This Illinois governor they just arrested sounds completely at home in an issue of "Daredevil" or "The Punisher" --
On wiretaps he's recorded as referring to Obama's empty Senate seat as "...a fucking valuable thing, you just don't give it away for nothing." In reference to Obama's suggestion for a replacement, he said "Fuck him. For nothing? Fuck him...but they're not willing to give me anything except appreciation. Fuck them."
Basically, he wanted political/financial favors for the Senate seat. Because to him it wasn't a public office...it was a commodity for his own power and enrichment. He also allegedly wanted to "punish" the Chicago Tribune for running unfavorable articles about him.
It is beyond scary to think that there could be a person of such high rank who thinks this way. I'm probably naive. I still want to think this sort of villainy is only the purview of comic books.
But I'll bet the people who had to stand by and quietly watch this corruption flourish are doing the Snoopy dance right now...
This is fascinating. On the one hand, I am not surprised at all in the abstract that this stuff happens, but it is always a little surprising when it actually happens.
ReplyDeleteLook at Bush, who gave FEMA away to an old buddy from the race track. Or Palin, who "fought" corruption so she could fill important posts with donors and friends.
ReplyDeleteThis stuff happens all the time, in all kinds of ways.
In minor defense of the state of Illinois, he has been widely unpopular and known corrupt since early in his first term of office, and was re-elected only to keep the office out of the hands of the Republican party. (Though hated, he defeated a very decent Republican, whom I and many other Democrats voted for as State Treasurer four years earlier, by ten points, for the sole reason of party affiliation. Since their national victory in 2002, Republicans have been given no quarter in Illinois.)
ReplyDeleteYou're naive, Valerie. Illinois and Chicago politics have been corrupt for decades.
ReplyDelete"It is beyond scary to think that there could be a person of such high rank who thinks this way."
ReplyDeleteJust par for the course in the wonderful state of Illinois...which makes Louisiana look like a church social.
I think you're giving Blago (his nickname here in the state of IL) way too much credit.
ReplyDeleteHe's a buffoon. He's closer to being like Silvermane or Turk than he is Wilson Fisk. Actually, I'd compare him to Doc Ock because of his bad hair.
And now this story has invaded even OS. It really IS a small world. :)
G Rod (which is what the Sun Times calls Governor Rod Blagojevich) has been under investigation forever.
ReplyDeleteThere are a few things about this arrest that troubles me, though.
1. It's VERY public. The FBI didn't ask for him to come in for questioning or to turn himeself in. They came to his door early in the am, woke him up, and arrested him.
2. One of the allegations against him is that he was pissed that the Chicago Tribune said bad things about him, so he told them to (essentially) be nicer or he'd stand in the way of the Tribune Company's attempt to buy Wrigley Field. But the editors of the Trib came out and said that no pressure was put on them at all.
3. One of the most visible people after G Rod's arrest was the US Attorney for the Northern District: Patrick Fitzgerald. You may recognize his name as being the investigator for the Valerie Plame affair. Why was he front and center doing press conferences hours after the arrest?
4. There's been a lot of back and forth over the Senate's composition of Republicans to Democrats. Could someone be angling to convert this formerly Dem post to the "party in opposition"?
A lot of weirdness.
Oh, and, also, the Kingpin would never be caught in a vest and turtleneck combo like this
ReplyDeleteThat story is truly disgusting. It really is hard to believe a living, breathing human being can think like that. Is it too much to hope he's a Skrull?
ReplyDeleteThis is pattycake compared to the way, oh, say, the Vice President thinks.
ReplyDeleteIn my day, [expletive deleted] was used. Now, the Vice President can use profanity, and nobody cares.
ReplyDeleteNaive? Nah... Just an example of how Idealism infects the American public. We want to believe in Good Government, but realize that people are human, and greed and power are addictive.
A better hope is that people will get what's coming to them, either here or in the hereafter.
Here's a nice list to restore your faith, Val:
http://politicalgraveyard.com/special/trouble-disgrace.html
(And if you're Catholic, do NOT research Pope Alexander VI! Although, his death was rather gruesome...)
I think that the people that "had to sand quietly by" are as guilty as that man.
ReplyDeleteI think that this case is just like bullying in schools, there are always three roles to play, the bully, the victim and the "watcher" and they all can stop that sort of thing, and if thay don't it's their fault
Val, I don't won't shock you, but the true kingpin of Illinois is Mayor Daley. The only difference is that like Marvel's Kingpin he knows how not to get caught.
ReplyDeleteBlago(getting caught on tape!) was swimming too far in the deep end. Good riddance.
Good call on Daley being the real Wilson Fisk.
ReplyDeleteAlso, Blago did, in fact, try to get someone fired from the Tribune. Maybe the Trib pretended it didn't happen because the investigation was ongoing, but it happened, and they mentioned it in an editorial calling for Blago's resignation.
I see that you, and some others, are using the phrase "can't believe" or "I had no idea", but I think you all do. You act as if your words are vistigual, whether by exaggerated conversation, which people do, or not. Everyone here knows things like this happen constantly. From the kid who wants that toy so bad that they take it from a friend/store to the big guy who wants more tax flow because he wants a jacuzzi to go along with his pool. We all know this happens.
ReplyDeleteBut, ya, for this world to have a Punisher, sure. For this guy, not so much. I'm not religious, so I wouldn't be sure Punisher would send him to fire and brimstone. So, ironically, I was thinking DareDevil and the brutal beating he'd give would suffice for me.
"Maybe the Trib pretended it didn't happen because the investigation was ongoing..."
ReplyDeleteYeah, the Trib was asked to put some stories on hold by the feds in order to protect the investigation.
Really, I'm not surprised. The guy is grade-A sleaze. He came to my high school once, for some damn reason, and as a member of the newspaper staff I got to meet him. You almost felt like you had to shower afterward.
The thing that gets me is the absolute arrogance of the guy - he KNEW he was being looked at. He knew it. But he's using his own phone, making these comments, as if it doesn't even matter.
@Hysan/Matt: Different issue. Gerould Kern (EIC of the Trib) said this after the arrest:
ReplyDelete"No one within Tribune Company has ever complained to me about the positions taken by our editorial board, or attempted to influence our coverage of the governor in any way."
They weren't withholding info on this piece. He just denied it ever happened. Same with the Editorial Page Editor, John McCormick: the name Blagojevich uses on the tape.
It could be that he was just talking straight to Sam Zell and only him, and Zell didn't want to communicate this down, but then why haven't we heard from Zell? What does he have to lose?
"From the kid who wants that toy so bad that they take it from a friend/store"
ReplyDeleteThanks for taking me back to when I was 3 or 4 years old and I did steal a Star Wars action figure from a friend (oh, C-3PO, why did you have to be so shiny and cool?)
In my defense, it was a crazy time in my life, when I was getting used to the added responsibilities of going to the bathroom in a toilet as well as getting the basic concepts of near and far nailed down as relayed by Grover.
I got in plenty of trouble over it, felt horrible, apologized, and learned important lessons about trust, integrity, and that stealing is bad, m'kay. Since then, I feel bad about taking a penny from the "take a penny" tray.