We be black.  We was black befo’ Obama got elected, and we still black, nah.  Summa y’all don’t like dat, an’ it piss y’all off.  Y’all be trippin’.  Y’all suck.  Chill.

Don’t nobody care what y’all think, no way.   Y’all the ones always be tryin’ to keep a brotha down.  That’s whack.  Fuck dat.  Fuck y’all.  – Black America

I often try to illustrate the not-so-hidden racism rampant in our society by comparing it to the similarly hidden-in-plain-sight sexism we live under, hoping that women will at least consider that many of the “race card” claims being pooh-poohed on a regular basis do actually have some basis in fact.  Unfortunately, far too many women, themselves victimized by insidious institutionalized bigotry, obvious to them at every turn, no matter how small, slight, or insignificant such behavior might be considered by perpetrators of said sexism, simply cannot see the same sort of racial bias right in front of their eyes.  Though they are not only adept at recognizing overt discrimination directed towards them, but quite skilled at ferreting out intended sexism no matter how cleverly couched, even correctly identifying incidences where deliberate bigotry is intentionally dressed in politically correct clothes in order to escape detection, no such leeway is accorded those who empathize with those of us who suffer racially.

Be that as it may, if laughter is indeed the best medicine, watching what passes for politics nowadays should keep us all in glowing good health well into our Golden Years.  Between strident, “I’m rubber, you’re glue” counter-accusations of racism by racists, and Healthy Profits Insurance “reform,” sandwiching Alinsky-esque vegetarian meatballs of stupidity made with ACORN paste, todays’ political discourse is gut-busting, laff-a-minit, hilarity.

No wonder people are confused.  Like this poor soul, reduced to writing to Slate Magazine about his inability to grasp the fine points of the health care debate well enough to update his Facebook account.  Of course, Slate’s Sandy  was very helpful, informing Dylan that he could always call or write his representatives and tell them he doesn’t know what to think, or, simply update his Facebook account health care-wise on Thursday, like everybody else.  Slate also helpfully guides us to the best places to observe Ramadan, which, near as I can figure after reading it is/are, none? all? take your pick?

In light of the celebratory fact (Yay! Yippee Dippy Ki Yay! Happy Days!) that Senator Max Baucus, (DINO-PhRMA) has finally released his Democratic bipartisan health care bill that everybody already hates, and written a pre-emptive advance defense of it, ABC’s Rick Klein provides this handy-dandy roundup of humorous anti-Baucus-ite bipartisan opposition in response.

Bipartisanship is overrated.  Okay, not exactly news, but, when only one side commits to it, not only are said bogus efforts doomed to failure, (or success depending on how you look at it) their pitiful non-attempts are laughably predictable.  Thus, Politico scores the summer for the Beckian conservatives, and this guy at The Hill says both sides suck, but the more outspoken conservative commenters there think he’s the one full of suckitude.

Politico also says, rather uncharitably, in my humble opinion, that Jo(k)e Biden, (who?) is the skunk at the family picnic given his initial reluctance to defer to his Spokesmodel-in-Chief.  Of course, Biden’s insubordination is not racially motivated in Politico’s opinion, Jo(k)e’s just a Kanye who only sometimes appreciates his boss’ out-of-character handsome eloquence and cleanliness.  Most of us ain’t even got it like dat, ya feel me?

One of the few equal opportunity haterz in the news recently is former Pretendident George (Don’t Misunderestimate Presidentin’ Is Hard) Bush, who, according to some guy nobody’s heard of, who claimed to be a Bush speechwriter (like that’s a plus on anybody’s resume) so he could get a book deal, thought all the fat-assed, clueless pretenders to his throne were unqualified to throw shoes at his head.

Of course, if you hate Obama enough to go to these events, and listen to these guys, love Fox News and Glenn Beck, (and the extreme conservative activist “historian” Salon says inspired him) racist, or not, you’re probably tickled that ACORN hires people who are stupid enough to even talk to, let alone give advice, to white people dressed in bad Super Fly clothes who pretend to want to pimp their way into Congress on the backs of mythical teen-aged whores from South America, and then lie about it.

