Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich Arrested

[xammer99]

But... but... It's Illinois! People with honesty and integrity in government are instantly and automatically suspect!

But I agree, I think he'd make a good and responsible choice as well.

Btw, we were both mistaken, Quinn is a Democrat from Hinsdale. Huh, guess that's the power of keeping your head down. But I've not heard bad things about him either.

Ah well, perhaps Durbin really does want to make sure that Rod doesn't appoint himself. Or more likely he's thinking long term and that this might well cause the next governor to be Republican and he doesn't wanna risk the seat.

[Bilbo]

But... but... It's Illinois! People with honesty and integrity in government are instantly and automatically suspect!

But I agree, I think he'd make a good and responsible choice as well.

Btw, we were both mistaken, Quinn is a Democrat from Hinsdale. Huh, guess that's the power of keeping your head down. But I've not heard bad things about him either.

Ah well, perhaps Durbin really does want to make sure that Rod doesn't appoint himself. Or more likely he's thinking long term and that this might well cause the next governor to be Republican and he doesn't wanna risk the seat.

I thought I heard him referred to as a Republican yesterday which made the moves by Durbin make sense. Otherwise it seems odd that Durbin would push for a special election when the Assembly could just remove the selection power from Blago and hand it to Quinn.

This though reminds of the average election in Illinois. Politicians here half the time dont put anything in their ads or on their signs to show their party affiliation. You have to go to their website or collect some of their literature before you find out what party they are.

[xammer99]

But... but... It's Illinois! People with honesty and integrity in government are instantly and automatically suspect!

But I agree, I think he'd make a good and responsible choice as well.

Btw, we were both mistaken, Quinn is a Democrat from Hinsdale. Huh, guess that's the power of keeping your head down. But I've not heard bad things about him either.

Ah well, perhaps Durbin really does want to make sure that Rod doesn't appoint himself. Or more likely he's thinking long term and that this might well cause the next governor to be Republican and he doesn't wanna risk the seat.

I thought I heard him referred to as a Republican yesterday which made the moves by Durbin make sense. Otherwise it seems odd that Durbin would push for a special election when the Assembly could just remove the selection power from Blago and hand it to Quinn.

This though reminds of the average election in Illinois. Politicians here half the time dont put anything in their ads or on their signs to show their party affiliation. You have to go to their website or collect some of their literature before you find out what party they are.

It's Durbin... god only knows what the man is thinkin.

Hell, with as wacko as Blagojevich is, Durbin might well be worried that he'll appoint a Republican. Hell, AG Madigan was on WLS yesterday saying that the mental incompetency rules were how she'd go about removing Blagojevich. i.e. having him declared mentally unfit/mad.

[xammer99]

Hah, Junor is revealed that he was going to buy it by arranging a $1 mil campaign donation from a 3rd party. That means Junior was going to indebt himself to someone else MAJORLY...

Wow. Guess he ain't as clean as he comes across. =(

[Bilbo]

Hah, Junor is revealed that he was going to buy it by arranging a $1 mil campaign donation from a 3rd party. That means Junior was going to indebt himself to someone else MAJORLY...

Wow. Guess he ain't as clean as he comes across. =(

I hope that was sarcastic surprise.

The question is can be charged criminally for this?

[xammer99]

There was much sarcasm there.

I sure as hell hope so if it's true. Burn'em all for doin that "pay for play" shit, giver and receiver.

[xammer99]

haha... Jr's lawyer is saying the offer for a Million came from someone who wasn't representing Junior.

[Patrick Degan]

Not even Louisiana's Edwin Edwards was this blatant (the guy who, running for reelection against David Dukkke, had as his slogan: "Vote for the Crook, It's Important"). Ol' Slick Eddie was satisfied with construction project kickbacks and under-the-table bribery. More like a shrimp fisherman who'd cast his net out trawling for dollars from the public seas. Blago makes Eddie look like a piker by comparison.

[xammer99]

Not even Louisiana's Edwin Edwards was this blatant (the guy who, running for reelection against David Dukkke, had as his slogan: "Vote for the Crook, It's Important"). Ol' Slick Eddie was satisfied with construction project kickbacks and under-the-table bribery. More like a shrimp fisherman who'd cast his net out trawling for dollars from the public seas. Blago makes Eddie look like a piker by comparison.

Illinois scoffs at your petty kick back corruption!

[Bilbo]

haha... Jr's lawyer is saying the offer for a Million came from someone who wasn't representing Junior.

Of course. It was some complete stranger who just wanted to get the seat for Jesse as a birthday present. I swear why do lawyers even waste their breath with crap like this. Does anyone ever believe even a word of it?

[xammer99]

haha... Jr's lawyer is saying the offer for a Million came from someone who wasn't representing Junior.

