Say what you want about the Foley situation in 2006, but timely removal of the problem at least limited the damage to FL-16 and the house leadership. The Dems refused to take action about Mahoney, Blago, Jefferson and still refuse to deal with Rangel, Dodd and Frank. They keep enabling these clowns, and eventually they get burned badly. Blago isn’t going to bring down Obama, BUT this is going to significantly distract from the message they want starting the new administration. And all because they didn’t deal with a guy they KNEW was ethically challenged before he became an embarrassments.

Raise your hand if the statement “A Senate seat is worth a lot of money, and I’m not letting it go without getting value” was the most disturbing thing you saw today.

From my reading of the Illinois State Law, there is *nothing* that anyone other than the US Senate can do if Blagovich appoints someone in the next month (before the Illinois Legislature comes back into session and can impeach him) who fulfills the constitutional requirements to be a Senator. And while the Senate has refused to seat Senators who have committed crimes or won in close contested elections, they’ve never turned town a senator selected from spite (and there *were* some before the direct election of senators). He could appoint anyone from JJIII to Jim Oberweis to his cellmate (as long as his cellmate was 30 years old, etc,etc).

The question is does *anyone* who was previously in the running to be Senator want the job if it is Blagovich appointing them in the next month or so.

…and when did he know it?

- JP

I’m not as well versed in the nuances of Illinois state politics, but do we have anyone good who could rise up and run for either governor or Senate? The only names I can think of are Patrick Fitzgerald (for obvious reasons) and Mark Kirk. Are there no good Republicans left in the state of Illinois?

In his presser today Obama said he had had no contact with Governor Blago regarding the open Senate seat.

Hannity has David Axelrod on tape from two weeks ago saying that Obama HAD been in contact with the governor.

Just another Democrat hack politician. I say, let’s investigate! Maybe even bigger news today was that the grand jury had subpeonaed the records for Obama’s shady land deal with Rezkco, LMAO.

Some of the bloom coming off Obama’s rose, maybe?

An aside, or sub-set, of this discussion is a little comment that has (thus far) flown under the radar…

That Obama is looking to replace the 50 Prosecutors… Remember how Bill Clinton immediately dismissed all 50 (re-appointed 2)??? Bush WAITED and examined the posts, and caught the usual DOUBLE-STANDARD and general stirring up of a controversy that didn’t exist in the MSM, when Bush removed 8?

This has become more of an issue, as it is now speculated that Patrick Fitzgerald may have SECURED his position as he can hardly be dismissed now without it looking to be blatant Democrat corruption/politics…

EXPORTING CHICAGO THUG POLITICS (and more) via this RS: Election Issues recap (one stop reference Diary)

An aside, or sub-set, of this discussion is a little comment that has (thus far) flown under the radar…

That Obama is looking to replace the 50 Prosecutors… Remember how Bill Clinton immediately dismissed all 50 (re-appointed 2)??? Bush WAITED and examined the posts, and caught the usual DOUBLE-STANDARD and general stirring up of a controversy that didn’t exist in the MSM, when Bush removed 8?

This has become more of an issue, as it is now speculated that Patrick Fitzgerald may have SECURED his position as he can hardly be dismissed now without it looking to be blatant Democrat corruption/politics…

EXPORTING CHICAGO THUG POLITICS (and more) via this RS: Election Issues recap (one stop reference Diary)

Time to STEAL AN ELECTION by any means necessary….

IL calls for Special Election

I will not be surprised at all to hear that eventually President-elect Obama will be found to not have been directly involved in the crimes that Blagojevich committed.

I won’t be surprised either. But both Blogo and Obama are proud members of the corrupt Illinois Democrat political machine and it would not surprise me if Blogo was aware of other non-related crimes where Obama was a player.

Blogos behavior was so arrogant and blatant that he must have known that he would get caught. He was either stupid, insane or in possession of a “Get Out of Jail Free Card” (GOOJFC).

One possible way to have a GOOJFC is to have the goods on a “bigger fish” that would entice a prosecutor with a proclivity for going after Presidents to cut a deal in exchange for information. There are only a limited number of fish bigger than a sitting Governor. Another possibility to have a GOOJFC would be to have the goods on somebody who could issue a Presidential Pardon.

