Time for a Special Prosecutor?
“Something is rotten in the state,” says Marcellus in “Hamlet.”
Well, it certainly is in the state of Illinois.
Yet on hearing U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald describe a plot by his governor to sell his Senate seat — “conduct (that) would make Lincoln roll over in his grave” — how did reform President Barack Obama respond?
“I had no contact with the governor or his office, and so I was not aware of what was happening. … And as I said, it is a sad day for Illinois. Beyond that, I don’t think it’s appropriate to comment.”
“A sad day for Illinois” — that was it.
But FBI Special Agent in Charge Robert Grant could not contain his revulsion: “If (Illinois) isn’t the most corrupt state in the United States, it’s certainly one hell of a competitor. I think even the most cynical agents in our office were shocked.”
Yet Barack stayed cool. Not for 24 hours did he join the clamor for Gov. Rod Blagojevich to stand down.
The stink of this is not going away, and it may adhere to the new presidency that seemed about to begin in a new era of good feeling.
For, consider. While Obama said he had never spoken with the governor about the Senate seat — understandable, given how toxic the scandal-plagued Blagojevich was — he did not say his staff had not done so.
Which raises several questions:
Did Obama direct or ask any staffer to speak to Blagojevich? Did Rahm Emanuel or David Axelrod, both of Chicago, never speak to the governor about the Senate appointment? Did Barack’s aides all treat Blagojevich as a political leper and not communicate to him any interest in or concern about whom he might appoint to succeed Obama?
This defies credulity.
On the other hand, if Obama’s staffers did talk to Blagojevich or his staff, did the governor or his men suggest a big-time pay-off might purchase a Senate seat?
For Blagojevich is overheard on the wiretaps complaining that all that Obama, whom he slurs nastily, was offering was gratitude.
How did Blagojevich know that?
Who told him Barack would not pony up and play ball? And if any Obama aide was solicited for a bribe, did they relate that to Obama? Did they report it to the FBI or the U.S. attorney’s office?
Forty-eight hours into Senategate and already the cancer has metastasized. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. has been dragged in. He is “Senate Candidate 5″ on the wiretaps. From the FBI transcripts, it appears a Jackson “emissary,” with access to the governor, offered to raise half a million for Blagojevich’s re-election, in return for naming Jackson to the Senate. With perhaps a million more to follow.
Jackson says he met for 90 minutes with the governor Monday and made his case for the Senate appointment — on his record alone. Jackson emphasized that he was not solicited by the governor for a bribe, nor was any emissary ever authorized to offer the governor anything.
Jackson’s lawyer backs him up, but says that some supporter, without Jackson’s knowledge, might have freelanced on his own.
There are other puzzling questions.
Why, if Fitzgerald was listening to the wiretaps and laying his trap for the governor and corrupt politicians interested in buying a U.S. Senate seat, did he abort the operation with his 6 a.m. arrests of Blagojevich and his chief of staff? Why spring the trap when the mouse is just outside, mulling over whether to go for the cheese?
Why not let the plot unfold? Why not let the corrupt bidder for a Senate seat make a solid offer and bring in his or her down payment? Why not wait for the felony to be committed instead of acting while it was still being considered and discussed?
This one is not going away soon.
Forty-eight hours into the scandal, we have a governor and chief of staff arrested in their homes for attempting to sell the U.S. Senate seat of the 44th president of the United States. And one of the most famous names in politics, Jesse Jackson Jr., has hired a lawyer and been placed under a cloud of suspicion that some benefactor tried to buy him the Senate seat he coveted.
No one is yet convicted of anything. But if this scandal touches any member of Obama’s White House staff, who may have spoken with Blagojevich and listened to his solicitation of a bribe without reporting it, we are going to have a new special prosecutor in Washington, D.C.
Indeed, the U.S. Senate should probably make the confirmation of Eric Holder as attorney general, the Clintonite who midwifed the pardons of Marc Rich and the Puerto Rican terrorists, contingent on his naming an independent counsel in the Senategate scandal.
As for the Bush-to-Barack transition, which Americans have applauded as graceful and uplifting, it is now mired in mud.
Yes, indeed, it is — a sad day for America.
COPYRIGHT 2008 CREATORS SYNDICATE INC.
All I know is that if this scandal doesn’t attract at least twice as much attention on the right as the “natural-born citizen” one has, it will have become clear once and for all that xenophobia is a higher priority in conservative circles than government transparency is.
And that would be sad.
