Shouting Thomas points out that John Kass, Mike Royko's successor as Chicago tough guy columnist, has been writing about how Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich is not going peacefully into that good night. Already, Blago has wormed his appointee Roland Burris into the U.S. Senate. Can he save himself?
Blago has been trying to head off impeachment by threatening to squeal on a wide array of Illinois politicians. Kass writes:
He also lobbed a few warning shots toward the Obama White House, saying he could prove his innocence, if only the Illinois Senate would allow him the right to question the president's chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, about discussions concerning appointments for Obama's old Senate seat.
... It's also laughable to see others who know better denounce him as a psycho. They just don't get it. As I've said before, the governor is of clear mind.
On "The View" he issued a threat to his estranged father-in-law, Ald. Dick Mell (33rd), the man who made him. The governor said his political problems began after he blocked an illegal landfill supported by Mell. That may have slipped past all the pretend Chicago political experts, but it didn't slip past Chicago politicians. They know a threat when they hear it.
Yet it is what Gov. Nosferatu told NBC over the weekend that surely terrifies Illinois politicians:
"And for me to just quit because some cackling politicians want to get me out of the way because there's a whole bunch of things they don't want known about them and conversations they may have had with me . . . would be to disgrace my children when I know I've done nothing wrong," said the governor.
I've got an idea for a show like "The View" that would be so scary, our politicians would demand emergency government subsidies for Depends.
Instead of lumpy comics touching his hair, how about four tough, bright female federal prosecutors in the U.S. attorney's public corruption squad interviewing a cooperating Gov. Nosferatu for hours in the federal building?
Mayor Richard Daley and the other "cackling politicians" could watch. Taxpayers might think it a comedy, but politicians know that true horror can be just a witness away.
Obama and Blagojevich never liked each other much, but they both were close friends of Tony Rezko, so Blago just might have something on Obama from his days in the Illinois Senate.
One of the scandals for which Rezko is currently in jail is for owning via bribery five of the nine members of a Illinois state commission that has veto power over plans to build hospitals in the state, allowing Rezko to push through a giant hospital construction plan. Until Illinois Democrats swept to power in the 2002 elections, with Blago becoming governor and Obama becoming chairman of the state senate Health and Human Services committee, there were 15 members of the commission, so Rezko only owned a minority. But a 2003 bill, Senate Bill 1332, was introduced to cut the number commissioners from 15 to 9 and referred to Obama's committe. The Obama committee recommended it to the floor where it passed. Six anti-Rezko commissioners were then dropped from the commission and Rezko had his illicit majority of five of nine.
Did Obama understand what his old friend, fundraiser, frequent lunch partner, and property co-buyer in 2005, was up to?
Obama's not stupid. He'd known Rezko since 1990. Obama knew all along how the game was played in Illinois. He never wanted to change the rules of the game, just win at it. He chose to move to Chicago, twice, to make Chicago politics his career.
Could Blago take Obama down over this?
It seems highly implausible. I strongly doubt that Obama put anything about the bill in writing, and probably would never have said anything on any phone line that might have been tapped more incriminating than "I have understood you."
Could Rezko take Obama down? What if, to speculate irresponsibly, Rezko testified in return for a sentence reduction,
So, Obama should be able to rest easy over Blago. His chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, who succeeded Blago as the House member for the mobbed up western suburbs of Chicago, well, maybe not so much.
One of the scandals for which Rezko is currently in jail is for owning via bribery five of the nine members of a Illinois state commission that has veto power over plans to build hospitals in the state, allowing Rezko to push through a giant hospital construction plan. Until Illinois Democrats swept to power in the 2002 elections, with Blago becoming governor and Obama becoming chairman of the state senate Health and Human Services committee, there were 15 members of the commission, so Rezko only owned a minority. But a 2003 bill, Senate Bill 1332, was introduced to cut the number commissioners from 15 to 9 and referred to Obama's committe. The Obama committee recommended it to the floor where it passed. Six anti-Rezko commissioners were then dropped from the commission and Rezko had his illicit majority of five of nine.
Did Obama understand what his old friend, fundraiser, frequent lunch partner, and property co-buyer in 2005, was up to?
Obama's not stupid. He'd known Rezko since 1990. Obama knew all along how the game was played in Illinois. He never wanted to change the rules of the game, just win at it. He chose to move to Chicago, twice, to make Chicago politics his career.
Could Blago take Obama down over this?
It seems highly implausible. I strongly doubt that Obama put anything about the bill in writing, and probably would never have said anything on any phone line that might have been tapped more incriminating than "I have understood you."
Could Rezko take Obama down? What if, to speculate irresponsibly, Rezko testified in return for a sentence reduction,
"I told him, 'Barack, old buddy, this bill cutting the number of commissioners from 15 to 9 is the big one for me. I need this favor bad. You play ball on the panel and I'll return the favor for you down the road.' And Obama replied with a smile to me, 'I have understood you.'"Federal prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald has already arrested two Illinois governors. He's got courage. But the idea that he'd go after the Promised Prince, a sitting President of the United States, with swindler Tony Rezko as his main witness against The One, with the Riot Veto hanging over his head, seems wildly improbable. If he can use Blago to take down, say, Mayor Daley, well, that would put Fitzgerald up at the top of the all-time prosecutor hall of fame, ahead of Thomas Dewey, Rudy Giuliani, and Vincent Bugliosi. That would seem enough for one lifetime.
So, Obama should be able to rest easy over Blago. His chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, who succeeded Blago as the House member for the mobbed up western suburbs of Chicago, well, maybe not so much.
My published articles are archived at iSteve.com -- Steve Sailer
Which case is stronger?
