He Just Wanted to Make Money

Last Tuesday, a jury finally pronounced a verdict in the United States case against Rod Blagojevich, Democratic ex-governor of Illinois. This gentleman, who is of Serbian descent, was tried on 24 charges, among which the following could stand out: systematic blackmail, conspiracy, postal fraud and attempt to bribe. A unanimous decision of the 12 members of the jury was necessary to declare him guilty of each of his dirty tricks. They were only able to agree on one of the crimes, that of having lied to the FBI when he was being investigated in 2005 for the favorable treatment he gave to those who had financed his campaign.

Nevertheless, Blagojevich’s fame is not as much a result of his habit for allegedly practicing all the forms of ignominy to which his office gives him access, but rather for practicing only one of them. When Barack Obama was elected president, he left his senatorial position vacant, and Blagojevich, neither dim-witted nor lazy, decided to auction it off to the highest bidder.

When it was time to decide on his guilt in the majority of the crimes of which he was accused, the decision was not unanimous. The trial lasted seven weeks and the jury was deliberating over a period of 14 days. In the end, it was always the same woman who found fault in 23 of the 24 charges, a retired woman who always used the same argument to exonerate Blagojevich: that what was being offered as evidence was nothing more than politicians’ conversations. That is to say, junk, empty noise, garbage.

It seems strange that this woman’s Olympic contempt for politicians has served to exonerate one of them, Blagojevich, of so many different accusations. The ex-governor of Illinois never hid the reasons for his political vocation. “I want to make money,” he confessed. And, according to the FBI recordings, when Obama’s seat was left open, he admitted without any shame, “I’ve got this thing and it’s fucking golden, and I’m not going to just give it up for nothing.”

The retired juror sees in all of this chatter “a politician who was talking to other politicians the way politicians talk.”* The prosecution meanwhile will fill charges for a re-trial.

*Editor’s Note: This quotation, accurately translated, could not be verified.