Illinois Governor Arrested for Trying to Sell Obama Senate Seat
Simply put, it is the most breathtaking corruption scandal in the history of Illinois politics. (Read also Roger L. Simon and Claudia Rosett)
Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich and his chief of staff, John Harris, have been arrested and charged with a multitude of crimes involving everything from a “pay-to-play” scheme for state contracts to his attempt to sell the open Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama in exchange for “financial considerations” for the governor and his wife.
Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald calls the breadth and depth of charges “staggering.” Here’s a sampling:
On the issue of the U.S. Senate selection, federal prosecutors alleged Blagojevich sought appointment as secretary of Health and Human Services in the new Obama administration, or a lucrative job with a union in exchange for appointing a union-preferred candidate.
Blagojevich and Harris conspired to demand the firing of Chicago Tribune editorial board members responsible for editorials critical of Blagojevich in exchange for state help with the sale of Wrigley Field, the Chicago Cubs baseball stadium owned by Tribune Co.
Blagojevich and Harris, along with others, obtained and sought to gain financial benefits for the governor, members of his family, and his campaign fund in exchange for appointments to state boards and commissions, state jobs, and state contracts.
“The breadth of corruption laid out in these charges is staggering,” U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald said in a statement.
“They allege that Blagojevich put a ‘for sale’ sign on the naming of a United States senator; involved himself personally in pay-to-play schemes with the urgency of a salesman meeting his annual sales target, and corruptly used his office in an effort to trample editorial voices of criticism.”
In any other state, this would be simply unbelievable, or perhaps considered a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence to have such breathtaking and brazen corruption reveal itself at the highest levels of state government.
But all of this occurred in the state of Illinois, where the arrest of Blagojevich makes it four governors in recent history * who have been arrested and charged with wrongdoing while in office.
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Rick Moran is PJM Chicago editor; his own blog is Right Wing Nut House.
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109 Comments
1. Jeffersonian:Rick, Blago knew how much trouble he was in and knew the only way out of it was foreward: By cozying up to the only guy who could call off the dogs: Obama. He just got careless and failed to drag out the investigation until he could achieve his goal.
Dec 9, 2008 - 8:40 am 2. GM Roper:And all this is surprising because?
Dec 9, 2008 - 8:41 am 3. GM Roper:Oh, and another chance to Name That party!
Dec 9, 2008 - 8:42 am 4. Mister Snitch!:I’m shocked, SHOCKED, to see this kind of corruption in Chicago politics.
Dec 9, 2008 - 8:43 am 5. Mike G:I saw Blagojevich on Halloween night– a day which figures in the indictment, incidentally– and it was somewhat impressive, in a ghastly sort of way, that he was still so chipper about working the crowd and joking with neighbors as he strolled with his family among people who he had to know think he’s a deep-dyed skunk and headed for the hoosegow. Clearly he’s one of those politicians who can still keep the energy up for that sort of schmooze no matter how deep he’s in it– Bill Clinton comes to mind– but I agree that there’s something delusional and even unhinged about this behavior, it’s so blatant and reckless.
Meanwhile, Mayor Daley sits at the center of his web, selling the parking meters and watching another enemy fall….
Dec 9, 2008 - 8:43 am 6. Dave in Texas:So all that big talk about refusing business with Bank of America, the factory workers, all that was actually just wriggling on the hook, eh?
Dirt. Sleaze. Corruption. Pus, oozing from Obama’s nurturing ground. Rezko hears Blago say on the phone “I want to make money”. Rezko now in jail. Blago headed there. Obama might have gotten out JUST IN TIME.
Last guy to visit Blago in his office, pitching himself for the Senate seat? Jesse Jr. Wonder how much HE offered, and whether the Feebs got THAT on tape?
Dec 9, 2008 - 8:43 am 7. Morton Doodslag:I hardly think Blagojevich has lost his mind — Stated more directly, the entire edifice of “Chicago politics” is so utterly and grotesquely corrupt that Blagojevich simply doesn’t perceive he was doing anything wrong. Business as usual. Of course that’s no excuse for these brazen shocking anti-American actions.
If a republican candidate had emerged from a similar cesspool as the “Chicago Machine” which Obama emerged from, we would already be reading about impeaching the President Elect before he assumes office. But since it’s the Anointed One, the Press won’t link or associate their darling with the human sewage with which he played, or the sewer from which he emerged and comfortably swam in for many years. That same sewer spawned all the Rezkos, the Blagojeviches, the Ayerses, the Rev. Wrights, the Farakhans, the Khalidis, the Fr. Flaegers, but the American Press will refuse to make the obvious linkages with Obama and his cabal, for that would be “playing the ‘guilt by association’ game”, wouldn’t it?
America has been betrayed.
Dec 9, 2008 - 8:51 am 8. emesem:Well, these are just allegations. Perhaps the prosecutor is overzealous, or the probably illegal wiretaps simply mis-heard the poor chap.
Sounds like Don Siegelman all over again. It’s outrageous the extent of the abuses of power in this Bush administration, they make Nixon look like a choirboy. Always picking on Democrats, trying to make them look bad. Well at least they aren’t Karl Rove!
Dec 9, 2008 - 8:52 am 9. tim maguire:Given that we now have a president who cut his teeth in that cess-pool, I’m glad Obama really made his name opposing and cleaning up corruption.
Oh wait, that was Sarah Palin.
Dec 9, 2008 - 8:53 am 10. In Springpatch:Rick – I would vote for both corrupt to the core and delusional. This is a man who said of his 13% approval rating – “That’s a baker’s dozen, Right?” and “I still think I would be elected if the election was today” then proceeded to blame the ratings on the economy. His refusal to live in the Governor’s Mansion, his continual use of the government plane on a weekly basis (so he can kiss his kids good night) while closing down state parks and historic sites, his amendatory veto abuse and his utter lack of comprehension that any of this is wrong point to a combination of delusion and corruption. The more infuriating thing about this whole issue is that NO ONE (not the General Assembly, not the Republican and certainly not the Democrates) has done anything to rein this embarrasment to Illinois in.
Dec 9, 2008 - 8:58 am 11. Anonymous:Aaahh Emesen, always making excuses for your fellow lefties and changing the subject to someone who is now irrelevant
Dec 9, 2008 - 9:00 am 12. AnninCA:This type of scandal requires a structure to support it. What could be interesting is to wonder whom Obama paid for his position as senator.
Rezko coughed up a lot of dough. Did it really all go to print fliers?
Dec 9, 2008 - 9:01 am 13. Ella Lackey:So how was Blagojevich so confident that he could get a position in HHS or get his choice appointed? He couldn’t without the complicity of Barack Obama (or a gross delusion of his own influence over Obama).
Is Obama going to become a person of interest in this investigation at any point? The hearings could start before he even takes office. It really will be Clinton redux! Good times.
