lonelyahavaCall me Ahava ~~She/Her~~Move to New ZealandRegistered Userregular
edited December 2008
So, I listened to Blago's statement to the press just now on Rachel Maddow.
Is it just me, or did Blago actually infer that he is dying?
I mean... I might be reading too much into it, but he repeatedly said that he "will fight" this "until my dying breath" or something like that.
And then there was another bit a little later where he kept saying 'I'm dying, I'm dying, I'm dying..." and then he paused a little bit, and continued with his statement.
Or am I just reading far too much into his statement and the writing of such as a character coming out of a 1920's Chicago Novella.
I wish he WAS dying. Or dead. Then we could all get past him... he's a nightmare. How he ever got elected is beyond me.
Well the first term kind of made sense just from a backlash perspective. And he beat Topinka purely by having an order of magnitude more money than her. Which sucks because I actually kind of liked her. Fiscally she was pretty good, and socially she was more moderate than crazy.
Blago hasn't been impeached yet, all the House did was set up a committee to explore impeachment.
When the legislature got called down, the Republicans thought they were going to vote on setting up a special election, and yelled a bunch about bait-and-switch by Mike Madigan (the Dem house leader), as it ended up being voting on an impeachment committee. A lot of weird stuff started to happen at this point-Mike let his daughter Lisa (who had been setting up for a run against Blago in the next primary) try to take credit by asking the IL Supreme Court to remove Blago, but that didn't work.
The special election idea was no good for the Dems, since Republican Congressmen like Mark Kirk could run for Senate in the special election without fear of giving up their own seats, as they would have to if they ran in a November election. Also, just the general sentiment would be more anti-Dem than normal, so it was too risky to have said election, and the Dems want Pat Quinn (deputy Gov) to appoint the next senator.
However, the legislature isn't impeaching because they aren't sure if they can. The new assembly hasn't been sworn in yet, and won't be until mid-January, and it's believed that if the current House votes to impeach, the Senate that is sworn in in January won't be from the same assembly and the impeachment won't work. That's why there's all this waiting around right now with committees to explore impeaching.
So the sad thing is right now that Blago can still appoint someone while everyone's sitting around doing nothing. Although Harry Reid said he won't seat the appointee, if it's someone like Bill Daley (who's well respected) it'd be tough not to seat that person.
Oh, and the other note-Mike Madigan doesn't want Pat Quinn becoming Gov, because that lets him get a ton of name recognition for the next primary when Lisa will be running. So everything's at a standstill and it looks like the Dem leadership is hoping that Fitzgerald solves the problems for them.
edit-I forgot to mention that even if the Legislature had passed a bill immediately to strip Blago of his appointment powers, he could sit on that bill until the new legislature got sworn in and the bill expired. So really nothing can happen until Jan 14th.
I have this image of Burris turning on the news to have the biggest on his face.
I mean, have these two met and talked about this or is this something Blaggy just threw out of the blue? I have a hard time thinking someone would willingly join him in his spiral into destruction.
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I have this image of Burris turning on the news to have the biggest on his face.
I mean, have these two met and talked about this or is this something Blaggy just threw out of the blue? I have a hard time thinking someone would willingly join him in his spiral into destruction.
If he really wanted to fuck with people he'd name Bill or Hillary Clinton, or maybe Daley or Dick Cheney.
Reports are circulating that Blagojevich is going to name Roland Burris to Obama's seat.
Say what you want about Blago, but the man has some balls. He must honestly think he is completely invincible. Insanity defense looks viable.
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Our country is now taking so steady a course as to show by what road it will pass to destruction, to wit: by consolidation of power first, and then corruption, its necessary consequence --Thomas Jefferson
No person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty Years, and been nine Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen
Its my understanding that "elected" and "selected" are not equivalent, but I'm not really sure. But then, when did Blagojevich care about the law?
Well, obviously Step 1 is to check and see what relationship Burris has with Blago.
December 13th, Burris didn't seem to be a big fan of Blago.
Burris announced his interest in the seat at a December 13 press conference. And he didn't pull any punches with regards to the governor. He described Blagojevich's alleged efforts to sell the Senate appointment as "pretty appalling" and "just reprehensible." He also endorsed Attorney Gen. Lisa Madigan's effort at the time to get the Illinois Supreme Court to remove the governor from office, describing Blagojevich as "incapacitated."
Of course, he could have just been covering his own ass.
