Umm...is Chicago Gotham City or what?

[Harlowe]

Holy shit..
http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2008 ... stody.html

Gov. Rod Blagojevich and his chief of staff, John Harris, were arrested today by FBI agents for what U.S. Atty. Patrick Fitzgerald called a "staggering" level of corruption involving pay-to-play politics in Illinois' top office.

Blagojevich is accused of a wide-ranging criminal conspiracy, including alleged attempts by the governor to try to sell or trade the U.S. Senate seat left vacant by President-elect Barack Obama in exchange for financial benefits for the governor and his wife. Blagojevich also is accused of obtaining campaign contributions in exchange for other official actions.

Blagojevich was taken into federal custody at his North Side home this morning--one day shy of his 52nd birthday.

He said the Illinois governor was recorded during court-authorized wiretaps as saying, "It's a bleeping valuable thing. You just don't give it away for nothing."

Fitzgerald's office said the 76-page FBI affidavit alleges that Blagojevich was taped conspiring to sell or trade Obama's vacated U.S. Senate seat for financial and other personal benefits for himself and his wife, including an annual salary of $250,000-$300,000 at a nonprofit foundation or an organization affiliated with labor unions.

They also allege Blagojevich is heard on tape demanding a corporate board seat for his wife worth as much as $150,000 a year; promises of campaign funds, including cash up front; and the post of secretary of health and human services or an ambassadorship for himself in the Obama administration.

Wonkette's little post on it..
http://wonkette.com/404833/illinois-gov ... ption-case

Rod Blagojevich, the comically corrupt governor of Illinois, was arrested at his house this morning, by the Feds, for an absolutely insane amount of (alleged) crimes, including a brazen attempt to SELL Barack Obama’s old Senate seat to, literally, the highest bidder. Blagojevich also wanted the editorial board of the Chicago Tribune fired, in exchange for his approval of the Wrigley Field sale by Tribune Co., because the paper kept calling for his impeachment. Everybody knew Blagojevich was an insane crook, including Blagojevich himself, which is why yet another part of his crazy plot was to appoint himself senator, so he could … uh, get more money, to pay lawyers, when he got indicted. Also, a U.S. Senator can’t be impeached as governor of Illinois, right?

Of course Blagojevich is a Democrat, as Illinois Democrats are famous scumbags. Although, to be fair, former Illinois Governor George Ryan is Republican, and he’s already in prison. This state’s political history is just a long episode of The Simpsons.

The U.S. Attorney, at the press conference just now, made sure to say several times that none of this has anything to do with Barack Obama or the transition team or whatever, so this proves Barack Obama really is a sleazy street hustler from Chicago!

[Harlowe]

Just to add, here is the full complaint.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/media/acr ... 789434.pdf

An excerpt - apparently he's mad because Obama wouldn't bribe him. He has some major brass balls.

ROD BLAGOJEVICH said that the consultants (Advisor B and another consultant are believed to be on the call at that time) are telling him that he has to “suck it up” for two years and do nothing and give this “motherfucker [the President-elect] his senator. Fuck him. For nothing? Fuck him.” ROD BLAGOJEVICH states that he will put “[Senate Candidate 4]” in the Senate “before I just give fucking [Senate Candidate 1] a fucking Senate seat and I don’t get anything.” (Senate Candidate 4 is a Deputy Governor of the State of Illinois). ROD BLAGOJEVICH stated that he needs to find a way to take the “financial stress” off of his family and that his wife is as qualified or more qualified than another specifically named individual to sit on corporate boards. According to ROD BLAGOJEVICH, “the immediate challenge [is] how do we take some of the financial pressure off of our family.” Later in the phone call, ROD BLAGOJEVICH stated that absent getting something back, ROD BLAGOJEVICH will not pick Senate Candidate 1. HARRIS re-stated ROD BLAGOJEVICH’s thoughts that they should ask the President-elect for something for ROD BLAGOJEVICH’s financial security as well as maintain his political viability. HARRIS said they could work out a three-way deal with SEIU and the Presidentelect where SEIU could help the President-elect with ROD BLAGOJEVICH’s appointment of Senate Candidate 1 to the vacant Senate seat, ROD BLAGOJEVICH would obtain a position as the National Director of the Change to Win campaign, and SEIU would get something favorable from the President-elect in the future.[...]