Dec 9, 2008 - 9:05 am 14. Scott Janssens:Can you elaborate on the claim that 4 out of the last 7 Illinois governors were arrested for wrongdoings while in office? Obviously there’s Blago and Ryan. Walker’s arrest in the 80s came for deeds well after his term in the 70s. To my knowledge of Shapiro, Ogalvie, Thompson, Edgar, none were arrested for wrongdoing while in office.
Perhaps you should say, the past two governors have been arrested for wrongdoings while in office.
Dec 9, 2008 - 9:08 am 15. Rick Moran:Scott – you are correct. Kerner and Walker are the other two in recent history.
A case of reading something months ago and either not remembering correctly or simply getting it wrong.
Dec 9, 2008 - 9:23 am 16. Tom Elia:The four indicted Illinois governors (out of the last seven who were elected since 1960) are:
Otto Kerner, Dan Walker, George Ryan, and Rod Blagojevich.
The three who were not indicted were Richard Ogilve, Jim Thompson, and Jim Edgar.
(Sam Shapiro was not elected — he became governor when Otto Kerner was named to the federal bench by LBJ in 1968.)
Dec 9, 2008 - 9:24 am 17. Bugs:Hope none of this rubs off on the President-elect. We seem to have gotten through the election with a (relative) minimum of scandal and controversy. Last thing the country needs is another endless, Clintonesque, OIC sideshow.
Dec 9, 2008 - 9:25 am 18. Paul:This is ‘Business as Usual’ in Illinois.
Dec 9, 2008 - 9:32 am 19. Rick Moran:ok Tom – I knew I read it on your website! Will make final edit.
Dec 9, 2008 - 9:33 am 20. Stosh2:I bet Obama is wishing that Palin was the governor of his state…….
Dec 9, 2008 - 9:35 am 21. Kurt:You can keep hoping, Bugs, but I wouldn’t hold my breath if I were you. As Tim Maguire said above, now we have a president-elect who is a product of that exemplary (ha!) political machine.
Dec 9, 2008 - 9:38 am 22. Rob:This guy must be an independent right?
Because there’s no mention of his party affiliation in any of the new stories about this…
Dec 9, 2008 - 9:41 am 23. rocketeer:Ah, to be a Democrat! It’s a thing of beauty. To be able to take bribes, strong-arm opponents, hit up your cronies for way overpaid jobs after you’re out of office, no fear of prosecution, above the law, wow. I wish I had no internal ethical standards, I’d become one.
emerson – why is it that you are so eager to give the benefit of the doubt to this obviously completely corrupt scumbag, but you are not willing to be fair at all with the current sitting president? You think the author is “always picking on Democrats, trying to make them look bad”? I’m sorry, they do that all by themselves. “At least they aren’t Karl Rove”. What is that supposed to mean? Are you saying it’s OK that these dirt bags tried to sell a seat in the US Senate, get a member of the editorial board of a major newspaper fired because he didn’t like their point of view, take bribes, etc., as long as they aren’t Karl Rove? Are you crazy?
No one here is saying that Republican’s are angels, but they certainly are not in the same league with how the Democrats have made political corruption an art form.
Dec 9, 2008 - 9:50 am 24. Scott Janssens:Tom,
The fact that Shapiro wasn’t elected doesn’t take him out of the counting, unless you specify elected governors.
In the interest of accuracy, the correction is still incorrect as Walker’s wrongdoing did not occur while he was in office.
Dec 9, 2008 - 9:50 am 25. joe:yeah….
Dec 9, 2008 - 9:51 am 26. maxwell:I’m guessing that the good Gov thought he could get away with stuff because Obama would fire Fitzgerald as soon as he assumed office and the good Democrat replacement as US Attorney would bury everything.
Now, Obama has a BIG problem if he fires Fitzgerald. It will look like Obama is just trying to cover up for his buddies.
Surprisingly, I have not heard of any press release from Obama’s office about this latest arrest of one of his buddies – 6 hours ago. Could Obama be just a wee bit nervous about this?
Dec 9, 2008 - 9:51 am 27. TexEd:Chimpy the Kenyan’s Chicago masters must be furious over this. Now, they’ll have to figure how Holder can get rid of the Federal Attorney in Chicago without politicizing the Office of US Attorney General.
Dec 9, 2008 - 9:54 am 28. Pat:“I want to make money,” the affidavit quotes Blagojevich as saying during one of his recorded conversations.
Yes, of course — “make,” as in extort, blackmail, embezzle, i.e. STEAL what others like the Tribune had EARNED.
Political parasites will continue to spread like the cancer they are until we take money OUT of politics by getting politics OUT of money-making.
Great producers like Vanderbilt and Milken continue to be scapegoated as “robber-barons” so the parasitic politicians can extort the producers’ earnings and lower the standards of living and progress that Americans would otherwise have.
Why do we allow this to continue? Because we believe what we’ve been taught – that without “regulation” by the parasites, our alleged inherent depravity would run amok in a dog-eat-dog society. But those teachings are wrong. The more draconian our regulations become, the more barbaric does our society become!
Once the producers understand that it takes virtue to create profits, then they will gain the moral indignation necessary to finally stop the parasites from feasting on our carcasses.
Privative everything except the courts, police, military, and a part-time legislature!
Dec 9, 2008 - 9:57 am 29. Dr. Lumplevin:This is just more Rovian shenanigans in the right-wing Media in their never-ceasing attempts to smear the Democratic Party and our “transformational agent” in the personna of Barack Obama. We will, however, not be swayed or mislead by the politics of division and distraction; it’s possible to overcome the same old negative attacks that are always about scoring points and never about solving our problems.
Dec 9, 2008 - 10:01 am 30. chipster0924:Maybe, just maybe, Blago is so brazen because he has the goods on Obama. It is typical for people of this nature (Rezko, Blago, Obamo)to build countervaling sets of incriminating information against each other, if only for “insurance” purposes.
We need new federal prisons dedicated to the incarceration of former and future politicians.
Dec 9, 2008 - 10:11 am 31. Robert Hurley:This guy was not only corrupt but incredibly studpid. I just finished reading the indictment. However, there is no mention of anything that ties this to Obama – read it for yourself
Dec 9, 2008 - 10:13 am 32. Peter the Sub Guy:11. Anonymous wrote:
Aaahh Emesen, always making excuses for your fellow lefties and changing the subject to someone who is now irrelevant
Peter writes: This is just a guess, but I think Emesen was just trying to be sarcastic and is not truly a loony leftist.
Dec 9, 2008 - 10:16 am 33. Dave in Texas:Now then, what about Blago saying he’ll trade a Senate appointment for an Obama appointment? Put his wife on corporate boards, etc.
Does this not sound like Obama’s side of the deal is assumed? As if he’d already been talked to about it?
I’d like to see this line pursued, but I doubt they will do it.
