These running shoes were made for talking
John Kass
10:54 PM CST, January 29, 2009
On his first day as a private citizen, now unemployed and with a federal indictment bearing down on him, Rod Blagojevich should stick to his routine, put on his track suit and go for a run.
He usually runs 5 miles at a brisk pace, but the new route I'm proposing would take about 8 miles. He's in shape for it, and he's got the time. It might be the only route he has left.
From his Northwest Side home he should run south on Ashland, to Lincoln Avenue, and head southeast on his way downtown.
His wife, Patti, can drive the car and meet him there with a bag containing a nice blue suit, something serious, dark tie, white shirt, shined shoes....
...But problems can be solved.
As he runs past the Biograph, and onto Clark Street and farther south, he can think of his friends, guys he deluded himself into thinking would be there with him.
Guys like state Sen. Jimmy DeLeo (D-How You Doin?), who didn't speak loudly when the Senate voted 59-0, but that little light went on next to Jimmy's name just the same. And Rod's neighbor, state Sen. President John Cullerton (D-DeLeo).
Rod's Republican buddy and fundraiser, Bill Cellini, indicted now, is awfully quiet, awaiting trial in the Operation Board Games case that has formally exposed the bipartisan Combine. And those silent shrugs of boss Daley, who, like kings of old, can't afford friends.
Outside Blagojevich's home on Thursday evening, after he was booted, the ungovernator popped out to meet the press and rambled on with the same old tired lies about how he wasn't given a chance to prove his innocence, how he fought for the people and not for himself. But he cracked a few truths.
"I'd like to tell you some of the inside stuff, some of the things they were trying to do, and I'll talk about that later, if you're interested," Blagojevich said.
I know people who are interested.
"And as for some of those friends of mine in the state Senate, Dr. King said, that in the end, you remember not the words of your enemies, but the silence of your friends," Blagojevich said.
He nodded a couple times to himself, tired, on the verge of breaking. There was something in his eyes, but not tears. It was the final clarity of the damned....
...It's time to cut a deal, Rod, if they'll let you. You'll do prison time, sure, and you'll have to testify against Cellini and many others. But don't think others aren't lining up to bury you with their own testimony to save themselves.
Consider the silence. The silence in the state Senate after you stopped speaking on Thursday. The silence of friends. The silence in your body as you run. The silence of federal prison.
There's one thing to do, former governor. Start talking.
