Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s historic impeachment trial began Monday without its defiant defendant, who refused to participate and spent the day in New York making television appearances to decry the trial as unfair.

Illinois Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas Fitzgerald asked whether Blagojevich was present and a long silence followed. The chief justice, who is presiding over the trial, ordered the proceedings to begin as if Blagojevich had entered a plea of not guilty.

“This is a solemn and serious business we’re about to engage in,” Fitzgerald told the Senate chambers.

Blagojevich, meanwhile, was hundreds of miles away and hit the morning show circuit, appearing on ABC’s “Good Morning America” and “The View” before a scheduled appearance on “Larry King Live.”

“I’m here in New York because I can’t get a fair hearing in Illinois, the state Senate in Illinois,” Blagojevich said in between appearances. “They’ve decided, with rules that are fixed, that don’t allow me as a governor the right to be able to bring in witnesses to prove that I’ve done nothing wrong.”

The trial will determine whether Blagojevich is removed as governor and barred from ever again holding office in Illinois. No Illinois governor has ever been impeached or ousted.

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Here I am waving at you all, and what I am really trying to convey is:

“You can all blow it out your ass.  I am GOD Blagojevich.”