Dec 9, 2008 - 10:23 am 34. Someone75:This is pretty bad. He should go to jail for a long time.
It’s almost as bad as stealing the presidency and suppressing votes.
Dec 9, 2008 - 10:25 am 35. Mike G:Someone on Capitol Fax noted that when Valerie Jarrett was, as I recall, the very first Obama appointment, she made a point of saying she was taking herself out of consideration for the senate seat.
In retrospect, that sure looks like the Obama camp was approached about paying for her appointment, and promptly tried to get as far away from the whole mess as they could get. Which means she’s now back in the running as the most likely clean candidate for the job… though I imagine there will be people in state government who will think it’d be a great place to stash new Governor Pat Quinn.
Dec 9, 2008 - 10:33 am 36. Thinking Person:Robert Hurley….Geez bub….you have already started putting up the smoke and mirrors for dear leader Obama? The Attorney General already said it’s an ongoing investigation so let’s be patient okay? Hehehehe…… maybe when they hose out those democratic offices up in Illinois Obama’s real birth certificate will come floating out. Maybe even his school records and college apps that seem to have mysteriously disappeared! Sorry to be sarcastic here but I do think it sort of funny that so much ilk(including our President-elect blank-slate Obama) comes out of that black hole known as the Illinois Political System.
Dec 9, 2008 - 10:37 am 37. Pete:Recall reading somewhere that IL ranked third in a list of the most-corrupt states, behind New Jersey and Louisiana. Well, one has a hard time believing that… those pols in the other states must be corrupt on an unimagineable scale to beat our homegrown crooks.
Dec 9, 2008 - 10:37 am 38. Jarhead91:Too bad he’s not gay like Jim McGreevey. He avoided jail somehow after he sold favors in NJ.
Dec 9, 2008 - 10:55 am 39. cedarford:Louisiana move over, Illinois has plopped down, crowded you out! The biggest turd in the cesspool of State corruption. Given the Bayou State’s long love affair with sleaze, unfortunately, Illinois is just the biggest turd in recent years. With Louisiana still the all-time historical winner..
They did clarify Candidates 1-6 over at SmokingGun.com –
While the affidavit does not specifically name the six prospective Senate candidates discussed by Blagojevic, Harris, and the governor’s aides, it appears that several are easily identified. “Senate Candidate 1″ is Valerie Jarrett, a longtime Obama confidante. “Senate Candidate 2″ is Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan. Emil Jones, an Illinois state legislator, is “Senate Candidate 5.” And “Senate Candidate 6″ appears to be J.P. Pritzker, a wealthy Chicago businessman.
With Jesse Jackson Jr supposedly candidate #3 And #4, purportedly “Deputy Governor??”
Emil Jones is #5 the guy directly mentioned in the indictment as someone Blago was in negotiations to get money from (ID’d only as Senate Candidate #5). And Pritzker, part of a family of Jewish billionaires, just might be there on the list, given he has no elected office experience, also for Blago’s hopes of money..
Candidate #1, Jarrett, is the one Blago was trying to wheedle of Cabinet post or an Ambassadorship in a quid pro quo for naming, but Obama and Jarrett seem to be too smart to get ensnared in Blago’s mess…
It does raise issues. Should the legislature pass emergency legislation to block the indicted Governor from naming an Obama replacement and turn that job over to Lieutenant Gov Pat Quinn? How clean is he?
Oh, and what a juicy mess it is! Democrooks replacing Corruptpubicans in the news. It does make a fine mess for Obama even if he is clean, because he wants to fire most US Attorneys, but now he has Fitzgerald in the thick of a major investigation of his longtime supporters like Rezko, Emil Jones…and tangential backers like Blagojevich and the wealthy Pritzkers. If Obama fires Fitzgerald, or has Holder do it, will Dem Lefties scream he is engaged in politicized firings?
Dec 9, 2008 - 11:00 am 40. stewie:soooo… what is the highest bid so far? do i sill have a shot at his seat or is the bidding now closed thanks to those evil republicans?
ahhh, that vast right wing conspiracy thing already resurfacing.
i wonder how nbc bury this one?
i bet they make it a by line, spin it with a 20 year old pic of babs streisand letting cute little puppies lick her face in an endless two minute loop from now until christmas is over…
what sucks is all of the missed opportunity for comics to blast all of these a**bags.
i made a joke at the dem party and obamas expense in a store last week. half of the folks standing in line busted up while the other half started to look for pitchforks and torches!
Dec 9, 2008 - 11:04 am 41. tom of the missouri:I grew up in Illinois and live nearby now. Simply reading the daily press about Blagojevich it was quite easy to ascertain his character long ago. He was just about the most activist politician I had ever witnessed in my life. By this I mean there was no subject or area of life where he did not daily propose a government spending program to address it. It appeared that nothing in his mind was off limits to a government solution. Some of these ideas were completely hairbrained and rejected by his fellow democrats and others equally bad were passed. What really is the moral difference between proposing and wheeling and dealing politically more and more spending of taxpayer’s money in an already over taxed bankrupt state and simply taking it by any other means, through “pay to play” or whatever. By whatever means all was obviously an attempt at personal gain, whether politically or otherwise. Both methods in the end take away the fruits of other’s labor at the point of gun by the state, or at least with the eventual threat therof.
Of course government is a necessary, but my belief is that it is a necessary evil and and as such should be kept at a minimum and funded with restraint. Mr. Blagojevich showed no trait of such restraint and it has been obvious for a very long time for anyone who cared to look.
Is he really any different from Chris Dodd with his discount mortgage or that congressman from Louisiana with the cash in his fridge. What about the rest of the overwhelming majority of the U.S. Congress? It is all a disgusting and sad sight. Unfortunately our citizens, the citizens of Illinois in particular more than most, keep reelecting these rascals with their characters in plain view. The fault in the end lays with the voters themselves and their apparent lost ability to discern between good and bad character and good and bad government. It all does not bode well for the future, despite the infrequent appearance of one of the last remaining good guys along the lines of Pat Fitzgerald (ditto for the Tribune editorial board). Who, btw, was preventing Fitzgerald from getting those wiretaps in the past? Was it a Blagovich or Daley connected judge maybe? A Clinton appointee? It is clear that Blagojevich exercised no restraint in attempting to neutralize his enemies. Oh well I think I have said enough. And yes, I know that Fiztgerald is a Democrat.
Dec 9, 2008 - 11:14 am 42. Donna B.:This is amazing. I don’t think even Edwin Edwards could have done so well. In comparison, he’s just an amateur at corruption.
At least it’s making Louisiana look better.
Dec 9, 2008 - 11:19 am 43. Jim:Dr. Lumpevin, WAKE UP and smell your coffee! This is not a Republican smear, or an over-zealous prosecution from some right-wing conspiracy. Read the Complaint; this Governor was, is and should be held accountable for being corrupt . . . C – O – R – R – U – P – T. Short and simple; try accepting the truth.
