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* I spent way too much time putting this little video together. It’s definitely not the slickest thing you’ll ever see, but I wanted to do something different for the one-year anniversary of Rod Blagojevich’s arrest. Plus, I need the editing practice. Be gentle, please. Have a look…
posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Dec 9, 09 @ 12:31 am
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Fantastic job. It would be even more entertaining if it weren’t so sad and so true. The feared “truth” is clearly out stranged by fiction and Rod himself. Unbelievable.
Comment by Been There Before Wednesday, Dec 9, 09 @ 12:50 am
Well done as a production, the content on the whole just makes me queasy.
“Like a dog going back to the food which he has not been able to keep down, is the foolish man doing his foolish acts over again.” Prov 26:11
Comment by Returning Dog Wednesday, Dec 9, 09 @ 12:55 am
===the content on the whole just makes me queasy. ===
Yeah. I know the feeling. lol
Comment by Rich Miller Wednesday, Dec 9, 09 @ 12:59 am
Editing it all must have been brutal!
It’s sad, really. A year ago this time I had some high hopes for the state, that things were going to get better. Those hopes haven’t really come to fruition.
Comment by Returning Dog Wednesday, Dec 9, 09 @ 1:13 am
Bleeping Golden!
In developing a retrospective like this one question a viewere has to ask themselves is; what material ended up on the cutting room floor?
With so much to work with, it must have been hard to pick and choose from; and yet even now a year later, he remains the gift that keeps on giving.
Comment by Quinn T. Sential Wednesday, Dec 9, 09 @ 4:01 am
Outstanding video montage.
But when you look at it, it’s like looking at a car wreck. How stupid we all were for electing this schmuck or allowing the other pols (Mike Madigan and Jones) to drag us down with him. There’s plenty of blame to go around.
Comment by Very Good but a nightmare! Wednesday, Dec 9, 09 @ 6:39 am
Well, this certainly wasn’t a MSM 30 second sound bite…Very impressive….Your brother should be working for PBS….Perhaps he could be the new Ken Burns
Comment by Louis Howe Wednesday, Dec 9, 09 @ 6:57 am
if I may say……
I thought it was excellent, very entertaining to say the least, held my attention, I was worried after I saw the 9:00 mark, but it held my attention and I actually wanted to see more…..
Comment by i'm just saying Wednesday, Dec 9, 09 @ 6:58 am
Great job Rich, Pretty amazing to consider you probably could have made this a feature length documentary on this idiot. Very entertaining, Maybe you and your brother should consider making adds for all our Illinois candidates going into the Feb. primary. At least they would be worth watching.
Comment by downstate hick Wednesday, Dec 9, 09 @ 7:37 am
HILARIOUS. Great job, Rich!
Comment by Anon62 Wednesday, Dec 9, 09 @ 8:06 am
I was down with a stomach bug yesterday… watching this almost made me sick all over again
Seriously, though, great job Rich.
Think the Rod saga could still be a big-screen movie? I still vote for Sean Astin or Tom Cruise to play Rod.
Comment by Bookworm Wednesday, Dec 9, 09 @ 8:14 am
Bravo Rich!
Again, reality is far better than fiction. The production quality is very well done, and the clips chosen remind me of all those days.
Thanks, Rich for the blog, and thanks for being creative enough to MAKE the blog the success it is.
Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, Dec 9, 09 @ 8:24 am
Rich: You have captured the morbidly fascinating feel of the events.
Comment by One of the 35 Wednesday, Dec 9, 09 @ 8:33 am
Man those White Sox commercials made me queasy. What was that, 1980?
Have you all heard about him signing a copy of the Constitution with “F’n golden” at his book signing? He’s still setting new lows every day.
Comment by Stooges Wednesday, Dec 9, 09 @ 8:38 am
Very well-done, the whole sordid mess in living color.
A few thoughts in retrospect:
–”I have nothing to fear but the truth” is one of the greatest Freudian slips of all time.
– Rod almost cracked on the $1,500 gift question. You could almost read his thoughts by his paralysis: “Wow, this looks really bad. There’s no good explanation.”
– Rod and Burris were destined for each other. Their mutual cynicism and contempt for the electorate is breathtaking. Nice assist by Bobby Rush.
– Kass really has some deep insight on Illinois poliics, doesn’t he?
Comment by wordslinger Wednesday, Dec 9, 09 @ 8:45 am
Thanks for that. I could watch that stuttering defense of the kid gift over and over. To me, it is the epitome of a lying politician and the closing line about truth along the the Letterman clip are timeless. What a start to the day.
