The Hound listened to Gov. "Fighting Rod" Blagojevich after he surfaced from his bunker to spend about 45 minutes on the Don Wade and Roma radio show on WLS Friday morning. This guy isn't going quietly, is he?
Don and Roma threw the governor a few softballs and then, like a Jedi knight, he launched into a defense of his time in office: "At the end of the day, it was all about trying to do the right thing for the people of Illinois.''
The Hound's favorite was when he said his Dec. 9 arrest by FBI agents for allegedly attempting to sell the vacant Senate seat of President Obama was his personal Pearl Harbor. That was so wrong, governor, so wrong.
Plus, he's "a soldier for constitutional rights" protecting future governors from the whims of legislators who want to boot him from office, in violation "of the will of the people." He certainly referenced the name of Rahm Emanuel, President Obama's chief of staff, enough times. Blago contended Emanuel, the former Chicago congressman, would be one of his witnesses in next week's impeachment trial if the governor and his attorneys hadn't planned to boycott the proceedings. He said Emanuel would vouch he "did nothing wrong."
But the real gist of the governor's radio show windup was his warning to Illlinois voters that legislators want to remove him to have a clear path for raising taxes. "Pat Quinn wants to raise your taxes," he claimed. "The fix is in," he said, for hikes in the income and gas taxes.
The Hound can only hope the Democratic-controlled Legislature pushes through tax hikes a year before the 2010 elections. Guess who would be controlling the redistricting process for 2012? Republicans! Guess who would be the state's newest U.S. senator? A Republican! Guess who would be the state's next governor? A Republican!
For political theater, this was just the opening act of Blago's defense as a man of the people being forced from office by a "kangaroo court." Expect more of these unilateral media blitz appearances until he is removed from office. There's even talk of an appearance on "The View".
The governor who outsmarted U.S. Senate Democrats is on a roll. Hollywood may beckon after he is no longer wanted in Illinois.
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