Douchebag Blagojevich, a mixture of Kevin Rose & The Terminator

Indicted Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich has lost his bid to travel outside the country to appear on reality TV. U.S. District Judge James Zagel on Tuesday refused to modify the terms of Blagojevich’s bail — so the ousted Democrat governor won’t be able to go to Costa Rica to appear on a planned reality show. The judge said Blagojevich needs to remain in the United States to help his attorneys formulate a strategy for his defense. – From MSNBC

Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich has made a deal to star in NBC’s upcoming summer reality show “I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here,” the network confirmed Tuesday. “Rod Blagojevich will be a participant on the show pending the court’s approval,” NBC said. The network has been looking for household names for its version of the U.K. hit, which launches June 1. NBC is taking the unusual step of airing the show four nights a week at 8 p.m. for nearly a month, and a successful launch could fuel the network’s entire summer schedule. – From the Hollywood Reporter

A federal grand jury has handed down the 19-count indictment against ousted Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich and five others. The indictment accuses Blagojevich of corruption involving billions of dollars in state pension bonds.

A publicist for Rod Blagojevich says the former Illinois governor has signed a six-figure deal to write a book about the dark side of politics.

Douchebag Blagojevich, a mixture of Kevin Rose & The Terminator

Motivational speakers will tell you it’s important not to limit yourself. Don’t think that you’ve reached the apex. You can always do more. And they’re right. Take the Rod Blagojevich disaster for example. Just when you might have thought there was no way this train wreck could get any worse, guess what? BOOM. Burris, not Blago It’s not so much Blago now. The one-man circus continues to appear on talk shows proclaiming his innocence. Now it’s the guy Blago appointed to the US Senate who’s making news: Roland Burris. – From Christian Science Monitor

Roland Burris, named to fill the Senate seat once held by President Barack Obama, has disclosed he was asked for campaign contributions on behalf of the ousted Illinois governor who eventually appointed him. Burris said in an affidavit released on Saturday he did not agree to contribute money to then-Governor Rod Blagojevich. But he did not mention the contacts when quizzed on that point in January by a committee of the Illinois Legislature after his appointment on December 30. – From Reuters

State lawmakers are calling for a criminal investigation into whether U.S. Sen. Roland Burris committed perjury before a state impeachment panel, in the wake of a Sun-Times exclusive story published online today. The development comes after the Chicago Democrat failed to initially disclose under oath to a House panel that he was hit up for campaign cash by former Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s brother. State Rep. James Durkin (R-Western Springs) said Saturday that the Sangamon County state prosecutor‚s office will be asked to review Burris‚ Jan. 8 sworn testimony before the House panel to determine whether Burris (D-Ill.) perjured himself. – From Chicago Sun Times

Favorite line:

Blago: I’ve wanted to be on your show in the worst way for the longest time.
Letterman: Well you’re on in the worst way, believe me.

For an attorney and lawmaker, former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich sure seems to have a limited understanding of guilt and innocence. The coiffed crusader was on CBS’ Late Show With David Letterman today (airing later tonight) to once again let America know the truth: He’s innocent. – From CBS News

Well the comparison makes a lot of sense. Details of Rod Blagojevich’s appearance on David Letterman are now just trickling in. The LA Times reports that the ever-talkative ex-governor compared himself to the tantrum-throwing actor Christian Bale on tonight’s show. – From Christian Science Monitor

Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (bluh-GOY’-uh-vich) tells David Letterman he keeps thinking he’ll wake up and people will realize “this is just one big misunderstanding.” The ousted governor showed up Tuesday for a taping of CBS’ “Late Show with David Letterman.” He laughed with the audience when Letterman mentioned watching him on several television talk shows. – From AP

Workers at the Illinois Capitol building wasted little time Thursday night changing the face of state government, shortly after Gov. Pat Quinn replaced the ousted Rod Blagojevich. The Illinois Senate voted 59-0 on Thursday to remove Blagojevich from office. Moments later, the Illinois Senate voted unanimously to prevent Blagojevich from ever holding political office in the state again. After the Senate vote, the “welcome” sign with Blagojevich’s face, which visitors saw as they entered the Capitol in Springfield, was quickly brought down. – From CNN

