Blagojevich Returns To Radio Airwaves
UPDATED 03/16/11 11:19 a.m.
CHICAGO (CBS) -- One could say no one knows how rough Illinois politics can be better than deposed Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
As CBS 2's Susanna Song reports, Blagojevich returned to the airwaves Wednesday morning, filling in for Don Wade and Roma on WLS-890 AM. He didn't mince words about finding fault in and Gov. Pat Quinn and the Illinois General Assembly, and wasn't shy about boasting about his own time in office.
Later, Blagojevich told reporters he still feels he was unjustly charged and convicted, and that his full story hasn't been heard.
Blagojevich went on the air around 5 a.m. to the accompaniment of "I Got a Feeling" by the Black Eyed Peas.
"I want to say how excited I am to have the chance to do this show," Blagojevich said.
He was on the airwaves for four hours, and joined by his wife, Patti, for the last hour.
"Patti you'll be proud of me – not a single swear word not one single swear word," he said. "It's effin' golden how I'm doing here, refraining from using bad words."
The ex-governor was poking fun at his now infamous words on the FBI wiretaps that led to his arrest for allegedly trying to sell President Barack Obama's U.S. Senate seat.
He did not censor to "effin'" in that instance. He said, "I've got this thing, and it's f***ing golden, and I'm bnot just giving it up for f***ing nothing."
Throughout the his time on the air Wednesday, Blagojevich talked for several minutes at a time about the state budget crisis, and blamed his lieutenant governor and later successor, Gov. Pat Quinn.
"Instead of calling Quinn an effin' promise breaker and tax increaser, I've been calling him a scoundrel," Blagojevich said, "In my case, good results for people would have happened had I not been stopped. In his case, bad results for people – people have to pay 67 percent more in income taxes."
Patti joined in.
"Why is it OK for Pat Quinn and Careen Gordon to act in this way, but we're sitting in a situation where you're going to go to trial again?" she said.
Careen Gordon is a former Democratic state representative whom Quinn has named to the state Prisoner Review Board. Republicans are seeking to block Gordon's nomination on the grounds that she voted for the 66 percent state income tax hike after speaking against it during her failed campaign for reelection.
As Blagojevich walked out of the WLS radio studios at 190 N. State St., he spoke briefly with reporters.
But right before he got into his sport-utility vehicle, Blagojevich said the truth has yet to come out.
"It's one of the greatest ironies that the accusers, the ones who made the tapes, have agreed to allow less than 2 percent of them being heard, and they take things out of context, and even then, the result was the result," Blagojevich said.
This, of course, is not the first time Blagojevich has tried his hand as a radio host.
In March 2009, about three months after he was arrested by federal agents, Blagojevich also filled in for Don Wade and Roma. He spent his two hours on the air attacking Springfield legislators and Gov. Pat Quinn, accusing them of trying to get him removed from office so they could raise income taxes.
WLS later gave Blagojevich a regular Sunday morning talk show. But the show ended when his corruption trial began last year, pending the outcome of the trial.
Blagojevich was ultimately convicted of one count of lying to the FBI. The jury deadlocked on the 23 counts against him, including allegations that he tried to sell President Barack Obama's U.S. Senate seat.
Blagojevich went on to say it's important that all of his recorded conversations are released so people can hear what actually happened.
His retrial is set to begin April 20.
