Understatement of the Week: Rod Blagojevich

On the second day of testimony in his corruption retrial, former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich seemed to be trying to convince jurors not to trust him.

Reacting to a recording of him discussing pressuring a horse racing executive from whom the former governor allegedly was attempting to extort a $100,000 campaign contribution in return for signing a bill into law, Blagojevich said he came to his senses later.

"It was like, 'Whoa, I'm not doing that,'" he said, trying to convince the jury that a light bulb went off in his head before he actually committed any crime, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Those careless words "came out of me fast, but then I had a chance to think about it," he said.

On the face of it, whether this next line proves itself to be a brilliant defense strategy or a stroke of unfortunate understatement will be left to the court to decide.

In other words, if Blagojevich is acquitted this next bit of blarney might not be viewed as an understatement at all; if found guilty, this may be the moment the former governor aimed a revolver at his foot.

Wait for it …

"A lot of times my words outpace my ideas and good judgment," Blagojevich said.
ANTHONY HALL || United Press International