What did he say? A video clip of Blagojevich's first official post-arrest statement, delivered four years ago today, is above and the transcript can be found here.
How did he do? The governor appears to be in complete denial mode, both with the public and himself. His first sentence declares "I am not guilty of any criminal wrongdoing." He then reinforces his denial with a promise to fight the allegations. Okay, I may be understating this a bit. Blagojevich actually states: "I will fight this thing every step of the way. I will fight. I will fight. I will fight until I take my last breath." So while he scores points for tenacity, he gets downgraded for basically admitting that he'll be found guilty--otherwise, why anticipate fighting the charges until the reaper darkens his door?
Blagojevich then launches into a lot of attack the accuser strategy, calling out the "political lynch mob" and "political enemies" who rely on "30-second sound bites." Then, adding a dash of conspiracy rhetoric, he alludes ominously to "some powerful forces arrayed against me." Hmm, using conspiracy language when accused of conspiracy--very high concept, Blago.
The governor engages in some fairly effective bolstering strategy, thanking his wife and other supporters for sticking with him and promising to stay above the fray until his trial, throwing in a Rudyard Kipling quote for quirky good measure.
Where this relatively brief speech fails most, I believe, is in the expectations game. Blagojevich sets such a high bar for any future apologia efforts that it almost makes one more skeptical of his innocence from the outset. He states: "Now, I'm dying to answer these charges. I am dying to show you how innocent I am. And I want to assure everyone who's listening, that I intend to answer every allegation that comes my way." There's a little bit of the John Edwards EPTEE (Excessive Paternity Test Eagerness Effect) going on here. I just don't think innocent people love the process of proving their innocence quite this much. I do think that guilty people love saying things like this though.
Final call? Sinkhole. Blagojevich offers some effective lines here, but it's undermined by low-level contradiction (i.e., stating his intention not to attack while engaged in attack, proclaiming a suspicious-sounding level of innocence). But don't worry, Blago fans, the colorful governor will revisit Club Apologia. And to his credit, the governor still exuded admirable holiday spirit, ending the December 19th speech with a jaunty "Merry Christmas. Happy holidays" (bonus points for savvy navigation of "war on Christmas" tensions). And so, during this festive time of year, as you gather around the hearth with family and friends, remember poor Rod Blagojevich and how he carried the spirit of the season within his heart--even when his heart was under arrest. May that be truly said of us --and all of us!
How did he do? The governor appears to be in complete denial mode, both with the public and himself. His first sentence declares "I am not guilty of any criminal wrongdoing." He then reinforces his denial with a promise to fight the allegations. Okay, I may be understating this a bit. Blagojevich actually states: "I will fight this thing every step of the way. I will fight. I will fight. I will fight until I take my last breath." So while he scores points for tenacity, he gets downgraded for basically admitting that he'll be found guilty--otherwise, why anticipate fighting the charges until the reaper darkens his door?
Blagojevich then launches into a lot of attack the accuser strategy, calling out the "political lynch mob" and "political enemies" who rely on "30-second sound bites." Then, adding a dash of conspiracy rhetoric, he alludes ominously to "some powerful forces arrayed against me." Hmm, using conspiracy language when accused of conspiracy--very high concept, Blago.
The governor engages in some fairly effective bolstering strategy, thanking his wife and other supporters for sticking with him and promising to stay above the fray until his trial, throwing in a Rudyard Kipling quote for quirky good measure.
Where this relatively brief speech fails most, I believe, is in the expectations game. Blagojevich sets such a high bar for any future apologia efforts that it almost makes one more skeptical of his innocence from the outset. He states: "Now, I'm dying to answer these charges. I am dying to show you how innocent I am. And I want to assure everyone who's listening, that I intend to answer every allegation that comes my way." There's a little bit of the John Edwards EPTEE (Excessive Paternity Test Eagerness Effect) going on here. I just don't think innocent people love the process of proving their innocence quite this much. I do think that guilty people love saying things like this though.
Final call? Sinkhole. Blagojevich offers some effective lines here, but it's undermined by low-level contradiction (i.e., stating his intention not to attack while engaged in attack, proclaiming a suspicious-sounding level of innocence). But don't worry, Blago fans, the colorful governor will revisit Club Apologia. And to his credit, the governor still exuded admirable holiday spirit, ending the December 19th speech with a jaunty "Merry Christmas. Happy holidays" (bonus points for savvy navigation of "war on Christmas" tensions). And so, during this festive time of year, as you gather around the hearth with family and friends, remember poor Rod Blagojevich and how he carried the spirit of the season within his heart--even when his heart was under arrest. May that be truly said of us --and all of us!
