Rod Blagojevich: What's the real story?

The Rod Blagojevich scandal has turned into quite the media circus. It has all the makings of a great smear story: a disgraced governor, rampant corruption, ties to the President-elect, uncertain involvement by the President's cabinet, and the list goes on. However, there is something fishy here and I doubt it will be discussed by the media.

On December 8th, Rod Blagojevich visited the workers of Republic Windows & Doors, who were protesting against their employer and Bank of America for withholding compensation and abrupt termination. Blagojevich's show of support came as a bit of a surprise, but then he did something that no one saw coming; he came out publically against Bank of America and ordered the state to sever all business and transactions with the bank. This had the potential to cost Bank of America billions of dollars.

The very next day, Federal investigators called a news conference to announce, among other things, that Blagojevich was involved in trying to sell President-elect Obama's vacant Senate seat, as well as other corruption charges. It is worth noting that the news conference was very hostile and aggressive, noting that the charges would make "Lincoln turn over in his grave."

One thing I have learned about the media: if you take the story at face value, chances are you aren't getting the truth. You must put the evidence together in your own mind in order to determine the validity of a story. In this case, two things come to mind. First: the fact that Federal investigators have been tracking Blagojevich for nearly four years, using wire tapping tactics. Blagojevich had full knowledge that he was being monitored. Second is the fact that investigators chose to charge Blagojevich the very next day after coming out against Bank of America.

What am I suggesting here? I'm suggesting that it is a little strange that Blagojevich was blown up the very day after speaking out against Bank of America, who stood to lose billions if Blagojevich executed his plan. I am also very skeptical of President-elect Obama's mythical response to the scandal, and the assumed involvement by Rahm Emanuel in the replacement of the Senate seat. There is most certainly more to the story than what we are being told.

Am I suggesting that Blagojevich is not corrput? Absolutely not, I wouldn't be surprised if many of the corruption charges against him are completely true. However, I would argue that many of the tactics used by Governor Blagojevich are used on a routine basis by many politicians. Whether it gets out in the media is a matter of A) did the politician get caught or B) did the politician go against the establisment.

Blagojevich went against the grain and is paying the price.