Well, obviously Step 1 is to check and see what relationship Burris has with Blago.
December 13th, Burris didn't seem to be a big fan of Blago.
Burris announced his interest in the seat at a December 13 press conference. And he didn't pull any punches with regards to the governor. He described Blagojevich's alleged efforts to sell the Senate appointment as "pretty appalling" and "just reprehensible." He also endorsed Attorney Gen. Lisa Madigan's effort at the time to get the Illinois Supreme Court to remove the governor from office, describing Blagojevich as "incapacitated."
Of course, he could have just been covering his own ass.
Then Blago used the appointment as a weapon. Like I figured he might do.
Gosling on
I have a new soccer blog The Minnow Tank. Reading it psychically kicks Sepp Blatter in the bean bag.
Well, obviously Step 1 is to check and see what relationship Burris has with Blago.
December 13th, Burris didn't seem to be a big fan of Blago.
Burris announced his interest in the seat at a December 13 press conference. And he didn't pull any punches with regards to the governor. He described Blagojevich's alleged efforts to sell the Senate appointment as "pretty appalling" and "just reprehensible." He also endorsed Attorney Gen. Lisa Madigan's effort at the time to get the Illinois Supreme Court to remove the governor from office, describing Blagojevich as "incapacitated."
Of course, he could have just been covering his own ass.
Then Blago used the appointment as a weapon. Like I figured he might do.
Unless he immediately resigns, or pledges not to compete in the special election; giving him a chance at 2010.
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GoslingLooking Up Soccer In Mongolia Right Now, ProbablyWatertown, WIRegistered Userregular
edited December 2008
I don't think it's going to matter what he does. Blago named him, and I think that's pretty much end of story. Reid's already said he won't even seat him.
Gosling on
I have a new soccer blog The Minnow Tank. Reading it psychically kicks Sepp Blatter in the bean bag.
I don't think it's going to matter what he does. Blago named him, and I think that's pretty much end of story. Reid's already said he won't even seat him.
12:58 PM: What's more shocking? That a fairly credible candidate actually decided to accept Rod Blagojevich's appointment? Or that Harry Reid is actually showing some spine?
Chicago, the most corrupt political machine in existence?
No it isn't, and he got elected because of money.
In the US, it is.
Rezko's relationship with Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich and his family were at the root of the federal corruption case which led to Rezko's conviction.[2] Rezko donated $117,652 to Blagojevich's campaigns,[4] and is credited by the prosecutor in his trial with having delivered bundled contributions totalling almost $1.44 million.[27] Since 1997, Blagojevich's wife, Patricia, has made at least $38,000 acting as Rezko's real-estate agent on several of his company's property acquisitions. When Blagojevich won the Illinois gubernatorial election in 2002, Rezko assisted Blagojevich in setting up the state's first Democratic administration in twenty years.[2] Rezko recommended many of his business associates and their relatives for positions within state government, three of whom were appointed to the state board that oversees hospital projects. the state's development board was run by another former Rezko business associate. Rezko and Republican fundraiser Stuart Levine were charged in a 24-count federal indictment for allegedly using Rezko's influence with public officials to demand millions of dollars in kickbacks from companies that wanted to do business with the state.[2][4] Levine pled guilty and served as the chief witness against Rezko at trial. Levine and several other witnesses implicated Blagojevich in the schemes
Rod Blagojevich and Roland Burris just held their press conference to announce the attempted appointment of Burris to the Senate -- and it was a train wreck if there ever was one.
...
Finally, Rep. Bobby Rush (D-IL) made an appearance at the podium and stated in forceful terms that the Senate must not reject the appointment of a black Senator, going so far as to tell everyone to not "hang or lynch the appointee as you try to ruin and castigate the appointer."
And let's add Bobby Rush to the candidate who should be primaried list.
Chicago, the most corrupt political machine in existence?
No it isn't, and he got elected because of money.
In the US, it is.