Though there’s way more frivolity to romp through, I mean who could resist the built-in comedy of an aging Southern gentleman berating a younger Southern gentleman for not being sorry enough for expressing their shared racial guilt, or, the reverse racism? squared of deferring the investigation of Jesse Jackson, Jr.’s “pay to play” Senate seat shenanigans in favor of furthering the persecution prosecution of the bigger fish? white guy, both innocent as little lambs of exploiting the seat-vacating black guy now occupying the Oval Office between interminable, head-swiveling TelePrompTer-read speeches-by-rote and TV appearances, but, I’m going back to bed.

There’s comfort in taking your crackers, comic books, and Fukitol, and burrowing under the covers with your laptop while you search for articles and You Tube videos depicting your heroes and enemies alike, behaving badly, just for shitzengiggles.  My only complaint is that I can’t smoke under here.  But, I’m gonna enjoy watching Michael Jordan rail against folks like the one who only paid him 3 mil a year while other players made more at his Hall of Fame induction.  Ha, ha.  So what if he’s angry like Serena and Kanye?  He be black.  Like de president.  Like me.

Deal wit’ it.

While there are many tangled webs to unravel in the current Obama Drama Bailout Brouhaha, one man seems to have had a pretty clear eye on the situation all along.  New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, the Clintonite once accused of demeaning Barack Obama with the use of the phrase “shuck and jive” in a sentence only marginally related to Sir Nose in the Air, has been yelling and screaming about the unfair Wall Street bonuses since at least October.  And, everybody knew it.

During the primaries Hillary Clinton supporting Cuomo, during a radio interview, said:

“It’s not a TV crazed race. Frankly you can’t buy your way into it,” Cuomo said, according to Albany Times Union reporter Rick Karlin. He then added, “You can’t shuck and jive at a press conference. All those moves you can make with the press don’t work when you’re in someone’s living room.”

Though Obama was not mentioned by name in Cuomo’s response to a question about New Hampshire politics in general, the usual Obafluffing suspects, like Roland Martin and the Huffington Post, to name but two out of legions, accused the AG of racism anyway.  The convoluted logic being that since the phrase “shuck and jive” originated in the black community, it was then obvious that Cuomo was calling Obama a shiftless, white folks trickster.  Which only proves that one can be “buggin’” without acting like a crazy black person.  Coincidentally, the uproar erupted on the same day Obama surrogate Jesse Jackson, Jr., he of “how do you attack a white woman” fame, accused Clinton of politically motivated crocodile tears.  Funny, nobody made much of Jackson’s Obama/accused murderer OJ Simpson connection at all.

Anyway, fast forward to October, about a month after Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Chairman of the New York Federal Reserve, Turbo Tax Timmy Geithner, tax cheat (TTTG,tc) emergency met to decide not to bail out struggling Lehman Brothers, but to loan struggling American International Group eight-five billion dollars, in return for a stake in the company, instead.  On that September day, the government effectively commandeered AIG, fired their recently installed CEO, (who made off with about 5 mil for about 3 months work) and put in their own guy to sell the company off, Paulson’s Goldman Sachs pal, Edward Liddy.   Before the fire sale could begin,however, Liddy started spending money like a drunken sailor on shore leave, causing the company to be downgraded.  Remember, this is pre-TARP money we’re talking here.  From the New York Times, October 3, 2008:

The American International Group said on Friday that it had already drawn down $61 billion of the $85 billion emergency bridge loan it received from the Federal Reserve two weeks ago, an announcement that startled credit ratings agencies.

However, it’s clear that Liddy was hired to run the company for the government, not liquidate it; at least that’s what he said when he got the job.  From Bloomberg, Sept 18, 2008:

American International Group Inc.’s new leader, Edward Liddy, said today that the largest U.S. insurer will recover as he tries to sell assets.

“My intention is not to liquidate the company,” Liddy told employees. “Insurance operations are solid, capitalized and well funded.”

Liddy, appointed to run AIG after the company agreed to turn over control to the government in exchange for an $85 billion loan, needs to decide which units to sell to raise money for repaying the debt. “Every day we don’t do something, it will hurt us,” said Liddy, the former CEO of Allstate Corp.