Of course. It was some complete stranger who just wanted to get the seat for Jesse as a birthday present. I swear why do lawyers even waste their breath with crap like this. Does anyone ever believe even a word of it?

Well, Junior did do his patented tearing up during his press conference while relating how his baby sister (who just happens to be 30 some) called him yesterday and told him how proud she was of his service to the country.

It was quite the convincing Press Conference... really.

[Bilbo]

haha... Jr's lawyer is saying the offer for a Million came from someone who wasn't representing Junior.

Of course. It was some complete stranger who just wanted to get the seat for Jesse as a birthday present. I swear why do lawyers even waste their breath with crap like this. Does anyone ever believe even a word of it?

Well, Junior did do his patented tearing up during his press conference while relating how his baby sister (who just happens to be 30 some) called him yesterday and told him how proud she was of his service to the country.

It was quite the convincing Press Conference... really.

Your kidding right?

[Adrian Laguna]

I kind of like Prince Richard.

I forgot to mention, he's currently implementing a huge multi-step plan carefully designed to make-up for budget shortfalls and get me to change my mind. I doubt it will succeed in the first objective, which would just make it more likely to succeed in the second. We'll see how things look by the end of winter, and again around this time next year. I might start calling him something more insulting.

[Saxtonite]

Is Chicago any worse off proportionally than average?

I'd say YES given earlier in this year the CTA almost collapsed, unless it was given more state money (well it would be reduced heavily in services, prices shot up, etc).

That and as the other people said, given Chicago's climate the fact that 'side streets' (will ONLY be plowed on Weekends thiw Winter is BAD. Given the ice that forms from compaction, re-freezing and all that (live on a major street so that's not a problem for me). Also the PACE bus system sucks. Yes it mainly services suburbs and the sprawl is part of the reason for less bus services, but other things make it WORSE. like 2 hour delays for buses sometimes and often no semblance of following the bus schedule (unlike the Metra that follows the schedule and tells you when it doesn't)

I kind of like Prince Richard.

Why (other than your example of the budget fix)? For one thing, he was involved in setting up all the surveillance cameras in the city. Add on to that, the cameras that give you tickets for speeding and all that.

Also, yes I knew of it since the day it happened, people showing it on the CNN and all. My Mother works for the State Government in the Chicago City Center ('downtown'), apparently that's very popular in discussion now. She has some knowledge/experience with some of the corrupt parts of the system (not that she is involved in that AFAIK). But as others said it's Chicago/Illinois politics, but apparently the 'selling the senate seat' is surprising.

[Broomstick]

2. To the guy who said “it works”, given the now MAMMOTH budget shortfalls that Illinois & Chicago are experiencing, we can see now that it only works when the economy is booming. Now that it’s slow, you get even higher taxes (Chicago was already the most heavily taxed city in the country) and less services for it because of that corruption.

It was the Broomstick, who is of the female persuasion and therefore not a guy, and also everybody has massive budget shortfalls right now. Cities, counties, states, federal but that's practically a given at this point. Is Chicago any worse off proportionally than average?

I would also like to point out that I did NOT say it worked efficiently, cost-effectively, or cheaply. It does work - DESPITE being costly and inefficient, hence the high tax rate. As I said, the garbage IS picked up, the streetlights ARE lit, etc., etc. And, until this year, The Snow Was Plowed!

When the political machine decided that something must be done, it was done - be it garbage pick-up or selling expanding O'Hare airport, Bensenville be damned.

The current budget shortfalls are being experienced EVERYWHERE. The parking meter deal wasn't a "panic sale", it's been in the works for at least a year. Daley has been auctioning off city infrastructure (starting with the Skyway some years ago) as a means to raise money. Of course, then Stroger goes and raises county taxes which just makes things worse. Personally, I have strong issues with selling off infrastructure in the manner in which it has been done these past few years, but there probably are worse alternatives.

[Broomstick]

2. To the guy who said “it works”, given the now MAMMOTH budget shortfalls that Illinois & Chicago are experiencing, we can see now that it only works when the economy is booming. Now that it’s slow, you get even higher taxes (Chicago was already the most heavily taxed city in the country) and less services for it because of that corruption.

It was the Broomstick, who is of the female persuasion and therefore not a guy, and also everybody has massive budget shortfalls right now. Cities, counties, states, federal but that's practically a given at this point. Is Chicago any worse off proportionally than average?

Yes, Chicago is worse off than others. Thousands of people are getting let go, more are not getting replaced, all city employees are being forced to take unpaid vacation time, but those I imagine are givens.

Right - that's happening everywhere. As it happens, I was laid off from my job in the Loop in November of 2007. But if you think Chicago is bad you should see Gary, Indiana....

