By Steve Rhodes
I’ll be building this column as I go this morning (and afternoon), right before your eyes. You’ll have to scroll through it for updates and additional items at the bottom. There’s a reason we didn’t set this up as a blog, which may not serve us well today, but believe me it’s served our purposes otherwise.
Hating Rod
Who is the biggest Blago hater in the land right about now?
I take a shot at it here, using a 10-point scale with one being “he’s still kind of a lovable goofball” and 10 being “I’d like to tear off his head and puke into his dead skull.” You can add your own names to the list.
Holy Defiler!
Blago tried to sell out Cub fans and sick children.
Insanity Watch
Fox’s Good Day Chicago is picking up on the “Is Blago Insane?” meme right now, wondering if he has a personality disorder.
Junior
U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. opened his press conference yesterday with this:
“The next time I introduce legislation I hope all of you show up.”
This reminded me of something he said when I profiled him in 2005 for Chicago magazine. At the time, Jackson was getting a lot of media attention for his broadsides against Mayor Daley’s corruption-soaked City Hall, leading to speculation that he was planning a mayor challenge. The attention bothered him in the way that it bothered him that reporters only seemed to call him when they needed a comment on a racial issue. Jackson has been – as far as I can tell – a clean, hard-working congressman. That doesn’t get covered.
My sense is that Jackson will be proven innocent, though there’s not much value in speculating. Someone else may have been trying to broker a deal, or conversations may have been presented to the governor in a particular way, or the governor may have been fantasizing.
I have been surprised at how vigorously Jackson has campaigned for the Senate seat. Now that’s come back to bite him because it lends an aura to the allegations that are hard to escape. He’s already shown us that he wants the job really, really, really bad.
But if he comes out of this provably clean – and he hasn’t been charged with anything and prosecutors say he is not a target of their investigation – he deserves a fair chance at that seat.
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Jackson also told me that the reason why he hadn’t moved up into House leadership was because it was “too expensive.” I confess I didn’t get it at first, so I had to ask him what he meant. He meant that you have to raise prodigious amounts of campaign funds for yourself and others to be considered for leadership posts, and he just didn’t want to spend his time doing that.
Chicago Way
Mary Mitchell just made a good point on Good Day Chicago. Of the governor, she said, “He dared speak what is going on every single day in this state.”
In a sense, that’s true. You can argue that U.S. Senate seats aren’t sold to the highest bidder every day in Illinois, but in a sense they are. Wasn’t the media speculating all along that Blagojevich would make the choice that benefited him the most politically? Wasn’t Emil Jones just the latest in a long line of Illinois pols to bequeath his public office to his kid? Don’t you think Barack Obama endorsed Daley for mayor with the express purpose of gaining the mayor’s fundraising support and clout for his presidential campaign?
I’m not making the tired, old and wrong argument that Patrick Fitzgerald is criminalizing politics. I’m saying that our politics is already criminal. Blagojevich merely made the same mistake – if the allegations are true – that we’ve seen our less artful aldermen make while folks like Eddie Burke become enormously wealthy and socially respected.
The Obama aspect of this case is what has made it such an international sensation, but the more serious (alleged) crimes, one might suppose, include shaking down a children’s hospital and what we’re sure to see in a superceding indictment including the real stuff the feds have been investigating for all these years.
Obamalot
Suddenly the media has discovered the political culture of our state after shutting their ears, eyes and mouths during the presidential campaign. Obama isn’t implicated in this and I have no reason to think he will be. But when Obama propagandist Mary Mitchell, to name just one of many examples, says that this is how politicians gain power in Illinois, isn’t she leaving someone out?
After all, as people are seemingly now just discovering, Obama helped Blagojevich plot strategy on his way to the governor’s mansion, which included positioning the mediocre hack of a son-in-law to a Chicago ward heeler as a progressive reformer, and they both share two vital fixers in common: Tony Rezko and Emil Jones.