And so it begins. Impeached by an eye-popping 59 of the 59 senators serving in the Illinois Senate, now ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich used the last minutes of his executive power to grant a pardon to a former drug dealer and janitor at a homeless center where the former governor’s wife worked, and clemency for a prominent Chicago real estate developer who was already pardoned for forgery charges. Already, politicos in Chicago are speculating about Blagojevich’s motives — and how the pardon moves might help launch a comeback. On MSNBC this morning, anchor Tamron Hall noted that Danny Rostenkowski, the once-powerful chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, was toppled by the infamous post office scandal in which it came out that he was keeping ghost employees on the payroll. Rostenkowski left politics, became a political commentator for television’s ubiquitous talking heads and taught at Loyola University. – From LA Times

Gov. Rod Blagojevich was convicted at his impeachment trial and thrown out of office Thursday, ending a nearly two-month crisis that erupted with his arrest on charges he tried to sell Barack Obama’s vacant Senate seat. Blagojevich becomes the first U.S. governor in more than 20 years to be removed by impeachment. – from MSNBC

The former governor had refused to take part in the trial, but he surprised everyone by asking to make a closing statement in which he insisted that he should not be tossed out of office on what he called incomplete evidence. “You haven’t proved a crime, and you can’t because it didn’t happen,” Blagojevich pleaded with state senators. “How can you throw a governor out of office with insufficient and incomplete evidence?” – from Foxnews

According to state law, Pat Quinn, the lieutenant governor, assumed chief executive power upon the vote and was expected to take the oath of office for ceremonial purposes before the end of the day. – from NYtimes

Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich made his appeal to the Illinois Senate at the closing of his impeachment trial.

Crazy Blago has been criss-crossing the country showing up on every TV show to plead his case. He boycotted his trial, yet now, as people back home rebel against him, he’s talking about heading back to speak. What a friggin’ clown. Please, the sooner we get him out of there the better.

As the state Senate’s impeachment trial for Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich draws to a close, media relations pros say he might have been better off mounting a defense in the state capital rather than on the airwaves. Blagojevich appears to be making a last-ditch effort to do just that, requesting a chance to give a closing argument Thursday in Illinois. But Blagojevich boycotted the trial to that point, instead granting a slew of radio, TV and print interviews during the past couple days, declaring his innocence and lashing out at the state Senate for violating his rights. – From FoX News

Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich, who has boycotted his own impeachment trial here, has now asked to address the Senate on Thursday before its members deliberate his case. The governor’s request was announced just before 3 p.m. local time Wednesday by Senator John J. Cullerton, the Democratic president of the Senate, who said he had just received it. He indicated that no decision about allowing Mr. Blagojevich to speak had been made. – From NY Times

Lawmakers in Springfield have resumed the trial to impeach Gov. Rod Blagojevich, while the governor was across the country on day two of his New York media blitz. Today’s highlight is the playing of expletive-laden tape recordings of Blagojevich himself. The recordings were collected by federal agents listening in on the Democratic governor’s conversations. – From MSNBC

(Douchebag Blagojevich above, a mixture of Illinois Politics, Kevin Rose & The Terminator)

Crazy Ill. Governor Rod Blagojevich won’t participate in his impeachment trial when it starts Monday. He’ll be talking to Whoopi Goldberg and Larry King instead of facing the state Senate. Wait, what? Whoopi? The View? Really? That’s The Blagojevich for you.

While The Barack pulls Illinois up, The Blagojevich craps all over the land o’ Lincoln:

Though Illinois lawmakers are launching an impeachment trial Monday that could remove Gov. Rod Blagojevich from office, the governor himself will be far from the capitol building — instead chatting with Larry King and the women of “The View.” – from ABCnews

After weeks of near-silence, Mr Blagojevich has begun an energetic public relations campaign, comparing himself to the hero of a Frank Capra movie and a cowboy being lynched for a crime he did not commit. He said that when he was arrested on federal corruption charges, he took solace from other leaders who had been jailed. “I thought about Mandela, Dr King, Gandhi,” he said in an interview on Today. – from Google

“And for me to just quit because some cackling politicians want to get me out of the way because there’s a whole bunch of things they don’t want known about them and conversations they may have had with me . . . would be to disgrace my children when I know I’ve done nothing wrong,” he told NBC. Blagojevich is scheduled to appear today on “Good Morning America,” “The View” and “Larry King Live.” – from Latimes

On the View today, Joy Behar was egging on Gov. Ill Rod Blagojevich, trying to get him to impersonate former President Richard Nixon by saying “I’m not a crook.” She reached over and messed up his hair, and Blago kept his cool. She should have smack the douchebag.