Blagojevich convicted of lying to feds

[EE_]

I don't like Blago, but for him to push it this far, combined with his case being tied up with NObama (Obama, who is a complete fraud with no known history)...I'd say he was railroaded and is innocent.

[osoab]

I don't like Blago, but for him to push it this far, combined with his case being tied up with NObama (Obama, who is a complete fraud with no known history)...I'd say he was railroaded and is innocent.

I don't know about innocent, but I see everything the dumbass did as identical to the rest of the game being played. He just pissed off the wrong person/group and the shit storm ensued.

Funny how it was easy to keep everyone in lockstep for this whole thing.
Even with the local media, not one politician/big wig that I saw ever stepped up to back Blago. His demise came from the top.

[Neuro]

Does this mean Rahm Emanuel gets put in prison too? After all, Manta.com has him registered as a dba for Rod Blago ....

http://www.manta.com/c/mm53s5b/congressman-rahm-emanuel

He'll get put in prison the day Pigs can fly. He is untouchable.

[osoab]

Excellent missive.

Blago's Saga

by Becky Akers

Punishing politicians for corruption is like scolding the Black Death for killing folks.

So we can empathize with the fury, despair and "why-me?" shock that must have roiled Illinois’ former Congresscriminal and governor, Rod Blagojevich, at his arrest, trial, and conviction, let alone his sentencing last week on nebulous charges that boil down to … governing. Show me the politician who doesn’t swap favors and peddle influence as tirelessly as normal people breathe.

Despite the preening of Blago’s smug prosecutor, self-righteous judge and the State’s cheerleaders in the media, condemning the poor slob to 14 years’ imprisonment is equivalent to exterminating one rat out of the millions spreading plague in medieval Europe: it’s the teeniest, tiniest start on curing what ails us. Judge James Zagel should round up the rest of the elected or appointed leeches and herd them off to the pokey, too, then follow and lock the door behind himself.

Fascinating questions have shadowed this circus from the start, primarily whom Blago angered. And what does he know about Obummer ("The White House declined comment on Blagojevich's sentence." You bet it did!)? Or the vile Rahm Emmanuel? Blago’s info is obviously explosive since it requires disgrace so profound the corporate media will continue to ridicule him rather than report whatever he sings. On top of that, Leviathan has forcibly silenced Blago ("In prison, Blagojevich will largely be cut off from the outside world"), perhaps permanently: look for him to die there, probably by "suicide."

Not that we should feel sorry for him. Indeed, let us rejoice whenever the insatiable State devours its own – and let us pray it does so more often. Better them than us, first of all. Second, there’s a lot to commend Soviet-style purges: politicians who are free of decency and morality but slaves to the almighty Self might think twice about a career in plunder if the odds favored their winding up in stir or six feet under rather than on a monument somewhere.

Meanwhile, Leviathan’s acolytes unwittingly revealed the beast’s jaw-dropping vanity, perversion, and utter wickedness in their comments at Blago’s sentencing. Consider Judge James Zagel’s pontification: "When it is the governor who goes bad, the fabric of Illinois is torn and disfigured and not easily repaired."

Balderdash! And what staggering megalomania, to presume the State looms so large that a "bad" sponge tears the "fabric" for 12,830,632 Illinoisans (OK, I can see where the cloth’s rent for Blago’s family: his wife – a political critter herself as well as the daughter of one – and his two kids, but not the other 12,830,628 residents). No doubt the good folk of Illinois who continue trying to eke out a living despite their official predators hardly noticed Blago’s sideshow and would’ve shrugged if they had.

I speak from experience. Three years ago, when the Feds caught New York’s Chief Thief, Eliot Spitzer, dallying with unelected prostitutes, his fellow bloodsuckers and their enablers in the media fretted about the impact on us serfs. The New York Times feared we were "in limbo." And "State Senator Joseph L. Bruno, the state’s top Republican" – who would resign from office after his own indictment on eight counts of corruption – babbled, "The important thing for the people of New York State is that people in office do the right thing." What a laugh! As if politicians even recognize the right thing or would do it if they did.

Far from agonizing over Spitz’s peccadilloes, I suspect most of the state’s victims turned the same jaundiced eye on them as "Elmira Shirkhin, 27, who works in sales," did. She "said she wasn't surprised. ‘It's what you would think politicians would do,' she said … . ‘It's men and power. They think they can do anything and get away with it'…" Bingo. I wager Illinois’ peons boast as much savvy when it comes to sociopaths as New York’s do.

That didn’t keep Zagel from moaning that "The harm [Blago caused] is the erosion of public trust in government." Touching, the concern Our Rulers profess for our alleged faith in them.