UPDATE 10:42 A.M.: I’ve been asked about this in an e-mail. This is from Ryan Lizza’s must-read from July – when being from Chicago’s political culture was perversely a badge of honor for Obama because it meant he knew how to play the game – in The New Yorker, “Making It: How Chicago Shaped Obama“:
That year, [Obama] gained his first high-level experience in a statewide campaign when he advised the victorious gubernatorial candidate Rod Blagojevich, another politician with a funny name and a message of reform. Rahm Emanuel, a congressman from Chicago and a friend of Obama’s, told me that he, Obama, David Wilhelm, who was Blagojevich’s campaign co-chair, and another Blagojevich aide were the top strategists of Blagojevich’s victory. He and Obama “participated in a small group that met weekly when Rod was running for governor,” Emanuel said. “We basically laid out the general election, Barack and I and these two.” A spokesman for Blagojevich confirmed Emanuel’s account, although David Wilhelm, who now works for Obama, said that Emanuel had overstated Obama’s role. “There was an advisory council that was inclusive of Rahm and Barack but not limited to them,” Wilhelm said, and he disputed the notion that Obama was “an architect or one of the principal strategists.”
And no, having been absurdly and offensively spun by Wilhelm myself, I don’t believe Wilhelm’s after-the-fact revision countering what Emanuel said and the governor’s spokesman confirmed for a second.
UPDATE 11:11 A.M.: Is it unreasonable to wonder if Rezko could be a danger to Obama? Not at all.
Lego Blago
A reader writes: “Anyone who looks like a giant Lego person should not have been trusted in the first place.”
UPDATE: 10:53 A.M.: A reader writes: “Speaking of Lego Blago . . . ”
I was picturing blockier hair.
TO BE CONTINUED
It is 9:55 a.m. as I write this. I will now depart for coffee and donuts at 7-11 and return shortly to pick this back up again. I’ll be here all day, send me your quips and comments.
UPDATE: In case anyone cares, I prefer the French Vanilla, but whatever coffee I choose from the impressive variety offered, I get the 20 oz. and put two French Vanilla creams in it and two Splendas. I also tend to go for the twisty donut thing because it’s 89 cents. I used to get the apple fritter, but it’s something like $1.39 now, and that’s just not right.
UPDATE: 12:25 P.M.: A reader writes: “I prefer the hazelnut creamer with hazelnut coffee . . . with either the chocolate or plain old fashioned glazed donut. YUM!
Free Rod
That’s the t-shirt I just saw in the window of Propaganda, the t-shirt store. Um, I don’t think that one’s gonna work guys. But I would like to revive the Gov. Baloneyvich nickname I came up with all by myself early in this site’s history.
Rezko Watch
“Will Rezko or Tapes Prove More Damaging in Case Against Ill. Gov?”
The ABA Journal’s Debra Cassens Weiss takes a look.
Turow’s Tune
As Debra notes, news outlets are reporting that a footnote in the affidavit against Blagojevich seems to confirm that Rezko is cooperating with authorities. Scott Turow made the same point on TV last night, but Turow also said something that really bugged me.
Speaking about the state’s sleazy political culture, Turow said there was an “equally durable tradition of reform-minded people getting into office.”
Really? Name them. Reformers are the exceptions to the rule here, and even our version of “reformer” is pretty weak. I mean, geez, among the names Turow mentioned was Jim Thompson. Case closed.
Book Deal
Mike Knezovich, one of the brains behind Reading With Scissors, suggests (inspired by his wife) that Blago’s memoir be titled The Audacity of a Dope.
He notes that that Blagosphere is having a field day, and that Blagojevich put the “oy” in government.
Merry XXXmas
This isn’t Blago-related, but it’s too good to pass up today.
A faithful Beachwood reader sends in this two-paragraph item from the Tribune:
Geneva
Prankster Plays Reindeer Games
A Geneva family reported that someone keeps entering its back yard to rearrange its animated lighted reindeer into graphic positions.
