Blagojevich Scandal Sheet
12/11 – 6:30 am PDT – WBBM radio has audio of Jesse Jackson, Jr.’s press conference. He was “shocked and saddened” to learn that Blago was arrested. Rep. Jackson must not get out much or read the papers. The arrest has been expected for weeks.
12/11 – 6:00 am PDT: “No Bias, No Bull, No hope.” Video of CNN’s earnest Good Government Liberal in Residence Campbell Brown as she confronts Obama with the fact that he has not been very forthcoming over the Blago blow-up. Calling for “transparency” from a Chicago pol like Obama is akin to calling for the Cubs to win a World Series. And to refresh your memories, it has been 100 years since that happened.
12/10 – 4:00 pm PDT: AP reports that Governor Blagojevich is clinging “defiantly to power” by ignoring President-elect Obama’s call for him to step down. Blago sent his toady out to face the press and tell them that things were just peachy. “Business as usual” was her characterization of the goings on at Blago’s Chicago office. If that’s the case, I would suggest employees check their wallets and purses on their way out the door tonight.
12/10 – 3:30 pm PDT: “Peanuts! Popcorn! Get yer scorecard right here! Can’t tell the players without a scorecard!” The Hill helpfully supplies us with intelligent guessing about who “Candidates 1-6″ might be. Something to nibble on while we eat our popcorn and watch the show.
12/10 – 2:30 pm PDT: Are conservatives “gleeful” over Blagogate? According to this Reuters story, two talk radio show hosts are pretty happy. But writing a story about how happy conservatives are gives Reuters the perfect opportunity to rehash all the Republican scandals of the last few years. Fair and balanced, that.
12/10 – 1:30 pm PDT: “Nothing but Sunshine.” This may be my all-time favorite political video. The day before he’s hauled off in cuffs, Governor Blago is asked about the “cloud hanging over” his administration. His answer — among other gems in this 2 1/2 minute laugh out loud clip — is: “There’s no cloud over me. We’ve got nothing but sunshine.”
12/10 – 1:15 pm PDT: Pretty soon, the janitor at the state capitol will be calling on Blago to resign. Why not? Everyone else has.
12/10 – 1:00 pm PDT: Jesse Jackson Jr. is “Candidate No.5″ Or is it 4 or 6? Hard to keep track since Blago tried to bribe as many as six potential candidates. Jackson’s lawyer says he’s “guiltless.” Is that the same as innocent?
Chicago goes to Washington…
Great Suff, Mr Moran. Keep it up. This site is one valuable resource!
Here’s more insight into Blagojevich’s shamelessness:
http://starcasm.net/archives/2009
12/10 – 1:00 pm PDT – Wouldn’t that be “Blago tried to solicit bribes from as many as…”?
I would add to the timeline, after hearing Jesse Jackson Sr. vehemently say he did nothing unethical, never offered Blagojevich anything, was never asked for anything in return …the 90-Minute Immaculate Conversation into the timeline.
We know a few of the other candidates had a short phone call on the subject(Jan Shakowsky), or no talk with the Gov. at all and were surprised to be on the list (Lisa Madigan).
Yet we are to believe Jesse Jackson Jr. had a 90-minute private face to face meeting he requested, with a Gov he described later as “out of control”, and NO quid Pro Quo was on the table? For a 90 minutes long meeting where Jesse Jr. just pointed out he was in Congress for 13 years, deserved a shot, then just 80 minutes of small talk?
Does not compute!
Though I add Junior is an orders of magnitude better person than Sleazy Shakedown Senior.
As for Obama, I’d be careful if I was a conservative Republican not to try “guilt by association” again after McCain wasted the last weeks as the economy and financial system in America collapsed trying to make the case that 20-year old times of Obama & Ayers being on the same Board was relevant to voters.
Or making the Blagojevich Scandal another sour grapes loser platform against Obama like the Right Wing Truthers tried when they pushed the Secret Kenyan Birth Conspiracy. (Which they would if they DEMAND all Blagojevich conversations with Obama and any in his Administration beyond what the FBI is interested in – where it would appear as a pack of partisan sore loser nutballs on another fishing expedition, trying to overturn an election.)
if I was a conservative Republican not to try “guilt by association” again after McCain wasted the last weeks as the economy and financial system in America collapsed trying to make the case that 20-year old times of Obama & Ayers being on the same Board was relevant to voters.
We know that Churchill wasn’t directly elected but had he been in 1940 and had been his rival Edward Mosley do you think British voters would have had the right to know about his Nazi connections? I were you I wouldn’t bring up memories of who tried and unfortunately succeeded in whitewashing the many friendships Obama has with people who want America destroyed, specially when America is at war. Because, you know, even in peace time, it would be very dangerous to have a president who doesn’t want the best for America.