Also bewailing Blago’s betrayal of our belief were Illinois’ Attorney General, its current governor, and the Assistant U.S. Attorney; as the last put it, "The defendant's … criminal activity has further eroded the public's confidence in government and government officials."

Oh, get over yourselves. Only morons trust government. For pity’s sake, we’re mature and intelligent enough that you depend entirely on us to pay your bills: give us some credit, you twits.

Others as guilty as Blago but as sanctimonious as the twits rushed to toss us their two cents. Senator Mark Kirk [R-Il] intoned, "Judge Zagel’s sentence is a clear warning to all elected officials that public corruption of any form will not be tolerated." Boy, you better hope not, buddy, or you and your accomplices are out of business.

Zagel also confirmed Leviathan’s inverted "morals." He opined that the defendant had done "good things … for people as governor…" Blago was a run-of-the-mill Demopublican, which is to say a socialist and fascist: he tried numerous times to further nationalize Illinois’ medical insurers. That would have netted him another couple centuries in the slammer were I on the bench, but Zagel lauded his theft: "I do also believe what he did for children’s health was motivated by a true concern for the welfare of children." Or, as the New York Times noted, "his policies for the state – health care insurance for children from poor families and free train and bus rides for older people – had been efforts to help citizens." Robbing all to buy goodies for some ever afflicts statists with warm fuzzies.

Meanwhile, the whole sordid fiasco seems to be nauseating and possibly converting observers. "Connie Wilson, the forewoman from Mr. Blagojevich’s most recent trial [recall that it required two before the Feds nailed their man], said ... "We just don’t want this [corruption] anymore."

Hmmm: no corruption means no government. Welcome to anarchy, ma’am!

[palani]

Remember ... there is no one in prison who did not volunteer to be there.

Allocution is the order of the day if one is on the ball ... "If I appeared to consent I did not consent then and I do not consent now to these procedings."

[Dogman]

Remember ... there is no one in prison who did not volunteer to be there.

Allocution is the order of the day if one is on the ball ... "If I appeared to consent I did not consent then and I do not consent now to these procedings."

And if you do not consent, and they find you, you still end up in jail, with your consent or not!

[palani]

And if you do not consent, and they find you, you still end up in jail, with your consent or not!

A lot of people have used allocution to walk away. They have to have your consent. There is no involuntary servitude.

[osoab]

And if you do not consent, and they find you, you still end up in jail, with your consent or not!

A lot of people have used allocution to walk away. They have to have your consent. There is no involuntary servitude.

So what would you do in a situation such as this at the moment the raid occurs?


Police Face No Punishment After Flash-Banging & Severely Burning Innocent Mother In Illegal No-Knock Raid

Police in Minneapolis will face no punishment after flash-banging an innocent mother in a "botched" drug raid. Responding to a bogus "tip" the police received, the cops got a judge to sign off on a warrant to search for drugs in the woman's home. The police failed to read the warrant and realize it did not authorize a no-knock raid, so they busted into the home without warning and threw a flash-grenade at an innocent mother of two. She was so severely burned by the flash-grenade, which burns at an astonishing 3,600 degrees, "a portion of her calf muscle was incinerated" and "burned almost to the bone."

"No police officer involved in the raid has been disciplined for the incident, the city confirmed." - KSTP reports.

The police spokesman said the police just need to "learn" from their act of terrorism. How are police supposed to "learn" when they faced zero accountability and zero personal liability? How can police be expected to stop committing crimes when the very citizens they're abusing have to foot the bill for the damages they cause?

Imagine a scenario in which the situation was reversed. A random woman thinks one of these cops is dealing drugs, so being the citizen vigilante she is, she decides to break into the cop's home and throw a flash-grenade at him. She then rummages through his entire house looking for drugs, yet finds nothing. The cop is left traumatized with severe burns and in the ER.

What type of punishment do you think that woman would receive?

Reverse the situation and the cops get off scot-free. They were not held to account, they paid zero in damages, they won't lose their jobs, they faced no personal loss and in fact got paid vacations during the ensuing "investigation!"

Also, please note, this is not the same incident from the recent article "SWAT Team Flash-bangs Grandmother During Botched Drug Raid, Gives Her Heart Attack," this is a different mother, in a different state. None-the-less, both these cases would be described as "isolated incidents" by their respective para-military police departments.

vid @ link.

[palani]

So what would you do in a situation such as this at the moment the raid occurs?

Duck and cover? The situation is apples and oranges. There is always going to be a remedy. The trick is to figure it out.

[osoab]

Duck and cover? The situation is apples and oranges. There is always going to be a remedy. The trick is to figure it out.

I know it was an extreme example.

So, how about the guy in Alaska that had FBI come in and take another guy with no warrant. They opened the door and they walked right in.
This just occurred. Alexander was the guy the feds were looking for I think. Jammed their cell phones prior to the raid.