Dec 9, 2008 - 11:27 am 44. Ferdinand Chetler:Hey Dr. Lumpy,
Guys like you liked Pat Fitzgerald when he was making baseless accusations against Cheney, Rove, and Libby. And you can’t argue the baseless either, since Armitage was the one who admitted he was the person who talked. Now that Pat goes after some Democrats, you can’t take it. How is he smearing the Democrats? Did he make up the phone taps? Just like William “Cold Cash” Jefferson. Did the Feds plant all of that money in his freezer? Please. You need to man up.
Dec 9, 2008 - 11:50 am 45. Robert Hurley:Try reading the indictment TP before you display your ignorance
Dec 9, 2008 - 11:51 am 46. Paul From Hamburg:Frankly, I don’t understand the problem. Why are we, a bunch of free-market Republicans, getting upset? A Senate seat is a valuable commodity. It only makes sense to sell it to the highest bidder. Giveaways are what liberals do; good Republicans make you earn what you get.
Dec 9, 2008 - 11:55 am 47. misanthropicus:A brief examination of Ron Blagojevich’s career provided me with other terms which spendidly expanded the field of the phenomenal US Democrat Party political corruption and abjection:
Here the other terms are: (Ron Blagojevich), Antoine Rezko, Rahm Emanuel, David Axelrod, Solis-Doyle, Valerie Jarrett, reverend Wright, ACORN, Andrew Soros, Barry Soetero, Barack Soetero, Hussein Obama, Barack Obama, Bill Ayres, The One, MoveOn.Org, Bill Clinton, James Riady, Monica Lewinsky, Lippo Bank, David Geffen, Norman Hsu, Paul Rich, Eric Holder, (a suivre)…
And since here, isn’t it pretty that Soetero moved the DNC from Wa/DC to Chicago? Sure a more effective way to run the business, any knave will tell you…
And by the way, are we going to assist next Monday (Antoine’s day in court) at a playback of Harvey Oswald/Jack Ruby close encounter?
And there still are people around who fret that Soetro’s (hypothetical) inauguration will be unexciting – not.
Dec 9, 2008 - 11:56 am 48. joe buzz:Sounds like Mrs. Blago is a class act too! Dropping F bombs on the phone about the Cubs no less….
Dec 9, 2008 - 12:07 pm 49. The Wizard:The Obamanation’s political pals are in trouble, and he is going to pretend to be squeaky clean and SHOCKED? I think not, as a Chicago “street thug” polical organizer, The Messiah is up to his flapping ears in scams, illegal activities and corruption – how do you think he got his seat in the state legislature in the first place? It will be interesting to see who turns on him first to save their hides. This nation now has a President elect who is a fraud, liar, racist and totally devoid in morals,ethics, credibility and leadership. And yes, there IS GUILT BY ASSOCIATION.
Dec 9, 2008 - 12:09 pm 50. robotech master:Shouldn’t the subtitle read this
Simply put, it is the most breathtaking corruption scandal in the history of Illinois politics(now that obama’s left).
Dec 9, 2008 - 12:15 pm 51. CornFedBeauty:I don’t know, Rick. Operation Graylord was a pretty bad Chicago scandal as well — judges selling verdicts in criminal cases for a hundred bucks, lawyers soliciting bribes in the halls of the courthouse. 15 judges and a lot more lawyers got convicted. It was a huge scandal that went on for years.
I think Blago’s stuff is confined primarily to Blago and his near associates. But I guess we’ll see.
Dec 9, 2008 - 12:29 pm 52. Robert Hurley:Wizard – Guilt by association without a shred of proof – only in Oz land
Dec 9, 2008 - 12:34 pm 53. Dark Helmet:“Louisiana move over, Illinois has plopped down, crowded you out!”
cedarford, the good people of La all have a message just for you,
F*CK YOU!
Gov J is s shoe in for 2012 if the country can survive your slimy traitor hero obammy mammy.
People get what they deserve when they vote for them.
Dec 9, 2008 - 12:39 pm 54. Thinking Person:Robert Hurley….”my ignorance”? I never claimed they said Obama had anything to do with it. I was merely pointing out how you were already crowing that Obama was clean in all of this when it’s being called an ongoing investigation. Why so quick to beat the “Obama has not been tied to any of this” drum? I was merely pointing out the absurdity of that. Me think you protest too much friend. Don’t worry, they still haven’t ventured behind Obama’s curtain just yet. He’s as clean as an Illinois Democrat can get. That ain’t saying much though now is it?
Dec 9, 2008 - 12:42 pm 55. Insufficiently Sensitive:I believe these later allegations against the governor — including the charge that “Blagojevich also was alleged to be using a favors list, made up largely of individuals and firms that have state contracts or received taxpayer benefits, from which to conduct a $2.5 million fundraising drive before year’s end — reveal a man either so corrupt that he saw little downside to his actions or, sadly and perhaps more likely, that the years of investigations had taken a toll on his mental well-being and he had lost touch with reality.
I disagree he was out of touch with reality. Investigators around Chicago politicians are as much part of the family as are anthropologists living with Australian aborigines. The realities of Chicago politics are that those who rise to the top of the heap are entitled to all the perks that the traffic can bear, and that this situation has been in place so long that it’s just business as usual. Notice that herr Blagojevic felt that a few writers at the Chicago Tribune could be dumped from their jobs on his say-so, as if swatting a fly – and still he proceeded with business as usual in full confidence that such a tactic was so insignificant as to avoid more-than-cursory notice.
The mentality of entitlement to the spoils of graft and corruption is more than a custom in Chicago – it’s a tradition, a folkways, it’s in the blood. Remember how outraged that Dan Rostenkowski (son of a Chicago ward boss) became when busted – the nerve! – for his ‘trivial’ postal peculations.
Oh to have been a fly on the wall while the phone calls came in to the Obama campaign with all the maneuvering on who’s going to fill the barely-warm Obama seat in the Senate.
Dec 9, 2008 - 12:46 pm 56. misanthropicus:#50/misanthropicus/ERATA:
the phrase from post #50:
Dec 9, 2008 - 12:50 pm 57. Insufficiently Sensitive:“And since here, isn’t it pretty that Soetero moved the DNC from Wa/DC to Chicago? Sure a more effective way to run the business, any knave will tell you…”
should read:
And since here, isn’t it pretty that Soetero moved the DNC from Wa/DC to Chicago? Sure a more effective way to bring hope and change, and change we can believe in, any knave will tell you…
Now then, what about Blago saying he’ll trade a Senate appointment for an Obama appointment? Put his wife on corporate boards, etc.
Does anyone remember that Michelle Obama got a $200,000 annual raise at her hospital job – just out of the blue – when Barak Obama won his election to the Senate? Today’s assignment: write a 200-word essay on the likelihood that this raise was bestowed for services rendered. What services, on what delivery schedule, and remember that this is Chicago.
Dec 9, 2008 - 12:54 pm 58. Thinking Person:Insufficiently Sensitive….I’ll write a one word essay on the likelihood that this raise was bestowed for services rendered…..Impossible. Of course, Obama is stainless steel at this point. Anything thrown at him will slide off with nary a smudge. The msm will see to that. I’m always hoping though that comments like yours will be seen by SOMEONE in the msm and they just might take off on the scent. One can dream right?
Dec 9, 2008 - 1:00 pm 59. fear Obama:herr Blagojevic
I am sure the long hair cute little governor will make lots of friends in prison,
plenty of soap and suds in the shower stalls.
And a real good close personal friend named BRUTUS in the exercise yard.
Dec 9, 2008 - 1:15 pm 60. Pat J:Fitzgerald emphasized: “I should make clear that the complaint makes no allegations about the President-elect whatsoever, his conduct.”
Dec 9, 2008 - 1:19 pm 61. misanthropicus:RE #60/Insufficiently Sensitive: [...] Now then, what about Blago saying he’ll trade a Senate appointment for an Obama appointment? Put his wife on corporate boards, etc. Does anyone remember that Michelle Obama got a $200,000 annual raise at her hospital job – just out of the blue – when Barak Obama won his election to the Senate? [...]”
How do you dare! How do you dare to put Blago, the Soeteros and qui-pro-quos in the same phrase?
But then… who knows… maybe… sometime… possibly… maybe…
Re #61/Thinking person: “[...] Obama is stainless steel [...]”
Dec 9, 2008 - 1:25 pm 62. fear Obama:… and coated with media’s teflon – a routine check on the big news orgs still shows that they haven’t learned that Blago is a democrat. For them, Blago is still just the Illinois Governor…
She was given those raises through merit.
I ‘merit’ get you a good job if you donate cash!
/does an 18 word essay get any ‘merit/
Dec 9, 2008 - 1:28 pm 63. misanthropicus:Questions Arise About the Obama/Blagojevich Relationship ABC News/ Jake Tapper” 12/9/2008 3:37 PM.
“Obviously like the rest of the people of Illinois I am saddened and sobered by the news that came out of the US attorney’s office today,” said President-elect Obama this afternoon in Chicago, speaking of the criminal complaint against Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich for corruption. “But as this is a ongoing investigation involving the governor I don’t think it would be appropriate for me to comment on the issue at this time.”
Asked what contact he’d had with the governor’s office about his replacement in the Senate, President-elect Obama today said “I had no contact with the governor or his office and so we were not, I was not aware of what was happening.”
But on November 23, 2008, his senior adviser David Axelrod appeared on Fox News Chicago and said something quite different.
While insisting that the President-elect had not expressed a favorite to replace him, and his inclination was to avoid being a “kingmaker,” Axelrod said, “I know he’s talked to the governor and there are a whole range of names many of which have surfaced, and I think he has a fondness for a lot of them.” [...]
Dec 9, 2008 - 2:22 pm 64. Paul:This is just going to get better and better, and he’s only the President elect…
From the Chicago Sun Times
Rezko, Obama, and Chicago Corruption
by Abraham H. Miller
July 5, 2008
So, here’s the deal. If you don’t want a president making it in the alcove near the Oval Office, don’t elect a guy with a history as a rake and a swordsman. If you don’t want a president who can’t negotiate with the majority of his own party, don’t elect a backwoods, Southern governor with a Jesus complex. If you don’t want a president who orders the break in of the opposition, don’t elect a guy whose career was saturated by paranoia.
And if you want to make sure that the White House is not going to be tainted by corruption, don’t elect a president who grew up in the Chicago political system and whose wife thinks that the country owes her some palliative to eliminate her sense of personal shame. Because unlike the stock market, when it comes to human behavior, past performance really is indicative of future results.
http://www.suntimes.com/news/blogentries/index.html?bbPostId=B8UStjLAxnCZCz1kqwcBg1kcOB4eS6tf6YnANB5tBY2ib8ODJ&bbParentWidgetId=B8k88rWwXopuz5STgLeVwBLu
Dec 9, 2008 - 2:45 pm 65. Thinking Person:After reading the Blagojevich indictment myself (townhall.com has a link to it) I find pages 54 -57 of it quite intriguing. Anyone with some legal knowledge please read it and decipher for us if you will.
Dec 9, 2008 - 2:54 pm 66. Rachel Peepers:Eric Holder the attorney general designate. Obama the President elect who’ll have the power to pardon. And probably has promised to use it because I’ll bet Rod has the goods on Obama and his dirty dealings.
Gov. Blagojevich. I bet the stock market crash cost him dearly. Certain that he was financially set for life, the Gov. recently realized he’s not.
So the B man decided to take a calculated risk; decided to push the corruption envelope a little farther in order to snare a lot of dough. Cushy jobs for himself and his wife that would set him up for retirement.
He rolled the dice and it came up snake eyes. He thought he could hold out till January 20th. Still, the new administration surely will let him cut a deal. Don’t forget, somewhere I’m sure Rod has the goods on Obama. Not to mention Mr. Holder.
I think Rod is still in the game. And if Obama and Eric let him slither off the hook, who’ll really care, but a bunch of Republicans.
Pundits ask, how could Rod be so dumb? Dumb like a fox.
Dec 9, 2008 - 2:56 pm 67. sean birnie:Sorry, slightly off topic but…
Charles Johnson Finally Reveals his Fascist Soul.
See this, it’s incredible. From todays LGF.
“Nirth (sic) Certifikit (yet more sic) Links Not Welcome
POLITICS | Mon, Dec 8, 2008 at 3:39:56 pm PST
I’ve posted this several times, but it apparently isn’t being heard. So here it is again.
Any posted spinoff links that try to promote the “Obama birth certificate” nonsense will be deleted. If you insist on continuing to post such links, I’ll block your account.
Enough is more than enough.”
Sure thing moonbat Charles. Nuff said, yo.
The leader speaks and the semi-literate LGFbots will obey
Teeheehee, I already requested my own banning and got it in double quik time.
Pathetic, huh? The poor guy is really losing it.
I know, now I get banned here too.
Dec 9, 2008 - 3:00 pm 68. set it straight:not to quibble, but he’s only the third to be snagged for crimes while in office. the fourth governor to go to jail, dan walker, went for crimes that occurred after he had vacated the office and that were unrelated to his reign.
Dec 9, 2008 - 3:00 pm 69. OIFVet06:herr Blagojevic wrote:
I am sure the long hair cute little governor will make lots of friends in prison,
plenty of soap and suds in the shower stalls.
And a real good close personal friend named BRUTUS in the exercise yard.
