Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich taken into custody by the Feds

No link yet, just saw it breaking on CNN.com. This is for the corruption charges that have been bandied about regarding him for a while.

Definitely been arrested. It's been coming for a while, the feds just wanted to have a pretty solid case against him. Illinois politics have always been entertaining at least.

Oh wow. Apparently the charges are for recent actions surrounding his ability to appoint Obama's successor.

Yow. If these allegations are true, this guy is a grade-a moron.

NYT article

His hairstyle should have tipped you off to that.
[IMG|213x254]http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20081209/capt.366d08fcd7c64f86a44250f46405670d.blagojevich_corruption_probe__ny113.jpg?x=213&y=254&xc=1&yc=1&wc=344&hc=410&q=100&sig=zlWPQlPMDmgFoaelUKX.TQ--[/IMG]

Cue the usual-suspect right wing trolls desperately trying to tie Obama into this...

I can see moran and looser written all over that face - except it's hard to read through the bangs.

In February of last year, a guy who knew him referred to him as a sociopath. The characterization was widely dismissed as hyperbole.

Cue the defensive Dems who will try to turn this into a partisan issue instead of spewing the amount of venom and outrage they would if the asshole happened to be a Republican.

You're the only one getting defensive. Why is that?

Newsflash: nobody here (or anywhere else I've seen) is defending this guy or his actions. Subrosa started the thread and I linked to another good story on it, not the GOP trolls.

Take your partisan cries elsewhere.

The prosecutor has already released information that pretty obviously shows Obama had nothing to do with this shit (such as Blagojevich referring to Obama as a n***** when B. didn't get what he wanted from Obama).

With all the corrupt politicians exposed over the years, it's still amazing how much of a tremendous, tremendous scumbag Blagojevich is.

Not at all surprised at this happening. Blagojevich is a grade-A douchebag.

It's simply stunning, if true, that he was already under Federal investigation and yet carried on with this level of corruption, AND in such a bold manner.

Being not an American, I'm rather surprised at the way this has been reported, with the FBI apparently releasing tape of Senator Blagojevich to the media. Doesn't that prejudice any trial he might get?

Because of who he is and the nature of the crimes they might use a different trial structure all together perhaps? I honestly don't know.

QFT to fountainofdreams and quella. I really can't fucking believe this guy.

What a fucking moron.

Wonkette's summary of the indictment is an absolute must read and absolutely staggering in the audacity and sliminess there. For once, they don't have to make up salacious details to make it look incredible.

Normal "innocent until proven guilty" caveats apply, of course, but holy fuck this guy is an absolute psychopath. Like, the level of self-delusion it must take to undertake in this WHILE KNOWINGLY UNDER INVESTIGATION is just unbelievable.

Maybe. High profile public figures are sometimes tried in different jurisdictions in order to guard against prejudiced juries. Since he's facing federal charges, they may move the trial to a different federal court, like Philadelphia, Detroit or New York.

Blagojevich is on the cover of the New York Times right now, so they're going to have to take this somewhere where they don't get that paper.

Anchorage?

They don't need to find jurors who have never heard of Blaggy or the case. They need to find jurors who haven't been prejudiced. There's a difference. Now, it's not going to be easy, obviously, but those people are out there.

My guess about the reason why they've released the tape is that they're hoping this never goes to trial.

Wow. The dialogue is surreal, it's so far off the wall.

As an Illinois Democrat, I'm glad he was arrested, so I don't have to worry about deciding between voting for this douche next time he ran versus some Republican asshole. I *hate* Blago (or G-Rod, as I also like to think of him).

Yep. The standard jury question basically asks if the potential juror can render an unbiased decision based on testimony presented. Jurors need not have lived in a cave for years. Jurors like that will be a lot easier to find in L.A. or Philly than Chicago, since Blaggy had an approval rate of 4% in Illinois *before* this indictment hit.

Good GOD this man is stupid. If your already under investigation for previous wrong-doings, WHY would you try to sell one of the most prominent Senate seats in the nation right now?

to quote Olberman "IS this guy the craziest SOB out there, or just dumb?"

Personally, I'm glad the FBI got him, corruption of any kind should, and should not, be tolerated in this country. I hope they throw the SOB to the wolves.