The traveling circus of Gov. Blagojevich selling Obama's Illinois Senate seat is racing down the road at lightning speed! There's really too much information to get into a whole lot of detail, so here's an extremely high-level summary of the key events as I've been keeping up with them:
- Gov. Blago is still working as Governor, and can do so according to Illinois law even from jail
- there have been mixed messages from the Obama campaign about just how much contact Obama has had with Blago regarding his seat
- Obama has said on the record that he had no conversation with Blago about it, nor did his staff
- Obama staffers have said they've had conversations with Blago about it
- common sense tells one that it is natural to have conversations about filling the seat, though it is not a given that Obama knew the extent of the dirtiness going on from Blago
- many of the potential appointees are now being made public, and most are products of the Chicago political machine
- conservatives are, of course, being mean by pursuing this scandal, which really should be no big deal because it's business as usual in Chicago
- Jesse Jackson, Jr. appears to have known far more than he led on about what was really going on; it appears he offered $1 million in contributions for the appointment
- the Illinois Attorney General is trying to get Blago removed because he's such an idiot
- Obama Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel is apparently recorded on the tapes which led to Blago getting busted, so he is involved up to his eyeballs in it
- Emanuel has suddenly disappeared, and refuses to take questions from reporters
Again, it is not clear how much knowledge Obama or his staff had of Blago's intentions, but it looks increasingly like someone knew a heckuva lot. It's a sure bet that someone will be thrown under the bus with the obligatory, 'I had no idea [the newest scapegoat] was that kind of person!' declaration by Obama, and the media will happily move on to other, more pressing things like the Obama girls' new puppy. The only questions is: who will take the fall?
Of all the disturbing pieces of this mess, one that isn't getting much play is that liberals are once again trying to silence anyone who becomes inconvenient. Blago is a nutcase, but I don't for a moment believe he's actually insane. But, because he's suddenly become a political danger to the Obamessiah, they're using the insanity defense to try to invalidate anyone who has come into contact with him -- including anyone on Obama's staff - in the past few weeks, and they're even trying to kick him out of the public eye illegally through the AG's office. The Silencer hat apparently fits Obama well - he wore it frequently during the campaign, so he's keeping it on now. I expect it'll be a permanent outfit for his Presidency.
Anyway, the really messed up part of all of this is that this is no surprise to people who understand Chicago/Illinois politics - it really is business as usual. The level of corruption in that city and state are immense, and the rest of the country is just now starting to see it. It begs the question of how Obama could possibly have risen so far so fast from that cesspool without being tainted by it -- never mind the fact that Obama may end up having the most corrupt Cabinet in American history -- but we are all supposed to be good little Obots and not bother with an answer.
Move along...there is nothing to see here...have some more Kool-Aid...
There's my two cents.
Sources:
http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2008/12/oh-brother-obama-already-caught-lying.html
http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2008/12/blagojevich-arrest-shakes-obama.html
http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2008/12/obama-met-with-blagojevich-in-chicago.html
http://michellemalkin.com/2008/12/10/reuters-doesnt-like-conservative-snarking-over-blagos-bust/
http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NDkzYWM1OWI3M2Q5YTA3MTEyMDg4M2NmODgwNTJmMWE=
http://www.weeklystandard.com/weblogs/TWSFP/2008/12/what_blagogate_says_about_obam_1.asp
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/32137_Obama_Did_Discuss_Senate_Seat_with_Blagojevich_-_Update-_KHQA_Pulls_Their_Articles#rss
http://hillbuzz.wordpress.com/2008/12/10/senate-candidates-aliases-update-1-4-and-5-seem-to-be-revealed/
http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2008/12/report-michelle-obama-is-specifically.html
http://hotair.com/archives/2008/12/11/depends-on-how-you-define-contact/
http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2008/12/ruh-rohrahm-emanuel-continues-to-duck.html
http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2008/12/chicago-tribune-reporter-obama-is.html
http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/obama/1326788,rahm-emanuel-blagojevich-obama-121108.article
http://hillbuzz.wordpress.com/2008/12/12/fox-chicago-is-reporting-that-rahm-emanuel-had-multiple-conversations-with-rod-blagojevich-about-a-list-of-people-obama-wanted-named-as-his-senate-replacement-obama-is-lying-about-his-staffs-role-i/
http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2008/12/breaking-rahm-emanuel-spoke-with-hot.html
http://hillbuzz.wordpress.com/2008/12/12/chicago-tribune-proves-jesse-jackson-jr-is-lying-his-representatives-did-offer-to-buy-thesenate-seat/
http://mypetjawa.mu.nu/archives/195398.php
http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2008/12/jjj-backers-sought-1-million-for-hot.html
http://hotair.com/archives/2008/12/12/breaking-blago-chief-of-staff-resigns/
http://mariestwocents.blogspot.com/2008/12/barack-obamas-cheif-of-staff-rahm.html
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