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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2009
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 OPINION 
1

Blago the Only Rat Paying the Piper

'Chicago punk,' sure, but ever heard of Bush, Rumsfeld, Lay, Rubin?

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(Newser) – Poor Rod Blagojevich: He merely tried to auction off the president-elect’s Senate seat and could be imprisoned for it. But the men who bungled Iraq and crashed our economy can anticipate vacations and White House jobs, Frank Rich writes in the New York Times. Luckily for us, Blagojevich “gift-wraps the ugliness of corruption in the mirthful garb of farce.”

Professional goofs like former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, Enron titan Ken Lay, and Cheney aide Scooter Libby mimicked President Bush, “the Forrest Gump of his own White House” who refuses to take responsibility for his blunders. Their latest successor is “national whipping boy” Blagojevich, Rich writes, “the one betrayer of the public trust who could actually end up paying for his behavior.”

Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich leaves a downtown building where a high profile attorney has an office Saturday, Dec. 13, 2008, in Chicago.
Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich leaves a downtown building where a high profile attorney has an office Saturday, Dec. 13, 2008, in Chicago.   (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)
Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich departs his Chicago home carrying a folder labeled
Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich departs his Chicago home carrying a folder labeled "Health/Capital/Budget," Saturday, Dec. 13, 2008.   (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich departs his home in Chicago, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2008.
Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich departs his home in Chicago, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2008.   (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
"It’s a sad snapshot of our century’s establishment that [Robert] Rubin has been an economic adviser to Barack Obama," Frank Rich writes.   (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow, file)
Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich
Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich "is the perfect holiday treat for a country fighting off depression," Frank Rich writes.   (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich was arrested this week on federal charges that he tried to sell President-elect Barack Obama's vacant Senate seat.
Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich was arrested this week on federal charges that he tried to sell President-elect Barack Obama's vacant Senate seat.   (AP Photo/Seth Perlman)
Gov. Rod Blagojevich discusses his plans for filling President-elect Barack Obama's Senate seat Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2008 in Chicago. Any number of statewide elected officials also could get the nod, ranging from Blagojevich, who is able to choose himself, to Comptroller Dan Hynes or Attorney General Lisa Madigan, both potential...
Gov. Rod Blagojevich discusses his plans for filling President-elect Barack Obama's Senate seat Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2008 in Chicago. Any number of statewide elected officials also could get the nod, ranging...   (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)
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Donald Rumsfeld's famous excuse for his failure to secure post-invasion Iraq, 'Stuff happens,' could be the epitaph of our age. - Frank Rich, the New York Times

Those who promoted the twin catastrophes of reckless war in Iraq and reckless gambling in our markets have escaped the accountability that now seems to await the Chicago punk nabbed by US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald. - Frank Rich

After a while they all start to sound like OJ Simpson, who when at last held accountable for some of his behavior told a Las Vegas judge this month, 'In no way did I mean to hurt anybody.'
- Frank Rich, the New York Times, on failed public and private sector leaders

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justme
Dec 14, 08 6:45 PM CST
Excuse us, Mr. Rich, for actually being angry at a Democrat who so blatently breaks the law. Sorry we were not able to blame this one on Bush. My gosh, the vitriol flows non-stop from those blinded by their own cool aid. Reply
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(Newser) - When it comes to political memoirs, Rod Blagojevich’s The Governor: Finally, the Truth Behind the Political Scandal That Continues to Rock the Nation “is surely unsurpassed” in the areas of “febrile self-defensiveness and look-over-there deflections and deceptions,” writes David Remnick for the New Yorker.... More »

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(Newser) - An important figure in the federal corruption case against Rod Blagojevich died today, the Chicago Tribune reports. Christopher Kelly, a former fundraiser and confidante to Blagojevich, died from salicylate intoxication, a county medical examiner's office said. Salicylates are found in pain relief and anti-inflammatory medications. One law enforcement source called... More »

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 Talk Show Host Grills Blago 

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(Newser) - Rod Blagojevich got unexpectedly tough treatment from Bonnie Hunt on her talk show today, the Chicago Tribune reports. In what was probably supposed to be a routine stop on the former governor’s book tour, Hunt, an Illinois native, instead pressed Blago on why he doesn’t take responsibility for... More »

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