Every day in every state across the country our political system is bankrolled by an army of fundraisers pulling in millions of dollars a race. Sometimes it looks like you might imagine knocking on doors, calling every name in the phone book eddie males so many emails. But for all those little fish throwing 100 to their local race, its the whales. Those Campaign Fundraisers really need power rich individuals and companies. And when they donate 25,000, 100,000, 1 million they want a favor or tan it should be obvious that thats corrupt, but with a wink and a nod, political deals to the bribery line every single day and we may never have noticed that if a certain illinois governor hadnt flung back the curtain within unrepentant ego, a political corruption, crime spree in a set of unprecedented its an added Audio Recordings that shined a bright light on the Inner Workings Of American Political Power Ladies And Gentlemen meet Rod Blagojevich it was Early Morning because i used to get up eve
No figure embodies the American Political Process quite like the president ial candidate. At their best, candidates represent an ideal the overcoming of obstacles or hopes for a better future, protecting the people from the powerful. Its intoxicating stuff. Reality, of course, is less glamorous. Supporting that candidate is an army volunteers, donors, political operatives, and they can sometimes get too wrapped up in in the lore, the legend, which brings us to the story of Johnny Reid Edwards an american success story, crusading trial lawyer, family man. The senator from North Carolina was seen by millions of americans as the future of the Democratic Party. Candidate john edwards was inspirational. People seemed as if they would go to the ends of the earth for him. And in some cases, he made them. Because in reality, john edwards the person well, he was no savior. [cheers and applause] [amplified voice] i will give you back your Democratic Party. I will give you back the white house, a
The first served in the early 19th century and left no likenesses behind. The second. Is eliot spitzer. Every day in every state across the country, our political system is bankrolled by an army of fundraisers, pulling in millions of dollars a race. Sometimes it looks like you might imagine knocking on doors, calling every name in the phone book, and emailsso many emails. But for all those little fish throwing 100 to their local race, its the whales those Campaign Fundraisers really need powerful, rich individuals and companies. And when they donate 25,000, 100,000, a million dollars, they want a favor. Or 10. It should be obvious thats corrupt, but with a wink and a nod, political deals toe the bribery line every single day. And we may never have noticed that if a certain illinois governor hadnt flung back the curtain with an unrepentant ego, a political corruption crime spree, and a set of unprecedented Audio Recordings that shined a bright light on the inner workings of american pol
Ive got this thing, and its [bleep] golden. Yeah. [audience laughter] and im not just giving it up for [bleep] nothing. [laughter] was there a second [bleep] in there . Tapper racking up a staggering 24 criminal charges, governor blagojevichs actions essentially boiled down to four things extortion, bribery, corruption, and wire fraud. And it wasnt just about the senate seat. Blagojevich was also found guilty of extorting a Childrens Hospital. You cant write this stuff. Hes an arrogant punk who thinks that, you know, hes bulletproof. Well, hes not. He was convicted on 18 total charges and sentenced to 14 years, the longest sentence ever handed down to a governor. People loathed blagojevich for the way he politicked, but was what he did so blatantly criminal . cause the truth is that the line between whats illegal and whats allowable is much murkier than wed like to think, and this is where the Rod Blagojevich story gets interesting. Let me reassert to all of you once more that i am not
you can still drive between the lines. so rod s tale is a cautionary one a camera-grabbing, over-the-top example of how bribery, extortion, and graft easily sneak into our political system behind ambition and enormous egos. and if politicians or the public feel the same way he does, then another rod blagojevich is just around the corner. i didn t break a law, cross the line, or take a penny, okay? but i never said i wasn t a [bleep] idiot. [laughter] thank you very much. thank you very much. thank you very much. thank you very much! -awesome. thank you so much. -yeah, thanks. appreciate it. really enjoyed it. you re all right. i wish you the best. we ll see how it ends up and who cares. that s true. find out what are you gonna do, throw me back in prison? -no, but i mean, like, -you can t hurt me, man. tapper: for a country that bills itself as the world s oldest democracy, we sure do love a strongman, and from teddy roosevelt all the way up to our reality tv president, now