On November 11, 2008, ROD BLAGOJEVICH talked with JOHN HARRIS about the Senate seat. ROD BLAGOJEVICH suggested starting a 501(c)(4) organization (a non-profit organization that may engage in political activity and lobbying) and getting “his (believed to be the President-elect’s) friend Warren Buffett or some of those guys to help us on something like that.” HARRIS asked, “what, for you?” ROD BLAGOJEVICH replied, “yeah.” Later in the conversation, ROD BLAGOJEVICH stated that if he appoints Senate Candidate 4 to the Senate seat and, thereafter, it appears that ROD BLAGOJEVICH might get impeached, he could “count on [Senate Candidate 4], if things got hot, to give [the Senate seat] up and let me parachute over there.” HARRIS said, “you can count on [Senate Candidate 4] to do that.” Later in the conversation, ROD BLAGOJEVICH said he knows that the President-elect wants Senate Candidate 1 for the Senate seat but “they’re not willing to give me anything except appreciation. Fuck them.”

[Kulaf]

Welcome to Chicago politics. And people always think I am exagerating.

[Harlowe]

I think at one point he even called Obama a motherf*^ker for not bribing him.

I think in some ways it makes Obama look good - because there was a lot of wire-tapping and he's looking pretty squeaky clean, on the other hand, it's a pretty corrupt state - though Obama was only in office a couple years.

[Partha]

Thank god for Patrick Fitzgerald and hurry up with impeachment so we can have Governor Quinn. And throw that scumbag in the cell with Ryan, they can cry together and make beautiful music.

[Klast Brell]

2 things.

If it's true, then i hope they bounce him out of the democratic party so fast that it makes his head spin. The Dems are supposed top be better than that and I wish the party had a zero tolerance policy.

The transcript is a collection of brief excerpted quotes surrounded by a third party's provided context. It's not the full transcript. They could have released a lot more of it while still leaving out the names of Person 1 and person 4 etc. I'm not snapping to a knee jerk defense of a guy who is aught red handed. I'm genuinely curios about the nature of the transcript. In my entire life I've never seen so many sentence fragments assembled in to a transcript like that. They never actually quote what Bagojevich is seeking. You could pull all the same quotes from a conversation ranging over 2 separate unrelated topics.

Topic 1. Politics and negotiation. The governor wants his man for the senate seat and the white house wants their man. Nothing unusual about that. The Whitehouse is trying to poach part of his power base and he wants something to make up for it. Maybe a high profile appointment in the justice, or state department for one of his proteges. That sort of thing.

Topic 2. Like any other human being he want's more money if things are tight, and he thinks his wife is great and more qualified for any job than whoever she is competing against. I know i got pissed when my wife got passed over for a promotion I thought she deserved and a brown nosing suck up got the job instead.

Now stop before you jump down my throat. I'm not saying "the governor is innocent of the charges than here is why." But I do know that political enemies can twist the hell out of sound bites to make things look one way or the other. Just look at the US attorney firing scandal. The accusation is likely true, but it's credibility is marred by the fragmented string of sentence fragments.

Also. Fitzgerald and Wonkette have plenty of cred with the left. I don't think they would attack the governor just to score points for the Republican party.

[Partha]

Klast, speaking as a Democratic resident of Illinois, Blagojevich is dirty as hell.

[Harlowe]

I've been hearing that from a lot of people I know in Chicago, how the hell did he get re-elected?

[Kulaf]

Umm....hello.....Chicago.

[Partha]

He got reelected in much the same way Obama got elected: Republicans (as usual in Illinois) ran a highly divisive campaign full of nutters like Jim Oberweis, and once a candidate was selected (Judy Baar Topinka), she didn't have the money and she didn't have the full support of the crazy wing of the Reps, because of the primary.

