Remember Rezko?
Link
Original Post
Replies sorted oldest to newest
The story here on CNN.
If I am reading the story correctly it almost sounds like he was trying to bribe Barrack Obama or one of Obama's staff. How else could he be asking for a cabinet position or an amabasadorship? Wrong thing to do. Now I assume I will hear some people say "Democratic corruption" or "such and such Obama." Well I have to agree it is corruption. But I have to say Obama doesn't seem to be putting up with it. I am impressed. Of course he'll get a trial and I guess he isn't guilty until proven such, but it doesn't look good. Looks like Illinois will need a new senator and a new governor.
If I am reading the story correctly it almost sounds like he was trying to bribe Barrack Obama or one of Obama's staff. How else could he be asking for a cabinet position or an amabasadorship? Wrong thing to do. Now I assume I will hear some people say "Democratic corruption" or "such and such Obama." Well I have to agree it is corruption. But I have to say Obama doesn't seem to be putting up with it. I am impressed. Of course he'll get a trial and I guess he isn't guilty until proven such, but it doesn't look good. Looks like Illinois will need a new senator and a new governor.
He must not have given Obama a big enough cut.
AS - this investigation has been ongoing BEFORE the election. Here is another link that speaks of the Chicago politics when Obama ran for Senator. Note that he was able to get rid of his challengers by challenging their petitions to run. As this story states "He came from Chicago politics".
Link
The governor's arrest came as a result of the FBI RICO investigation (remember Rezko?).
Link
The governor's arrest came as a result of the FBI RICO investigation (remember Rezko?).
Obama came from the Chicago political machine. Why does this continue to surprise people?
At least now they don't put contracts out on their opponents, at least openly.
At least now they don't put contracts out on their opponents, at least openly.
Another one bites the dust.
Doesn't surprise me now or then zippee. Just wonder how high this one will go.
Every politician has to make a deal with the devil to get to where they are. I didn't vote for Obama, but so far I am pleasantly surprised at the steps he has taken in regards to his cabinet selection and other personnel surrounding him. I think he realizes we can't just up and leave Iraq the day he is sworn in and he also realizes that tax increases would not be prudent at this time. He will spend money, but so would have McCain. I am willing to give the guy a chance so far.
Not about giving obama a chance. Just the facts of the corrupt Chicago machine. Corruptness has taken down quite a few politicians. Ask Nixon.
quote:Originally posted by redbull:
Not about giving obama a chance. Just the facts of the corrupt Chicago machine. Corruptness has taken down quite a few politicians. Ask Nixon.
Corruption emboldened by arrogance.
Listening to the FBI news conference it sounds like this guy wasn't just corrupt. He was stupid. I like the part where he says on one of the tapes that "the world is listening."
I still don't think it will get associated with Obama to the point of any indictment or other situation. But it is OK for you to wish.
I still don't think it will get associated with Obama to the point of any indictment or other situation. But it is OK for you to wish.
As Obama leaves office, many of his friends will send notes stating, "Pardon me!" 
quote:Originally posted by Howard Roark:
As Obama leaves office, many of his friends will send notes stating, "Pardon me!"
No doubt. I will say it will be interesting to see how Obama reacts and if he will pardon anyone.
The whole pardoning thing is something I just don't like in many cases. Over the years, regardless of party, too many questionable characters have been pardoned. You know, I've heard it said the only thing Nixon did wrong was get caught.
I certainly don't "wish" it would be true. However, I wouldn't be surprised by anything like that anymore.
Here's the FBI complaint. Yes I posted in the news section as well. I've read about half before I had to quit. Rezko is ALL over the complaint making deals. Wonder what was going on when Obama was dealing with Rezko on the house? Pay close attention to Rezko's dealings with those wanting to advance in the system.
Haven't heard a word yet from Obama,or his transition team. Wonder why?
Haven't heard a word yet from Obama,or his transition team. Wonder why?
Obama said he was disturbed.
