Blagojevich press conference post impeachment

January 9, 2009

Blagojevich's press conference post impeachment. Have to give it to him.

courtesy of CSPANJUNKIdotORG

Quotes the Golden Rule, documents the programs he's instituted and the folks they have directly affected, his immigrant parents, and the unpassed bill in the House to keep 400 folks from being thrown out of their homes.

His closing. Emphasis added. No need to go into his full body language. See his first press conference. Just his requisite denial of wrongdoing. He moves his body around, his cadence shifts, he hesitates and the blinking starts. He shifts on his feet and hides his hands when he denies wrongdoing. Again, if you just listened to him he would do very well.

Partial transcript from LYNN SWEET.

And so what we are here today to talk about, and what I'm here to talk about, is the fact that I understand [draws his hands in to hide them - literal dirty hands] the House's actions. [gulps] I'm not at all surprised by it. But I took actions [blink-blink-blink] with the advice of lawyers [blink] and experts to [blink-blink-blink] find ways -- creative ways -- to use [blink] the executive authority of a [blinks, nods = convincing himself] governor to get real things done for people who rely on us. And in many cases, the things we did for people have literally saved lives.

I don't believe those are impeachable offenses.

So we're going to move forward and I'm going to continue to fight every step of the way. [Brings his hands in to hide them again] Let me reassert to all of you once more that I am not guilty of any criminal [blink] wrongdoing. [blink] That [blink - points away from himself] issue will be [hesitates = afraid] dealt with on a separate course and in an appropriate forum, [blinks, raises eyebrows = alarm] a federal court. And I'm confident [blink, blink, blink] that at the end of the day I will be, uh, properly [blink], uh, exonerated. [blink-blink - lying over - changing to reality.]

[Speaking noticeably quicker - no need to censor]In the meantime, I have a job to do for the people. They hired me to not just say that I'm for things that could help them, but they hired me to fight for them. And I'm going to fight for them every step of the way because if I didn't fight for them, the results that we've provided for people would not have happened.

...With that, let me close by doing something that I probably won't do much after this, [Why? Impeachment?] but I feel like doing it again since I did it not too long ago. I want to quote another British poet. And I'm inspired by it because it was something that Ted Kennedy talked about in 1980 at the Democratic convention in New York after Jimmy Carter won the nomination.

And I remember seeing that, then I remember going to the library and getting that poem and memorizing it. And it kind of reminds me a little bit about the situation that I'm in, and all the men and women who have supported me and given me a chance to be their governor and given me a chance to be able to fight for families like the ones who are here today and fight families like the one I came from: an immigrant father who was a factory worker and a steel worker who worked 40, 50, 60, 70 hours a week, who sacrificed; a working mom who worked for the Chicago Transit Authority and passed out transfers at the subway stations. They never owned a home. They were all about sacrificing so their kids could have a better life. That's what most parents want for their kids.

There hasn't been a day that's gone by since I've been governor that I haven't thought about my parents, their struggles and their sacrifices, and have tried to fight a system that listens to special interests and lobbyists and puts the burden on all of the troubles in -- in our state on the backs of the hardworking people who are the ones who should be looking to government for help, not the other way around.

And so I'll leave you with this poem by Tennyson [Ulysses], which goes like this:

"though we are not now the strength which in old days

Moved earth and heaven; that which we are, we are;

One equal temper of heroic hearts,

Made weak by time and by fate, but strong in will;

To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield."