# Why wasn't Blago permitted to call the witnesses he named? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [January 29, 2009, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-blago-permitted-to-call-the-witnesses-he-named/483630 "2009-01-29T23:05:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-blago-permitted-to-call-the-witnesses-he-named/483630/41 "2009-01-30T23:45:34Z")
> [@zamboniracer](#): > > I’d say Jophiel you’re the one who said that Blago could only be charged with federal crimes and not state ones No, I didn’t. I said he _was_ charged with federal crimes. He has _not_ been charged with state crimes. That’s just the reality of the situation. Exactly why this reality exists is no doubt for quite a few reasons not the least of which being that any state investigations don’t have the evidence that the federal investigation has. Also, some of the charges relate to federal office or inter-state matter swhich put them under the federal umbrella. I never once said that he _couldn’t_ be charged on a state level\* but he simply isn’t. He _has_ been charged at the federal level so it’s their ball. Regardless of what hypothetical things the state _could_ do in regards to a criminal trial, they’re not even on the field. \*Although, again, I think some of the charges are simply federal charges because they relate to federal matters and _are_ outside of the state’s jurisdiction. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2009, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-blago-permitted-to-call-the-witnesses-he-named/483630/42 "2009-01-31T04:21:18Z")
I think it’s lovely that people from outside of Illinois are so concerned that we should keep Blago in office until the bitter end. A bitter end that anybody who has paid the slightest attention to any big trial ever would know would be years in the future. :rolleyes: He was arrested for malfeasance and relieved of his post by the board of directors. Maybe if he’s acquitted in the federal trial the senate will say, “Sorry, Rod,” but for now we need a freakin’ governor who is not off messing with his own business every day. I don’t know how he got elected in this state, anyway. Blagojevich isn’t an Irish name. ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2009, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-blago-permitted-to-call-the-witnesses-he-named/483630/43 "2009-01-31T04:54:30Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > I don’t know how he got elected in this state, anyway. Blagojevich isn’t an Irish name. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2009, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-blago-permitted-to-call-the-witnesses-he-named/483630/44 "2009-01-31T05:42:59Z")
> [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](#): > > 😃 Yeah, but do people from outside this particular prairie get it? Before George Ryan had his troubles, one of my BILs, yclept Ryan, was approached by the Dupage County Republicans and asked if he wanted to run for office. He had no prior nor subsequent interest in politics and can only assume they wanted him because the name RYAN was still big mojo around here. He has a cushy (okay, not NEARLY that cushy) civil service job that would both prevent him from becoming political and argue against him risking his pension, so he said no. Knowing him, perhaps more colorfully and longer than just, “NO!” ---
**Author:** ![BarnOwl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2009, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-blago-permitted-to-call-the-witnesses-he-named/483630/45 "2009-01-31T10:56:47Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > I think it’s lovely that people from outside of Illinois are so concerned that we should keep Blago in office until the bitter end. A bitter end that anybody who has paid the slightest attention to any big trial ever would know would be years in the future. :rolleyes: > > He was arrested for malfeasance and relieved of his post by the board of directors. Maybe if he’s acquitted in the federal trial the senate will say, “Sorry, Rod,” but for now we need a freakin’ governor who is not off messing with his own business every day. > > I don’t know how he got elected in this state, anyway. Blagojevich isn’t an Irish name. You might be over reacting, a bit, **dropzone**. The vast majority of us realize he’s a millstone around your necks, and should have been gone long, long ago. I just hope IL gets major bailout help, to alleviate the Mt. Everest of debt Blago allowed to pile up. ---
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2009, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-blago-permitted-to-call-the-witnesses-he-named/483630/46 "2009-01-31T12:35:54Z")
> [@Tracy\_Lord](#): > > I’m thinking more, > > BLAGOJEVICH: Ladies and gentlemen, I’ll be brief. The issue here is not whether I broke a few laws, or tried to sell a few Senate seats – I did. But you can’t hold a single politician responsible for a few misguided actions. For if you do, then shouldn’t we blame the whole Illinois political institution? And if the whole state institution is corrupt, then isn’t this an indictment of our democratic process in general? I put it to you, ladies and gentlemen – isn’t this an indictment of our entire American society? Well, you can do whatever you want to me, but I’m not going to sit here and listen to you badmouth the United States of America! You left out the part about Abraham Lincoln, John Kennedy, and Martin Luther King. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2009, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-blago-permitted-to-call-the-witnesses-he-named/483630/47 "2009-01-31T20:39:44Z")
> [@BarnOwl](#): > > The vast majority of us realize he’s a millstone around your necks, and should have been gone long, long ago. I was referring to **zamboniracer** and **mlees**. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2009, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-blago-permitted-to-call-the-witnesses-he-named/483630/48 "2009-02-03T15:25:51Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > I was referring to **zamboniracer** and **mlees**. Eh? Didn’t I say that I had _no sympathy_ for Blago? That means I have no problem with his impeachment, specifically. My comments were reserved for the process itself, at how “easy” it was to remove a high level elected official. In California, we went throught the somewhat more expensive and slower recall process for Gray Davis. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-blago-permitted-to-call-the-witnesses-he-named/483630/49 "2009-02-04T05:23:52Z")
Slight hijack but…. David Letterman just skewered him on his show. He even took a shot at his hair. Booyah. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-blago-permitted-to-call-the-witnesses-he-named/483630.md?page=2)