Wednesday, February 04, 2009

Blagojevich's media tour continues

By Hilary Russell
Rod Blagojevich is still hitting the talk show circuit less than a week after he was impeached and removed from office. On Tuesday, he appeared for a second time NBC’s “Today” show and “Larry King Live,” as well as the “Rachel Maddow Show.” It was his interview with late-night talk-show host David Letterman that perhaps got the most laughs and showed a side of Blagojevich most probably haven’t seen lately — a sense of humor about his situation.

Letterman wondered aloud why former Gov. Rod Blagojevich was even on the show’s guest list. And despite having the perfect topic for his daily ‘Top Ten” list, Letterman instead decided to ask the man himself.

“Why exactly are you here, honest to God?” asked Letterman. Blagojevich laughed and replied, “You know, I’ve been wanting to be on your show in the worst way for the longest time.”
“Well you’re on in the worst way, believe me,” Letterman said.

Letterman went on to list former Illinois governor’s who ran into legal trouble — Otto Kerner, Dan Walker, and George Ryan — before asking, “I mean, is this just part of the oath of office that you guys take? How is that possible? What is that?”

“Here’s my opinion,” Letterman continued. “I saw you on ‘The View,’ I saw you on the ‘Rachel Maddow Show,' I saw you on the 'Today' show, and every other show that is currently in production, and the more you talked and the more you repeated your innocence, the more I said to myself, ‘Oh this guy is guilty.’”

Blagojevich repeated much of the same statements he’s given during each of those appearances but remained upbeat throughout the interview, especially when Letterman asked about his hair.
“Do you use shampoo and conditioner? Or is it two separate things?”

“So you get a knock on the door one morning and it’s the FBI and they’re coming to arrest you, I mean what was that? What time did that happen?” Letterman asked. It was a little after six in the morning,” answered Blagojevich. “Six a.m. So you’re thinking … what do you think?” Letterman asked.

“Well I went to bed the night before feeling good about the future of Illinois,” said Blagojevich, prompting Letterman to laugh.

When the host asked Blagojevich what he’ll do now, Blagojevich said he’s looking for work. "This seems like a fun place to work," he said. “Oh yeah it's nothin' but fun here," said Letterman.
"Elvis performed here," added Blagojevich.

“Boy,” said Letterman before introducing his next guest, “I really wouldn’t give your troubles to a monkey on a rock.”

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sorry, but I don't think Rod was showing his sense of humor. I think he was hoping for more softballs like the rest of the New York media tossed him. He did not laugh much and looked uncomfortable during most of the interview. There was a lot of laughing, but it was mostly Letterman and his audience at Rod's expense. And, worst of all for Rod, they did not seem to be buying what ofur former Gov. was trying to sell.

Illinois Issues Statehouse bureau said...

Good point.