ReplyDelete1) Patrick Fitzgerald vs. Barack Obama?
2) Kenneth Starr vs. Bill Clinton?
Steve, please explain: how will Blago take down Rahm Emanuel? Will he say that Rahm to whom he spoke about selling the Senate seat?
ReplyDeleteOr Blago could end up like Vince Foster.
ReplyDeleteTaking down Daley will get Fitz nothing. Not even a Senate seat. And Obama will try to torpedo that anyway, given that Daley is unlikely to fall on his sword for Obama either.
ReplyDeleteRiot Veto? Patrick Fitzgerald does not run anything, so why should he care?
Fitzgerald has ambition, clearly. He's got Libby. If he ALSO gets Obama, well that's a clear path to the Presidency. I don't see any reason just to stop at Blago, who will not go quietly.
As for Obama, he's not that clever or smart. I'm sure he has done something stupid, likely to make Michelle happy (that House might cost a lot).
Nosferatu?
ReplyDeleteNOSFERATU???
WTF?
Speaking of corrupt Illinois hospitals Rezko is connected to, and Obama might be-
ReplyDeleteGoogle 'Peoria's Medical Mafia'. If you see Dr John Carrol's name you're there.
Steve,
ReplyDeleteI hope you're right. If not, we'll be in the midst of a ferocious constitutional crisis.
I don't think Blago is the end of the stream of strange, corrupt and often crazy characters aligned in some way with Obama. They will continue to pop up... like Clinton's bimbos. This is part of Obama's karma.
At some point, the money is going to come back to haunt Obama. Remember, if you can that, pre-Obama, Democrats advanced public financing as the very essence of ethical politics. Obama rejected this, and Democrats accepted the rejection of one of their most treasured principles, because they were determined to win. Democrats were willing to jettison their most treasured principles because it was so important to defeat the devil Bush... who stole the 2000 election from them.
There is something Shakespearean in this drama. All of the pieces have been set in place. Obama has somehow successfully portrayed himself as the ultimate, clean reform politician. In reality, he is a prosecutor of the racial quota system. He keeps insisting that he is a new manifestation on the political scene, but he looks an awful lot like a Daley machine hack.
I see it all unraveling under the light of the national stage. The corruption that underlies his campaign financing will slowly come to light. The contradictions between the pretty package and the internal reality are overwhelming. And, I guarantee, the loony characters from his past will continue to walk onto the stage.
This is not a happy prediction. The left will scream "racist" at every turn. Frankly, I hope I am wrong. But, I'm pretty good at predicting terrible things. For instance, I have a very good record of predicting how and when people will die.
@Svigor. You're right...Steve ought to have used the more Slavically Correct term Dracula!
ReplyDelete"For instance, I have a very good record of predicting how and when people will die."
ReplyDeleteThat you Johnny Smith?
My bad. I was doing something else and didn't stop to notice that Nosferatu was a reference to Blago. I thought we had a governor named Nosferatu that I hadn't heard about. :)
ReplyDeleteI don't think Blago is the end of the stream of strange, corrupt and often crazy characters aligned in some way with Obama. They will continue to pop up... like Clinton's bimbos. This is part of Obama's karma.
ReplyDeleteGood paragraph, Tom. May we predict that the O.'s half brother in Kenya will show up here in the States before four years go by, asking for his personal bailout package?
Steve Sailer, 2008-03-13: Shortly after her husband was sworn in as a U.S. Senator, Michelle Obama famously received a raise from the U. of Chicago Hospitals from $122k to $317k for doing whatever it was she did for them.
ReplyDeleteBut why was she getting paid $122k by the giant hospital in the first place?
Steve Sailer, 2009-01-27: One of the scandals for which Rezko is currently in jail is for owning via bribery five of the nine members of a Illinois state commission that has veto power over plans to build hospitals in the state, allowing Rezko to push through a giant hospital construction plan.
testing99: As for Obama, he's not that clever or smart. I'm sure he has done something stupid, likely to make Michelle happy (that House might cost a lot).
Michelle Obama’s Job Eliminated
Chicago Daily Observer
14 January 2009
cdobs.com
She hasn’t shown up for work very regularly over the last year or so, so when Michelle Obama’s $300,000 job was cut at the University of Chicago Hospitals, it may have been hard to notice the difference. Crain’s skipped the part about the incoming First Lady, must have been an oversight in their expert analysis of Chicago Business, because we know Crain’s is “Not show business. All business”.
The Tribune announced the layoff without much analysis, but let the cat far enough out of the bag to prompt our Don Rose to question how important Michelle Obama’s job must have been, as it was so easily eliminated...
Shouting Thomas,
ReplyDeleteOn paper you're right. What Steve alludes to is the political clout of Obama and his backers. A scandal can only break if the media smell blood. And the media just.does.not.smell.blood when a black politician is involved. No matter how outrageous or proven the allegations. Period.
Basically we now have the inverse of the prejudice which existed in pre-1965 USA or Apartheid South Africa. This is the liberal’s wet dream, and since they own the press they are not about to let the party end.
"I don't think Blago is the end of the stream of strange, corrupt and often crazy characters aligned in some way with Obama. They will continue to pop up... like Clinton's bimbos. This is part of Obama's karma."
ReplyDeleteProbably because he's a crazy, corrupt character himself. Way, way more than Blago. The higher you go, the more corrupt. You apparently have no idea.
shouting thomas said
ReplyDeleteI have a very good record of predicting how and when people will die.
Please don't kill us!
"His chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, who succeeded Blago as the House member for the mobbed up western suburbs of Chicago"
ReplyDeleteI grew up in those western suburbs and they are very mobbed up!