Comment by Phineas J. Whoopee Wednesday, Dec 9, 09 @ 8:49 am
You left out this quote:
“Rod Blagojevich is an honest man. He always tries to do what’s right” Pat Quinn, 2006
Comment by Bill Wednesday, Dec 9, 09 @ 8:53 am
Nice job. Think the only thing I might have added was about the 5:00ish mark after Madigan, a final shot of Rod broading the plane and taking off from Springfield for the last time.
Comment by Cindy Lou Wednesday, Dec 9, 09 @ 9:00 am
As this montage evolves, and I’m sure it will,I would suggest finding a place for his swinging from cords to promote that goofy show his wife was on.
Comment by Phineas J. Whoopee Wednesday, Dec 9, 09 @ 9:04 am
Excellent!!
The saga continues as the investigation finalizes details on the cronies accepting jobs at his Springfield and Chicago offices, how they got them, and who they pulled into the ranks and at what price. Surely they don’t think they are in the clear.
Let the finger pointing begin in earnest, and let the montage continue to grow. Again…..excellent presentation!
Comment by Justice Wednesday, Dec 9, 09 @ 9:11 am
Great job Rich.
Comment by Tom B. Wednesday, Dec 9, 09 @ 9:15 am
Awesome! Cant wait to see what you come up with next.
Comment by GOP4EVER Wednesday, Dec 9, 09 @ 9:20 am
GOP4EVER, I think it’ll be awhile before I tackle another project like this. It was a lot more work than I thought it would be, but once I started I couldn’t stop.
Comment by Rich Miller Wednesday, Dec 9, 09 @ 9:24 am
Well done, Captain. Count AA as another one with a queasy stomach. If Papa Tony had made it in, that might have pushed me over the top.
Hey Bill, wasn’t that you walking in the background of that campaign ad that is excerpted at the beginning?
Comment by Arthur Andersen Wednesday, Dec 9, 09 @ 9:29 am
Rich, that’s a nice retrospective that doesn’t spend too long on any one aspect of the entire Blago saga. I would advise trying to equalize the sound level in any future video montage, a couple of the sources were much louder than others, so I had to reach for my volume control a few times.
Comment by cover Wednesday, Dec 9, 09 @ 9:30 am
Good point, cover. I meant to do that and simply forgot, and once I uploaded the thing I just didn’t feel like dealing with it. lol
Comment by Rich Miller Wednesday, Dec 9, 09 @ 9:32 am
=== If Papa Tony had made it in, that might have pushed me over the top.===
He’s in there. Look closer.
Comment by Rich Miller Wednesday, Dec 9, 09 @ 9:35 am
nice work! I cant decide if he reminds me more of Michael Scott (the office) or the main character in the movie “The Informant”.
Comment by anon Wednesday, Dec 9, 09 @ 9:36 am
Great job Rich- the clip at the end was a nice touch. Lots of funny memories of my time as an intern. I remember that crazy press conference at the Citgo when Rod went off. I’m still kicking myself for not going.
Comment by Kevin Fanning Wednesday, Dec 9, 09 @ 9:49 am
Bill,
You forgot this quote.
“Oops.”
Bill December 9, 2008.
Comment by Leave a Light on George Wednesday, Dec 9, 09 @ 9:53 am
You gave us less than ten minutes of reasons Illinois voters are too disgusted by their government to support it during these tough times. It isn’t a matter of citizens turning against their state, it is a matter of those in office turning against their duties given to them by the citizens.
As we face the winter of 2010, we have witnessed the collapse of state government credibility since the winter of 2009. We have watched another year pass as troubles deepened further. Another year of political fingerpointing and willfull ignorance. Another year of politicking instead of leading. Another year without anyone in charge standing up and being responsible as they were elected to be responsible.
Illinois government is not just broken, the folks empowered to fix it are unwilling to fix it because the problems they allowed to fester over the past decade have become too large to address, and politically survive. Our politicians are more enamoured of their little fiefdoms, with their perks and income, than they are enamoured of Illinoisans. They are unwilling to take the political risks necessary to lead us into a brighter future.
The Party in Power is corrupted to the point where they do not merit re-election to Office. The Party out of Power is corrupted to the point where they have yet to demonstrate that a decades long political exile has led them to reforming themselves from within.