~~~~~~~~~~
Dec 9, 2008 - 3:02 pm 70. OIFVet06:Brutus might want to meet the Illinois governor’s political friends too. I wonder how far this investigation will go. Could Obama be a part of it all? He could always work off his sentence with good time and earned work credits as a prison community organizer. “Hey Warden, can I use the typewriter and the copy machine?”
This whole story is like a script about gangland corruption and politics that include the highest offices in government … oh yeah, that’s right … ti is! AND IT’S FOR REAL.
Dec 9, 2008 - 3:09 pm 71. Martge:“I am not a crook”. Wonder where we heard that one before…
First: obama ran for state senator three or four times didn’t he and lost. Then someone found a law from 1880 or so that had never been changed that threw his opponent, who was winning and had been the winner in the previous races out, so obama, unopposed won.
Second: In his US senate race he was way way behind in all the polls. Then someone found a way to unseal the records from Jeri Ryan and her husband’s divorce proceedings, about the sex clubs, embarrasing Ryan and he withdrew leaving the race wide open for the one.
By the way michelle obama used to work for the law office that performed services for the current mayor, where ALL THESE RECORDS ARE KEPT.
So we have corruption in the very beginning. Add that to all the financing rezko and the Iraqi crook Auchi (which everyone has forgotten about) helping him run the senate and helping him buy his mansion.
Some sources said that rezko and Auchi put up the monies for the financing by the company that finally approved obama’s buying of the mansion.
And in early 2005 obama was ready to file for bankruptcy he was broke. Then by the end of the year he bought this million dollar plus mansion. How….but then with the MSM we have none of this stuff will ever be investigated.
Dec 9, 2008 - 3:09 pm 72. Thinking Person:Martge….You’re right in assuming that with the MSM we have now all of that will never be investigated. Everyone who dares question Obama or his past will be dismissed by the ever popular lib brushoff of “put your tin-foil hat on” etc., etc. No one could make up this stuff. It’s all so shady and seedy and unfortunately this is what we get to put up with for the next 4 years. If anyone else can see a way out of this, I’d love to hear it.
Dec 9, 2008 - 3:25 pm 73. seven:Even some Democrats say this is below the standard Democrat corruption.
It did clarify how one of the Perks for a Senator’s wife is board seats and a great salary. Michelle was paid 300,000 as a perk for her job as a senators wife.
Dec 9, 2008 - 3:26 pm 74. Anonymous - San Francisco:Although I think Obama is corrupt, nothing will come out of this – Fitzgerald already said he isn’t implicated in any way.
I also think Obama and Axelrod enjoy it when people are discussing scandals and controversies because then they’re not talking about important issues such as why Michelle suddenly tripled her salary before Obama funneled millions to her employers.
Also according to reports someone in Obama’s campaign who is going to be a “top administration official” just offered three million IN CASH for a house when he leaves Chicago – I don’t know anyone who has three million IN CASH right now.
Who is keeping track of the money that was donated to the campaign? They didn’t spend all of it.
Dec 9, 2008 - 3:43 pm 75. Chip:Obama will have to appear before a Grand Jury.
Why? Simply because Obama WAS suckered into a conversation about why he doesn’t want Jesse Jackson Jr. occupying the Illinois Senate seat he just vacated.
If Fitzpatrick starts to flip people, the whole Cook County Forest Preserve slush ring may be revealed. Obama is smack dab in the middle of a significant amount of political appointment kickbacking. Favoritism in getting some of his former Illinois State Senate staff members cushy jobs could be revealed. The ICEMAN may even be called before the Grand Jury and then Obama could even do hard time.
Dec 9, 2008 - 4:01 pm 76. dexter:He is a republican right,if not this is still Bush’s fault.
Dec 9, 2008 - 4:05 pm 77. Ann:Apparently we not only will NOT be allowed to comment on any obvious distortions or lies from the bammy one….even flat out obvious crimes will be explained away by “you repubs just can’t stand that our man won”!
These people (on many threads/sites I’ve read today) are truly out of touch with almost any version of reality you care to confront them with.
I sure hope Obama knows the opportunity he has: shoot, he could back the vans up to Ft Knox and start loading the gold (whatever may be left after Dodd and Bawney Fwank got done)….and we wouldn’t be allowed to question it.
W and Laura are leaving the White House with such incredible class. Make a note folks, and compare it to what Bambi and his Attack Wife do in 4 years. It won’t be pretty.
Dec 9, 2008 - 4:14 pm 78. Anonymous - San Francisco:Ann: Many people have just given up – the only people joining discussions on many sites about him are either being paid by him or they’re “volunteers” who do nothing but inundate newspapers, online sites, radio and TV stations with compliants and threats. I also think he has lawyers threatening people.
Also many people who think Obama is corrupt are not Republicans – I still don’t believe as many people voted for him as they claim. I live in the most liberal city in the country and I have seen THREE people with Obama buttons on in the last year and only a few people have signs in their windows for him. The reason people think he has so much support is that his “volunteers” spend ALL DAY posting about him.
Dec 9, 2008 - 4:44 pm 79. fred:Anybody out there understand why corruption is so deep and widespread in Chicago? I spent two years there in the mid-Eighties as a seminarian at Loyola and for the life of me I could not understand Chicago. Taxes are high. State taxes are high. I still cannot imagine how anyone could afford to do business there, but they do. I assume that graft becomes part of the cost of doing business in Chicago.
And the entitlement mentality has deep roots there. Not just in the South Side of Chicago.
How does an entire culture become so tolerant of crime and crookedness? Even the people who are not involved in it seem to accept it without much protest.
Dec 9, 2008 - 4:44 pm 80. sean birnie:Well, golly gosh, even some Lizardoids have noticed. Things are getting nasty. Check this response from “cycle clips Chas” on Lgf Comments.
Charles
12/08/08 3:44:40 pm 23
re: #5 warnergt
“Sounds like censorship to me.”
Mr oh so tolerant responds thus:
“That’s because you don’t understand the meaning of the word “censorship.”
You do not have a right to post anything you like at LGF. Period. If that’s not to your liking, go and post somewhere else.”
Extraordinary stuff. Only the Great Lord Chazza gets to define “censorship”.
I recommend this poster, warnergt, to take his advice.
After all, Hits = $, eh Chaz?
Dec 9, 2008 - 4:59 pm 81. Cristina:# 7 Morton Doodslag:
Dec 9, 2008 - 5:01 pm 82. Ms Attitude:Right on the money–pun intended. Knowing how a plutocrat’s mind works, by way of post-communist Eastern Europe in a lawless environment, where corruption is the rule–”Everybody does it, that’s the way to get anything, power and money, why wouldn’t I? I’d be a fool not to do it”–to me Blago is neither stupid, nor arrogant. Bloggers are searching for adjectives to define what seems incrompehensible.
