Who’s The Real Fish?

On Tuesday, when the news of Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich’s arrest broke, U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald declared that it was “a sad day for Illinois government” and that Blagojevich had “taken us to a truly new low.”  But, was it really?  From the New York Times transcript of the press conference, Fitgerald said:

Governor Blagojevich has been arrested in the middle of what we can only describe as a political corruption crime spree. We acted to stop that crime spree.

The most appalling conduct Governor Blagojevich engaged in, according to the complaint filed today or unsealed today, is that he attempted to sell a Senate seat, the Senate seat he had the sole right to under Illinois to appoint to replace President-elect Obama.

Attempting to sell a Senate seat, an attempt that was thwarted by Fitzgerald, by the way, constitutes a “crime spree” that would make “Lincoln turn over in his grave?”  Fitzgerald’s justification makes no sense at all.  If Blago had indeed appointed someone to Obama’s seat in a “pay for play” scheme, Fitz would have netted 2 big fish dead to rights, since the payee/selectee would be guilty as sin, too.  Nope, there’s more to this story than meets the eye.

What we also know is that some of these schemes went pretty far and some did not go far at all. But they had discussions about what they would do, who they would approach and how they would phrase it.

And we need to do the investigation, now that the investigation is overt, to find out from other people what happened, what they were told, how explicitly, what they understood, and what happened.

Was that a warning to all those people who now seem so hellbent on making Blago seem crazy?  Those people who now deny any contact with him, even when such contact would be perfectly normal?  Those people who now say they misspoke about who said what, when?  The ones whose mutually shared friend just had his sentencing delayed so Fitz could corroborate his stories?

“I should make clear, the complaint makes no allegations about the president-elect whatsoever,” Fitzgerald said. “We make no allegations that he’s aware of anything, and that’s as simply as I can put it. . . .

“There’s no reference in the complaint to any conversations involving the president-elect or indicating that the president-elect was aware of it. And that’s all I can say.”

Note he said “complaint,” not “investigation.”  And, that’s all I can say.

Obama Sneaks One In

In an apparent attempt to avoid answering potentially embarassing questions about his relationship with Senate seat salesman Rod Blagojevich, President-elect-to-be Barack Obama announced his new Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Shaun Donovan, at the crack of dawn, without fanfare.  From Politico:

In a twist on his use of new media to make news, President-elect Barack Obama used his weekly radio address this morning to announce his pick to head the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Obama appointed New York City Commissioner of Housing, Preservation and Development Shaun Donovan to the post, a move his transition apparently leaked last night to The New York Times. The paper has been a strong backer of Mayor Bloomberg and of his housing plans.

The announcement came in a radio and video address released on Saturday morning at 6 a.m., leaving no opportunity for reporters to ask questions, as they typically can when Cabinet announcements and other large initiatives are announced.

Unlike the last announcement of the appointment of Tom Daschle as head of Health and Human Services when Obama was peppered with questions about Blagobitching, today’s appointment came with no opportunity to pursue the matter.  Coincidence?  Sure.

Donovan, an architect and former Clintonite is a New York City commissioner of Housing Preservation and Development, and will likely be instrumental in implementing HUD’s “mixed income housing” program, similar to the kind of developments Obama was involved in with Valerie Jarrett and Tony Rezko.  One of those developments, Grove Parc, was featured in a June 27, 2008 Boston Globe profile.  Nobody got to ask any questions about that, either.

Crazy Talk About Blago

Why are the Keepers of the Book of Barack, aka the mainstream media, pushing the “Blago’s batshit” story line as quasi-fact?  Who does it benefit?   If the embattled governor was making such claims, or acting in a manner as if he wanted people to think he’s nuts, it might be more understandable, even though, if that was the case, chances are the Barackomaniacs would reject such assertions as Blago’s pitiful attempts to exonerate himself.  They would use his statements as evidence of his criminality just as they use his alleged criminality as evidence of his madness.  Why?