The latest incident at the East Mallory Drive residence took place about 9 p.m. Saturday, and now the reindeer will no longer operate. It was the third such incident.
Trib Tout
A couple of readers tell me they saw a TV commercial this morning for the Tribune showing clips of Patrick Fitzgerald praising them for holding off on printing a story (or stories) at Fitzgerald’s request, followed by “Subscribe to the Tribune.”
Now edited by Patrick Fitzgerald.
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That’s just a joke. I have no particular reason to think the Tribune erred in its decision to acquiesce to Fitzgerald; I simply do not have the facts. But geez, using it as an advertisement? Beyond tacky. Totally inappropriate.
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UPDATE 12:56 P.M.: Oh my God, I just saw the Trib ad with Fitzgerald, that is so wrong! It’s only one step removed from Tony Peraica, and there’s a serious ethical issue in basically marketing yourself as being in league with a public official.
UPDATE 1:16 P.M.: A reader writes:
“After Fitzgerald made those comments at his news conference praising the Tribune for its cooperation, I believe Sam Zell leaned over to Lee Abrams and declared, ‘This is a fucking valuable thing, you just don’t give it away for nothing.’ Hence, the ad.”
Culture Wars
My uncle is a former state legislator in Minnesota. He just sent me this note:
“You could not make it up like this. . . .unbelievable for a Minnesotan.”
I remember once describing to him not so much how the illegal side of things worked here, but the day-to-day normalities of Illinois’s political culture. He was aghast. “You mean I could’ve made money doing that?” he said of one particular way of doing business. Not that he would have. I’m proud to say he was an honorable public servant.
Fiscal Fallout
I just saw a Bloomberg TV report saying that, because of Blagojevich’s arrest, Standard & Poor’s might cut the state’s credit rating, and that the state’s sale of $1.4 billion in municipal notes scheduled for today has been postponed.
Nice going, Rod!
Fiscal Fiasco
This just in: NEW SURVEY FINDS BAD ECONOMY HAS MANY CONSIDERING CHANGES TO INSURANCE POLICIES.
That’s just what Patti Blagojevich is thinking.
Poll Positions
* “84% of Illinois Voters Say Blagojevich Should Resign.”
Apparently 16% of Illinoisans weren’t home to answer the phone.
Programming Note
I’m really enjoying this; I’m almost manic.Keep those comments coming!
Train Set
A reader excerpts an e-mail conversation with a co-worker:
“Fun El Conductor (have I ever told you about him?) Anyhow, when we got to Lake, he said ‘Have a nice Day. We need a new governor!'”
WikiBlago
From Blago’s Wikipedia page:
“Through his father-in-law’s connections, Blagojevich clerked for Chicago Alderman Edward Vrdolyak. Blagojevich then took a job as Cook County Assistant State’s Attorney (assistant prosecutor) under State’s Attorney Richard M. Daley, specializing in domestic abuse crimes and felony weapons cases.
“He voted for Ronald Reagan for President in the 1980s.”
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And then Mell clouted him into Dan Rostenkowski’s old congressional seat, after which he ran for governor as (sort of) a reformer. I’m proud to say that at the time – in writing – I called Blagojevich an empty suit with no discernible achievements who had been a mediocre backbencher in both Springfield and Washington. Not all of my media colleagues – dazzled by the man’s charm on a rope line – agreed. Some thought he was a prodigious, Clinton-like political talent. And they know who they are, though reading some of them today makes me think they’ve forgotten.
Facebook Blago
1,679 supporters.
And the G is interviewing every one of ’em!
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My favorite part:
Employer: State of Illinois
Position: Governor
Time Period: January 2003 – Present
Description: Getting things done for people.
UPDATE 1;27 P.M.: I think that Facebook link is broken now. But check out these.
Waiting for Webb
The Dan Webb Watch.