If any US citizens have a right to be furious with their state’s government, it is us. Not only are they incompetent, they are a public humiliation on a national scale. They are not only cowards at a time when we need heroes, they are so corrupted they fear reform, reality, and voters.
2009 might seem like it was a tough year to be in public office, but their continued refusal to pass legislation to address our political problems, our employment problems, our fiscal problems, our educational problems, and our structural deficits, demonstrates to every voter, regardless of political ideology or party, that things will not get better in Illinois until the majority of our current government officials join the unemployment lines in 2010 and 2011.
Comment by VanillaMan Wednesday, Dec 9, 09 @ 10:09 am
Wonderful job Rich. I think everyone in Illinois should watch that today: the people who voted for him, the people who promoted him, and most importantly, the people who didn’t get off their rears to research candidates and/or vote for a different candidate than Rod when the time came. If we don’t learn from this, then we get what we deserve.
Comment by NC Wednesday, Dec 9, 09 @ 10:26 am
The trial will be the 10th minute, Rich. You know that this hotdog is going to give his own final summary remarks to the jury in place of his defense lawyers, just as he did at his Senate impeachment trial. Same results, too -
I hope his cellmate appreciates getting a copy of his book as they are introduced to each other.
Comment by Capitol View Wednesday, Dec 9, 09 @ 10:32 am
Laugh at The Governor’s expense if you must Rich.
I have it on good authority that The Governor has some corroborated goodies on a handful of lace curtain Irishmen - which would explain why The Governor is “always” smiling.
Comment by Area 2 Wednesday, Dec 9, 09 @ 11:05 am
VM…..spot on!
And yes Rich we do wait in great anticipation for your continuation of this montage. You need to write a book.
Comment by Justice Wednesday, Dec 9, 09 @ 11:05 am
Totally agree with Vanilla man…a sorry, sad, and despicable state of affairs…I blame the leadership in in this state and specifically, the chair of the IL Dems MJM, for chairing this clown’s re-election campaign…I know he just wanted to watch him get thrown out on his a**, but the cost to IL citizens has been far too high…
Comment by Loop Lady Wednesday, Dec 9, 09 @ 11:09 am
===I have it on good authority that The Governor has some corroborated goodies===
You think MJM and Daley would cut illegal deals with that clown?
Comment by Rich Miller Wednesday, Dec 9, 09 @ 11:16 am
He may look like an idiot and talk like an idiot, but don’t let that fool you. He really is an idiot.
Groucho Marx
Comment by paddyrolingstone Wednesday, Dec 9, 09 @ 11:47 am
You missed your calling, Rich. You could re-edit Crime and Punishment and retain the essence.
As far as the clown quip, while MJM may not have cut illegal deals with RodB he propped him up as the ideal candidate for gov. MJM should reside in a nearby circle of hell for that, if not the center circle.
Comment by dupage dan Wednesday, Dec 9, 09 @ 12:38 pm
Rich,
Where did you get the footage of Rod dancing around in the big crowd? You featured it about three or so times within the first two minutes of the film. It cracks me up.
Comment by Nikoli Wednesday, Dec 9, 09 @ 12:51 pm
Nikoli, I posted that video last year and went looking for it yesterday. Can’t remember where it is now. Sorry.
Comment by Rich Miller Wednesday, Dec 9, 09 @ 1:20 pm
Nice job, nice sequence to the timeline leading up to the latest events.
It really makes the whole Blagojevich era look like a carnival, especially Mayor Welch’s finest moments. Lot’s of good clown moments, especially from Blagojevich. This must have took a lot of time.
Nice touch with the happy Sox Fans!
Comment by Third Generation Chicago Native Wednesday, Dec 9, 09 @ 2:02 pm
Great job…his dancing reminds me of the scene in Ghostbusters where everyone of every faith is routing for the Ghost busters to save New York.
Dogs and cats living together oh no!
Comment by Really? Wednesday, Dec 9, 09 @ 3:13 pm
Fn golden!
Great video, Rich. Great job!
Comment by Macbeth Wednesday, Dec 9, 09 @ 6:52 pm
Wow! Very well done.
Comment by Cheswick Wednesday, Dec 9, 09 @ 8:09 pm
Definitely grounds for sibling rivalry, Rich! Bro beware!
Great stuff!!!
Comment by Anonymous Wednesday, Dec 9, 09 @ 9:43 pm
I want more. Great job Rich. It was funny! And the goodbye song was an appropriate end.
Comment by Levois Wednesday, Dec 9, 09 @ 10:16 pm