By October 9, AIG had gotten another 37.8 billion dollar loan.  It’s hard to see how anybody associated with AIG, especially current Treasury Secretary, Turbo Tax Timmy Geithner, tax cheat, (TTTG,tc) could claim to be unaware of what is, or was, going on in their own company with a straight face, but, here we are.  And, by October 15, NY AG Cuomo, who was very aware, was pissed and writing “party’s over letters”, according to the Boston Globe:

Cuomo cited a $5 million bonus and a $15 million golden parachute AIG awarded its chief executive in March. Martin Sullivan was AIG’s chief executive at the time. Cuomo said the company also spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on “luxurious retreats” for executives, including an overseas hunting party and a golf outing. Reports yesterday said a handful of top executives from AIG spent thousands of dollars during a recent English hunting trip.

After a press conference announcing his threatening letter and a subsequent  meeting with Liddy, Cuomo got AIG to freeze bonus payments to Sullivan and any others from it’s Financial Products compensation and bonus pools.  Coincidentally, on that same day, October 22, Barney Frank called for a moratorium on all Wall Street bonuses.  By November 25, after even more pressure from Cuomo,and more money from the government, Liddy had agreed to a symbolic $1 per year salary for himself and other top AIG execs, a move Cuomo publicly applauded.

Around Christmastime of last year, after word had started to leak that AIG’s bailout money was going to foreign investors, and when Obama was on vacation from his BlagoDrama troubles, and TTTG,tc was still Chairman of the NY Fed, AIG started whining that the bonus restrictions were too tough, causing them to lose employees.  Cuomo was not impressed, and by the end of January, was demanding everybody’s money back.  From Bloomberg:

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo may demand the return of $4 billion in bonuses paid by Merrill Lynch & Co. just before it was acquired by Bank of America Corp., a person familiar with the matter said.

Cuomo also wants to know what Bank of America Chief Executive Officer Kenneth Lewis, 61, knew about the accelerated bonuses and about Merrill’s surprise $15 billion net loss in the fourth quarter, the person said. Lewis fired Merrill’s CEO John Thain this month after the losses required more federal aid.

While we can’t be sure, it seems plausible that the Obacrats’ symbolic outrage is often sparked in response to outside criticism of the bipartisan/quasi-Federal Reserve/Treasury sanctioned money manipulation the Changlings seem so desperate to protect; much, but not all, of it initiated by AG Cuomo.  Though Obama appeared to be appropriately disgusted with the CEO greed a week after Cuomo called the banksters out, and two weeks after he had successfully “transitioned,” he and his henchmen have taken every pain possible since to ensure that his empty threats remain so.  It is also worth bearing in mind that until about a week before the CEO fauxrage theater, Geithner was still head of the New York Fed; he had to know exactly what was happening.

Now that the word is out that much of the AIG bailout money went to foreign banks, and that some execs will get the bonuses they were promised, earned or not, the Obacracy is desperate to divert America’s attention from the fact that the insurance giant is doing exactly what they were hired by the UniPartisans to do, funnel government money on the q.t.  The fact that Cuomo shows no sign of letting up, especially considering that he is still subpoenaing AIG records for everything, has to be at least a little bit worrisome for Bailout Boyz.  After all, he’s not likely to fall for the standard Obamanian oopsy daisy, “don’t blame me I inherited this mess” crap, no matter who it comes from.  And, being a Clinton supporter and Caroline Kennedy’s ex-cousin-in-law makes Cumo’s motives and determination delicious to chew on.  Not to mention that whole “shuck and jive” thing.  Let’s hope he doesn’t have any hookers in his closet.

So, while Rome burns, will the Magic Nero fiddle, or just giggle his way through flubbed TelePrompTer read speeches at news conferences?

Nah, he’s going to Disneyland.

