Make my Day......GOV Blagojevich arrested.

[Darius871]

Originally posted by KrazyHorse

It's more intellectually honest to believe that such a fundamental right is never quantifiable.

No, that belief is simply the lazy man's way out. If it cost 10000$ a person to hold an election then you can be damn sure we wouldn't hold them.

I'm really enjoying this discussion because it's becoming increasingly obvious that most people really do suffer from an inability to intuitively grasp the meaning of large numbers. This leads to people doing ridiculous things like arguing against a special election because of the cost to taxpayers of holding such an election.

Oh I never disagreed that it's asinine to point to some big scary number out of context; I just can't help but wonder how deciding based on any pecuniary "value" to a vote wouldn't lead to the implication that some votes are worth more than others. I'm comfortable supporting a special election for the "lazy" reason and because these seats are vacated so rarely - what's even $25 million when it only happens about once every other year, if that?

[Darius871]

Originally posted by Naked Gents Rut
Good work by Fitzgerald.

I wonder if he can get anyone else before Obama fires him?

Anyone besides me cynical enough to think he happened to drive this home mainly because his job security would come into question a month from now? If I were in his shoes I'd have kept the taps going another few months and give some Blago's solicitees (or even an accomplice or two) some rope to hang themselves instead of pouncing on him like this, but that's just me.

Fitzgerald's so far into the spotlight now that he can't be fired or shuffled elsewhere without it becoming a huge story, which wouldn't have been the case had he fleshed out this investigation longer. Obama et al would be in a tough spot because his supporters have been raking his hated predecessor over the coals for years for overpoliticized firings of capable U.S. Attorneys. No way Obama wants the same legacy.

[Bosh]

Originally posted by Darius871


Anyone besides me cynical enough to think he happened to drive this home mainly because his job security would come into question a month from now? If I were in his shoes I'd have kept the taps going another few months and give some Blago's solicitees (or even an accomplice or two) some rope to hang themselves instead of pouncing on him like this, but that's just me.

Fitzgerald's so far into the spotlight now that he can't be fired or shuffled elsewhere without it becoming a huge story, which wouldn't have been the case had he fleshed out this investigation longer. Obama et al would be in a tough spot because his supporters have been raking his hated predecessor over the coals for years for overpoliticized firings of capable U.S. Attorneys. No way Obama wants the same legacy.

I think that was Fitz's plan but he wanted (or was pressured) to nail Blago before he could appoint someone to the US Senate as part of a corrupt bargain (which would have been BAD).

[Naked Gents Rut]

Fitzgerald said the investigation into Blagojevich continues, but authorities acted today to avoid further harm taking place.

"I was not going to wait until March or April or May to get it all nice and tidy" and bring charges, he said. "I think that would be irresponsible."

http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2008/12/us-attorney-fitzgerald-press-conference-blagojevich.html

[snoopy369]

Fitzgerald

[-Jrabbit]

Didn't realize he was a Brooklyn guy. Interestingly, Fitzgerald was on the Bush-Gonzalez "hit list" of US Attorneys yet survived...

n March 2007, it was revealed that Fitzgerald "was ranked among prosecutors who had 'not distinguished themselves' on a Justice Department chart sent to the White House in March 2005..." [21] This was revealed in light of an investigation of the December 2006 firings of several U.S. Attorneys by Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, perceived as being politically motivated and despite his previous Attorney General's Award for Distinguished Service in 2002. [22] The Washington Post article states that two other prosecutors so ranked were dismissed.

Perhaps keeping Cheney and Rove off the indictment list in the Plame/Libby case saved him...

[Imran Siddiqui]

Originally posted by Bosh
I think that was Fitz's plan but he wanted (or was pressured) to nail Blago before he could appoint someone to the US Senate as part of a corrupt bargain (which would have been BAD).

That's most likely true. I also think part of it is that this makes him unfireable.

[Naked Gents Rut]

Obama is just going to have to promote him now.

[Ramo]

That's most likely true. I also think part of it is that this makes him unfireable.

Obama had already committed to reappointing Fitz several months ago, so I doubt that was a motivation.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Wow

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1208/16395.html

Patrick Fitzgerald’s charges against Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich have drawn a chorus of shock and outrage.

But Barack Obama’s message man David Axelrod once staked out a much more nuanced position on Fitzgerald’s anti-corruption crusade.

In a 2005 op-ed, Axelrod argued, in effect, that trading political favors – including jobs – is part of the grease that makes government work.

He ripped Fitzgerald at the time for trying “to use the criminal code to enforce (his) vision” of “entirely remov(ing) politics from government.”

The piece in the Chicago Tribune was prompted by Fitzgerald’s indictment of aides to Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley for conspiring to give city jobs as political favors. Daley was Axelrod’s client at the time.

Axelrod stressed he wasn’t condoning the test-rigging or document shredding Fitzgerald alleged in that case.

Of course, the specifics of the 2005 case differ from the one Fitzgerald unveiled Tuesday, in which federal prosecutors accuse Blagojevich of trying to auction off Obama’s Senate seat and being involved in a wide-ranging pay-to-play scheme.

Still, Axelrod’s musings make for an interesting read while Obama – no doubt with Axelrod’s assistance – formulates a strategy for dealing with the Blagojevich case, which doesn’t implicate Obama.

“The democratic process is often messy,” Axelrod wrote in the op-ed. “Diverse constituencies fight fiercely for their priorities. Their elected representatives use the influence they have to meet those needs, including sometimes the exchange of favors – consideration for jobs being just one.

“When a congressman responds to the president's request for support for a judicial nominee or a trade deal by replying that he'd like the president's backing for a new bridge in his district, he's fighting for his constituents. If the money for that bridge is approved over a worthier project elsewhere, should the deal between the two officials become a crime?” Axelrod wondered, questioning whether a “system free of political influence … is really desirable.”

[MrFun]

That's just great, Imran.

Obama's doing such a great job in not associating with corrupt cronies.

[Naked Gents Rut]

Why is Imran reposting things I already posted?

[MrFun]

I guess I missed your earlier post of the same thing.

[Imran Siddiqui]

For Mr Fun's benefit

[MrFun]

I'm touched