There's no doubt that Barot Obama is corrupt also. He is a product of the corrupt Chicago politcal machine. But just because he IS corrupt doesn't mean it can be proven. It is a machine after all.
I guess we shouldn't feel to superior to Illinois. After all we are the home of Dancin' Don Seigleman.
I guess he figured that if Clinton got away with renting the Lincoln Bedroom, then he can sell a seat on the Senate.
quote:Originally posted by AlabamaSon:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by Howard Roark:
As Obama leaves office, many of his friends will send notes stating, "Pardon me!"
No doubt. I will say it will be interesting to see how Obama reacts and if he will pardon anyone.
--------------------------------
IF?! The "O" has compiled a list before he even takes office (officially).
What some are confusing is that the Illinois Gov isn't really stupid, it's just that this kind of political behavior is commonplace and 'business as usual' in Ill. in general and Chicago in particular.
Listening to his weekend press conf. prior to being arrested, it sounds to me that he is setting himself up for an "insanity plea" in his upcoming trial.
Link
He felt like, as Gov., that the Senate seat was 'his' to sell, similar to the Clintons feeling the Lincoln bedroom was 'theirs' to rent to the highest bidder back in the '90's.
Comment by delightfully cute right winger, Michelle Malkin:
"Democrats and the media can no longer rest on the old rationalization that Blago is an exception to the “we’re cleaner than thou” rule. 2008 was the year of Democratic Reps. William “Cold Cash” Jefferson, Charlie “Sweetheart Deals” Rangel, and former Detroit Mayor Kwame “Text Me” Kilpatrick. It was the year Democratic Massachusetts State Senator Dianne Wilkerson got caught stuffing bribes from an FBI informant down her shirt. It was the year 12 Democratic leaders and staffers in Pennsylvania’s state Capitol were stung in a massive corruption scandal involving cash, sex and abuse of public office. And it was the year of multimillion-dollar embezzlement scandals at Democratic satellite offices of ACORN and the SEIU."
Link
"Democrats and the media can no longer rest on the old rationalization that Blago is an exception to the “we’re cleaner than thou” rule. 2008 was the year of Democratic Reps. William “Cold Cash” Jefferson, Charlie “Sweetheart Deals” Rangel, and former Detroit Mayor Kwame “Text Me” Kilpatrick. It was the year Democratic Massachusetts State Senator Dianne Wilkerson got caught stuffing bribes from an FBI informant down her shirt. It was the year 12 Democratic leaders and staffers in Pennsylvania’s state Capitol were stung in a massive corruption scandal involving cash, sex and abuse of public office. And it was the year of multimillion-dollar embezzlement scandals at Democratic satellite offices of ACORN and the SEIU."
Link
A democrat got newpapermen fired and shook down a children's hospital. And, people think republicans are low! 
quote:Originally posted by Howard Roark:
A democrat got newpapermen fired and shook down a children's hospital. And, people think republicans are low!
I think I'll go with "Politicians, as a subspecies, are high-smelling and low-down." Members of Homo Politicus become corrupted by the power, and their entire lives revolve around retaining it, at any cost. Why should they NOT like it? I mean, it's not like it's their money.
What can you expect from a party that embraced an uncharged multi-felon Teddy (I'll drink, you drive. Ah heck, I'll drink AND drive, you die) Kennedy in the senate for the last 40 years.
A nice wrap up from ABC.
Link
Political Punch
Power, pop, and probings from ABC News Senior White House Correspondent Jake Tapper
Jake Tapper is ABC News' Senior White House Correspondent based in the network's Washington bureau. He writes about politics and popular culture and covers a range of national stories.
December 09, 2008 3:37 PM
"Obviously like the rest of the people of Illinois I am saddened and sobered by the news that came out of the US attorney's office today," said President-elect Obama this afternoon in Chicago, speaking of the criminal complaint against Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich for corruption. "But as this is a ongoing investigation involving the governor I don't think it would be appropriate for me to comment on the issue at this time."
