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

[Zkribbler]

Smears are not evidence.

And you mean "senator," not "congressman."

[Boris Godunov]

Originally posted by snoopy369
You think JJJ might not be corrupt.

I didn't say that. I said he might not have done anything wrong in this instance. Read more carefully, please.

1. He's an Illinois politician
2. He's JESSE JACKSON JUNIOR

Neither of which prove corruption. If you can't accept that, in the absence of actual evidence proving it, that he "might" not be corrupt, that shows you're not a particularly reasonable person.

But I don't doubt that he happily would have done what was needed to become congressman, either.

He already is a congressman, so I assume you mean Senator. Do you have evidence for this a bit more substantial than items 1. and 2. above?

I also don't think this prevents him from still getting it - his dad is still pretty darn powerful, and he actually was a reasonable candidate before all of this came up.

If it's a special election as is most likely, it doesn't matter how powerful his dad is, really. I would guess that the Blago scandal will sour the mood of Illinois voters over anyone with any possible link to the scandal, so it is very unlikely Jackson will be elected, even with just this information available.

[snoopy369]

If it's a special election, I'd bet he wins (unless this scandal blows up more in his direction). You seem to think that 'voters' decide elections in Illinois. That, sir, is a mistaken belief.

In any event, I agree that corruption hasn't been proven in this case on his end. I simply am saying it's pretty ****ing likely.

[-Jrabbit]

* DECEMBER 10, 2008, 7:55 P.M. ET

Jackson Jr. Denies Seeking Senate Seat From Blagojevich

By CHRISTOPHER COOPER and LAUREN ETTER

Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., the son of a longtime civil rights figure and scion of one of the most prominent African-American families in Chicago, was allegedly named by Gov. Rod Blagojevich in a scheme to sell the vacant Senate seat of President-elect Barack Obama.

On Wednesday, his lawyer, James Montgomery Sr., said the congressman -- known as Triple J in his Southside Chicago district -- was presumed to be "Senate Candidate No. 5," the moniker used in a federal affidavit that outlined the governor's alleged plan.

Federal prosecutors claim Mr. Blagojevich talked of selling the two years remaining in Mr. Obama's Senate term. According to the affidavit, Mr. Blagojevich was recorded saying he had been offered $1 million by an associate of Mr. Jackson to appoint the 43-year-old congressman over the objections of the Obama camp.

Mr. Jackson and Mr. Blagojevich met to discuss the job a day before the governor's arrest on Tuesday. Mr. Jackson said the 90-minute meeting was his first with the governor in four years.

There's no evidence an offer was ever made. Mr. Jackson said he's been assured by prosecutors that he's not a target of the investigation. "I reject and denounce pay-to-play politics and have no involvement whatsoever in any wrongdoing," Mr. Jackson said Wednesday, reading from a statement at a Washington press conference.

A flock of Chicago political figures expressed interest in Mr. Obama's Senate seat after he won the presidential election. None made more of a public play than Mr. Jackson, who used email to pass on polling data and newspaper editorials to support his bid. Earlier this month, he was quoted in the Chicago Daily Herald, saying "I believe I'm the best, ideal and most qualified candidate."

Mr. Jackson made clear Wednesday he's still interested in the Senate seat, and would run if the state legislature votes to fill it by a special election. "I hope that the people of the state of Illinois and the people of our country will measure me based upon the content of my character," he said.

Though Mr. Jackson served as Mr. Obama's national campaign co-chairman, Mr. Blagojevich seemed to assume that Mr. Obama preferred the Senate seat go to Chicago businesswoman and Obama confidante, Valerie Jarrett, according to the federal affidavit. The government document suggested that Gov. Blagojevich considered leaning toward an appointment of Mr. Jackson as way to pressure Mr. Obama to offer a favor to appoint someone else.

