A Doomed Man's False Claim of Innocence

Old english class assignment, fuck the heading.

Do you think it is possible to make yourself seem innocent of a crime in which those who accuse you of the criminal act have direct evidence of your offense? Well, in the speech delivered by the governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich, he attempts to do just that. His speech was delivered because he was defending the innocence that he claimed against the accusations he faced. It seems that Blagojevich simply attempted to coax his audience into believing he truly cared and was not taking part in any illegal activity. With such a spirit of kissing up to the audience, he has made his speech an easy target for debaters and critics to pick apart his rhetoric.


Throughout his speech Blagojevich repeatedly draws attention away from the facts and evidence and tries to convince the audience of some form of emotional statements which would draw them to his side. In the beginning of his speech he raves about his view on his current position stating that he is being stripped of his right to the presumption of innocence before being proven guilty. Blagojevich states "Imagine how you'd feel when the presumption of innocence that every American citizen has a right to is completely wiped out because of sensationalization of the media and other things" (Blagojevich 1). This entire statement is simply moronic in the context which it is used because Blagojevich is attempting to make it seem as if he is being refused unalienable rights which belong to everyone, but in truth he was already proven guilty through audio recordings of his conversations. In doing so he was attempting to trick his audience into believing he was innocent even against the direct evidence provided. He uses simple red herrings to draw away from the matters at hand by discussing his family. He goes on to state "And it's not as much about me as it is about not shaming my daughters, so that their dad, they might think may have done some things he didn't do, and allowing them to have this feeling that I let them down, and even more important then my daughters, the people of Illinois" (Blagojevich 3). Now he is simply kissing up to the audience by saying he is a family man who cares for his daughters and the people of Illinois because he is trying to make himself seem like a fatherly figure incapable of any wrongdoing. It is just pathetic how Blagojevich attempts to convince his audience of innocence that has already been disproven.
To sum the entire essay up to a single point, Blagojevich is untrustworthy and had no real point to this speech. Thanks to the recordings, Blagojevich's credibility is completely diminished. The ethics which he displays in the speech are illogical and not very well thought. He claims that he would have left office if he felt he had done some criminal act but this entire case is based on an act that he did in fact commit but he did not resign as he stated he would have. Blagojevich is just plain moronic and idiotic and shows his immaturity.