Political Standard
A reader writes:
“When people ask me what I expect from my elected representative, I always say ‘That they not make me puke.’
On the surface, a very reasonable request. Yet time after time my high ethical standards prove my undoing.”
Rush Bowl
Leave it to Bobby Rush to devote himself to the most important issues facing taxpayers.
[T]he bill – being co-sponsored by Reps. Bobby Rush, an Illinois Democrat, and Michael McCaul, a Texas Republican – will prohibit the marketing, promotion, and advertising of a postseason game as a ‘national championship’ football game, unless it is the result of a playoff system. Violations of the prohibition will be treated as violations of the Federal Trade Commission Act as an unfair or deceptive act or practice.”
Transparent Transition
“President-elect Barack Obama’s Transition today launched ‘Open for Questions,’ a Digg-style feature allowing citizens to submit questions, and to vote on one another’s questions, bringing favored inquiries to the top of the list,” Ben Smith reports at Politico.
“It was suggested when it launched that the tool would bring uncomfortable questions to the fore, but the results so far are the opposite: Obama’s supporters appear to be using – and abusing – a tool allowing them to “flag” questions as “inappropriate” to remove all questions mentioning Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich from the main pages of Obama’s website.”
All Blago All The Time
I just saw an interview with golfer Corey Pavin, who was just named captain of the U.S. Ryder Cup team for 2010. The first question he was asked was how he was appointed. His answer: “Well, there are all sorts of bribes out there.”
Patti’s World
Now Inside Edition is reporting on Patti Blagojevich, and just compared her to Carmela Soprano. I wonder if we’ll get to the advertised segment on “The Obama Girls.”
Red Light District
From Tim Howe:
“I was, unfortunately, appearing before a Red Light Violation Administrative Hearing Officer last night in Rosemont. The AHO was giving his canned opening speech to the assembled victims, er, violators, and describing the legislation that allows municipalities to hold these little kangaroo courts. I’m paraphrasing, but he said that the law was ‘passed by the legislature [pause] and signed by the governor.’ Cue the chuckling from the crowd. But then get this: he looks up, all perturbed, and asks (in that smarmy way that your homeroom teacher might have) ‘does someone want to share what they think is funny?’ What a tool, he had no clue.
“And then of course he fined me $100 (but at least didn’t make me pick up all the garbage).”
The Fairy Tale
John Kass just [3:20 P.M.] said this on Neil Cavuto [hey, I watch ’em all]:
“[The national media] convinced themselves to believe in a fairy tale – that Chicago is Camelot, that Barack Obama was found as an infant by Mrs. Daley, floating in a basket in the Chicago River. He came up with help in this culture of the Chicago Machine. The people around him, like Rahm Emanuel . . . Rahm Emanuel is identified in the Beltway as a Clinton guy, but he’s really a Daley guy . . . David Axelrod, he’s a Daley guy. You have Machine people all over, and they all ignored it.
“I’m not saying Barack Obama is corrupt in any way here, let’s be clear . . . but the national media has basically ignored Chicago. They cleave to this notion of Barack Obama as the Mr. Tumnus of American politics, the gentle faun . . . well guess what, this is Chicago.”
Ongoing Investigation
L.A. TIMES: Are you aware of any conversations between Blagojevich or [chief of staff] John Harris and any of your top aides, including Rahm [Emanuel]?
OBAMA: Let me stop you there because . . . it’s an ongoing investigation. I think it would be inappropriate for me to, you know, remark on the situation beyond the facts that I know. And that’s the fact that I didn’t discuss this issue with the governor at all.
TV Pilot
From Tim Willette:
“An idea for a TV show occurred to me as I overheard my coworkers talking about the upcoming Survivor finale: Senate Survivor.
Faulting Voters
There’s a lot of talk about why Illinois is so corrupt and what can be done about it, and inevitably it ends with some variation of “It’s up to the voters, they keep electing these schmucks.”
Yes and no.