The only person or persons likely to benefit from smearing Blagojevich’s mental state are those likely to be smeared by Blago’s potential allegations against them.  Therefore, only those fearing implication would make finger twisting motions around their ears when Blago’s name is mentioned.  Like Candidate Number 5, Jesse Jackson Jr. And, nobody from Team O is challenging the assertion, either.  In fact, Obama’s “mentor,” Abner (we don’t want nobody nobody sent) Mikva, is one of the main pushers.  In Jake Tapper’s column, Mikva comments on Blago’s stated desire to run for the presidency in 2016:

“It’s just such a bizarre state of mind, that Gov. Blagojevich had to be in to even think this was possible,” former Democratic Congressman and Judge Abner Mikva told ABC News.

Mikva used the word “delusional” to describe the governor.

The Chicago Sun-Times puts forth the theory that Blagojevich’s choice of hairdo is indicative of his mental deficiency:

Gov. Blagojevich’s glossy locks — perfectly sculpted in rain or snow — may be an indication of a sickness beneath his scalp, said one local psychologist.

“It’s all part of managing his image, managing his image of being without a blemish, without a flaw,” said Scott Ambers, who has practiced clinical psychology in the city for more than two decades.

A February, 2008 Chicago Magazine article specualted that Barack Obama was driving Blago nuts:

Some people think that the governor’s behavior has turned more erratic in the past few years. One reason, they suspect, could be Barack Obama’s extraordinary rise. “Obama’s ascendancy had a significant impact on this guy,” says a Democratic lawmaker from Chicago. “Here’s a lifelong plan that’s been unfolding better than anyone could ever script—an unremarkable state’s attorney becomes an unremarkable state representative, becomes an unremarkable congressman, becomes an unlikely governor. My God, everything’s falling into place! All of a sudden the proverbial skinny guy with the funny name starts making some headway, decides to run for U.S. senator, wins the primary, then gets tapped to do the keynote speech [at the Democratic National Convention]. Knocks the fucking thing out of the park. So now when political people coast to coast talk about Illinois, they talk about Barack Obama. They don’t give a fuck about Rod Blagojevich.” (Blagojevich, like nearly every other Democratic elected official in the state, endorsed Obama in the presidential primary.)

Of course, Blagojevich was under investigation for his ties to long-time Obama friend, Tony Rezko then, too.  And Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s state Supreme Court appeal to remove Blago from office hints at his diminished mental capacity:

“We think it is very clear he is incapable of serving,” Madigan said of the governor during a news conference in downtown Chicago.

But then, she and Blago have issues; she wants to be governor and her dad, state House Speaker, Michael Madigan, hates Hot Rod.   Candidate Number 5 did get them to hug at the Democratic national Convention, though:

An emotional Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. touched off a surreal hugfest among bickering top Illinois Democrats meeting at a convention delegation breakfast, all in the name of party unity and Sen. Barack Obama’s presidential bid. Here’s the tale of the tape:

*Jackson summons state Sen. Debbie Halvorson, who’s running for Congress. The two have feuded over control of a third airport in the south suburbs. They embrace.

*“Who else out here been mad at me I ain’t figured out yet?” Jackson asks. Without skipping a beat, Mayor Daley jumps out of his seat and hugs his critic who contemplated a run against him for mayor. In tears, Jackson says, “I’ve been trying to get to know Mayor Daley for 14 years.”

*But Jackson is “not going to be satisfied” until he sees Gov. Rod Blagojevich give House Speaker Michael Madigan a hug. The bad blood between the two is legendary and has ground state government to a halt.

*Sporting a smile from ear to ear, Madigan walks across the makeshift stage and hugs Blagojevich, who then turns and hugs Jackson.

Chicago Tribune reporter John Kaas suggests everybdy’s setting Blago up for a “Frank Pentangeli“-type Godfather-style, “keep your mouth shut for the good of the family” scenario.  But that would mean that Blags has something very incriminating to say about somebody who doesn’t want whatever it is to be believed.  Whatever.  The bottom line is, Rod Blagojevich’s mental health is more of a convenient excuse for his enemies than it is for him.

UPDATE: Kaas chimes in similarly.