On the other hand, the GOOJFC game is dangerous. I would not be surprised if, in fine Chicago tradition, that Blogo did not end up wearing a pair of concrete overshoes. He probably knows too much about too many people and may be motivated to sing like a canary.

As you say, the fun has just begun. Have yourself a merry little Fitzmas!

I’m just really happy about the language that high-ranking government officials in Illinois use all the time when they talk about things they want to happen. There’s not as much overt racist talk as their used to be, but there are an awful lot of references to fornication and who should fornicated on, in, against, or with. Most of high-level Illinois politics is this way.

Literary scholars and people who are used to parsing the language of esteemed public servants like Rod Blagojevich are going to spend a long time thinking about the kinds of words their elected officials use when they really talk about each other, and discuss the deals they want to see happen.

It’s all so very low, so very brutal, so very Hobbesian.

“You know I sat down talked [to Cellini] a long time ago I said if you can convince those guys [Rezko and Kelly] to let us stay in place. . . We got a great machinery and if there’s an accommodation you know we’ll certainly try to accommodate but if they just wanna stick things in you know I’m gonna leave that’s no way to do that.”

…

Later in the May 12, 2004 recorded call, Cellini asked Levine “did he tell you,
too, that the big guy said Rosenberg means nothing to him.” Levine testified that he understood Cellini to be stating that Cellini had been told by Rezko that ROD BLAGOJEVICH (the “big guy”) was aware of the extortion…

…

ROD BLAGOJEVICH told Individual A that, “I could have made a larger announcement but wanted to see how they perform by the end of the year. If they don’t perform, ***k ‘em.”

—-

ROD BLAGOJEVICH states: “Yeah, now be real careful there. I mean, the FBI went to see [Lobbyist 2]. You understand?”

—-

Lobbyist 1 suggested that it is better for ROD BLAGOJEVICH to make the call
personally “from a pressure point of view.” ROD BLAGOJEVICH stated that he would call Contributor 1 and indicate that ROD BLAGOJEVICH wanted to do an event (fundraiser) downstate “so we can get together and start picking some dates to do a bill signing.” Lobbyist 1 assured ROD BLAGOJEVICH that Contributor 1 would be good for the donation because Lobbyist 1 “got in his face.”

—–

During the call, ROD BLAGOJEVICH’s wife can be heard in the
background telling ROD BLAGOJEVICH to tell Deputy Governor A “to hold up that ******g Cubs shit. . . **c* them.”

—–

“Look, we’ve got decisions to make now. . . moving this stuff forward (believed to be a reference to the IFA helping with the Cubs sale) . . . someone’s gotta go to [Tribune Owner], we want to see him 45 . . it’s a political *****n’ operation in there.”

——

ROD BLAGOJEVICH said Tribune Owner should be told “maybe we can’t do this now. Fire those ******s.”

—–

ROD BLAGOJEVICH stated that “our recommendation is fire all
those *******g people, get ‘em the **c* out of there and get us some editorial support.”

There are so very many more, and these are from the **early** parts of the indictment text. What’s astonishing is really how brutal — even bestial — the politics in Illinois under Rod Blagojevich has become. And this was the cradle from which Barack Obama emerged to be the President-Elect of the United States.

It doesn’t come as a surprise to me that the elected officials in Illinois are this vulgar; I know that very well. It’s good that the rest of the country is learning where their new President comes from.

Not one single iota of what’s alleged to have gone on surprises me…….. and that fact alone surprises me……. that I’m not shocked at all.

This is most undoubtedly just scratching the surface. Wait a few weeks and watch the feathers a-flyin’.

…..and it goes without needing to write this (but I will anyway), that whether he had any involvement at all or not, the media is going to protect “The Messiah” at all costs, including destroying their own brethren for even hinting or suggesting the possibility.

Cheers !

let it haggle out in the State’s House or Senate with NO SAY by the State Governor… let an Elected BODY of folks make the pick…. if they want to avoid the CO$T$….

Every State should be looking to CHANGE THEIR LAWS/CONSTITITUTION (if needed) to never again have this as even a potential issue!

All these Democrat Illinois politicians and Illinois voters expressing disgust over this guy need to ask themselves why did they even vote to re-elect them?

Topinka was not best candidate but she was better then him and yet they still rejected her.

As for Ill GOP the party has no statewide candidates but Fmr Gov Thompson would be an excellent candidate although he is up there in age is still a very popular Republican.