CHICAGO – Former Gov. Rod Blagojevich filled in as a radio talk show host Wednesday, using the mike to complain he was “hijacked” from office and blasting the new governor’s plans for an income tax increase.

Blagojevich had a two-hour gig on WLS-AM, filling in on the “Don Wade & Roma Morning Show” because the regular hosts are off this week.

Blagojevich, thrown out of office in January and still facing potential criminal charges, is a talk show novice and he acknowledged it, stumbling over his title and quipping that hosting was “harder than being governor.”

But he quickly got more comfortable as the show wore on. He talked on the air with CNN’s D. L. Hughley, ABC News’ Ann Compton and Second City performers who do a comedy spoof on him.

Blagojevich used the show as a platform to criticize the lawmakers who kicked him out of office after his arrest on federal corruption charges. He suggested the lawmakers really just wanted him out of the way so they could raise the income tax.

“I was hijacked from office. … It was a political fix and I predicted that,” Blagojevich said.

His successor, Gov. Pat Quinn, wants to increase the income tax rate by 50 percent to fix an $11.5 billion deficit. Blagojevich said it’s the worst thing Illinois could do because it would hurt
small businesses.

He took comments from callers who seemed to agree, and wound up the show by thanking listeners “for giving me a chance to have been your governor for six years. … I wish I was still there so I could fight for you.”

Federal prosecutors have until April 7 to get a grand jury indictment or seek more time. Said Blagojevich: “I’m going to trust in the truth, and as it says in the Bible, the truth shall set you free.”

The former governor also took a moment to plug the book he’s writing, but admitted it isn’t coming easily. He joked about being only a few pages into it.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Gov. Beverly Perdue’s rival in last fall’s election was by her side as she fulfilled a campaign promise.

Perdue officially opened the Governor’s Piedmont Office inside the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Government Center, a few floors down from Mayor Pat McCrory’s office. McCrory and Mecklenburg County commission chairwoman Jennifer Roberts both attended the opening Friday.

Perdue is a Democrat who narrowly defeated the Republican McCrory in the November election.
 
She had pledged during the campaign to open an office in Charlotte. She has other satellite offices in New Bern and Asheville.

The office will be staffed full-time by a regional director and another employee two days a week.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Gov. Bev Perdue will make an economic development announcement regarding new jobs in the Charlotte area and participate in a ribbon cutting ceremony of her new Piedmont office today at 1 p.m. 

The governor will be joined by Lt. Governor Walter Dalton, Commerce Secretary Keith Crisco, Mecklenburg County Commission Chair Jennifer Roberts, Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory, other area officials and business leaders.

The Piedmont office opening will be on the second floor immediately following the job announcement.

Many familiar rites of a presidential inauguration come not from the U.S. Constitution but from the precedent set by the first president, George Washington.

Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution says nothing about the inaugural ceremony, other than specifying the oath of office:

“Before he enter on the execution of his office, he shall take the following oath or affirmation: ‘I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of president of the United States, and will to the best of my ability preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.’ ”

In George Washington’s first inauguration on April 30, 1789, “we see the pattern that is set for all inaugurations ever since,” said Marvin Kranz, a historical specialist in the manuscript division at the Library of Congress.

Kranz narrated presentations on 12 of the inaugurations from Washington to Theodore Roosevelt as part of “I Do Solemnly Swear,” an online exhibit by the Library of Congress.

Kranz notes that Washington chose to take the oath with his hand on a Bible and set the precedent of delivering an inaugural address. Washington also added the phrase “so help me God” after taking the oath.

The first inaugural ball commemorated Washington’s presidency.

Kranz notes that on March 4, 1801, the third president, Thomas Jefferson, set another precedent, using his inaugural address to ease the peaceful transfer of power between political parties.

Of the nation’s 43 presidents, two — Franklin Pierce and Herbert Hoover — chose to “solemnly affirm” rather than “solemnly swear” while taking the oath.