Asked what contact he'd had with the governor's office about his replacement in the Senate, President-elect Obama today said "I had no contact with the governor or his office and so we were not, I was not aware of what was happening."
But on November 23, 2008, his senior adviser David Axelrod appeared on Fox News Chicago and said something quite different.
While insisting that the President-elect had not expressed a favorite to replace him, and his inclination was to avoid being a "kingmaker," Axelrod said, "I know he's talked to the governor and there are a whole range of names many of which have surfaced, and I think he has a fondness for a lot of them."
(UPDATE: An Obama Transition Team aide says that Axelrod misspoke on Fox News Chicago.)
(UPDATE #2: Axelrod this evening issued a statement saying. "I was mistaken when I told an interviewer last month that the President-elect has spoken directly to Governor Blagojevich about the Senate vacancy. They did not then or at any time discuss the subject.")
There are no allegations that President-elect Obama or anyone close to him had anything to do with any of the crimes Gov. Blagojevich is accused of having committed.
In fact, there are indications that Mr. Obama and his team refused to go along with the "pay to play" way Blagojevich is accused of operating, offering only "gratitude" if the governor appointed his friend Valerie Jarrett to take his U.S. Senate seat, much to the governor's chagrin.
But there remain questions about how Blagojevich knew that Mr. Obama was not willing to give him anything in exchange for the Senate seat -- with whom was Blagojevich speaking? Did that person report the governor to the authorities?
And, it should be pointed out, Mr. Obama has a relationship with Mr. Blagojevich, having not only endorsed Blagojevich in 2002 and 2006, but having served as a top adviser to the Illinois governor in his first 2002 run for the state house.
In the Democratic gubernatorial primary that year, then-state sen. Obama endorsed former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris. But after Blagojevich won, Obama came around enthusiastically. At the same time, meanwhile, Axelrod had such serious concerns about whether Blagojevich was ready for governing he refused to work for his one-time client.
According to Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill., Mr. Obama's incoming White House chief of staff, Emanuel, then-state senator Obama, a third Blagojevich aide, and Blagojevich's campaign co-chair, David Wilhelm, were the top strategists of Blagojevich's 2002 gubernatorial victory.
Emanuel told the New Yorker earlier this year that he and Obama "participated in a small group that met weekly when Rod was running for governor. We basically laid out the general election, Barack and I and these two."
Wilhelm said that Emanuel had overstated Obama's role. "There was an advisory council that was inclusive of Rahm and Barack but not limited to them," Wilhelm said, and he disputed the notion that Obama was "an architect or one of the principal strategists."
(An Obama Transition Team aide emails to note that Emanuel later changed his recollection of this story to Rich Miller's "CAPITOL FAX," saying, "David [Wilhelm] and I have worked together on campaigns for decades. Like always, he's right and I'm wrong.")
Either way, others now around Obama were less enthusiastic about Blagojevich at the time, namely David Axelrod, Obama's senior campaign adviser who will soon be a senior adviser at the White House.
Axelrod had worked for Blagojevich in his past races for the House, but he declined to work on his gubernatorial run.
"He had been my client and I had a very good relationship with him, but I didn't sign on to the governor's race," Axelrod told the New Yorker. "Obviously he won, but I had concerns about it...I was concerned about whether he was ready for that. Not so much for the race but for governing. I was concerned about some of the folks -- I was concerned about how the race was being approached."
On the Chicago TV show "Public Affairs with Jeff Berkowitz" on June 27, 2002, state Sen. Obama said, "Right now, my main focus is to make sure that we elect Rod Blagojevich as Governor, we..."
"You working hard for Rod?" interrupted Berkowitz.
"You betcha," said Obama.
"Hot Rod?" asked the host.
"That's exactly right," Obama said.
In 2004, then-Gov. Blagojevich enthusiastically endorsed Obama for the Senate seat after he won the nomination, and Obama endorsed Blagojevich for his 2006 re-election race in early 2005.
In the Summer of 2006, then-U.S. Sen. Obama backed Blagojevich even though there were serious questions at the time about Blago's hiring practices.
