Word: blagojevich
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...earns as much praise as disdain from the other side of the aisle for his skill at maneuvering the state political structure. But rarely has he had to endure a challenge as politically daunting as now, after appointing a 21-member panel to start impeachment proceedings against Governor Rod Blagojevich, who earlier this month was accused of various corrupt acts, most notably trying to sell President-elect Barack Obama's vacant Senate seat to the highest bidder...
Another familiar aspect of Blagojevich's performance on Friday was his penchant for quoting long passages of favorite writings from memory. Along with Kipling, another of his favorites was Teddy Roosevelt's "man in the arena" declaration, delivered in the Sorbonne in Paris in 1910. Its key passage: "It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood...
...Blagojevich dismissed Nixon's corruption as par for the political course, asserting (like many Nixon defenders) that the Kennedys did far worse things than anything that happened in Watergate. He admired Nixon for his great ambitions and for his efforts to do big things in office such as the rapproachment with China. As for Watergate, Blagojevich used to say that had the President just burned the tapes, it would have been a footnote in history...
...Blagojevich also identified with Nixon's own self-image as a political outsider. Indeed, the young Blagojevich was something of a loner in college, keeping to himself as he traveled daily from his home in Chicago to the Northwestern campus in nearby Evanston. The future governor, says his old friend, was always "aware that he was a bit different from most of the kids on campus, and sort of proud of it. There was without questions an 'I'll show them' edge to him." Several acquaintances and people who graduated the same year as he did were even surprised...
Take Me to Your Leader. For political junkies who want to get a closer view of President-elect Barack Obama's past (or the ongoing Blagojevich scandal), The James hotel in Chicago has a "City of Hope" package. A guide will take you in the hotel's Audi on a tour of the city, including the Hyde Park neighborhood, which the Obamas' called home, and Millennium Park, where Barack Obama acknowledged his election victory and where you can take a spin around the skating rink. Return to the hotel and warm up with hot chocolate in the Lobby Bar. While...