To me, it’s not. It’s how things are done “over there,” and increasingly here, with citizens’ taxes, at the public trough. Blagojevich has had his back covered for shady dealings for years, and must have thought he’d overcome any legal challenge. All the government people indicted or in jail are but a scratch on the surface of Chicago political corruption.
66. misanthropicus:
Good investigative reporting there…makes ya think…was he lying or was Axelrod lying?
Dec 9, 2008 - 5:20 pm 83. UGGGG:Let’s deal with some more important issues… Monday’s Press Conference.
“Should the state members of the Electoral College cast their votes for Mr. Obama in the face of such overwhelming evidence, and without verification of Mr. Obama’s eligibility, they would be committing treason to the Constitution,” said Schulz.
Dec 9, 2008 - 5:21 pm 84. sean birnie:Careful UGGGG, Charles (the other “one”) Johnson, ruler of LGF, would ban you for that.
Like anyone would give a flying firetruck.
Dec 9, 2008 - 5:27 pm 85. zanne:I vote yes. Do we still have elections here in the U.S.?
Dec 9, 2008 - 5:40 pm 86. BeJay:I love the expression on Obama’s face in the interview after learning of the scandal. Can’t wait to see what the late night jokesters and snl will do with this, the scandal, if anything.
Dec 9, 2008 - 5:57 pm 87. MarkD:I wonder if Someone75 was referring to the Daly machine stealing Chicago for JFK, or making some sort of allegation about 2000?
The former is fact, the latter is fiction.
Dec 9, 2008 - 6:39 pm 88. misanthropicus:It is so poignant to see how Michelle Obama’s career is such an inspiring model for the Democ-rats. And also, how much this story highlights Obama’s wealth redistribution sensibilities!
So far media is working hard to keep Obama out of this, and it may work – again.
However, there is a funny spot in the indictment which is prudently referred to (by the objective media, of course) as: “There was also frank talk of how to land Blagojevich’s wife a well-paying position on a private, corporate board.”
Well, well – with Michelle’s salary blasting from where? was that $120.000 to $260.000? in one hour after Obama became a US senator, Blago’s frustration is fully understandable. After all, we are talking change, but really BIG TIME! (Matter presented by Anonymous, too.)
Yes, I belive in wealth redistribution and I want my cut, too!
Dec 9, 2008 - 7:57 pm 89. misanthropicus:Addition to #90: media hasn’t yet decided to put the noun “democrat” near the “governor Blago—” description.
Dec 9, 2008 - 8:01 pm 90. Sarge:How touching, how sensitive!
CHICAGO that Tottaling Town… This coruption is the tip of the ice berg… Will the governor turn on his own party? Stay tuned for the latest in Chicago coruption. Should be very interesting !
Dec 9, 2008 - 10:23 pm 91. stuart Williamson:The significance of this indictment is that it opens up, on a scale the MSM cannot bury, the totality of the corruption, the filthy level of political evil, that prevails in Illinois politic. That Obama will not be shown to be directly compromised is immaterial. His entire political career has been in the cesspool of Chicago machine politics. His only law practice has been with the Democrat-tied offices of former politicians or city officials, whose sole existence depends on selling government contracts to the highest bidders. He marinated in this vile cesspool for over 20 years and was rewarded because of his obedience, his exotic name, his persona and his vacuous oratorical performances.
The true scandal of this election is that the tawdriness, the loathsomeness, the sheer evil of this background, relationships, obligations and practices was carefully concealed both by his campaign and by a complicit MSM. It should have been revealed over a year ago but the Republicans didn’t have the guts to go after it.
You can take a pig out of the filthiest pen, hose it down with hype and scrub it so it shines in the spotlight, put on lipstick and a crown…..but it is still a pig.
Dec 9, 2008 - 11:00 pm 92. TDelane:Lets remember that Fitzgerald cannot be relied on to seek true justice. He is the most politicized prosecutor in history. First why did he not wait in this case until the next shoe dropped–like awaiting a cash payment? More likely he wanted to stop this now so that he could choreograph a case to protect the big O and other insiders. Second lets look at his ethics in the Scooter Libby case. On the first day of his investigation he is told that Richard Armitage is the alleged leaker of Valleri (everyone knows you) Plame who said she was covert but never met the test. What does he do? Rather than dismissing the case, saving millions of dollars, and prosecuting Armitage, he goes on a fishing expedition to entrap someone in the Bush administration. This leads him to prosecute and imminently respectable, able, and honest man in Scooter Libby.
Dec 10, 2008 - 4:39 am 93. misanthropicus:I don’t trust anything that Fitzgerald has to say and I think he should be investigated before this two bit governor thug is.
Re #81/Anonymous – San Francisco:
“[..] the only people joining discussions on many sites about him are either being paid by him or they’re “volunteers” who do nothing but inundate newspapers, online sites, radio and TV stations with compliants and threats. I also think he has lawyers threatening people. [..]”
Example of trolls assigned to check on, desinform or disrupt discussions about Obama are PJM’s very, dba R.Hurley, Cedarford, Vivo…
Dec 10, 2008 - 5:16 am 94. Ratatosk:Ella Lackey:
So how was Blagojevich so confident that he could get a position in HHS or get his choice appointed? He couldn’t without the complicity of Barack Obama (or a gross delusion of his own influence over Obama).
Ella, in the state of Ill. the Gov has sole authority to appoint the replacement Senator. The previous senator wouldn’t necessarily be consulted, nor asked to approve the choice. In some states, similar laws have led to a D or R being replaced by an R or D, based on the political affiliation of the Governor.
It is possible that Obama was involved, but, as of right now, there’s not any reason to think that is the case. It appears more that this was the action of the gov on his own. Almost all of the audio released makes it sound very much like Blagojevich was working his own angle “This is a f***’n valuable thing” “You don’t just give it away for nothing!”
I also imagine that if Obama was complicit, he might have recommended that the Gov not talk on his own phone line etc. Maybe there’s some evil Democratic Machine at work here… but right now the evidence tends toward a bad governor.
Dec 10, 2008 - 7:43 am 95. Ian Thorpe:I said throughout the year the Democrats were crazy to even consider letting a man with so many question marks hanging over him run for the highest office.
But then I’m English, what do I care if Bozo the Clown and his friends fixed the nomination for a man who is possibly not American but Kenyan, possibly a crook and, beyond any reasonable doubt, an imbecile for thinking he could get away with it all.
If the Obama presidency happens he looks set to provide humourists with more jokes that Clinton and Bush together did.
Dec 10, 2008 - 8:54 am 96. Peter the Sub Guy:80. Ann wrote:
W and Laura are leaving the White House with such incredible class. Make a note folks, and compare it to what Bambi and his Attack Wife do in 4 years. It won’t be pretty.
Peter writes: …Or what Slick Willy and Hilly did 8 years ago. I’m surprised the curtains and carpets were left behind.