“We know that Churchill wasn’t directly elected but had he been in 1940 and had been his rival Edward Mosley do you think British voters would have had the right to know about his Nazi connections?”
Umm, what Nazi connections? That he met Hitler once or that he (quite naively) said that Germany was doing pretty darn good, thanks to Hitler?
Unless his “Nazi connections” include him joining the SS and giving the stiff arm, that’s a bit of a boondoggle….
MK
Hitler and Goebbels were presnt on the marriage of Mosley. That is a little more than you wht you describe isn’t it? We would also ask ourselves if Mosley’s loyalties were with his country. Personally I doubt it. Notice also that it si not a question of ethnia but of heart and mind: many German Americans, at times sons of German immigrants, got medals, including the Medal of Honor, fighting Germans or played a significant role in Germany’s defeat like Eisenhower or Kindelberger (designer of the P51 Mustang)
Anyway you managed to skip the real question: Do you consider that in a democracy people need and have the right to know as much as possible in order to form an enlightened opinion before voting? If the answer is yes why did you and your friends your utmost to pull wool on voter’s eyes about it? And what happens if Obama really shares “reverend” Wright’s views on America?
Fantastic pic from the Blaggo not talking with obama.
http://www.illinois.gov/govgazette/pdfs/Gazetteedition_2008Nov.pdf
Great indictment from Blaggos newsletter.
Federal Sources: Fitzgerald Held Off Blagojevich Bust to Protect Obama Election Chances; Did Obama Fail Ethics Requirements of Illinois Bar?
http://www.debbieschlussel.com/
The media is stunned? faking surprise?
JFM makes an excellent point: what happens if Obama’s deep ties to Ayers, the Rev. Wright, Rezko, and so many others, are exactly what he believes in? What now?
The media did such a great job of sweeping it all under the rug… now a pile of dirt sits under the carpet, someone was bound to trip on it and break a leg…. I just hope that Obama isn’t among them.
America is amazing. A black man rises out of the Chicago cesspool in a white robe without a stain on the robe or even a whiff of odour.
I do appreciate the bugs and wiretaps. They left out the juicy ones and just shared enough about one target and are saving the taps that indict the other players alone for now.
Leaving the underwater part of the iceberg alone gives them time to investigate.
My observation on timing is simple. They popped the arrest so they wouldn’t be accused of knowingly allowing him to make a dirty process appointment and be and be accused of not intervening.
Isn’t it great how this so accurately describes how Obama paid for his senate seat and paid his wife with favor?
Jackson’s lawyer says he’s “guiltless.” Is that the same as innocent?
uh-uh. translation: guiltfree (no conscience).
ps hey seven! dot gov is going to a dead link. this quickly. must have been JUICY! can you track the same thing down elsewhere?
google still has an http://www.illinois.gov/govgazette/pdfs/Gazetteedition_2008Nov.pdf&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us” rel=”nofollow”>archive copy in html that, alas, has no images. wonder how long it stays up? (can we say print screen additionally backed up by save page as?)
Please keep the focus on Mr. Obama.
Gov. Blagojevich routinely sold Illinois’ Senate seat
Therefore Mr. Obama’s seat was paid for–
by whom? for what purpose?
Obama reminds me of another famous Chicagoan. Many of his friends went to jail for illegal activities; some ended up dead and other just seemed to disapear. In the end this Chicagoan forgot to pay his income taxes and ended up in jail just like Leona Helmsley. But other then that Mr. Capone was an honest business man. If anybody says otherwise they are slandering the man.
I like what DScott at Newsbusters.org said:
“The real issue for Obama is not that he didn’t like the idea of paying to get his choice for the senate seat, the real issue is that Obama did not contact the proper authorities, the FBI, to report Blagojevich for attempting to engage in fraud, i.e. enterprise corruption. This is particularly troubling since as the President-elect, the leader of our country, this man chose to allow a corrupt politician to carry on with his activity with no opposition. As the POTUS, we expect him to uphold the Law, set the example and not tolerate those who feel they can use their position for personal gain. By Obama not outting Blagojevich to the FBI, what he has essentially said by his deliberate inaction is his loyalty to the Democrat Party is greater than his loyalty to the United States of America.”
the history of 90′ is reapeating itself agian
Blag is an 18th century English slang term meaning carry out a robbery. In modern usage it has also come to mean obtain dishonestly or by coercion, beg aggressively. A blagger is one who blags.
