You're the subject of a three-year federal corruption investigation, fate hands you the opportunity to name a senator to replace the president-elect, and you try to corrupt that process, too? What the hell?
Gov. Rod Blagojevich and his chief of staff, John Harris, were arrested by FBI agents on federal corruption charges Tuesday morning....
In one charge related to the appointment of a senator to replace Barack Obama, prosecutors allege that Blagojevich sought appointment for himseld as Secretary of Health and Human Services in the new Obama administration, or a lucrative job with a union, in exchange for appointing a union-preferred candidate....
Yeah, I know -- Clinton canoodled with Monica Lewinsky when he knew every right-winger in America was desperate to find dirt on him, particularly sexual dirt, and Gary Hart went off on the Monkey Business with Donna Rice after challenging the press ("Follow me around.... I'm serious. If anybody wants to put a tail on me, go ahead. They'd be very bored"). But those guys were dogs, unable to resist a little carnal bliss. This I don't get.
Wait -- it gets worse. I think Blagojevich is clinically delusional, and I mean that literally:
Here's the pdf of Patrick Fitzgerald's press release on the arrests. Stay classy, Blago:
Throughout the intercepted conversations, Blagojevich also allegedly spent significant time weighing the option of appointing himself to the open Senate seat and expressed a variety of reasons for doing so, including: frustration at being "stuck" as governor; a belief that he will be able to obtain greater resources if he is indicted as a sitting Senator as opposed to a sitting governor; a desire to remake his image in consideration of a possible run for President in 2016; avoiding impeachment by the Illinois legislature; making corporate contacts that would be of value to him after leaving public office; facilitating his wife's employment as a lobbyist; and generating speaking fees should he decide to leave public office.
"A possible run for President"?? Yeah, because what says "presidential timber" more than a multi-year corruption investigation combined with a 13% approval rating in your home state?
Forget prison. Put this guy in a padded cell next to some guy who thinks he's Napoleon.