WWTBAM Bored

In a sequence of events that neatly captures the contradictions of Barack Obama’s rise through Illinois politics, a phone call he made three months ago to urge passage of a state ethics bill indirectly contributed to the downfall of a fellow Democrat he twice supported, Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich.

Mr. Obama placed the call to his political mentor, Emil Jones Jr., president of the Illinois Senate. Mr. Jones was a critic of the legislation, which sought to curb the influence of money in politics, as was Mr. Blagojevich, who had vetoed it. But after the call from Mr. Obama, the Senate overrode the veto, prompting the governor to press state contractors for campaign contributions before the law’s restrictions could take effect on Jan. 1, prosecutors say.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/10/us/po ... f=politics

It will be interesting to see what Blago does. It's pretty clear that Tony Rezko rolled on Blago (which explains how they got court approval for the wiretaps), and the only bigger fish Blago can cut a deal to bring down would be Obama. Contrary to what was reported, the prosecutors have not closed the books on Obama. They just haven't found anything to this point that they care to make public.

Some of the people that Blago was pressuring were very close to Obama like Valerie Jarratt, Jesse Jackson Jr. and Emil Jones. You can't tell me that Obama wasn't aware of what was going on.

silverscreenselect wrote:You can't tell me that Obama wasn't aware of what was going on.

Given your preconceptions on the matter, I'm fairly sure that God Almighty couldn't tell you that and be believed.

Nate Silver at fivethirtyeight.com has a fairly good analysis of the actual language of the indictment. --Bob

Need I remind you that the Electoral College assembles next Monday in their respective (not respectable) state capitals?

Bob78164 wrote:

silverscreenselect wrote:You can't tell me that Obama wasn't aware of what was going on.

Given your preconceptions on the matter, I'm fairly sure that God Almighty couldn't tell you that and be believed.

Nate Silver at fivethirtyeight.com has a fairly good analysis of the actual language of the indictment. --Bob

Watergate was originally limited to the arrests of a handful of burglars, Hunt, and Liddy.

This case is not going the way that Patrick Fitzgerald would have wanted. It's almost unheard of in a high profile white collar case like this to have a major arrest made before a federal grand jury hands down an indictment. However, the risk that Blago might have appointed someone (even himelf) to the Senate seat before Fitzgerald could nail down the case against him was just too great.

This investigation is by no means over. If Jesse Jackson Jr. is "candidate #5," as appears likely, he has a lot of explaining to do and it could well lead back to some of the people in Obama's transition team. There is no way that Obama can get rid of Fitzgerald now unless he decides to appoint an independent special prosecutor who will essentially see where it all leads. Fitzgerald will continue to make his case against Blago and any others involved and it remains to be seen just how high up the food chain this goes. From the attitude of complete disgust on Fitzgerald's face and in his words at the press conference, he wants to bring down whoever is involved in this whole mess, and it's not just limited to buying the Senate seat.

One difference that I see between Obama's inside group and Nixon's is that I just don't see that many people, Blago, Jackson and Rezko in particular, willing to fall on their swords to protect Obama the way Nixon's people did.