Rezko's relationship with Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich and his family were at the root of the federal corruption case which led to Rezko's conviction.[2] Rezko donated $117,652 to Blagojevich's campaigns,[4] and is credited by the prosecutor in his trial with having delivered bundled contributions totalling almost $1.44 million.[27] Since 1997, Blagojevich's wife, Patricia, has made at least $38,000 acting as Rezko's real-estate agent on several of his company's property acquisitions. When Blagojevich won the Illinois gubernatorial election in 2002, Rezko assisted Blagojevich in setting up the state's first Democratic administration in twenty years.[2] Rezko recommended many of his business associates and their relatives for positions within state government, three of whom were appointed to the state board that oversees hospital projects. the state's development board was run by another former Rezko business associate. Rezko and Republican fundraiser Stuart Levine were charged in a 24-count federal indictment for allegedly using Rezko's influence with public officials to demand millions of dollars in kickbacks from companies that wanted to do business with the state.[2][4] Levine pled guilty and served as the chief witness against Rezko at trial. Levine and several other witnesses implicated Blagojevich in the schemes
The most straightforward way to measure corruption is to check the number of convicted local officials. Between 1995 and 2004, 469 politicians from the federal district of Northern Illinois were found guilty of corruption. The only districts with higher tallies were central California (which includes L.A.), and southern Florida (which includes Miami). Eastern Louisiana (and New Orleans) rank somewhat further down the list.
All of this ignores that we have Fitzgerald, who's actually rooting out corruption unlike in other cities and states where the Senator elects to have a softball Federal prosecutor investigating his friends.
The tradition in the United States is to treat US Attorney jobs as a kind of patronage appointment. Basically, under a Republican administration states that have a Republican Senator have their US Attorneys picked by the local Senator or Senators. And under a Democratic administration it’s the Democratic Senators. In 2001, we had a Republican President and there was a Republican Senator from Illinois, Peter Fitzgerald. If Fitzgerald were doing his job in the usual way, he would have picked a lawyer who was somewhat respected and also tied into the local party machine. The kind of guy who wouldn’t launch a major corruption investigation of the incumbent Republican governor.
Chicago is not the most corrupt city in America, it is simply the most theatrically corrupt.
Rod Blagojevich and Roland Burris just held their press conference to announce the attempted appointment of Burris to the Senate -- and it was a train wreck if there ever was one.
...
Finally, Rep. Bobby Rush (D-IL) made an appearance at the podium and stated in forceful terms that the Senate must not reject the appointment of a black Senator, going so far as to tell everyone to not "hang or lynch the appointee as you try to ruin and castigate the appointer."
And let's add Bobby Rush to the candidate who should be primaried list.
There is no way that wouldn't have blowback in Congress. On top of the simple fact that there's no way Rush will get less than 60% of the vote in any primary, then 80% in any general.
I doubt he'll refuse to seat him as they really can't legally do that. However that doesn't mean he has to stay in the Senate. All it takes is 67 Senators to have him removed. I would be surprised if it didn't get 98.
I don't think it's going to matter what he does. Blago named him, and I think that's pretty much end of story. Reid's already said he won't even seat him.
Yes, but all the conversations have likely been tapped so there would be exculpatory evidence to suggest he isn't a sleazebag. All he needs to do is be impossibly transparent in all things and refuse to run for the special election then give it a shot in 2010. Particularly given that he's going to be voting on the big shit in the first 100 days rather than whatever comes next for his successor. It'd be pretty damn hard, but it is the only potential out. Otherwise he's made his bed and will get impeached from it.
With the unmasking of Gov. Rod Blagojevich as a kleptocrat of Paraguayan proportion, Illinois now has a real chance—its first in more than a generation—to defeat Louisiana in the NCAA finals of American political corruption.Illinois boasts some impressive stats. According to data collected by Dick Simpson, a political scientist at the University of Illinois at Chicago, more than 1,000 public officials and business people from Illinois have been convicted in federal corruption cases since 1971. Of those, an astonishing 30 were Chicago aldermen; that's around 20 percent of those elected to the City Council during that period. If Blagojevich ultimately goes to prison, he will become the fourth out of the last eight governors to wear stripes, joining predecessors George Ryan (racketeering, conspiracy, obstruction), Dan Walker (bank fraud), and Otto Kerner (straight-up bribery). If he gets assigned to the U.S. penitentiary in Terre Haute, Ind., Blagojevich could become the first governor to share a cell with a predecessor.*
I doubt he'll refuse to seat him as they really can't legally do that. However that doesn't mean he has to stay in the Senate. All it takes is 67 Senators to have him removed. I would be surprised if it didn't get 98.
I doubt he'll refuse to seat him as they really can't legally do that. However that doesn't mean he has to stay in the Senate. All it takes is 67 Senators to have him removed. I would be surprised if it didn't get 98.
A quick check of campaign finance records shows Burris’ consulting company has contributed about $11K to Blagojevich’s campaign fund. The consulting company has benefitted from a bunch of state contracts since then, many of which doing PR work on behalf of IDOT minority contracting efforts.
Blagojevich privately credits Burris with playing a major role in the governor’s 2002 Democratic primary win. Burris took the African-American vote away from Paul Vallas, who was always quite popular in the black community. Blagojevich finished behind Burris and Vallas in Chicago (he barely won his own congressional district), so Burris’ spoiler role was crucial to Blagojevich’s win.
Supposedly it's more like $40k, but I haven't seen where that's from. Not much in the way of money, but enough to get Burris into heat with the press and public.
Rod Blagojevich and Roland Burris just held their press conference to announce the attempted appointment of Burris to the Senate -- and it was a train wreck if there ever was one.
...
Finally, Rep. Bobby Rush (D-IL) made an appearance at the podium and stated in forceful terms that the Senate must not reject the appointment of a black Senator, going so far as to tell everyone to not "hang or lynch the appointee as you try to ruin and castigate the appointer."
And let's add Bobby Rush to the candidate who should be primaried list.
It's Obama's old nemesis. That's who he lost out to in his first federal congressional run.
Rod Blagojevich and Roland Burris just held their press conference to announce the attempted appointment of Burris to the Senate -- and it was a train wreck if there ever was one.
...
Finally, Rep. Bobby Rush (D-IL) made an appearance at the podium and stated in forceful terms that the Senate must not reject the appointment of a black Senator, going so far as to tell everyone to not "hang or lynch the appointee as you try to ruin and castigate the appointer."
And let's add Bobby Rush to the candidate who should be primaried list.
It's Obama's old nemesis. That's who he lost out to in his first federal congressional run.
Which is why any strong primary attempt would have huge blowback.
Rod Blagojevich and Roland Burris just held their press conference to announce the attempted appointment of Burris to the Senate -- and it was a train wreck if there ever was one.
...
Finally, Rep. Bobby Rush (D-IL) made an appearance at the podium and stated in forceful terms that the Senate must not reject the appointment of a black Senator, going so far as to tell everyone to not "hang or lynch the appointee as you try to ruin and castigate the appointer."
And let's add Bobby Rush to the candidate who should be primaried list.
It's Obama's old nemesis. That's who he lost out to in his first federal congressional run.
Which is why any strong primary attempt would have huge blowback.
I think you're underestimating the damage he's done to himself. He called anyone who opposed the nomination a racist, sounded incoherent and senile and associated himself with the one guy no one will touch. Roland Burris is going to get destroyed by this and I think Rush has done massive damage to himself. Rush actually thinks no sitting Senator will speak against this nomination on the record.
National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman John Cornyn says Majority Leader Harry Reid and other Democratic leaders should not allow Roland Burris to take Obama's seat.
<yackity smackity about how Reid should do what he already said he would do days ago and calling for a special election>
So Republicans and Democrats won't have this guy in the Senate. Maybe Joementum will come to the rescue.
I'm trying to think of a way to describe the Congressional Black Caucus without sounding borderline racist.
Roland Burris is a good man and a fine public servant, but the Senate Democrats made it clear weeks ago that they cannot accept an appointment made by a governor who is accused of selling this very Senate seat. I agree with their decision, and it is extremely disappointing that Governor Blagojevich has chosen to ignore it. I believe the best resolution would be for the Governor to resign his office and allow a lawful and appropriate process of succession to take place. While Governor Blagojevich is entitled to his day in court, the people of Illinois are entitled to a functioning government and major decisions free of taint and controversy.
A somewhat subtle response, but it makes sense. Doesn't put himself out there too far but does put him on the side of the Senate Dems. It might not be enough, and the press will definitely demand more, though they would likely demand more out of any response.
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Is it just me, or did Blago actually infer that he is dying?
I mean... I might be reading too much into it, but he repeatedly said that he "will fight" this "until my dying breath" or something like that.
And then there was another bit a little later where he kept saying 'I'm dying, I'm dying, I'm dying..." and then he paused a little bit, and continued with his statement.
Or am I just reading far too much into his statement and the writing of such as a character coming out of a 1920's Chicago Novella.
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Well the first term kind of made sense just from a backlash perspective. And he beat Topinka purely by having an order of magnitude more money than her. Which sucks because I actually kind of liked her. Fiscally she was pretty good, and socially she was more moderate than crazy.
When the legislature got called down, the Republicans thought they were going to vote on setting up a special election, and yelled a bunch about bait-and-switch by Mike Madigan (the Dem house leader), as it ended up being voting on an impeachment committee. A lot of weird stuff started to happen at this point-Mike let his daughter Lisa (who had been setting up for a run against Blago in the next primary) try to take credit by asking the IL Supreme Court to remove Blago, but that didn't work.
The special election idea was no good for the Dems, since Republican Congressmen like Mark Kirk could run for Senate in the special election without fear of giving up their own seats, as they would have to if they ran in a November election. Also, just the general sentiment would be more anti-Dem than normal, so it was too risky to have said election, and the Dems want Pat Quinn (deputy Gov) to appoint the next senator.
However, the legislature isn't impeaching because they aren't sure if they can. The new assembly hasn't been sworn in yet, and won't be until mid-January, and it's believed that if the current House votes to impeach, the Senate that is sworn in in January won't be from the same assembly and the impeachment won't work. That's why there's all this waiting around right now with committees to explore impeaching.
So the sad thing is right now that Blago can still appoint someone while everyone's sitting around doing nothing. Although Harry Reid said he won't seat the appointee, if it's someone like Bill Daley (who's well respected) it'd be tough not to seat that person.
Oh, and the other note-Mike Madigan doesn't want Pat Quinn becoming Gov, because that lets him get a ton of name recognition for the next primary when Lisa will be running. So everything's at a standstill and it looks like the Dem leadership is hoping that Fitzgerald solves the problems for them.
edit-I forgot to mention that even if the Legislature had passed a bill immediately to strip Blago of his appointment powers, he could sit on that bill until the new legislature got sworn in and the bill expired. So really nothing can happen until Jan 14th.
I mean, have these two met and talked about this or is this something Blaggy just threw out of the blue? I have a hard time thinking someone would willingly join him in his spiral into destruction.
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Say what you want about Blago, but the man has some balls. He must honestly think he is completely invincible. Insanity defense looks viable.
QEDMF xbl: PantsB G+
No it isn't, and he got elected because of money.
Well, obviously Step 1 is to check and see what relationship Burris has with Blago.
December 13th, Burris didn't seem to be a big fan of Blago.
Of course, he could have just been covering his own ass.
Fitzgerald isn't wearing bracers.
Unless he immediately resigns, or pledges not to compete in the special election; giving him a chance at 2010.
QEDMF xbl: PantsB G+
And let's add Bobby Rush to the candidate who should be primaried list.
QEDMF xbl: PantsB G+
All of this ignores that we have Fitzgerald, who's actually rooting out corruption unlike in other cities and states where the Senator elects to have a softball Federal prosecutor investigating his friends.
Chicago is not the most corrupt city in America, it is simply the most theatrically corrupt.
There is no way that wouldn't have blowback in Congress. On top of the simple fact that there's no way Rush will get less than 60% of the vote in any primary, then 80% in any general.
I doubt he'll refuse to seat him as they really can't legally do that. However that doesn't mean he has to stay in the Senate. All it takes is 67 Senators to have him removed. I would be surprised if it didn't get 98.
Yes, but all the conversations have likely been tapped so there would be exculpatory evidence to suggest he isn't a sleazebag. All he needs to do is be impossibly transparent in all things and refuse to run for the special election then give it a shot in 2010. Particularly given that he's going to be voting on the big shit in the first 100 days rather than whatever comes next for his successor. It'd be pretty damn hard, but it is the only potential out. Otherwise he's made his bed and will get impeached from it.
From http://www.slate.com/id/2206523/
So I guess Louisiana is up there too. 4 out of the last 8 governors... wow.
*edit*
Damnit.
Your state is dumb
Name one that isn't.
Supposedly it's more like $40k, but I haven't seen where that's from. Not much in the way of money, but enough to get Burris into heat with the press and public.
It's Obama's old nemesis. That's who he lost out to in his first federal congressional run.
Which is why any strong primary attempt would have huge blowback.
Train Wreck
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Seriosuly
It seems to help.
I'm trying to think of a way to describe the Congressional Black Caucus without sounding borderline racist.
QEDMF xbl: PantsB G+
A somewhat subtle response, but it makes sense. Doesn't put himself out there too far but does put him on the side of the Senate Dems. It might not be enough, and the press will definitely demand more, though they would likely demand more out of any response.