Hillary’s Voice

“Pay To Play” Is The Chicago Way (by myiq2xu at The Confluence)

The Kool-aid slurping media and bloggers are in full campaign mode trying to spin [Tuesday’s] arrest of Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich as some sort of exoneration of Teh Precious… You see, even though both Barack and Michelle Obama are well connected to the Daley Machine in Chicago, they have [managed] to remain pure and innocent. Some bloggers have already concluded that any attempt to link Obama to this scandal will be an attempt to smear him by association…Obama supporters have seized on the alleged recorded statements of Governor Blagojevich contained in the indictment as proof that Obama refused to participate in “pay for play.” But Blago’s brazen behavior suggests that such corruption is commonplace and there is no indication that the Obama transition team reacted with shock or outrage to his demands. Obama’s refusal to pay the requested bribe in exchange for selecting his replacement in the Senate may have been based on moral principles. But it could also have been based on concern over the ongoing investigation by Patrick Fitzgerald. It’s not exactly a secret, Tony Rezko was convicted earlier this year but has not yet been sentenced and rumors have been circulating that he was cooperating in exchange for leniency.Or maybe Obama was just too cheap to pay up.Bizarro World (County Fair, Media Matters for America)We’ve highlighted some absurd attempts by news media to tie Barack Obama to Rod Blagojevich’s alleged corruption. But this may be the most ridiculous, from Time magazine… [that] Fitzgerald “has to go out of his way to distance” Obama from the scandal. But Fitzgerald did so not because there have been indications that Obama is connected to the scandal — no, he did so because reporters asked him multiple questions about whether Obama was involved.Let’s sum up:1) Reporters ask Fitzgerald, based on nothing, if Obama is involved.2) Fitzgerald says there is no evidence Obama is involved3) Reporter writes that it is bad news for Obama that Fitzgerald had to go out of his way to distance Obama from the scandal.Heck of a racket, isn’t it?My comment: Didn’t Fitzgerald also say he had no evidence against Dick Cheney in the Valerie Plame matter? He didn’t say Obama wasn’t involved. He said he has no EVIDENCE that Obama was involved. He has asked people who know more to come forward. The investigation continues.—CaroThe President-elect has not yet been exonerated (by bostonboomer at The Confluence)It certainly sounds like Blagojevich thought that President-elect Obama owed him some favors. I’m not suggesting that Obama was stupid enough to talk to Blagojevich on the telephone, but, according to [a] TV news report…, he did have a private meeting with the Governor on November 5 to discuss his replacement… But Obama told the Chicago Tribune … that he had never talked about his replacement with Blagojevich. And despite what the media keeps trying to tell us, Patrick Fitzgerald has not “exonerated” Barack Obama yet. Here is what he said: “‘I’m not going to speak for what the President elect was aware of,’ he said. ‘We make no allegations that he’s aware of anything and that’s as simply as I can put it.’…” I’m sorry, but that is not a clear exoneration of the President elect. That is a non-denial denial. Unfortunately, this is probably going to be a repeat of Whitewater–but this time with real crime and corruption.Blagojevich, Obama and who dropped the dime (by Greg Hinz, Chicago Business)The recordings were authorized by a federal court, per Mr. Fitzgerald’s request on Oct. 21, just two weeks before Mr. Obama was elected president. But who got the feds to run into court and get a phone-tap order?… Mid-November is when Mr. Blagojevich is roundly griping on the tapes that Team Obama won’t give him anything for a Jarrett pick. No Cabinet job, no ambassadorship, no nothing, Rod complains, according to the feds… Now, Team Obama publicly and privately has insisted they did not talk to Mr. Blagojevich about any of this. I believe them that Mr. Obama did not pick up the phone and have a chat with Mr. Blagojevich about being ambassador to Serbia. But their explanations leave lots of wiggle room — i.e., a statement from strategist David Axelrod that the president-elect and the governor have never “spoken directly” about the Senate vacancy. You could drive a semi sideways through that “directly.”Moreover, Mr. Blagojevich likely did not figure out on his own that the Obama folks were going to stiff him. Someone told him, someone who talked to them… So, at a minimum, it looks like Mr. Blagojevich literally tried to shake down the president-elect, and the president-elect and/or his folks wisely walked away from any transaction. The question is, did his folks do more?MORE Popcorn… Jesse Jackson Jr Press Conference (by campskunk at Alegre’s Corner)[Wednesday] afternoon’s matinee performance with extra butter was Jesse Jackson Jr’s press conference. Oh, and don’t forget the salt, either. JJJ’s statements in this press conference could use a few grains. Although the complaint listed candidates for Obama’s Senate seat only as senate candidates number one through five, the old “it’s a bit dog that howls” principle ordained that JJJ call a press conference to spontaneously deny that this had anything to do with him. In particular, he’s not senate candidate five, who was mentioned on the tapes as offering to raise some serious money (one-half to one million dollars) for Blogojevich’s reelection. Of course, Blogojevich also said candidate five’s word was no good, based on past experience, so he wanted the money up front before the appointment. In cash.I ask you, does this sound like JJJ? Apparently, JJJ was concerned that it sounded enough like him to call a press conference to deny everything.Click here for more politics and media news headlines.Carolyn KayMakeThemAccountable.com