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Our courageous governor

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* Gov. Blagojevich was on the West Side yesterday touting an apparent reduction in prison recidivism rates, but reporters wanted to ask him other questions…

When asked about the Rezko trial, Blagojevich has typically responded that he is not involved in the case and therefore it is not appropriate for him to talk about it.

But asked Monday afternoon if he was concerned that he might be the next target of investigators, Blagojevich answered, “As I’ve said before, I’m not going to answer stupid questions like that.”

The audience applauded the answer, but reporters pressed on…

The question about the federal investigation followed others about his woeful poll numbers and being booed at the Chicago Board of Trade as he rang the morning bell to open trading on Monday.

The audience hissed at reporters as they asked about these negative issues.

What a guy.

* Somewhat related…

* Corrections says convictions among parolees down

* Prison drug programs paying off, state says - Percentage of parolees arrested again way down

* Number Of Repeat Offenders Down

* Blagojevich: No more ’stupid questions’

* Politicians should take credit for all of their great ideas

* Worker says he was fired to protect governor

* IDOT’s proposal to move jobs goes on the clock

posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 9:26 am

Comments

How far away was the audience’s bus parked?

Stevie Wonder could see through this guy. Oy, oy, oy.

Comment by This Guy Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 9:39 am
Courageous? I called him fearless once!

Comment by Levois Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 9:39 am
Actually, it could be argued that it IS a “stupid” question. Of COURSE Blago is concerned about being the next target of an investigation. How could he not be? The only other thing that is “stupid” would be to think that Blago would publicly ADMIT to that concern.

Comment by Hunterdon Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 9:42 am
When Quasimodo is found in public, instead of swinging from the bells at Notre Dame, he will be asked questions such as, “Are you wearing a mask?”, “Is that a hump or your lunch?”, “When was the last time you bathed?”

And other “stupid” questions.

What Blagojevich needs to do is hold a press conference and answer all the stupid questions we expect governors in his situation to answer. This will free us all from chasing Quasi as he darts throw the crowds avoiding reporters.

Comment by VanillaMan Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 9:46 am
Did I say “darts throw” instead of “darts through”? Freudian slip!

Comment by VanillaMan Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 9:47 am
Milorod, do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?

“As I’ve said before, I’m not going to answer stupid questions like that.”

Comment by Vote Quimby! Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 9:53 am
The most fun part of all this is that since he refuses to answer pertinent questions about anything, the press will continue to hound him with those questions - they’re like that in the press. And now that he’s basically called them “stupid”, I can’t imagine that they’ll be very motivated to let up on him regarding these types of questions. Should be fun!

Comment by BigDog Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 9:56 am
as much as I feel Rod needs to be up front with his public, the questions were posed by the same reporter in such a snarky way that if it were me up there, I would be disinclined to reply or at least reply with maximum snark…I guess you do catch more bees with honey than vinegar just lke Mom said…

Comment by Anonymous45 Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 9:59 am
An interesting peek into the future of our Blago’s political life.

He runs for guv again and goes around the state giving inspiring speeches about his blue collar origins and his quest to help the middle class and
keep taxes down. Audiences lap it up around the state. Pesky reporters are viewed by those audiences as annoying spoilers and/or elitist nay-sayers. Our Blago escapes out the back door…again, grateful to those reporters for
once again playing backdrop to his populist gig.

He gets re-elected.

Comment by Cassandra Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 10:16 am
Rich,

I suspect that he is hyping the decline in recidivism to assure the people of Illinois that, after serving his prison sentence, “Public Official A” will be reformed, renewed and ready to end business as usual in state government.

– SCAM
so-called “Austin Mayor”
http://austinmayor.blogspot.com

Comment by so-called "Austin Mayor" Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 10:22 am
There’s a surreal quality to the governor now, kind of a Nixon Final Days vibe.

At times, he feels obligated to go through the motions of his office while pretending that everything is hunky-dory. Then, forced to confront the raging storm, he first denies it’s raining then retreats angrily to the shelter of bunker.

There’s a part of me that feels sorry for the guy. A lot of people who should have known better helped elevate him to a job that’s beyond his intellect, ethics, attention span and skills.

I grew up with guys like him — he’s a smiling, smooth-talking hustler from the neighborhood. Congress was his perfect job. You get to dress up, give speeches, get your picture taken, work a little or a lot and act like a big shot. You can still get in trouble, but the amount of damage you can do is minimal.

We’re all paying a price for this mess, and I get the feeling Blagojevich is starting to understand the price he’s going to pay for his arrogance and recklessness.

Comment by wordslinger Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 10:29 am
Stupid is as stupid does.

Comment by Shelbyville Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 10:32 am
I’m feeling a real connection to Wordslinger’s point of view lately. The enormity of the scam hoisted upon the citizens of IL by Rod’d backers including his father in law has yet to see the light of day.

Kind of reminds me of Presdident Reagan’s backers, but Ronnie was the great communicator, his insiders were mostly wealthy already, and times were a lot simpler…

Comment by Anonymous45 Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 10:49 am
of course it was a stupid question.