It’s impossible to disagree that it’s a damned interesting question why Fitzgerald pulled the plug on this investigation when he did and perhaps if he was anyone other than who he is with his reputation for simple fierce non-partisanship it would be right to start howling right now. But that question still needs to be asked, no doubt.
On the other hand if I was the Republicans I’d be very very careful about how they go after this as regards Mr. Obama and his people. He’s not even in office yet and if the Republicans come off looking like they don’t care if he can help the country and are in essence trying to nullify or overturn the election by destroying him even before he has spent a single day in the Oval Office, boy I sure think it would look like they were unhappy that their suicide attempt that was their nomination of McCain wasn’t good enough and they were now trying to make sure that everyone knows it’s their party itself that is crazy.
Plus I suspect they’d lose even as regards the trees of this thing going after Obama and his minions not to mention that forest of the bigger picture. That is, so far all that’s there is this creature Blogojevich saying that Obama and his people have done the *right* thing by merely offering him appreciation for considering their suggestions instead of a bribe or etc. And one of Obama’s strengths is his seeming coming from nowhere, being above the disgusting game-playing that has so defined Washington. So all it would take in the face of highly ambiguous evidence of wrong-doing on the part of one of his people—which form such evidence usually takes—is for him to wait until the right time and give one of his “above-it-all” speeches condemning this and talking about how petty it is when the country has all these other problems and bang, the Republicans would look as petty and hackneyed as all get out. And they don’t control even one house of Congress meaning their ability to hold hearings and actually getting any traction out of this is zero.
I think the Repub.s ought to just sit pretty quiet and still for awhile, see what pops up and above all appear sober and responsible as hell. I suspect a huge majority of the country wants Obama to “succeed,” and wouldn’t take kindly to any suggestion that not even a month or so after they’ve elected the guy, and in the face of this economic tsunami, there’s a claque of folks out there already trying to bring him down.
Just my opinion, but that seems the logic of it to me right now at least.
Cheers,
The thing to remember is that as a politician in the same state and party any politician has to interact with people. However, he or she does not have to befriend a person, and limit the interactions to professional boundaries. Obama might have endorsed Blago in the general but in the primary he did endorse his opponent. So, the conclusion is that all the interactions were strictly professional. In a similar analogy, a lots of folks who endorsed Hillary then turned their endorsement to Obama when he won the primary. Even though he was not their first choice, he was the Democratic nominee so they endorsed him. That is politics works. Obama does not need to discuss any interaction once he indicates that he has not have any discussions regarding the vacant seat. Therefore, he was not involved in any wrongdoing – it’s time to move on and look forward! Let’s focus on all other critical problems at hand!
This is about as meaningful as Whitewater. In fact it’s just a remake, a reimagining of the Clinton scandal. As soon as a dem gets elected try as hard as you can to drum up whatever scandal might sell air time on Fox and right wing radio and hopefully ruin his term so a republican can take over to restore dignity to the office. Sound about right?
Why is it so hard for people to just see right thru this bullshit? Is it bias? Who was even surprised that a governor with a senate seat to offer would look to get a some favors out of it? I’m shocked out of my seat right now. Never saw that coming. The only thing more predictable is that a right winger will try to find the flimsiest connection to the new dem president so he can try to taint his administration with it. Sad really.
Obama’s relationship to the case wasn’t drummed up by right-wingers; it was uncovered by legal authorities. Were those legal authorities’ actions influenced by political motives? This is always a legitimate question to ask in a legal case that involves politicians. Also, since when is it not legitimate to be concerned about the corrupt connections of the land’s highest office-holder? To dismiss as a right-winger anyone who isn’t willing to forget such concerns reminds me of all those fun conversations over the last 6 years where I was dismissed as a liberal, because I didn’t want the Decider-in-Chief to succeed more than I wanted him to act responsibly.
No one needs to keep his or her mouth shut, no matter how much easier that would make it to believe in Obama. However, it is good advice to be reasonable and sober, so that anything uncovered is not dismissed as a partisan delusion.
The crime is real.
The only question is Obama’s involvement. It sounds like he dodged the bullet, but it was closer than it should have been. Maybe Rahm will take a hit??
This will make any taint from Rezko stickier.
Democratic scandal are funny for the small amounts involved. But in some ways that makes them more damaging as people can get their heads around it, while republican scandals just seem like something from another planet.
It’s pretty clear that Obama knew about the impropriety and did nothing. He made a calculated decision. No surprises here. Obama will not pay a price, the MSM will not hold him accountable. The political world will keep spinning on its axis unperturbed.
http://rightklik.blogspot.com/