At the time, numerous state agencies had had records subpoenaed, with U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald telling authorities he was looking into "very serious allegations of endemic hiring fraud" with a "number of credible witnesses."
In an interview with the Chicago Daily Herald in July 2006, then-Sen. Obama said, "I have not followed closely enough what's been taking place in these investigations to comment on them. Obviously I'm concerned about reports that hiring practices at the state weren't, at times, following appropriate procedures. How high up that went, the degree at which the governor was involved, is not something I'm going to speculate on.
"If I received information that made me believe that any Democrat had not been acting in the public interest, I'd be concerned," Obama said.
That said, Mr. Obama said, "If the governor asks me to work on his behalf, I'll be happy to do it."
Apparently the governor did. At the Illinois State Fair in August 2006, Obama spoke on Blagojevich's behalf.
"We've got a governor in Rod Blagojevich who has delivered consistently on behalf of the people of Illinois," Obama told the crowd.
In January 2007, Blagojevich's office reserved the Old State Capitol for Mr. Obama's presidential announcement at Obama's request.
Blagojevich spokeswoman Rebecca Rausch told reporters that "Representatives for Sen. Obama contacted the governor's office regarding use of the Old State Capitol. We contacted the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency and reserved the Old State Capitol for the Senator on February 10th."
The Old State Capitol is where President Abraham Lincoln delivered his "House Divided" speech in 1858.
Fitzgerald today said that the charges the government was making about Blagojevich "would make Lincoln turn over in his grave."
-- jpt
Link
Political Punch
Power, pop, and probings from ABC News Senior White House Correspondent Jake Tapper
Jake Tapper is ABC News' Senior White House Correspondent based in the network's Washington bureau. He writes about politics and popular culture and covers a range of national stories.
December 09, 2008 3:37 PM
"Obviously like the rest of the people of Illinois I am saddened and sobered by the news that came out of the US attorney's office today," said President-elect Obama this afternoon in Chicago, speaking of the criminal complaint against Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich for corruption. "But as this is a ongoing investigation involving the governor I don't think it would be appropriate for me to comment on the issue at this time."
Asked what contact he'd had with the governor's office about his replacement in the Senate, President-elect Obama today said "I had no contact with the governor or his office and so we were not, I was not aware of what was happening."
But on November 23, 2008, his senior adviser David Axelrod appeared on Fox News Chicago and said something quite different.
While insisting that the President-elect had not expressed a favorite to replace him, and his inclination was to avoid being a "kingmaker," Axelrod said, "I know he's talked to the governor and there are a whole range of names many of which have surfaced, and I think he has a fondness for a lot of them."
(UPDATE: An Obama Transition Team aide says that Axelrod misspoke on Fox News Chicago.)
(UPDATE #2: Axelrod this evening issued a statement saying. "I was mistaken when I told an interviewer last month that the President-elect has spoken directly to Governor Blagojevich about the Senate vacancy. They did not then or at any time discuss the subject.")
There are no allegations that President-elect Obama or anyone close to him had anything to do with any of the crimes Gov. Blagojevich is accused of having committed.
In fact, there are indications that Mr. Obama and his team refused to go along with the "pay to play" way Blagojevich is accused of operating, offering only "gratitude" if the governor appointed his friend Valerie Jarrett to take his U.S. Senate seat, much to the governor's chagrin.
But there remain questions about how Blagojevich knew that Mr. Obama was not willing to give him anything in exchange for the Senate seat -- with whom was Blagojevich speaking? Did that person report the governor to the authorities?
And, it should be pointed out, Mr. Obama has a relationship with Mr. Blagojevich, having not only endorsed Blagojevich in 2002 and 2006, but having served as a top adviser to the Illinois governor in his first 2002 run for the state house.
In the Democratic gubernatorial primary that year, then-state sen. Obama endorsed former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris. But after Blagojevich won, Obama came around enthusiastically. At the same time, meanwhile, Axelrod had such serious concerns about whether Blagojevich was ready for governing he refused to work for his one-time client.
