Matt C. Abbott
August 18, 2010
Blagojevich the scoundrel
By Matt C. Abbott

Disgraced former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich has been convicted on one of 24 counts levied against him by the feds. Not great, but at least they got the foul-mouthed scoundrel on something (according to reports, the deadlocked jury nearly convicted him — 11 to 1 — for selling the Senate seat vacated by now President Obama).

Yes, Blago is a scoundrel; corrupt to the core. His obnoxious defense attorneys are hard to stomach, too.

Jill Stanek (God bless her) documented "Blago's crimes against sanctity of life" in a June 9, 2010 column on WorldNetDaily. Stanek wrote (excerpted):

    As governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich was anything but courageous, taking inordinate pleasure in picking on people way smaller than himself. On the life issue in particular, Blagojevich was a bully for death.

    In 2005, the issue of state public funding for embryonic stem-cell research was big. California had just passed Proposition 71, which authorized $3 billion in taxpayer funding for ESCR (estimated final cost per the California Legislative Analyst: $6 billion). In Illinois, the Democrat-controlled legislature had twice failed to pass similar legislation. But Blagojevich surprised all by taking matters into his own hands and signing an executive order, making Illinois the first and only state to date to authorize controversial ESCR public funding without legislative or public involvement. To do this, Blagojevich hid $10 million in a budget line item 'for grants and related expenses of hospitals and universities for scientific research'....

    Also in 2005, Blagojevich filed an 'emergency rule,' making Illinois the first state to force pharmacists to dispense emergency contraceptives 'without delay' even if in violation of their consciences. Emergency contraceptives may cause abortions. Standing with Blagojevich when he made his announcement were NARAL President Nancy Keenan and then-Planned Parenthood President Karen Pearl. On Lou Dobb's CNN program, Blagojevich compared the moral quandary of prescribing chemical death to preborns to a vegan selling hamburger....

    After Blagojevich made his 'emergency rule,' Walgreens immediately fired four pharmacists who refused to prescribe the morning-after pill, and three other pharmacies immediately filed a lawsuit. Five years later, that lawsuit is ongoing, and Blagojevich is still named as a party. Currently, the state has a preliminary injunction ordered to keep it from forcing the plaintiffs to dispense emergency contraceptives.

    Blagojevich may have been involved in other hanky-panky. In May 2007, Planned Parenthood Chicago Area requested and received a bond rating as a nonprofit organization from the Illinois Finance Authority that allowed it to borrow at a cheaper rate to build its Aurora abortion mill. I smell a rat....

Indeed. Sadly, rats such as Blago seem to get elected quite often, don't they?



Please pray for the family of Claudia Avignone. Claudia — the mother of uber-dedicated pro-life activist David Avignone and his two brothers, Mario and Mark — lost her battle with cancer on August 15.

Requiescat in pace.


© Matt C. Abbott

Comments feature added August 14, 2011
 

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Matt C. Abbott

Matt C. Abbott is a Catholic columnist with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication, Media and Theatre from Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago, and an Associate in Applied Science degree in Business Management from Triton College in River Grove, Ill. He has worked in the right-to-life movement and is a published writer focused on Catholic and social issues. He can be reached at mattcabbott@gmail.com.

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