Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich Is the Ballsiest Governor in America
| Tue Dec. 9, 2008 7:15 AM PST
The most corrupt politician in America is, apparently, also the gutsiest. Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, a Democrat, has been under investigation for three years because of a litany of corruption charges and has the most famous prosecutor in America, Patrick Fitzgerald, circling him — so what does he do? He embarks on an effort to literally SELL the Senate seat vacated by the president-elect. And for that, he is finally in FBI custody.
From Fitzgerald's press release, out this morning:
A 76-page FBI affidavit alleges that Blagojevich was intercepted on court-authorized wiretaps during the last month conspiring to sell or trade Illinois' U.S. Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama for financial and other personal benefits for himself and his wife. At various times, in exchange for the Senate appointment, Blagojevich discussed obtaining:
- a substantial salary for himself at a either a non-profit foundation or an organization affiliated with labor unions;
- placing his wife on paid corporate boards where he speculated she might garner as much as $150,000 a year;
- promises of campaign funds —l including cash up front; and
- a cabinet post or ambassadorship for himself.
Just last week, on December 4, Blagojevich allegedly told an advisor that he might "get some (money) up front, maybe" from Senate Candidate 5, if he named Senate Candidate 5 to the Senate seat, to insure that Senate Candidate 5 kept a promise about raising money for Blagojevich if he ran for re-election. In a recorded conversation on October 31, Blagojevich claimed he was approached by an associate of Senate Candidate 5 as follows: "We were approached 'pay to play.' That, you know, he'd raise 500 grand. An emissary came. Then the other guy would raise a million, if I made him (Senate Candidate 5) a Senator."
Sounds like some other folks are in trouble as well. Starting with "Senate Candidate 5."
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Comments
appman, you clearly don't understand Illinois politics. We have the hardball players like Daley and Blago, and then the "goo-goos" (as named by Royko), or the goody-goodys, who are generally clean politicians who get a pass from the machine (Senator Paul Simon and Adlai Stevenson would be good examples). Obama has pretty much conducted himself like a goo-goo: he doesn't dirty his hands with Chicago politics, and the machine gives him a free pass.
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.
Richard,
That is a common dynamic. Take Massachusetts. We had Mike Dukakis, a policy wonk that never looked into who got what or where the money went. That is more than fine with the corrupt.
I call them show politicians. Figureheads. Meanwhile the gutting, blooding, and cutting up of the state goes on undisturbed.
All our Governors have let the jackals feast as they can on. Every now and then a Federal prosecutor rouses himself from his slumbers and goes down to barrel and shoots a fish.
Richard, are you sure about that?
"Rahm Emanuel, a congressman from Chicago and a friend of Obama's, told me that he, Obama, David Wilhelm, who was Blagojevich's campaign co-chair, and another Blagojevich aide were the top strategists of Blagojevich's victory. He and Obama "participated in a small group that met weekly when Rod was running for governor," Emanuel said. "We basically laid out the general election, Barack and I and these two."
- Making It: How Chicago shaped Obama New Yorker Magazine July 2008
Ha! Obama is a clean politician? Rezko, Ayres, Wright, he's as dirty as the rest of them. MOJO and the MSM just won't dig into it. My bet is he will shame this country worse than you say Bush has over his (Obama's) presidency. Stop being o-bots and hope-a-dopes and do some real journalism.
Obama was a " community organizer" which means he, much like Jesse Jackson used threats of force and intimidation to coerce businesses into favoring his chosen ones. He also had removed from the ballot his political opposition. He and Blago are cut from the same corrupt Chicago/Illinois cloth!
al:
what? huh?
Ayres and Wright don't have anything to do with corruption. These "scandals" consisted of nothing other than Obama having (loose) affiliations with those who have done or said things that are ideologically unacceptable. That's it.
Just leaves Rezko. Yawn. He didn't do anything.
Are you aware how ironic it is that you accuse other of being robots while repeating tired anti-Obama talking points without apparently considering what they have to do with anything?
"Obama was a " community organizer" which means he, much like Jesse Jackson used threats of force and intimidation to coerce businesses into favoring his chosen ones."
God I wish this blog let you post pictures so I could put up a picture of Obama trying to look mean. Seriously, can you imagine if he came by and said bad things were going to happen to you? I'd laugh him out the front door. Obama might be a lot of things I don't want him to be, but "thug" is just not one of them.