According to Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill., Mr. Obama's incoming White House chief of staff, Emanuel, then-state senator Obama, a third Blagojevich aide, and Blagojevich's campaign co-chair, David Wilhelm, were the top strategists of Blagojevich's 2002 gubernatorial victory.
Emanuel told the New Yorker earlier this year that he and Obama "participated in a small group that met weekly when Rod was running for governor. We basically laid out the general election, Barack and I and these two."
Wilhelm said that Emanuel had overstated Obama's role. "There was an advisory council that was inclusive of Rahm and Barack but not limited to them," Wilhelm said, and he disputed the notion that Obama was "an architect or one of the principal strategists."
(An Obama Transition Team aide emails to note that Emanuel later changed his recollection of this story to Rich Miller's "CAPITOL FAX," saying, "David [Wilhelm] and I have worked together on campaigns for decades. Like always, he's right and I'm wrong.")
Either way, others now around Obama were less enthusiastic about Blagojevich at the time, namely David Axelrod, Obama's senior campaign adviser who will soon be a senior adviser at the White House.
Axelrod had worked for Blagojevich in his past races for the House, but he declined to work on his gubernatorial run.
"He had been my client and I had a very good relationship with him, but I didn't sign on to the governor's race," Axelrod told the New Yorker. "Obviously he won, but I had concerns about it...I was concerned about whether he was ready for that. Not so much for the race but for governing. I was concerned about some of the folks -- I was concerned about how the race was being approached."
On the Chicago TV show "Public Affairs with Jeff Berkowitz" on June 27, 2002, state Sen. Obama said, "Right now, my main focus is to make sure that we elect Rod Blagojevich as Governor, we..."
"You working hard for Rod?" interrupted Berkowitz.
"You betcha," said Obama.
"Hot Rod?" asked the host.
"That's exactly right," Obama said.
In 2004, then-Gov. Blagojevich enthusiastically endorsed Obama for the Senate seat after he won the nomination, and Obama endorsed Blagojevich for his 2006 re-election race in early 2005.
In the Summer of 2006, then-U.S. Sen. Obama backed Blagojevich even though there were serious questions at the time about Blago's hiring practices.
At the time, numerous state agencies had had records subpoenaed, with U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald telling authorities he was looking into "very serious allegations of endemic hiring fraud" with a "number of credible witnesses."
In an interview with the Chicago Daily Herald in July 2006, then-Sen. Obama said, "I have not followed closely enough what's been taking place in these investigations to comment on them. Obviously I'm concerned about reports that hiring practices at the state weren't, at times, following appropriate procedures. How high up that went, the degree at which the governor was involved, is not something I'm going to speculate on.
"If I received information that made me believe that any Democrat had not been acting in the public interest, I'd be concerned," Obama said.
That said, Mr. Obama said, "If the governor asks me to work on his behalf, I'll be happy to do it."
Apparently the governor did. At the Illinois State Fair in August 2006, Obama spoke on Blagojevich's behalf.
"We've got a governor in Rod Blagojevich who has delivered consistently on behalf of the people of Illinois," Obama told the crowd.
In January 2007, Blagojevich's office reserved the Old State Capitol for Mr. Obama's presidential announcement at Obama's request.
Blagojevich spokeswoman Rebecca Rausch told reporters that "Representatives for Sen. Obama contacted the governor's office regarding use of the Old State Capitol. We contacted the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency and reserved the Old State Capitol for the Senator on February 10th."
The Old State Capitol is where President Abraham Lincoln delivered his "House Divided" speech in 1858.
Fitzgerald today said that the charges the government was making about Blagojevich "would make Lincoln turn over in his grave."
-- jpt
Jesse Jackson, Jr is candidate #5 - offer of 500,000 for seat. Wasn't he Obama's national campaign co-chair? Yes, I believe he was.
Maybe that's why Jesse's dad wanted to castrate Obama
Maybe that's why Jesse's dad wanted to castrate Obama