In the words of Richard Daley, "Cuckoo"

This is clearly how the former Chicago Mayor and (undoubtedly) thousands of other Americans feel about Rod Blagojevich, the embattled Governor of Illinois.

Everyone knows the story, but just to recap current events: Blagojevich was caught red handed, on tape, telling associates over the phone that the now vacant Obama Senate seat was up for sale to the highest bidder. U.S Attorney General Patrick Fitzgerald ceremoniously announced the attempted crime weeks ago. And now, the Governor has been impeached and is days (or weeks away) from being voted out of office by the Illinois House of Representatives.

So, what does Blagojevich do? He embarks on the highest profile, New York City media tour to declare his complete innocence. Only, the tour is actually more like a three-ring circus because of the off the wall comments, messages and analogies that the Illinois Governor continues to spout off. Let's see, we've heard him compare his situation to Pearl Harbor (I think the intended meaning was that this is one giant surprise attack against him.) And, the man has actually said on camera that his persecution is very much like that Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King had to endure. But, my personal favorite is Blagojevich's analogies to famous movies like being in a "21st Century Frank Capra film" where the good guy's odds are piled high against him as he fights the establishment. His reference to the famed moved Silverado, (a western in which an innocent man is about to be hung for a theft he never committed,) was pretty entertaining as well.

Everyone thinks that Blagojevich is either crazy or clueless. From a pure public relations stand point, it's very hard to deem that anyone can be living the latter reality. After all, this governor's literal use of these support points (what we in the business call sound bytes) to convince Americans of his innocence is simply unbelievable. Referring to your plight in even the same sentence as Gandhi or Nelson Mandela's is abhorrent and is also a sure fire way to make people sit up, listen and shake their heads in disgust.

But maybe... just maybe, the governor has actually fooled all of us. What if Blagojevich is simply auditioning on the most visible stage ever for his next career in entertainment? I know, it sounds crazy. The man will (or may) spend time in jail. If this happens, any new career plans will have to wait. We all know that his 15 minutes of fame will soon fade away once he is behind bars. Or will it?

The Illinois Governor will surely be impeached. But, the world is witnessing first hand his outlandish, bizarrely charismatic and beyond wacky personality. Undoubtedly, this will certainly have some appeal to those on the fringes of the entertainment world who are looking for a caricature of the Governor in their commercials, promotions or even movies. (Think of the short term gigs that Tanya Harding and OJ Simpson were handed after their infamous crimes.) After all, we all know that evil is a highly marketable proposition in the entertainment world. People are mesmerized watching it. And, that means $$$.

Yes, in the end, Rod Blagojevich may actually have the last laugh if he parlays his political fall into an entertainment bonanza. Albeit, one has to wonder if his fame is actually sustainable in any way.

Then again, the man might simply be cuckoo.

Comments

[Trish]

It is quite something to watch. I knew something was about to happen when he signed on with the same PR firm as Drew Petersen. Yikes!

Here's my grandma who met the Rod this summer at a Cubs game on her birthday. She says he's innocent :)
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=243489&l=2b65b&id=1065137446