?

And here is your treat for voting, thanks. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80DtQD5BQ_A

[WeDidIt]

1. Is it possible OJ Simpson didn't kill Nicole?

Blagojevich is guilty.

They don't want me on the jury.

[hlthe2b]

4. Once I heard the storey of the Paul Mitchell hairbrush....

that cinched it! :evilgrin:

[JeanGrey]

12. No it isn't possible.

[stillcool]

17. Is it possible that there are..

a shit-load of people serving time that committed no crime? I wonder how many lucky ones have been cleared through DNA after serving decades in jail, and how many that aren't so lucky are still there, or died.

[WeDidIt]

24. There are people who serve time without being guilty

Blagojevich will never be one of them because he's as guilty as they come.

He makes George Ryan look positively angelic by comparison.

[stillcool]

25. Fine..I don't live in Illinois..

but I'll say fry him on your say-so. The feds are never wrong about these things, look at Governor Siegelman.

[mopinko]

29. I think the innocence project says

10- 20%

[Yes We Did]

26. OJ didn't do it...

It was his son that did it.

He definitely knew about it, but he didn't do it himself.

[WeDidIt]

27. Bullshit

OJ was guilty as shit.

I don't buy into bullshit conspiracy theories based upon garbage.

[lostnotforgotten]

2. At First Blush - Seems He Pissed Someone Off To Start A Witch Hunt

eom

[mopinko]

3. if it was as cut and dried at they would like you to think, there would have

been an indictment. that they couldn't muster one after 3 years of investigation ought to tell you something.

i also note that the investigation that started this was into corruption of ryan appointees which somehow no one gave a shit about during a republican regime.

[alcibiades_mystery]

5. When The Mighty Fitzmas brings the thing to a Grand Jury, I'll be impressed

The man does love to hold those press conferences, though.

[acmavm]

14. I think the only thing this guy is good for (Fitz) is beating his own drum. He

loves the sound of his own voice. Too bad it costs to much for the American people to give him a stage to play on.

[Onlooker]

6. He may not have violated any laws, but he's plainly corrupt

Or the prosecution is lying big time.

Foley didn't break the law, and Jefferson of Louisiana is unlikely to be convicted of any wrongdoing, but they too couldn't be trusted and thus deserve to have lost their House seats.

[alcibiades_mystery]

7. One retired, and the other lost an election

:shrug:

[onehandle]

8. All I see is conspiracy. And that can be hard to prosecute.

That being said, the little prick should resign.

[olkaz]

9. Stupid question.

Is it possible that Bush rides around on an invisible flying car dropping stink bombs on schoolchildren during recess?

Yes, but unlikely.

[Demoiselle]

10. All I hear on the publicized tapes is Blago's wishful thinking....

He says he OUGHT to be rewarded for the appointment, that it's worth a lot and he SHOULD get a lot for it...all in conversations with his number two man...
Perhaps they have him demanding a specific reward from someone on tape....but we haven't heard it yet.
I find it hard to believe that Blago snarling at the Chicago Tribune that they ought to fire their editorial board counts as a real demand.
I am concerned about Fitzgerald's stated intent that he was going public to "prevent a crime." Sounds like that Tom Cruise sci fi movie of a few years back.(No, I can't remember the name!!)
What bothers me the most is that Obama is going to need every single Democratic vote in the senate come January. We already know that the Repukes are setting things up to block everything.
Even with two Illinois democrats and Al Franken in place, we still don't have enough votes to override a fillibuster.

We've got so much hard work to do to correct the horrors of the past years. And we need to get it done quickly. I hope we don't allow ourselves to be distracted by this, and that our Democratic leaders aren't shooting themselves in the foot.

[napi21]

11. I heard last night that an indightment should be filed next week.

Apparently Fitz had 30 days ofter filing the "complaint" to file an indightment and the 30 days is up next week. I think we'll at least get more pertinent info then.

[Blarch]

13. sounds good.

[Pale Blue Dot]

18. According to MSNBC, he just asked for 90 more days.

I don't think he has a case. Something went terribly wrong here.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x4743478

[Occam Bandage]

15. About as possible as it is that Cheney didn't. nt

[MoonRiver]

16. Sounds like he committed a crime, but I'm not a lawyer.

So I will wait to pass full judgment until somebody, or bodies, with the legal authority to do so, declare him guilty.

[camera obscura]

19. The obvious answer is 3.

We have seen from the documents that he intended to commit a crime which could be enough for conspiracy. But none of us have the answers.

[peaches2003]

20. Fitz just asked for a 3 month extension

Was supposed to have until next week to bring an indictment. Now he has asked to extend that until April! Someone here has jumped the gun and Blago is still rightly able to act as governor until he is impeached or indicted. You think SCOTUS will back up the Senate in not seating Burris when Fitz is still looking for a case to prosecute?

[stopbush]

21. You're right. If every politician under suspicion was required to suspend

their duties government would grind to a halt.

Worse, it could become a political tool. Suppose a piece of legislation was before a political body. You want to stop it? Simple - get a politically sympathetic judge to issue an arrest warrant for the main player promoting the legislation. Once arrested, the firestorm ensues, demanding the politician not be allowed to promote/vote on the legislation until cleared.

Or, perhaps a president going through the impeachment process should step aside and let his VP run the show until he's cleared. How many DUers would have thought that was a good idea during the Clinton debacle?

Blago may be acting impolitic to appoint Burris, but he is not acting illegally. He stands accused, not convicted and not even indicted.

Some may find it distasteful and politically stupid (or shrewd), but he is still the governor and he should still perform his duties, including making the Senate appointment.

BTW - Fitz asking for a 3-month extension only makes it worse. Is Illinois to be denied their Senator until April? What if Blago is found innocent of all these charges? What if he is removed from office through impeachment and is THEN found innocent? Does he get his job back?

[polichick]

22. If you take out the f-words in the tapes we've heard, there's not much there...

I don't care if the accused is a Dem or not, this prosecutor needs to have a whole lot more than that.

[mvd]

23. Undetermined on the Senate seat sale

No opinion on if he has ever broken any laws.

[ShadowLiberal]

28. Depends on what 'crime' you're talking about

Blago has obviously broken some laws from what I've read about the stuff he's being charged with, or likely to be charged with soon besides the senate seat sale.

In terms of the senate seat sale, I think Blago could escape being convicted of anything in that area, simply because Fitz stepped in too soon to stop it, before Blago had really done anything yet other then talk about doing it.

[davsand]

30. I agree, I think they'll "get him" but not for the Senate seat

I think the Senate seat was a "hot button" sort of issue that the media couldn't wait to play with, but I do not think they will ever be able to get a conviction on it unless they have a lot more on tape than what I've seen. (Always possible!)

I DO think, however, that they have a lot of stuff on Blago that they will be able to convict with. It isn't gonna be "sexy" and it will be nuts and bolts stuff, but they WILL probably get him for the stuff like using state staff for campaign work on the taxpayer dime. It isn't much of a secret that it goes on ALL the time here in Illinois, and Blago and his staff are no exception.

I think they will also probably nail him for pay to play--especially on stuff like the Health Facilities Planning Board and few other high ticket ventures. Similarly, state hiring practices at CMS have been pretty shaky for a while now. Several of Blag's handpicked guys already got nailed for that a while ago and that is gonna end up biting him on the butt too, I think.

I think he's also pretty vulnerable on some state ethics violation and THAT will probably be his undoing when it comes to impeachment given how much the legislature dislikes him.


Just my two cents.


Laura