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The [Monday] Papers"Rod Blagojevich was really hoping a federal appeals court last week would put a hold on his resentencing, but the court said forget that," the Sun-Times editorial page says. "So before Judge James B. Zagel hands down a new sentence, which could come any day, allow us to say it short and sweet one last time: Give Governor Goof a fairer shake." Uh-oh. Here we go. Rod Blagojevich was just a "goof" who deserves a "fairer shake." OK. "Fourteen years in prison is a long time for a man who has always been more foolish than venal, more delusional than dangerous." Really? The guy was governor for (almost) two terms before he was impeached. The damage he did to the state goes far beyond that of a delusional, foolish man. Venal is exactly the word to describe him. To wit: The questioning of onetime Deputy Gov. Robert Greenlee moves to Children's Memorial Hospital. Blagojevich is accused of shaking down the hospital's CEO for a campaign contribution in exchange for authorizing state funding. When he didn't get his campaign contribution, he allegedly held up the funding. And then: A different witness is up, but government prosecutors are staying on the same theme: Children's Memorial Hospital. By the way, isn't that the sainted Robert Blagojevich participating in the conspiracy? * Back to the Sun-Times editorial: "Former Gov. George Ryan got 6 1/2 years for much more outrageous bribery crimes - he was seriously on the take - and nobody doubts Ryan knew perfectly well he was breaking the law. There are days when we wonder if Blagojevich knows anything." Maybe Ryan got off easy. But I don't see his crimes as any more outrageous than Blagojevich's; in fact, Blagojevich should have known better coming into office as Ryan was on his way to prison! * "When the appellate court last month threw out five of the 18 criminal counts on which the former governor had been convicted, along with the original sentence, the court made clear it would be perfectly OK from a legal standpoint for Zagel to re-impose the full 14-year stretch. But a sentence closer to Ryan's 6 1/2 years strikes us as more proportionate to the crime." Based on what - feel? This is also what the court made clear: The evidence, much of it from Blagojevich's own mouth, is overwhelming . . . The district judge concluded that the Sentencing Guidelines recommend a range of 360 months to life imprisonment for Blagojevich's offenses, and the actual sentence is 168 months. Instead of expressing relief, Blagojevich maintains that the sentence is too high because the range was too high . . . Blagojevich has already gotten quite a generous deal. He also still shows no signs of remorse. And the evidence quite clearly shows that he knew exactly what he was doing. Why is the Sun-Times doing his bidding? Given that paper's history, it's fair to wonder if the hand of Michael Ferro is behind this. (By the way if you click through on that link, you'll see it's easy to miss on his Wikipedia page that Ferro owns the Sun-Times.) * Back to the edit: "Blagojevich is guilty, no doubt. Governors aren't supposed to squeeze people for campaign money or a big job, at least not directly, in return for appointing somebody to a senate seat, as this governor tried to do. And let us not forget how he tried to blackmail a hospital and a racetrack owner into making big campaign donations, in addition to other cheesy offenses." Cheesy is a word, like goof, that is intended to diminish the seriousness of these schemes. I for one, though, don't see how you can describe shaking down a children's hospital as "cheesy." * "But if Zagel reimposes the full 14 years, Blagojevich will sit in a prison for a little over 12 years - assuming the usual time off - almost double the time Ryan served." The federal guidelines for Ryan called for an eight-to-10-year sentence. He got a break, too. But according to the guidelines, Blagojevich's crimes were much worse. * "Former Gov. Otto Kerner, convicted in a racetrack stock scandal, served just over seven months, partly because then-prosecutor and later Gov. James R. Thompson thought the conviction itself was a severe punishment." Kerner's case is a particularly bad comparison; he was convicted in a single case of corruption, not putting Illinois up "for sale to family and friends" (George Ryan) or engaging in a "political corruption crime spree" (Blagojevich). * "Fourteen years for Rod Blagojevich is overkill, always has been." Not as long as there are apologists like the Sun-Times around. - See also: Blago Ruling Indicts Media. - Exclusive! Why The Corpse Flower Didn't Bloom SportsMonday: Breaking Bears Assumptions Led Cubs Sox Gonna Sox Don't Go, American Pharoah The Weekend In Chicago Rock - BeachBook Posted by The Beachwood Reporter on Monday, August 31, 2015 *
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- The Beachwood Tip Line: We stink. Posted on August 31, 2015 |
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