Mr. Jackson has been a congressman since 1995. Before that, he worked for his father, a two-time presidential candidate. Both Jacksons endorsed Mr. Obama's presidency, but the elder Mr. Jackson offered tepid support. During Mr. Obama's campaign, Jesse Jackson Sr. was caught on an open microphone criticizing Mr. Obama for "talking down to black people" and uttering a coarse threat at the candidate.

Jesse Jackson Sr. was quick to apologize for his comments, but not before being criticized by his son. "I'm deeply outraged and disappointed in Rev. Jackson's reckless statements about Sen. Barack Obama," the younger Mr. Jackson said of his father's comments.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122895498904796465.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

[Naked Gents Rut]

Blagojevich questions censored on Transition site

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.

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.

The Blagojevich questions -- many of them polite and reasonable -- can be found only by searching words in them, like "Blagojevich," which produces 35 questions missing from the main page of the site.

"Given the current corruption charges involving Blagojevich, will 'serious' campaign finance reform that takes money completely out of politics through publicly funded elections be a priority in the first term?" asked Metteyya of Santa Cruz, California.

"This submission was removed because people believe it is inappropriate," reads the text underneath it.

Also removed as "inappropriate":

"In light of the recent corruption scandals (Blagojevich, Rangel, Jefferson, Stevens, etc) that have dominated the political scene,is there any ethics legislation being crafted to actually curb corruption and prevent another wave of nixonian cynicism?", a question from "lupercal," of Gainesville.

And: "Is Barack Obama aware of any communications in the last six weeks between Rod Blagojevich or anyone representing Rod Blagojevich and any of Obama's top aides?", a question from Phil from Pennsylvania.

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/1208/Blagojevich_questions_censored_on_Transition_site.html

Looks like Obama's supporters haven't become any less douchey in victory.

[-Jrabbit]

That's just pathetic. [*attempting non-douchey tone*]

[Naked Gents Rut]

I agree.

[MarkG]

"Is Obama aware of any communications in the last six weeks between Rod Blagojevich or anyone representing Rod Blagojevich and any of Obama's top aides?" now doesnt have the "removed" flag, but the "no"'s are at 60-70%...

http://change.gov/page/content/openforquestions

also, apparently this is another (beta) google app nobody knew about

http://moderator.appspot.com/

this probably explains why "removed" questions are still accessible and votable

[Darius871]

Has that inconsistency between the histories given by Axelrod and Obama been addressed yet? IIRC Axelrod said in an interview after the election that Obama's directly spoken to Blago about what would be happening with his seat (nothing shady, just discussions), but then in Obama's press conference with Gore this week he claimed to have never talked to Blago at all about it. I was waiting for one of them to "clarify" but nothing's in the news that I can find.

[KrazyHorse]

Axelrod said he was mistaken. That was word on baltimore NPR station this morning at 8 am.

[Naked Gents Rut]

Axelrod said he was mistaken.

Of course he did. The question is whether it's actually true.

[KrazyHorse]

That's not the question I'm answering. This is:

I was waiting for one of them to "clarify" but nothing's in the news that I can find.

[Naked Gents Rut]

I know.

[KrazyHorse]

Anyhow, as to the story, such as it is:

if somebody can decisively prove that Obama actually spoke to Blagojevich (hah...got it right on first try!) about this issue it will be an embarrassment for him.

That said, I don't know why he would lie about this. The Blagojevich tapes do a pretty good job of exonerating him and his associates of any wrongdoing in the selection process, so if he spoke to Blagojevich directly I don't see the downside for him to say so (whereas the downside of lying is always that you might get caught).

[TCO]

While this is a glorious kerfuffle in terms of PR, I can't help but think that the whole indictment seems light.

The Senate seat thing which Blago will defend as horse-trading (like Hill holding out for her campaign debt help).

The Tribune, which was penny ante.

Didn't see the whole deal with the pattern of hiring fraud documented in the indictment. Think that Fitz is following his normal practice of going in with what he has and hoping to get one of the rats to turn as things go along.