Presumption of Innocence??

Its difficult to find a supporter of former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich these days. When the lynch mentality is afoot, it is almost impossible to separate the guilty from the innocent - if anyone was interested.

I think it's important to note that Blagojevich was arrested and charged by a Federal prosecutor working for the lame-duck Bush administration - the same administration that lied about weapons of mass destruction, violated constitutional protections against telephone taps without warrant, shipped prisoners to secret prisons in foreign countries where international laws against torture were ignored. I don't think it is a co-incidence that two governors targeted, Blagojevich and Bill Richardson were prominent democratic supporters of Barack Obama.

I was amazed by the extreme language used by the federal prosecutor in his description of the wiretap conversation selections he published out of context. His comments were chosen for political impact and they had the desired effect of mobilizing a media lynch mob against Blagojevich and discrediting any defence he might make against his impeachment.

Below are two articles which provide some policy reasons as to why the Bush administration might have politically targeted the Illinois governor