What's not a given is in a Snow City like Chicago, streets aren't getting salted or plowed, that's a real sign that things are really really bad.

Incorrect. SIDE STREETS are being salted and plowed later, and not on weekends. MAIN STREETS are still being attended to.

Yes, that is a change - it used to be Chicago assaulted the least flurries like the US storming the beaches at Normandy. So Chicagoans are not waking up to pristine streets anymore. Now, where I live, they REALLY aren't salting and plowing anymore, which is why we recently racked up 3,000 auto accidents in one day in Lake County, Indiana.

But to drive it home more, in a panic to make up the shortfall, the city had to sell it's parking meter's to a private company for around a billion or so (Daley already announced that this would result in a huge increase on parking meter fees, I believe his word was "staggering").

As I said - it wasn't a "panic sale", it's been in the works. Fact is, if they hadn't been sold parking still would have gone up - but now Daley can blame a private corporation instead of taking the heat himself.

Oh, and icing on the cake, they are raising fairs on all public transportation as well as cutting routes quite significantly. The reason this is icing on the cake is last year, the CTA got a huge bail out from the state in addition to a fair hike to stay some what solvent because they were hemoraging so much cash. But in literally, the last hour, Blagojevich threw in a clause that all senior citizens get to ride any public transportation for free just so he could buy some more votes.

Blago did that also to fuck with Daley.

This isn't even touching on such waste as Blago's $20,000 in signage proclaiming his beneficence at each and every IPass station (Open road, no top tolling stations) or the other state officers like Jesse White who has his name plasted all over every SecState DMV and other branches. All just to remind ya who brought you these great services! Though admittedly, White has saved the state quite a lotta money, so my hat is off to him for that.

You can't blame Blago for that - THAT sort of signage has been a tradition since I showed up in Chicago in 1983, and probably a lot longer before that.

[Patrick Degan]

Illinois' rehabilitation as a state ruled by honest government under rule of law is obviously a long-term project that will require carefully-phased stages. It's not something that can possibly be implemented in one fell swoop.

An obvious first step would be to get the bribery under control now that Blago's practically set a precedent for outright highway robbery. Taking a page from Jello Biafra's book, it would be a move in the right direction to at least establish a legal Illinois State Board of Bribery, to set fair and reasonable rates.

[xammer99]

Illinois' rehabilitation as a state ruled by honest government under rule of law is obviously a long-term project that will require carefully-phased stages. It's not something that can possibly be implemented in one fell swoop.

An obvious first step would be to get the bribery under control now that Blago's practically set a precedent for outright highway robbery. Taking a page from Jello Biafra's book, it would be a move in the right direction to at least establish a legal Illinois State Board of Bribery, to set fair and reasonable rates.

At this point, I honestly don't think it's possible to rehabilitate Illinois. There are these two huge problems with it that are so totally intertwined. Illinois citizens consider the corruption "normal" and a matter of course, and only get outraged when you have a really egregious violator, like Blagojevich. But as long as the corruption stays outta the limelight, they don't vote against it.

Conversely, the politicians reinforce the hell out of it with specific, high voting key demographics and it keeps getting them elected. When Blagojevich handed out free CTA rides to all seniors, it was an absolutely pander and everyone saw it, but they didn't fucking care past the initial outrage. Further, because of the rhetoric he courged it in, no one could oppose it without saying "No, senior citizens on limited incomes suck and should pay as much as everyone else!" And this was at the time when the CTA was tanking hard core and had to be bailed out. It literally did not have the money to support all those free rides _AND_ the increased ridership it generated.

Shit like this is incredibly common, though usually on a much smaller scale. The politicians know it will buy them votes in their key demographic and shamelessly play on it and the people let themselves be played. So long as they "get theirs" it's all okay. So you aren't going to see any sort of meaningful reform because the Machine knows how to wag the dog and it does it relentlessly. Even if Fitzgerald takes'em ALL down, the voters would just install another set and they'd continue with the same reindeer games. That Blagojevich turned so utterly corrupt on the heels of the last governor goin to jail for corruption proves it. He thought he was immune because he paid off the right people, be they fellow politician or voter.

I think it was Speaker Madigan who said it best "When we (the Dems) are in power, we're in power. When they (the Repubs) are in power, we're in power." He knows that no matter who is incharge in Illinois, the games will continue and nothing will change because the politicians don't want it too and the voters let themselves not be. Hell, even the "good" politicians have their hands in the till because you have to in order to get anything done in the state.

Oh, and someone will point out the new "ethics" legislation coming into effect in January that Blagojevich was scrambling to raise money in advance of. If you think that'll have any effect on shady donations, then I have this nice little bridge you might be interested in.

