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Thursday, December 11. 2008
Blago ... Nice Name!
Chicago politics … McCain almost got in trouble for his reference to it during the general election. He’s probably smiling right about now. Governor Rod Blagojevich was arrested and indicted for a variety of corruption charges, including an allegation he was trying to sell the recently vacated Senate seat once held by the president-elect.On one hand, you have to admire the guy’s balls, the audacity of not just flauntingly, stupidly, trying to sell a Senate appointment almost openly, but daring the authorities, who have been investigating him for some time now, to record his conversations.
Well, the F.B.I. was recording his telephone conversations and well, they think they have a solid case. The F.B.I. and prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald. He’s the guy who prosecuted Scooter Libby in the Valerie Plame-Wilson case. And won.Blagojevich is the man who took the governor’s mansion in Illinois after Republican George Ryan stepped down as governor—so he could serve his term in prison for being indicted and convicted — by Patrick Fitzgerald — for his own corruption. Ryan sold his office for political favors and money, most egregiously by letting truck drivers get licenses illegally. Ryan pleaded out and only got six years. He had been facing 99 years.
Blagojevich’s alleged crimes are far greater than Ryan’s. He’s looking at the possibility of spending the rest of his life behind bars and yet, ballsy mofo that he is, Blago, as the media is calling him, is defiantly thumbing his nose at not only the prosecutor, but all the Democrats calling for the governor to resign his office before he appoints the person to replace Barack Obama in the Senate. Blagojevich is a Democrat himself.
On the first hand, Blagojevich is just blatantly stupid — and possibly corrupt.
He’s innocent until proven guilty of course, but that isn’t making any difference to the anti-Obama crowd who see this as their first club with which to beat the incoming president. Already the new Chairman of the National Republican Party, Robert M. “Mike” Duncan has already come out demanding President-elect Obama tell everyone what he knew and when did he know it.
Mike Duncan is the same guy who has his party pushing the fantasy that the country collectively hasn’t moved to the left of where it once was when the Republicans controlled the federal government. The proof? Saxby Chambliss, the Senatorial candidate who equated triple amputee Vietnam veteran Max Cleland to terrorist Usama bin Laden, won the run-off election a few days ago against Democrat Jim Martin.Mike, the Democrats are solidly in control of the Federal government, that pretty much means the country has moved at least to the left of center. But Ole’ Mike is the chairman of the party, he has to put a good spin on it for the party faithful. Duncan actually called the run-off election “the first race of the 2010 cycle.”
The rest of us call it a run-off election as a result of no Georgia Senatorial candidate gaining more than 50% of the vote during the general election on November 4.Duncan said, “Given the President-elect's history of supporting and advising Gov. Blagojevich, he has a responsibility to speak out and fully address the issue.”
Obama did come out and condemn the charges and called for Blagojevich to resign, but that of course isn’t enough. The Republicans really won’t accept any answer as satisfactory, they want that club, just like the various clubs they used to pound President Bill Clinton for eight years.
Obama, for the record, had supported Blagojevich when Blago ran for re-election as governor in 2006 and that is the basis for tying Obama to Blago. Begs the question: Did Duncan and his fellow Republicans support former Senator and convicted felon Ted Stevens all those times Stevens ran for re-election?
Here’s a funny tangent. Sean Hannity, the wagging tail of a dying dog, was claiming the Democrats were getting treatment not given Republicans. Hannity’s proof? The Democrats rushed to try and convict then Senator Stevens quickly to influence the election. Stevens was indicted and convicted in the space of about six months.
The truth: Stevens, through his lawyer, asked for his trial to be “fast-tracked” so Stevens could exonerate himself before the election. Didn’t quite work out that way. The lead prosecutor, Brenda Morris, is a career prosecutor and really has no taint of political affiliation either way.
Although not a target of the government, Obama is and forever will be a target of the fringe Republicans. As will Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr. He was actually mentioned in the indictment, although referred to as “senate candidate #5.” According to the indictment, Blagojevich claims an emissary from “Senate candidate #5” (Jackson) went to see the governor and offered Blago as much as a million dollars if Jackson were appointed.Jackson came out and denied any such arrangement and went so far as to remind everyone that his meeting with the indicted governor on Monday (December 8th) was the first they had in over four years. But that won’t be enough for the Fringe Right that has hated everything and anything connected to the Rev. Jesse Jackson. They will be going after the junior Jackson with glee.
Think about it: with one corruption trial they can throw stones at two politicians they positively hate for four years, maybe eight! NewsMaxDotCom is already going after Obama. “What did he know and when did he know it!” The Republicans will be chanting that for the next … four years?
Man! We on the left had George Bush to kick around, but Dubya is the worst president in our history. He lied to us to start a war. He lied to us so he could wiretap U.S. citizens without warrant. He let the oil industry run wild with their “energy policy.” He authorized his subordinates to out a covert C.I.A spy. He ignored real intelligence that predicted the attacks on 9/11 because he and his then National Security Advisor, Condoleezza Rice, wanted to concentrate on the old Star Wars missile defense system first start by Reagan 27 years ago.
But to his credit, Bush wants to bail out the Big Three, unlike his fellow Republicans.Obama, on the other hand, has already shown us he takes the job seriously and actually wants to be president. It’s become apparent George W. Bush can hardly stand being in the White House. You might remember, after he was first given the 2000 election, Bush said he really couldn’t stand being in Washington, D.C. That should have been a clue.
So, let the Republicans throw stones, the panes in their glass house are already broken. Besides, Obama’s approval rating is now at 66%. The American people aren’t even listening to the Right at the moment.
Yeah, tell us again, Mike Duncan, how the American populace is still center-right. And I’m Carlotta Champagne’s boyfriend!
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