‘Men With Broken Hearts’

1 comment April 24th, 2008

Gov. Rod Blagojevich has long channeled Elvis. During campaign stops, public events or parties, the governor’s aides would play Elvis. Or the governor would talk about Elvis. Or both.

The governor proudly displays a statue of Elvis in his otherwise vacant Capitol office. Heck, the governor’s mop of a hairdo even looks like Elvis.

Now that the feds are closing in on him, the governor has a new tune. On Wednesday, at the end of his appearance at his annual prayer breakfast, the governor recited the words of “Men With Broken Hearts,” an old Hank Williams tune.

“You never stood in that man’s shoes or saw things through his eyes, or watched with helpless hands while the heart inside you dies,” the governor said. “So help your brother along the way, no matter where he starts, because the same God that made you made him too, these men with broken hearts.”

Talk about melodramatic. The closing words, coupled with Blagojevich’s tone of humility, is striking.

A link to audio of the governor’s speech, which runs about nine minutes, is here. The governor’s brooding, compliments of Hanks Williams, is in the last 30 seconds.

And if you want to hear the song, here’s the “Men With Broken Hearts” with Hank Sr., Hank Jr., and Hank III: