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Post by mirium on Dec 28, 2008 13:23:35 GMT -5
Which is how most reporters and pundits are referring to the fellow, because his name is Blogojovich. (Okay, I'll be nice. It's pronounced "Blah-goy-oh-vich".) He's been under investigation by the Feds for various types of skulduggery for several years. One of his duties as governor is to appoint someone to carry out the rest of Barack Obama's term as senator, and he apparently was going to give it to the highest bidder. If no one came up with a good enough offer, he was going to appoint himself. Only the auction part is illegal.
But the whole thing is considered Bad Form even by folks in Illinois -- heck, even by folks in Chicago! -- so you know it scores pretty high on the corruption scale. And U.S. District Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald prefers to wait until he's got an airtight case, but he didn't want to let the Gov actually appoint someone -- so Roddy B was woken up at 6 am one day and taken off in handcuffs. One of the defenses that's already being touted is that he didn't actually appoint anyone or accept anything in return, gosh, guys, it was just a lot of talk! (Most of the talk was recorded, and the guy knew he was being wiretapped -- so he's also eligible for a charge of "criminal stupidity.")
And now everyone's excited about how much the Obama people knew about this version of "Pay to Play" (an old Illinois political tradition, by the way). The short answer is, "nothing" -- but the news folks are reluctant to believe that, even though they've heard it from both the Obama people and the Feds.
I'm still waiting to hear someone who isn't from Illinois try to pronounce "Vrdolyak", which is the last name of another scoundrel in the story. ;D
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Post by jaglady on Dec 28, 2008 15:58:58 GMT -5
So I take it "Blago" is your Governor, huh?
Yep, sounds like a case of another politician who thought he was bulletproof.
The media tell the real story? Scuse me while I split a gut laughing. I have some friends in Durham's legal community whose careers were affected by the Duke LaCrosse scandal. I'll have to talk about that in a separate thread.
There are some things that raise red flags with me, though. Why did Fitz stop the investigation JUST SHORT of a final bid? Either he or another investigator made some quote about the corruption, but the investigation was stopped. Was there someone they didn't want to catch?
The thing with Blago being hauled out from home at 6 a.m. though. Did somebody find it necessary to make an example out of the guy?
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Post by mirium on Dec 28, 2008 20:44:00 GMT -5
There are some things that raise red flags with me, though. Why did Fitz stop the investigation JUST SHORT of a final bid? Either he or another investigator made some quote about the corruption, but the investigation was stopped. Was there someone they didn't want to catch? The one thing we don't have to worry about is Fitzgerald turning a blind eye toward corruption at any level -- he's the guy who indicted and convicted both Scooter Libby and former Governor George Ryan (also of Illinois), and signs are that he's building a case against Mayor Daley. Basically, if he starts asking questions about you, you're either clean or you're going to prison, no matter how powerful or influential you are. The only question is when. Specifically, he would not back off from exposing improper behavior by a President-Elect -- or a sitting President, for that matter. Quite the opposite! He has said that the more power a person has, the more important it is that they don't abuse their power. He's also very careful when he makes statements -- if someone is still under investigation or suspicion, he's extremely noncommittal about them. On the other side of the coin, if someone appears potentially involved in wrongdoing but they've turned up clean based on what the Feds know, he'll make a point of saying so -- and that's what he did with the Obama camp. We've seen Fitzgerald in enough of these press conferences to figure out his "code" pretty well. As for when he pulled the trigger on Blagojovich -- he had the Public Good in mind. If a deal had been made, Blago might have made the Senate appointment before they could arrest him. And once the appointment had been made, it would have been an infernal lengthy mess to challenge it, and maybe impossible. The investigation still continues, I'm sure, but now that the "auction" is public knowledge, the appointment will either be clean or the damage will be a lot easier to spot and repair. (Blagojovich still legally has the authority to make the appointment; Illinois pols are working frantically to change that.) IMO, Diogenes would have saved a lot of lantern oil if he had been introduced to Fitzgerald. ;D It's possible. As I said, I've watched Fitzgerald announce a lot of indictments, and he usually has an air of rueful sadness that someone has made such foolish choices. This time, he seemed annoyed, even offended. (Blogojovich's comment the day before, which boiled down to "Bring it on, Feds!" might have had something to do with that.) But with Fitzgerald, it's more likely that there were practical reasons -- concerns that Blagojovich might resist arrest if he were awake, dressed and in a public place, for instance. (Remember, this guy had already demonstrated that he's arrogant, astoundingly stupid, and thinks he's immune to the law.) And Fitzgerald seems to have a penchant for smooth, tidy operations -- he rarely moves before he's got an iron clad case, and there are no exciting chase scenes when his people do close in. The perp never has a chance. He'd make a rotten crime show hero, but he's a superb real life Fed.
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Post by jaglady on Dec 28, 2008 21:34:40 GMT -5
Yeah, that makes sense about the appointment already being made, legal or not. And I'd heard some of old Blago's transcripts about "Bring it on, Feds!" Nice going, Governor! You sure showed them.
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Post by mirium on Dec 29, 2008 13:50:53 GMT -5
It wasn't just in phone calls. Blagojovich was talking to reporters when he basically dared the Feds to try and get him. Video clip played all over the news, especially after the arrest.... ;D
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Post by jaglady on Dec 29, 2008 18:40:51 GMT -5
Thanks for reminding me, Mirium. I'll have to start the dumb criminal thread. I said it before, and I'll say it again. Truth is stranger than fiction.
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Post by mirium on Jan 12, 2009 13:44:23 GMT -5
An update for those who are interested. The Illinois state representatives have voted to impeach the Gov., which adds another layer of questionableness to the appointment of Roland Burris to fill Obama's vacant seat. The U.S. Senate has decided to let Burris take the seat, even though Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White has refused to certify the appointment -- but Dick Durbin, the senior U.S. Senator from Illinois, came out in favor of letting Burris in, and U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid agreed -- they both held a press conference about how fine a person Burris is, soon after President-Elect Obama had a little chat with them. You do the math.... ;D Burris has been in Illinois politics for a long time, and has a reputation for being reasonably ethical (at least by Illinois standards ). My guess is that Obama decided that the questions of "Is Blagojovich a slimeball?" and "Is Burris a slimeball?" are two separate issues, and the answer to the Burris question is No -- so it makes sense to let Burris take his seat in the Senate now instead of dragging out the scandal. That will leave the brou-ha-ha centered in Illinois instead of Washington DC, and get it off the news for most of the nation -- or at least it won't be the top story on the broadcast anymore. ;D Jesse White, the Illinois Secretary of State who refused to certify the appointment, is also clean by Illinois standards. My guess is that he refused certification on general principles, because he doesn't know why Blagojovich picked Burris, rather than any specific knowledge of dirty dealings; and perhaps because he's never liked Blagojovich. ;D Conveniently, White is black, which helps defuse allegations that any roadblocks in Burris's way are racially motivated; that might have been a factor in White's decision, too. Bobby Rush, who is a U.S. Representative from Chicago, made that charge. But Rush is a bit touchy about that kind of thing and has a history of getting overly excited on the racism issue; he began his political career as a 1960s radical; he was a co-founder of the Illinois branch of the Black Panthers and was a member of SNCC. When Obama was an Illinois state Representative, they both ran for U.S. Representative -- and Rush won. So there might still be a little competitive urge going on there..... Fun Fact: Before going into politics, Jesse White was the founder of the Jesse White Tumbling Team. Love the "Dumb Criminals" thread, jaglady!
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Post by jaglady on Jan 12, 2009 20:39:04 GMT -5
My pleasure, Mirium. I'm going to have something to add after what I witnessed in the last hour.
From what I know about the Illinois situation, Blago made the Burris appointment as a sort of poke in the eyes to those who want to arrest or impeach him. But constitutionally, it's legal, no matter what Harry Reid says. Something tells me old Harry Reid and them got "spoken to" about making this a smooth inaugural transition. That's all I'll say about that.
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Post by mirium on Jan 13, 2009 0:22:04 GMT -5
From what I know about the Illinois situation, Blago made the Burris appointment as a sort of poke in the eyes to those who want to arrest or impeach him. I agree -- he appointed someone qualified, as an act of defiance. It's the only apparent explanation, since he clearly wouldn't have done it otherwise. And I'm not being sarcastic! Illinois politics at their finest... :smiley-think005:
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Post by jaglady on Jan 17, 2009 8:19:20 GMT -5
Well, sounds like Blago's looking for a new attorney. Actually, hubby's law firm is based out of Chicago, and that's the running joke....
"So how's the pro bono case going?"
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