With the exception of inaugurations that followed presidents who died in office, all inaugurations between 1793 and 1933 were on March 4 except for four that occurred on March 5 because March 4 fell on a Sunday.
That changed with the 20th Amendment, ratified in 1933. Beginning with Franklin Roosevelt’s second inauguration in 1937, presidents have been inaugurated on Jan. 20, minimizing the “lame-duck” session of Congress.

CARLISLE, Pa. – President George W. Bush says that while there has been lots of debate about his policies, there can be no argument that America has been kept safe since the Sept. 11 terror attacks.

In a speech at the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, Pa., Bush said Wednesday that after the attacks, he set up an elaborate plan to reorganize the governmental apparatus to confront such threats. He said the United States has worked at the same time to nurture alternatives to hateful regimes.

The speech was part of what amounts to a presidential legacy tour, with Bush using his bully pulpit he still has to frame how the country will judge his service. His final day in office will be Jan. 20, when Barack Obama will be sworn in as president.

In his first real news conference since the week following his defeat for the presidency, Senator John McCain emerged today in Phoenix to talk about his own future.

FUQUAY-VARINA, N.C. — Barack Obama’s campaign will open a new office in Fuquay-Varina Saturday.  Supporters will gather for the potluck event at 7 p.m. at 1514 Broad St.

Supporters and volunteers will reach out to undecided voters in Fuquay-Varina and surrounding areas through phone banking and door-knocking in the 33 days left until the election.

RALEIGH, N.C. — Pat McCrory will open a Raleigh campaign office at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday.

The event takes place at the Velvet Cloak Inn, 1505 Hillsborough Street.

He will also be at Marbles Museum at noon for an N.C. Coalition for Lobbying and Reform Forum

CENTENNIAL, Colo. (AP) – A threatening letter containing an unidentified white powder was sent to a John McCain campaign office in this south Denver suburb Thursday, authorities said. No injuries were immediately reported. Authorities later said the substance was not hazardous.

A second letter sent to a McCain campaign office in New Hampshire initially was reported to contain threatening language and white powder. Authorities said that was a false alarm and there was no powder in that envelope.

At least 19 people were examined at hospitals or were quarantined outside the Colorado office while authorities tried to determine whether the powder was hazardous. Everyone was sent home by late Thursday, said Arapahoe County Sheriff Grayson Robinson. He said the substance was not hazardous and not lethal, but that it will take days to determine what it was.

Andy Lyon of Parker South Metro Fire Rescue Authority said the return address on the envelope listed the Arapahoe Detention Center and the name of an inmate.

Sheriff’s officials said the inmate suspected of sending the letter is Marc Harold Ramsey, 39, who has been incarcerated since September 2007 on investigation of felony menacing, harassment and second-degree assault on a peace officer. Ramsey may face federal felony charges for Thursday’s incident, sheriff’s officials said.

Lyon said the first line of the letter used threatening language. He refused to give any details.

Malcolm Wiley, a Secret Service spokesman in Colorado, said there was no powder in the New Hampshire envelope. He said he did not know about the content of the letter, which had a Denver return address. That alarmed staffers in Manchester, who had heard about the Colorado incident.

Jim Barnett, McCain’s New England campaign manager, said it’s unusual for the New Hampshire office to get a letter from Denver.

“That was really the only suspicious thing about the letter, and our national headquarters advised, out of an abundance of caution for our staff and volunteers, that we have the authorities check it out,” he said. “We did and it was deemed safe.”

A government official familiar with the investigation said the New Hampshire letter was a false alarm. The official said authorities believe the Denver letter was a hoax because it appeared to have been sent from a jail.

Both the New Hampshire and Colorado offices were evacuated.

Bruce Williamson of the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Department said authorities took the incident “very seriously” because the Democratic National Convention begins Monday in Denver. McCain is the presumed GOP candidate.