Didn’t the reporter see him quaking in his designer loafers?

Comment by Plutocrat03 Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 11:11 am
The events Rod attends are staged as carefully as a moonshot. Only the most loyal koolaide drinkers are allowed to appear on the dais with him, their remarks reviewed and vetted in advance. All the local civilian speechmakers are there at the request of their boss who is on the Rod Team, the unspoken understanding being that anything negative could result in the loss of government funds or a demotion. Too, when Rod comes to these he’s coming with a giant fake check or the promise of funding, so who is going to want to say negative things in that situation to start with, even if they feel them.

The audience is hand picked to be full of people who don’t actually follow any news about the governor, but know him from his commercials. The events are staged at times that most employed folks can’t fit into a schedule, so civilian audiences skew to retirees and unemployed. They tend to favor the elderly, who maintain respect generally for all government officials as part of their upbringing, and those of extremely low socioeconomic and educational status, who are easily dazzled by “celebrity” and who accept slick campaign demagoguery, unchallenged, as real promises. Actual staff from the various state offices are then salted thru this mix, to fill it out and help ignite applause on cue.

I can’t imagine why, in such a happy, uncontrived, and spontaneous gathering, a reporter’s legitimate questions would be hissed at.

I do get it though, that to the locals, who have come to the event because the event is about an issue important to them, would be insulted that the press seems not to care about that event or issue. I remember being at a rally about better asthma awareness education for school administrators and teachers and coaches. We were there to get the word out that asthma is not like getting a stitch in your side, and that sports coaches should not be telling kids in phys ed having an attack to “man up” and just “walk it off”. The reporters spent about ten seconds asking questions related to our asthma issues. Then they dove into campaign and scandal questions, which we got upset about.

But I blame the governor for not having the “Testicular Virility” to be responsive to those off-issue questions elsewhere. He’s forcing the reporters to do this. The reporters, being always cut off from this governor except to accept his press releases, understandably have to ask their questions whenever they get an opportunity. The more manly previous governors would either promise to take those questions separately in a sidebar after the formal event, or just agree to hold real press Q&A’s in a formal setup like the famous “blue room” established for that purpose. Not Rod though. He really thinks he can keep getting away with dropping his prepared sound bite and dashing off unquestioned. You just can’t expect to keep using reporters like that and getting away with it time after time. Rod’s simply run out of “get out of answering free” cards. He can expect to be hounded like this and worse, every day from now until he actually gives up some answers, or he quits.

And he deserves every bit of it.

Comment by live by the press, die by the press Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 11:15 am
Of course the Governor sees that as a stupid question,this may be the most truthful answer he has ever provided. Anyone in his shoes should be concerned that they will be coming under investigation with all of the finger pointing that has happened at trial.

Comment by Kevin Highland Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 11:29 am
The only stupid question is the one that isn’t asked. Are you Official A?

Comment by If It Walks Like a Duck... Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 12:25 pm
I’ll bet that Hugo Chavez wouldn’t get booed at the CBOT.

Comment by Dirt Guy Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 1:08 pm
If I wanted to send guv a copy of Dale Carnegie’s book on winning friends and influencing people while most importantly being Sincere what would be the address?

Comment by A Citizen Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 2:04 pm
Never mind, I figured it out. I will send the book to LaLaLand!

Comment by A Citizen Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 2:11 pm
Wordslinger is dead on. The one thing I’ll add is that he tried to govern like Clinton did by playing all sides against one another. The only problem is that Clinton and his staff were all brilliant at politics and policy. If Blago has had five people total during the last 7 years who you could name as brilliant in both poltiics and policy I’b be shocked. I can’t think of any to be honest.

Comment by 2for2 Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 2:51 pm
I had to wonder what planet Blago was on yesterday when I heard him comment on his numbers tanking. He actually said it was because people are paying more for gas, bread, and eggs. This guy is so maniacal it’s frightening. It’s beyond the point of laughing about him and I couldn’t be more serious when I say he is sounding more and more mentally unbalanced.

Comment by Little Egypt Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 3:34 pm
This admin has cooked the numbers regarding prison reform. I am a DOC employee and I know for a fact that the administration has ordered Parole Agents NOT to violate certain parolees who test positive for drugs. In the past this was an automatic violation that got you sent back to prison. Just one more way the Blagojevich administration conviniently distorts the facts.

Comment by southern illinoisan Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 7:37 pm
Live by the Press, Die by the Press has got it.

The press gave him a pass in ‘02 and ‘06.

Now, that the heat is on, instead of addressing these issues to an MSM who is inclined to love him anyway, he is running away from them.

He has bitten the hand that fed.

His political career is dead.

Comment by Dill Vlasic Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 7:55 pm
===The press gave him a pass in ‘02 and ‘06.===

What planet do you inhabit, exactly?

Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 11:49 pm
===an MSM who is inclined to love him anyway===

LOL. Seriously, where are you from?

Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 11:51 pm
Don’t worry, Rezko will go free, and old Rod will get another free pass.

Comment by Moot Wednesday, May 21, 08 @ 6:59 am