[Rogue 9]

Oh, it's possible; it'll just be very expensive and time-intensive for the FBI. And possibly also require an influential outraged citizen leader to get the people to throw the bums out, but if the bums continually go to jail, they'll either eventually wise up or they'll all be in jail.

[Bilbo]

The Blago event now even has Jesse Jackson SR on the defensive. He is telling anyone that will listen that he was not the emissary for his son.

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/ConductUn ... 928&page=1


What a warming thought that the Blagojevic scandal might bring down both Jesse Jackson Jr and Sr.

[Broomstick]

haha... Jr's lawyer is saying the offer for a Million came from someone who wasn't representing Junior.

Of course. It was some complete stranger who just wanted to get the seat for Jesse as a birthday present. I swear why do lawyers even waste their breath with crap like this. Does anyone ever believe even a word of it?

Oddly enough... that is actually remotely possible.

You see, there's a contingent that now feels that senate seat should be the "black" senate seat. If it's being auctioned to the highest bidder there are probably sufficient folks in that group to raise a million or two, whether or not they're personal "friends" of the Jacksons or not. Jesse Sr. actually did run for PotUS (lost, of course) and I know that family would sell their souls to put one of their own in the White House (one of the reasons Sr. was so pissed at Obama was because Obama was the first black prez instead of Sr. or Jr.), and Jr. might well think that having Obama's seat would be a stepping stone towards that goal

So, yeah, it makes sense. In a twisted, totally corrupt politics sort of way.

[Bilbo]

haha... Jr's lawyer is saying the offer for a Million came from someone who wasn't representing Junior.

Of course. It was some complete stranger who just wanted to get the seat for Jesse as a birthday present. I swear why do lawyers even waste their breath with crap like this. Does anyone ever believe even a word of it?

Oddly enough... that is actually remotely possible.

You see, there's a contingent that now feels that senate seat should be the "black" senate seat. If it's being auctioned to the highest bidder there are probably sufficient folks in that group to raise a million or two, whether or not they're personal "friends" of the Jacksons or not. Jesse Sr. actually did run for PotUS (lost, of course) and I know that family would sell their souls to put one of their own in the White House (one of the reasons Sr. was so pissed at Obama was because Obama was the first black prez instead of Sr. or Jr.), and Jr. might well think that having Obama's seat would be a stepping stone towards that goal

So, yeah, it makes sense. In a twisted, totally corrupt politics sort of way.

I am pretty sure that Hell could not freeze over enough for Jesse jr or sr ever stepping foot in the White House as Prez.

[Broomstick]

YOU know that... and I know that... but do they know that?

Obama wasn't elected just because he sat in the senate any more than he was elected just because he was black... but some people just don't get it.

[Bilbo]

Looks like the noose is tightening on the Jackson family. It is out that Jackson allies held a fundraiser for Blago just a week ago on Saturday.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/loca ... 0556.story

You can run Jesse and son but you cannot hide on this one. Obama will happily throw you both under the bus to make sure none of it gets to him.

[xammer99]

I continue to hope against hope that since Blagojevich is facing 20 years for each of those counts he'll do some serious rolling and burn'em all. I mean seriously, why shouldn't he? The Chicago Machine is hanging him out to dry, so return the favor! Knock a week, or hell a month off for every person he testifies against and walk.

C'mon Rod, pull a Frank Lucas!

But yeah, the fundraiser thing over the weekend & Jr's 90min meet with Blagojevich makes it appallingly obvious why the Fed's jumped on Tuesday. They thought he was about to name Jr to the seat and wanted to head it off so they wouldn't have to be going after/humiliating a named/sitting senator.

As for the a citizen leader stepping up to lead the charge against corruption in Illinois... are you kidding? This is the Chicago Machine, it's been around for over a century now. They are the Tammany Hall of the 20th & 21st Centuries signing up very voter they can get and handing out turkey's (or free CTA rides) to everyone in exchange for a vote! _NO ONE_ comes out of that system clean and Obama's challenge is going to be ducking it for the next 4-8 years.

A radio guy was absolutely right when he said that Chicago politics is the Crazy Uncle Loni (the guy who lives in the basement in his underwear and periodically comes out to terrify the guests) for the Obama administration. Carter had his brother, Clinton had his brothers and Hillary's, and Obama has the Chicago Machine. Unfortunately for Obama, the Machine is far more interesting and shockingly corrupt, thus it'll make much better headlines. He's got a LOT of dancing to do, and it's very telling that a mouth like Rahm is keeping his shut TIGHT and even skipping a press conference. That dude NEVER misses a chance before the cameras.

So again, I hope like hell that Obama doesn't get really drawn into this shit, but with as inbred as Chicago politics are, I don't see how he's going to be able to avoid it. Specially if they start looking at the South Side public housing stuff he worked on that are now giant death traps.