Wednesday, December 10, 2008

BlagoGate, Day 2

UPDATED & BUMPED: Under the bus:

President-elect Barack Obama is calling for Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich to resign. Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs says the president-elect agrees with other prominent politicians that "under the current circumstances, it is difficult for the governor to effectively do his job and serve the people of Illinois."

(Via Hot Air.) And, also via Hot Air, "Senate Candidate 5" was Jesse Jackson Jr. I'm shocked, shocked!

MORE: Controverting claims that Obama did not discuss with the governor who would fill his Senate seat, in fact he met with Blagojevich Nov. 5 in Chicago. (H/T: Instapundit.)

UPDATE 4 P.M.: I'd rather be rubbing my hands in glee than hiding my head in shame. (H/T: Malkin.)

UPDATE 5 P.M.: Senate Democrats ask Blago to resign.

PREVIOUSLY: Day One here and here, in case you're joining this melodrama in progress. OK, so Illinois Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich is under indictment for trying to sell the Senate seat being vacated by the president elect, and the question now is: What did Obama know, and when did he know it?

Allahpundit has a good rundown: Obama denies having any contact with Blagojevich, an assertion contradicted by Obama's campaign manager:

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."
So, which is it? Did Obama talk to Blagojevich about his replacement, or didn't he?

UPDATE I: RiShawn Biddle has a profile of Blagojevich:
After marrying the daughter of a longtime Chicago alderman, Richard Mell, Blagojevich parlayed his father-in-law's political ties and a squeaky-clean image as a populist reformer into stints in the Illinois House of Representatives and the congressional seat once held by the infamously corrupt Dan Rostenkowski, before placing the governorship into Democratic control for the first time in three decades.
So much for that "squeaky-clean image"! Philip Klein:
Blagojevich's declaration, recorded by wiretap, that a Senate seat "is a fu--ing valuable thing, you don't just give it away for nothing," is sure to enter the political scandal lexicon along with Larry Craig's "I have a wide stance" and Marion Barry's "the bitch set me up."
UPDATE II: Byron York questions the timing:
And then, on December 4, something changed, and that change was the presence of the person referred to in the complaint as "Candidate Five." If the complaint is correct, in "Candidate Five," Blagojevich finally found a prospective senator who might come up with money - $500,000 for Blagojevich's political organization - in return for the Obama seat.
A press leak to the Chicago Tribune Dec. 5 apparently scotched the deal, and York observes:
For anyone who has watched the case, the astonishing thing is that Blagojevich, prior to December 5, could possibly have assumed that he wasn’t under surveillance. But he apparently did, making for some of the juiciest political wiretaps in years.
UPDATE III: Michelle Malkin has a caption contest:

My suggestion: "Who is that man with Obama, and why is he wearing Michael Nesmith's hair?"

Michelle also has a column today about Nancy "Culture of Corruption" Pelosi:
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.
Year in, year out, Democrats are more corrupt than Republicans. That's a fact established to the point of statistical certainty in Donkey Cons: Sex, Crime, and Corruption in the Democratic Party, and in the two years since it was published, Democrats have only added more evidence to prove our point.

7 comments:

  1. Video is unavailable..

    Memory hole working overtime today..

    ReplyDelete
  2. "So, which is it? Did Obama talk to Blagojevich about his replacement, or didn't he?"

    And so it starts. I'm actually kind of happy for you Cons. This Blogo thing seems to have lifted your spirits. I haven't seen the Vietnamese-boy-in-drag Michelle Malkin so enthusiastic since the devastating loss November 4th.
    It's like X-mas came early for the sore losers on the Right. We can now look forward to months of innuendo and ankle biting from Conservative media types.It's all you guys have left!!!
    So...Happy Holidays Losers!

    ReplyDelete
  3. No, no, NO!

    Blago-QUIDDICK!

    ReplyDelete
  4. "So, which is it? Did Obama talk to Blagojevich about his replacement, or didn't he?"

    While I'd hate to upset Young 4-Eyes, it appears that yes, he did, on Nov. 5:

    Who will fill Obama's senate seat?
    Ill. governor meeting with Obama today


    That's one of Obama's first priorities today.

    He's meeting with Governor Rod Blagojevich this afternoon in Chicago to discuss it.

    Illinois law states that the governor chooses that replacement.

    There's already been speculation about his selection...from Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr. of Chicago's south side who co-chaired Obama's presidential campaign, to recently-retired state senate president Emil Jones, to the governor himself.


    My hope is that his lying about it is enough to at least knock him off his pedestal. I am so sick of the gushing all over this guy, I could just puke. (It doesn't help that he's as overexposed as Britney Spears.)

    But, it may end up worse for him. Like Volokh reminds us, "It's not the crime that trips you up, it's the cover-up."

    I was listening to Mike Church this morning and some dame from Chicago was on, and she said there's no conceivable way Obama didn't know about this because that's not how Chicago politics works, and furthermore, Blago has no friends and he will sing like a bird.

    I just love a good political scandal because it reinforces the fact that, for the most part, politicians are lying, self-serving shitheels.

    ReplyDelete
  5. MORE: Controverting claims that Obama did not discuss with the governor who would fill his Senate seat, in fact he met with Blagojevich Nov. 5 in Chicago.

    Well, what do you know. That piece miraculously disappeared from the interwebz!:

    "Content for Src="217582" of Type="application/html; src=cms-id" is unavailable."

    But, this one from Nov. 8 is still available, for now (which I will post in full, for posterity's sake):

    Duckworth comments on consideration for Senate
    By Alexis Hunt
    Saturday, November 08, 2008 at 9:48 p.m.

    QUINCY, IL -- Now that Barack Obama will be moving to the White House, his seat in the U.S. Senate representing Illinois will have to be filled.

    Obama met with Governor Rod Blagojevich earlier this week to discuss it. Illinois law states that the governor chooses that replacement. There's already been speculation about his selection...from Congressman Jesse Jackson, Junior to Illinois Department of Veterans' Affairs Director Tammy Duckworth.

    Duckworth made an appearance in Saturday's Veterans' parade in Quincy. We asked her about the possibility of filling Obama's seat.

    "The Governor's office confirmed yesterday that he is considering me and I am deeply honored jus to be considered. I hope whoever is selected is someone who is willing to travel around the state and gets to know this wonderful state. I'm just honored to be considered," Duckworth said.

    The governor expects to make his decision before Christmas. Part of the timing depends on when Obama officially vacates his senate seat.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Memory hole working overtime today..

    I should say!

    Duckworth comments on consideration for Senate
    By Alexis Hunt
    Saturday, November 08, 2008 at 9:48 p.m.

    "Content for Src="219212" of Type="application/html; src=cms-id" is unavailable."

    Heh.

    ReplyDelete
  7. "It's not the crime that trips you up, it's the cover-up."
    Assuming there is a crime to cover-up.
    But don't let that get in way of your grasping at straws because you are "tired of all the gushing".
    Thank you for exposing conservative pettiness.
    Your over-reaching will be a boon for Obama...

    ReplyDelete