Glynnis MacNicol | Mediaite
Disgraced Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevitch made his Sunday morning debut today following this week’s mistrial in Chicago…and boy he did not disappoint. An irritated-sounding Chris Wallace started the interview by revealing that at the last minute Blago had skipped a scheduled trip to D.C., presumably to appear on the show in person, so he could attend the Comic-Con convention and “pose with superheroes.” Priceless. Actually, Blago apparently did put a price on himself: $50 for a photograph and $80 for a photo. Said Wallace: “Is there anything you won’t do for a buck these days?”
Said Blago in response: “Well I didn’t really get any money for any of the photos I took because I probably took hundreds of them an couldn’t be bothered to ask everyone for money.” Also, he wanted to get out among the people.
The interview was a longish one and not lacking for Blago soundbites, nor do I think it was necessarily a bad decision for Blago to remain in Illinois since there were a few moments when Chris Wallace looked like his might like to throttle him. The main takeaway, however, appears to be that politics has not seen the last of Blago! Something he reiterated this morning:
“[I]f you’re asking me, do I believe there is a potential political comeback in the future? When I’m vindicated in this case, absolutely I do. Because people will see that I was willing all by myself almost … to fight the power of the federal government and correct this imbalance. There is something very dangerous in America today where you can have prosecutors with that power…I’m not ruling myself out as coming back, because I will be vindicated in this case. I’m significantly closer to vindication than I ever was.”
A few years ago this would merely have been a sad, funny anecdote marking the end of a troubled politician’s career. But considering the state of politics today I don’t think it’s at all unreasonable for Blago to think he has a future in government, in fact, now that’s he out of court he can start to make use of his Twitter account…we all know that’s the first place an embattled politician looks to to restart their career. Watch the interview below.
The original version of the story appears here.
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