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Blagojevich: In His Own Words

by Geneva B | January 27, 2009 at 05:20 pm

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Springfield - Senate Chamber, Illinois State Capitol Building

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The recently "famous" Rod Blagojevich seems to have many pearls of wisdom that are being lauded all over the net and beyond. The trouble with this Illinois Governor, besides his impeachment trial, is he can't seem to keep his mouth shut. He also appears to have a penchant for swearing and pulling abstract stats out of the air, as can be observed in some of the gems below. A good resource for the quotes found here is BrainyQuote.

FBI wiretaps allegedly caught Rod Blagojevich in a blatant, foul-mouthed bid to gain personally from his power to appoint President-elect Barack Obama's vacant Illinois Senate seat.

In regard to a senate seat, he told an associate, "[It's] a f***cking valuable thing, you just don't give it away for nothing."

He was also heard talking to a Deputy Governor, known as ‘A’, about the vacant Senate seat. He said: “If...they’re not going to offer anything of any value, then I might just take it.”
FBI agents listened to Mr Blagojevich discussing individual candidates for the seat, and overheard him say: “Unless I get something real good for [Candidate 1], shit, I’ll just send myself, you know what I’m saying.”

Blagojevich follows this up by saying: "Let's put aside the politics and trust the people. Let's embrace the unique opportunity we all have; take the heat and make the hard and difficult decisions, knowing that we're doing it to make things better for the people of Illinois."

But wait - it's not just dirty politics Blago is familiar with, he is also in tune with women's health!

"Ask any woman and she'll tell you: health care for women is more expensive than it is for men. In fact, during their reproductive years, women spend 68% more on health care than men do."

Blagojevich also resonates with the youth of today and has valuable insight into many issues they face. According to him, "For the same reason we don't allow kids to buy pornography, for the same reason we don't allow kids to buy cigarettes, for the same reason we don't allow kids to buy alcohol, we shouldn't allow them to go to stores and buy video games." Let me get this straight - you break the law, but the kids don't get their Tetris. Gotcha.

He also clearly wants the children of today healthy. He says, "Health care is not a privilege. It's a right. It's a right as fundamental as civil rights. It's a right as fundamental as giving every child a chance to get a public education."

Blago also knows the kids might have some one-upmanship capabilities: "Kids today are technologically sophisticated. In many families, they are far ahead of their parents." In his case, I think he might be correct. He'd better tread lightly amongst the tech-savvy!

Rod also seems conflicted on certain issues. "Parents don't need government to raise their kids. That's their job. But government can help them protect their children from influences they may not want their kids exposed to." Huh?

In regard to education: "I know each fund has its supporters, and that some will not want to see the surplus go to schools. But, in tough times, you have to set priorities. And our priority is education." Um, so no money for schools yet they are your priority. Sounds about right.

Blago has also devised an amazing strategy for dealing with the economic downturn; "A successful economic development strategy must focus on improving the skills of the area's workforce, reducing the cost of doing business and making available the resources business needs to compete and thrive in today's global economy." This guy's a freakin' genius!

Perhaps he should start an advice column. I know his careless, consequence-free style of addressing major issues could definitely touch peoples' hearts and minds.