I’m not here to defend the electorate. For the most part, they are clueless. But . . . think about the ballot you look at every election. You are usually given the choice between one Machine candidate or two in any given race. What are voters supposed to do when they have to decide between, say, Rod Blagojevich and Judy Baar Topinka?
So the answer to me is structural. I’ve never believed in term limits, but the last couple of years I’ve started to come around to the idea. Appointments to vacant seats should be replaced with special elections (Daley has appointed something like a third or more of the city council). It should be easier for candidates to get their names on ballots. Campaign finance reform is a must; as the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform likes to argue, nearly every major scandal seems to have campaign finance at its root. Election fraud – like funding ghost candidates to scare off opposition or split opposition vote – should be vigorously investigated and prosecuted. And, of course, the media could do a better job – and one of the ways would be to lead the charge for an overhaul of the state’s Freedom of Information laws and for those laws to be vigorously enforced. It would be nice to see a real reform candidate with a real reform agenda who understands that reform begins with the very system itself.
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While I’m not sure whether any of these issues are Constitutional, perhaps they could have been taken up at that Constitutional Convention the Combine made sure didn’t happen.
The Mighty Quinn
Pat Quinn said today that he wants to make the appointment to Obama’s Senate seat should Blago resign or be impeached; let’s see if Quinn’s campaign fund sees a bump in the next couple of days.
Media Mess
“Tribune Co. Subpoeaned in Blagojevich Probe.”
Pardon Me
Reader: Is Senator Dick Durbin’s quick call for Blago’s resignation truly a call for the opportunity to have 2 Illinois governors to be pardoned at once?
Me: Maybe he’ll call for a blanket pardon for all governors past and future.
Reader: They should tack on Ryan’s remaining time to Blago.
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As has been noted in many other places, this would seem to make a commutation of Ryan’s sentence very difficult. Georgie is probably up at night sticking shanks in his Blago doll.
Blago for President?
You read it here first.
Change Agent
It’s true that Obama did not support Blago in the 2002 primary; he switched over in the general election. In the primary he backed Roland Burris.
Roland Burris?
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From Wikipedia:
During the primary, state Senator Barack Obama backed former Attorney General Burris, but supported Blagojevich after he won the primary, serving as a “top adviser” for the general election.[18] Future Obama senior adviser David Axelrod had previously worked with Blagojevich on Congressional campaigns, but did not consider Blagojevich ready to be governor and declined to work for him on this campaign.[18] According to Rahm Emanuel, Emanuel, Obama, Blagojevich’s campaign co-chair David Wilhelm, and another Blagojevich staffer “were the top strategists of Blagojevich’s 2002 gubernatorial victory,” meeting weekly to outline campaign strategies.[18] Wilhelm has said that Emanuel overstated Obama’s role in the sessions, and Emanuel said in December 2008 that Wilhelm was correct and he had been wrong in his earlier 2008 recollection to The New Yorker.[18] By all accounts, Blagojevich and Barack Obama have been estranged for years.[19][20]
Blagojevich was endorsed by many Democratic leaders (with the notable exception of Attorney General Lisa Madigan, who claimed it was a conflict of interest since her office was investigating Blagojevich),[25] including then-Illinois Senator Barack Obama, who endorsed the governor in early 2005 and spoke on his behalf at the August 2006 Illinois State Fair.[18]
Chalk ‘Em Up
At the Beachwood Inn, you put your name on the chalkboard if you want to get in line to play pool. No quarters on the pool table. And you can’t have your name on the board if you are already playing.
These names appeared on the board when I was there last week:
* Zbigniew Brzezinski
* Billy Squier
* Marshall Tucker
* Lamont Cranston
* Bill Bixby
Okay, I put them there. But still.
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That’s all for today. We’ve got the Bears tonight on Ch. 50 and a new Celebrity Rehab on VH-1. See you tomorrow.
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The Beachwood Tip Line: Tip Line #5.
Posted on December 11, 2008