Opinion: Top Ten Quotes of Rod Blagojevich on the David Letterman Show

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Rod Blagojevich is the recently arrested, frequently denounced, recently impeached, recently ousted, currently unemployed yet-to-be charged ex-governor of Illinois. He was on ‘The Late Show with David Letterman’ Tuesday night. We have a video clip down below.

But first, tonight’s Top Ten List of Rod Blagojevich quotations is:

No. 10 -- “Thanks for having me. I appreciate it.”

No. 9 -- I’d like your listeners to know and everybody in Illinois and anyone else who’s listening that unlike those, I’ll be vindicated. I did nothing wrong. I did nothing wrong. And I’ll have an opportunity to be able to go in a court to prove that I did nothing wrong.”

No. 8 -- ‘I believe that impeachment that they did last week was a hijacking of a governor elected twice by the people without proving any wrongdoing, without giving that governor elected by the people, not so much about me, but the people who elected me, the right to be able to show that I didn’t do anything wrong.”

No. 7 -- ‘Walk a mile in my shoes. Let’s say people were saying all those nasty things about you and your lawyers are telling you’ve got to wait for your court date. At the same time, you’ve got two little girls –- I have a 12-year-old and a 5-year-old. And they’re hearing things about their dad that aren’t true.

‘It’s very, very difficult to simply sit there and accept the things they’re saying about you, taking things out of context and twisting it and to not say, ‘It isn’t true and I’ll prove it’s not true.’ And I had a chance at my impeachment trial last week in Illinois to bring witnesses, everybody involved in this who I talked to about the (Obama) Senate seat, I wanted them to come in and under testimony, sworn, tell the truth. I wanted every one of those wiretap conversations heard, not two or three, but every one of them. I wanted the whole truth out, and if they would have allowed me that, I could have begun the process of vindicating myself sooner.”

No. 6 -- The ex-governor talks about the night before he was arrested in early December, laying out his running clothes so he’d have no excuse in the winter morning not to ‘get up and go. My alarm was set for six o’clock. It went off. I told my wife, ‘Five more minutes.’

‘Then before the five more minutes was up, the phone rang. And it was the FBI agent and I thought it was a joke. And I thought it was either one of my staffers or a friend. And then he insisted it wasn’t. And then the head of the state police detail, who I know, said, ‘It’s not.’ And then they came up and the rest is history. And, let me say this, had they called, I would have been more than happy to go down and address the issues.”

No. 5 -- What’s Blaogjevich doing between now and next year’s trial? “Well, I’m looking for work. Are you hiring?”

No. 4 -- ‘Can I just say this? Look, generally, if you’ve done something wrong and you know it, you’re in some corner hiding out. You’re not out and about proclaiming your innocence. And again, I know this is a little bit unusual, I appreciate that. And I appreciate you giving me a chance to be on your program.

‘But I believe that, you know, a man’s reputation sums up who he is. And especially when you have children, when these things are being said, the least I can do for my kids, so they don’t feel like their dad’s the guy some people are saying he is, is to assert over and over again that I’ve done nothing wrong. And you’ve given me a chance to do it and I’m grateful.’

No. 3 -- Why don’t you think the Top Ten List is funny? ‘I think they’re very funny. I can give you 20 reasons why I believe that.”

No. 2 -- Letterman: ‘Like I said earlier, the more you hear a guy say, ‘I’ve done nothing wrong,’ and the more you hear a guy say, ‘I didn’t have a chance to defend myself,’ the more you begin to think, ‘Eh…something wrong here.’”

Blagojevich: “Well, let me say two things: One, that’s the truth; and two, I’m glad you’re not going to sit on that jury in Illinois.”

And the Number One quotation from Rod Blagojevich: “Well, you know, I’ve been wanting to be on your show in the worst way for the longest time.”

Letterman: “Well, you’re on in the worst way, believe me.”

--Andrew Malcolm

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