[Ddrak]

Umm....hello.....Chicago.

2 party system, to be more precise.

Dd

[Fallakin Kuvari]

Umm....hello.....Chicago.

If I had said that, they'd call me a racist.

[Klast Brell]

I'm still confused I guess. I'm reading in to it and listening to reports. NPR is even reporting it as a forgone conclusion that he is guilty.

I was right one of my guesses. He was considering appointing himself the senator. That would make his Vice governor the new governor right? But the Obama team asked him to appoint his vice governor to the senate seat instead. He then tried to bargain with them. Trading their pick for senator for a cabinet seat or other high profile appointment.

Is that illegal?

[Harlowe]

That doesn't sound at all like what happened. If you look at his own words, he was talking about putting himself in the position to avoid legal action and as a threat basically if he didn't get something for the seat.

Putting yourself in a position to avoid legal action and to have access to more money, isn't making a decision based on what is best for your constituents. Part of it is illegal another unethical.

He should be removed. There is no context you can put his statements into that make him not-shady. People that live there have been waiting for this sleazeball to get arrested for years.

Didn't you pay any attention to what he tried to do to the paper there and the withholding of hospital funds pending a campaign contribution?

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1208/16377.html

This guy oozes sleaze and if he were innocent, if there was even a chance - the political machine would be helping him play the "victim" card. Democrats would all be crying "witchhunt". They aren't - they are equally appalled.

[Harlowe]

Here is a fun game from the Daily Beast...

It's time to play Name That Goon! Rod Blagojevich vs. Tony Soprano.

Hands on buzzers: One's a trash-talking thug trying to stay one step ahead of the law. The other was played by James Gandolfini. Can you identify the speaker of the ten quotes below?

1. "Unless I get something real good...shit, I'll just send myself, you know what I'm saying."

2. "What the fuck am I, a toxic person or something?"

3. "Log off, that "cookies" shit makes me nervous!"

4. "They're not willing to give me anything except appreciation. Fuck them."

5. "You got no fuckin' idea what it's like to be number one. Every decision you make affects every facet of every other fucking thing."

6. "I've got this thing and it’s fucking golden, and I'm just not giving it up for fuckin' nothing. I'm not gonna do it. And I can always use it. I can parachute me there."

7. "That motherfucker's full of shit. He's shaking me down."

8. "Our recommendation is fire all those fucking people, get 'em the fuck out of there..."

9. "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, fuck 'em."

10. "Jesus Christ! The money I've been dropping in here, I could've bought a fuckin' Ferrari."

Answers:
Tony Soprano: 2, 3, 5, 7, 10
Governor Blagojevich: 1, 4, 6, 8,

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and- ... y-said-it/

Also interesting article on Fitz

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2006/fe ... a.features
When has Fitzgerald ever trumped up charges? I give this guy a lot of credit for going after corruption and mobsters.

One thing that led to the wire-tapping and his downfall - he began pressuring state contractors for contributions after his veto for a state ethics bill was over-ridden (Obama helped spur those votes).

With Rod Blagojevich's machinations now laid bare, everyone's wondering about the Illinois governor's relationship with the president-elect. It turns out, reports The New York Times, that it was a phone call three months ago from Barack Obama that indirectly led to Blagojevich's downfall. A call from Obama to the president of the Illinois Senate helped spur the body to override Blagojevich's veto of a state ethics bill. Blagojevich then began pressing state contractors for campaign contributions, which led to the wiretap that eventually overheard him trying to auction off Obama's U.S. Senate seat.

[Harlowe]

Illinois mafioso Rod Blagojevich, suffering under the burden of this incredible hair monster. Here’s a quick tip for voters on the lookout for “clean” candidates: If they have hair like this, in 2008, they are a complete fucking criminal. No exceptions

The human lego (stolen from the Daily Dish)

[Lurker]

The lego has more integrity.