Dec 10, 2008 - 8:58 am 97. Peter the Sub Guy:82. fred wrote:
How does an entire culture become so tolerant of crime and crookedness? Even the people who are not involved in it seem to accept it without much protest.
Peter responds: It’s been like that since the days of Al Capone, and probably even further back.
Dec 10, 2008 - 9:00 am 98. Peter the Sub Guy:85. Ms Attitude wrote:
66. misanthropicus:
Good investigative reporting there…makes ya think…was he lying or was Axelrod lying?
Peter comments: Precisely what Sean Hanitty was asking yesterday afternoon. And considering the timing and circumstances, I would be more inclined to believe Axelrod was telling the truth two weeks ago than Obama is telling it now.
Dec 10, 2008 - 9:04 am 99. MikeD:Sorry folks. The corruption, filth, and dishonesty of Chicago and Illinois politics has been well known for decades. With assistance from the MSM, but largely out of intellectual laziness, the general public has simply ignored what was clear and apparent and chose to ignore all the dots that connected the players. Along comes smooth talking BO blowing in the ear of the naive and lazy and you see what we get.
Mencken said you couldn’t lose money betting on the stupidity of the American voting public. Daley, Blago, JJ, JJ Jr. Dick Durbin, Pelosi, Frank, Dodd, Rangel, Jefferson, and Reid (to name only a few) testify loudly to the fact. We have been so fair–everyone gets to vote; especially the ignorant, the uneducated, the retarded, the dishonest, the crooked, the incompetent and the dead. And, lo and behold, this year they turned out to be primarily Democrats. Grab your ankles America and BOHICA! You did it to yourself.
Dec 10, 2008 - 9:49 am 100. Robert Hurley:Poor Misanthropicus rinds me of the Muslims who think that 9/11 was a jewish plot. He and they are equally delusional. Makes me even more thankful that Obama will be in charge
Dec 10, 2008 - 10:52 am 101. Peter the Sub Guy:103. Robert Hurley wrote:
Makes me even more thankful that Obama will be in charge
Peter responds: Just keep repeating that mantra to yourself when he comes to redistribute YOUR wealth.
Dec 10, 2008 - 11:12 am 102. Thinking Person:Robert Hurley is “thankful that Obama will be in charge”. You mean you’re thankful that Obama will be out in front of the curtain with Pelosi, Reid and Billary backstage manning the marionette strings right? Obama can barely answer a reporters question about this Illinois Gov. debacle and you expect him to be able to handle foreign/domestic affairs? Laughable. He will be front and center but “in charge”? We all know that’s a farce.
Dec 10, 2008 - 11:26 am 103. susan:what makes you think that robert hurley has got any wealth? he’s probably living off handouts from the obama camp for plaguing message boards.
He’s on the receiving end of the equation.
Dec 10, 2008 - 11:37 am 104. myth buster:It’s funny people should bring up Bill Clinton, because Clinton’s legacy in Arkansas was Gov. Tucker going to jail for his involvement in the Whitewater scandal (which Bill and Hill both conveniently avoided). The result: a sitting governor convicted of a felony, two men both claiming to be Governor of Arkansas at the same time, and Arkansas hashing out its corruption problems during the 10.5 year Huckabee administration. If it worked for Arkansas, it can work for Illinois, too. This is ugly, but they have to hash it out on their own.
Dec 10, 2008 - 6:01 pm 105. Rashputin:Robert Hurley – ” …rinds me of the Muslims who think that 9/11 was a jewish plot…”
More of your self-projection. You and yours are the ones who accept whatever mullah Hussein told you at the last Tibetan Yak nad festival and refuse to look at any facts that your fellow democraps haven’t sanctified. Your comment elsewhere about your new pop-up book, “See Dick & Jane Follow The Silk Road – The blessed tale of Dick beheaded and Jane sold into slavery”, proved beyond a doubt that you’re constantly projecting your own faults onto others. You have to be one of the most hypnotized sons of an unknown father I’ve ever seen.
Here you are in another comment area, still rolled up like an armadillo (so your head doesn’t have to come out of its favorite damp resting place), stretching out a single digit to punch in letter after letter, then post still more regurgitation. Do you stay rolled up between chat areas with just a shove from a friend to roll you in the right direction, or do you actually unball and skitter off to the next one?
Go back to your Yak nad festival now
Dec 10, 2008 - 6:23 pm 106. Kiseta50:Last night I read the Serbian papers, and they are upset for Milorad Blagojevic to bring shame to the Serbian people so many thousand miles away. They have enought of the same corruption in Serbia, but nobody is talking about it.
Dec 10, 2008 - 6:54 pm 107. movie buff:what’s all this talk about calling for Blagojevich to “resign?” … “throw him in prison” sounds a lot more fitting
it gives me chills to see how calm and collected he continues to act
Dec 11, 2008 - 9:53 pm 108. Rashputin:movie buff – “it gives me chills to see how calm and collected he continues to act”
He must have a lot to trade if he’s convicted, that would explain the calm and collected part of his situation. I’d be willing to bet that he has more evidence on others safely tucked away than the Feds have on him.
It bothers me that they went after him now rather than waiting until he consumated a deal with someone. Do they actually have him on taking the cash and delivering what was paid for in other things? Why couldn’t they wait and get whoever paid for the appointment as well as the guy selling it? Maybe that’ll become clear as things move along.
Regards
Dec 12, 2008 - 4:10 am 109. Brian Richard Allen:So Patrick Fitzgerald, the activist “Democratic” potty hack, who, despite that he knew in the first week that no crime had been committed, for six or seven years dragged out an “investigation” of the repeating of the name of an obscure feral bureaucracy clerk-typist by “someone in the Administrative Branch,” now wants us to believe that he absolutely had to order a stop to the far-from-complete secret investigation and wire tapping of the corrupt political machine that spawned the mobbed-up Marxist murtadd Muslim Arab-African?
And that the timing of his ordering the investigation stopped and his staging of the unprofessional and unethical circus with which he surrounded the arrests of the governor and his gofor were in no way connected with the precipitous withdrawal from Senate consideration of the mobbed-up Marxist murtadd Muslim’s “Candidate Number One” — and/or with that person’s immediate appointment to the incoming “administration?”
(As: “senior adviser and assistant to the president in charge of intergovernmental relations.”
In which “job,” it is said that she “will have the ear of the president and act as a go-between with state and local elected officials and public interest groups.”
Surely Chicago crook’s county code for “will emulate Missus Blythe (”Cli’ton’”) Arkansas role and be the brown-paper-bag person between the “Democrat’s” now white-house-based lootocracy and its cronies and thug constituencies.”)
My money says Fitzgerald’s political-activist gang tipped off the office of the narcissist erect and called a halt to any further gathering of incriminating evidence against it and its messiah.
Brian Richard Allen
Dec 20, 2008 - 5:52 amLos Angeles – CalifUBAMAcated and the Far Abroad