Corruption in the windy city

Blagojevich, the Illinois Governor, has been caught attempting to make money by selling such mundane things as the Obama's Senate seat to the highest bidder. The press has led the charge as judge, jury and executioner, with good reason, given the extraordinary tapes of phone conversations. In one of these conversations he brazenly declares, "[the Senate seat] is a (expletive) valuable thing, you just don't give it away for nothing." Ah, Lincoln would be proud.

The expletive laced conversations was enacted on the Rachel Maddow Show to the amusement of viewers:



This is a very interesting piece that outlines Obama's many associations with the said Governor. As the article points out, it would be hard for a politician from the state legislature in Illinois not to have had many an association with the murkier side. Obama is no exception having had extensive dealings with both Blagojevich and Rezko, and he certainly has friends in high and corrupt places. In a state where three of its last eight Governors spent time in prison (Blagojevich would make the fourth), it would have been nigh impossible for a rising star like Obama to have avoided them. As Blagojevich's highly expletive laced opinion of Obama in this piece illustrates, Obama was not playing ball on Blagojevich's demands for money for favors. But, while Obama's reputation may remain unscathed in the eyes of his many supporters, the GOP, conservatives and Fox News have already gleefully declared him guilty by suspicion. Read the conservative bloggers and you'd think Obama committed the crime himself. In fact, the irony of it may be that Obama himself may have expedited Blagojevich's downfall by championing a revised ethics bill, which forced Blagojevich to attempt to speed up his takings before the bill took effect. Also, while Rahm Emmanuel's aides deny it, the chatter on the blogosphere is that he or someone on Obama's staff may have tipped of the Feds.

Apart from the obviously criminal behavior, Blagojevich's seems to have been astonishingly stupid in not following his own admonishments of caution (there are extensive pieces where he advises the parties on the phone with him to always assume someone is listening). As with so many other corrupt politicians before him, lulled by previous successes, he seems to have indulged in increasingly risky behavior, a.k.a. Elliot Spitzer in many ways.

Still, in some ways, as a rick38 on this blog points out, the press seems to forget that people are innocent until proven guilty. As rick38 says, "Much talk is made about Blagojevich “scheming” to sell a senate seat, but scheming alone isn’t enough to convict anyone. He has to be caught trying to make a deal before they can even think of indicting him. But since he was exposed before he had a chance to carry out his scheme, his plans have become thwarted, and he may now get off scot free.

If they (Fitzgerald and the Tribune) had held off until Blagojevich had shaken hands with someone, they would have had enough to force him to resign, allowing the Lieutenant Governor to step in and select a successor to Obama in accordance with the Illinois Constitution. They would also be able to pursue the case to its completion and get more goods on more people inevitably involved. ..."

Having not seen the evidence in the case, I can't say how prescient Rick38 is.