So yeah, drop “gate from your scandals by all means, replace it with “blag” Senate seat blag”, “Bank bailout blag”, “Detroit blags $10billion from Obama.”
It works quite well.
When the Tribune is asked to participate in an unethical quid pro quo scheme is that not news? Should not the Tribune have published it as news when, for firing editorial people Blago didn’t like, Blago said he’d grease the skids for the sale of the Cubs?
When the Obama team was asked to give Blago an ambassadorship or something like that for Blago’s agreement to nominate Obama’s choice for Illinois Senator, doesn’t the Obama team
have an ethical duty to make the possibly criminal offer public?
Anybody who voted for Obama, voted for a corrupt creep who refused to produce an original birth certificate, who participated in an unethical land deal with Tony Rezko. Whose wife received part of a quid pro quo job and raise, for millions of dollars Obama funneled to her hospital. Obama was a bad boy who never quite was caught with his hands in the cookie jar.
Just like Barack, Blago threatened to stop sending money to Memorial Children’s Hospital if his wife didn’t get a Michelle type job there.
Blago entered in deals with Rezko for paybacks to Rezko.
Blago offered to sell a senate seat.
Obama paid “useful and valuable” consideration for Obama’s to secure the money Obama needed to run for the senate.
Obama and Blago have a lot in common. The question is, will the feds use what they have on Obama or will they be bought off.
Fitzgerald is doing what he can about Blaggo now, because he knows once Obama is in he is out. He already knows too much for Obama to tolerate. It is funny to see how loudly the Dems are pronouncing Blaggo to be a whacko. Do you think they are afraid of what Blaggo can say about Resko and Obama and the rest of the gang? Oh well, this takes the heat off of Senator Rangell for a while.
Some people we know seem to be very good at this:
“Throooow ‘em Under the Bus”
By Marinelurp
When the going gets tough,
When mud ‘n slander flies thick.
And the sh*t is hitting the fan,
Someone’s really rockin’ the boat,
Trying to hijack Hope and Change.
Wha’ cha gonna do? Wha’ cha gonna say?
You Beeeetter(slowly):
(Chorus)
Throw ‘em, under the Bus,
Throw ‘em, under the Bus,
Cover your Ass! Try to distance yourself!
Just grab ‘em by the neck,
and throw ‘em, throw ‘em
Under the Bus!
The Press is asking the Governor too much,
His wife cannot even consider divorce.
All their plans are going up in smoke.
Gossip and lies are bringing them down.
What happened to good ole corruption, “Pay for Play”.
Oh!, Wha’ cha gonna do? Wha’ cha gonna say?
(Chorus)
Juuuust, Throw ‘em, under the Bus,
Throw ‘em, under the Bus,
Cover your Ass! Try to distance yourself!
Just grab ‘em by the neck,
and throw ‘em, throw ‘em
Under the Bus!
Political hacks are turning up the heat.
‘Singing to prosecutors’, naming names,
Under surveillance, wiretaps everywhere!
“Not the people I knew” you have to claim.
Scandals threatening to taint you,
Before you even swear in. Oh, wha’ cha gonna do?
(Chorus)
When things got too close on poor Barry,
He put the blame on ole Grannie.
“Just a Typical-White Person”,
Who walked in fear, spouting racial slurs .
Could not disown her, That just wouldn’t be Wright.
But the One thing he could do, WAS:
(Chorus)
When his spiritual mentor got too loud,
Acting like an ‘embarrassing uncle’.
For awhile the ONE made excuses for him.
But like ole Grannie, he finally had to go.
First the pastor, then even the church,
Were too inconvenient and controversial.
(Chorus)
Liberals and youth, they all adored Him,
The ONE was all that they had dreamed of.
He told them everything that they wanted,
Promising to spread the wealth around.
Then after He won the election,
All the promises were dropped, instead they heard:
(Chorus)
Chicago’s Governor was hurting real bad,
He just wanted to get the usual , “Pay for Play”,
To “sell a seat” for the One’s Choice,
It’s a F*cking Golden job after all.
But when the phones were tapped,
All involved were scrambling like roaches.
Well, juuust
(Chorus)
Throw ‘em ALL, under the Bus,
Throw ‘em, under the Bus,
Cover your Ass! Try to distance yourself!
Just grab ‘em ALL by the necks,
and throw ‘em, throw ‘em
Under the Bus!
(Open Source Song- Please feel free to modify or add)
JJ Jr; family tradition
Ok, this whole Blagojevich story really needs to go away. Sadly, the more bad publicity he gets, the more he will make when he writes a book two years from now. He doesn’t deserve it.