He sees them all as enemies.

poke in the eye in Trump's addled mind.

"Celebrity Apprentice", season 9. I'm surprised he didn't do this for his good buddy sooner.

He got 14 years one main reason. He pissed off the judge for showboating around the country, appearing on TV shows, while awaiting trial. That is an improper reason to give such a lengthy sentence. There was no evidence that Blago enriched himself -- unlike scores of Chicago politicians before him who served a few months or a few years or were not even charged. He should be freed.

Blago wanted to sell it, but got no buyers. He should serve out his entire sentence.


BTW, when he did appoint Roland Burris to the seat, and his attempt to sell the seat came out, it trashed the reputation of Burris, who is actually squeaky-clean.

You can't. Do you think a judge should be allowed to sentence anyone to any sentence they want? No matter the crime? No matter no previous crimes? How about the death penalty? If judge had given him that would you be OK with it? Our justice system is supposed to be a step above two bit dictatorships who have no accountability for their arbitrary sentences.

and the crimes that politicians commit are often huge. While Governor of Illinois Blag tried to SELL a U.S. senate seat! I would accept life in prison as proportional to that crime, and it certainly should not be less than whatever is needed to frighten even the most greedy and well connected.

I wonder if that is your argument when he sentences young black men. No questions at all. If he says hang them, then hang them. Sorry, I don't worship judges. I guess it is an occupational hazard. Or maybe its experience.

'Nuff said right there.

Blago was a corrupt POS going back to his days in Congress, and that was well known here on DU. Dig around and look at his votes on airport security, and you'll find he was whoring for competing labor unions even in the wake of 9/11. The fact that he got caught trying to SELL Obama's newly vacated Senate seat is only one of the convictions they had on him, and the laundry list is long enough that he needed to go to that country club prison. It ran the gamut from extortion to conspiracy, and there were 7 or 8 convictions on different charges. Just figure a couple years per charge--which is certainly NOT the high end of the range--and it's not too hard to see how he got sent away for a while. (See the linked article for a list!)

I'll grant you, he's no master of crime or convicted murderer, but he f***ed up in a state with a fairly comprehensive list of lawbreaking politicians. (My personal favorite to this day, is Paul Powell who died with closets of shoe boxes filled with cash.) We average an indicted Governor about every ten years or so here in Illinois, in fact. When we go to a campaign rally nobody really is ever certain if "4 more years" is a sentencing suggestion or approval, and Blago's re-election was no exception to that.

Blago got caught, and they had the goods on him when they went to trial. Trump only confirms his own level of general skeeviness by even having the discussion.


Laura



https://herald-review.com/news/state-and-regional/list-of-charges-verdicts-against-blagojevich/article_48f5281a-a0f7-11e0-9b63-001cc4c03286.html

You don't know what you are talking about. These sentences were consecutive instead of concurrent which is what these type of sentences always are. When the judge sentences young black men to draconian sentences I will be told that is "within the range" too.

Sentencing appeals almost always fail. Judges have discretion on sentencing and higher courts do not review that.

However, give me an example of a governor who tried to sell a Senate seat, and tell me how much of a sentence he got.

Blagojevich deserved what he got.

Prosecutors say a lot of things that turn out to be not true when they indict a well known person. They are trying to influence potential jury members in the audience. Who exactly did Blagojevich try to sell the Senate seat to? Why was this person not named? Why weren't they arrested and why did they not appear as a witness at trial?

You do know, don't you, that many of the counts relating to the Senate seat were tossed out by the appeals court. The court said that proposals to exchange promises for appointments "is a common exercise in logrolling".

So we were left with some common forms of Illinois bribery which is endemic in Chicago. The city council has 50 seats and over the past years 27 have been arrested and convicted by the feds for bribery. None have been sentenced to 14 years. None of the previous four IL governors who have gone to jail were sentenced to 14 years for similar crimes.

I know that Blago attempted to sell a Senate seat. I know he got a stiff sentence. I believe he deserved what he got. I know you are unable to give me a similar example.

You, for some unknown reason, feel sorry for the poster child for political corruption, I don't.

About a case that you know "quite well". And since you know the case so well you have apparently forgotten the appeals court throwing out the Senate counts. Yes, you know it well....

Look. Blago, in what can only be called an act of massive political corruption, tried to SELL a US Senate seat. He was tried and convicted for that CRIME. He was sent to prison, WHICH HE DESERVED. You, for some unknown reason, feel sorry for him. I don't. He is a crook, and was properly treated as a crook. Period. Save your sympathy for someone who deserves it, not for a blatantly corrupt politician. Now shut up and crawl back under that rock.

That's what people say who have lost the argument and have no facts to back them up.

Counts relating to the Senate seat were REVERSED by the appeals court. So, NO, he was not convicted of that CRIME (see I know how to use the Capitalize key too).

Blago's judge Judge Jeffery Zagel, a Reagan appointee, gave the de facto head of the Illinois Republican party, Bill Cellini, 6 months for his part in the Blago investigation. He gave Nick Calabrese, a Chicago mob hit man who admitted being involved in 14 killings, 12 years. The governor before Blago, George Ryan, got 6 years for his corruption conviction. But somehow Blago trying to shake down an insurance -- which is what he was convicted of -- deserves 14 years in prison. Ridiculous.

No, the truth is not going to run away and hide under a rock.

He's been in long enough. It's just another way of throwing the book at a Democrat.

I don't. Save your sympathy for someone who deserves it. Blago doesn't.

Republicans have done more and got less time.

walking free than in prison. Straw by straw.

is to temper justice with mercy.

Oh, that's a thought!

Trump normalizing corruption. Where are all the massive street marches and protests? Remember the women's march?

How long before Trump suspends habeas corpus?

can he be any more obvious?

I believe if Chump does this, he'll just piss of the Illinois GOP, and that's fine with me. Giving them another reason NOT to vote for Chump next year. It won't change one Democrat's vote either way. Blago has already been in prison for 7 years (I think) and his political career is ruined. He's paid enough.