Forget Dog Whisperer, according to Politico’s Nia-Malika Henderson, when it comes to calling your dogs, Barack Obama is a master Dog Whistler.  And, according to Nia-Malika Henderson, that’s a very good thing.  Of course, when Nia-Malika Henderson refers to “dog whistles,” she’s talking about those code words politicians use to connect subliminally with certain core portions of their constituency, sending crucial, non-politically correct messages over the heads of their targeted enemies.  Like, during the primaries, when Obama surrogate Jesse Jackson Jr. mocked Hillary Clinton’s tears in the wake of her New Hampshire victory that threatened to derail the O Train momentum that the O Team imagined was, until that moment, on track to to take him straight to the White House, express-style.  Forget the fact that it was only the second contest between the two, making them relatively even at that point, oh, no, Clinton obviously didn’t get the “Obama inevitability” memo, and even worse, and just as obvious, neither did the people who actually voted for her.  This had to be nipped in the bud, somehow, after all, Obama’s only victory at that point was a caucus, and some of us were already suspicious about his tactics regarding those.  So, JJJr. was sent out to “let the dogs out.”  Alex Koppleman, Salon:

“We saw something very clever in the last week of this campaign … We saw a sensitivity factor, something that Mrs. Clinton has not been able to do with voters that she tried in New Hampshire. Not in response to voters. Not in response to Katrina, not in response to other issues that have devastated the American people — the war in Iraq — we saw tears in response to her appearance. So her appearance brought her to tears, but not Hurricane Katrina.”

This was a very clever dog whistle, being designed, as it was, to get the attention of both racist and sexist Obama supporters.  The intention could not have been more clear had JJJr. come out and said, “Hey y’all, this white bitch is trying to play us with that woman shit.”  Of course, like Salon, Slate pooh-poohed the whole idea of sexist dog whistles, a form of dog whistling in reverse, when you think about it:

Barack Obama brought up Hillary Clinton’s period! “I understand that Senator Clinton periodically,” (See? He said it!) “when she’s feeling down, launches attacks as a way of trying to boost her appeal.” Clearly, he was saying his rival ought to look into hormone replacement therapy.

What, this sexism is too subtle for you? Not for pro-Clinton blogger Taylor Marsh, who accused Obama of “demeaning women,” or even straight-down-the-middle Andrea Mitchell, who said on MSNBC, “When you start describing a female candidate as being ‘down’ and ’striking back,’ I don’t know, that’s a little edgy, don’t you think?” Karen Stabiner, the author of well-received books about single-sex education and breast cancer, wrote that when she heard what Obama had said, “That was the moment when I, and other women of a certain age, all over the country, winced. The change candidate had embraced one of the oldest clichés in the book—that women are held hostage by emotion, that we can’t be trusted with the big decisions because, depending on our age, we’re either on the rag or having a hot flash.”

Melinda Henneberger, who wrote the Slate piece, probably has no clue that she was being used by men to undermine women at large.  She happily diminished the stated concerns by pointing out all the women who are raped, beaten, and killed by men, and even shared the standard “I know real sexism pain” story by relating the tale of a former boss who called her fat.  It never dawned on her that telling somebody who’s been punched in the face that getting shot hurts more doesn’t help anybody’s cause.  It also never occured to her that her downplaying of the overt sexism inherent in the examples she was attempting to repudiate was yet another dog whistle to “Bro’s before ‘ho’s”-type Neanderthals (no offense to Neanderthals meant).

To be fair, these allegations of sexism were debated pro and con all over the internet.  To my mind, the fact that anybody would attempt to deny something so obvious illuminates the depth of the problem as well as the enormity of the task of fighting it.  Yet, when it comes to racial dog whistles, folks like Nia-Malika Henderson think they’re the best thing since puppies and rainbows.  Otherwise, how else could people “wake up and get it?”  I mean, until you see a brother dance, can you really tell how black he is?  Even if Selma really did get him born.

Obamites are curiously adept at hearing dog whistles they claim are designed for other dog’s ears while innocently claiming to being totally deaf to those calling them to attack.  Who’s whistling who?  Thus, when John McCain aired ads featuring Britney Spears and Paris Hilton, this was decried as a multi-layered, insidiously clever pack dog whistle, causing the “he’s racist, because he’s either saying, Obama’s not qualified, like Britney and Paris, because he’s black, or, he likes white women,” guard Chihuahuas to come a-runnin’, ankles a-nippin’.  Somehow, Obama apologists far and wide conflated the “cult of personality” ad into Klan-worthy hate speech.  Yet, Obama scaring white folks because of not looking “like the presidents on the dollar bills” couldn’t possibly have a racial undercurrent to it, let alone the screeching tone of blatant racism it did have.  To suggest otherwise was, well, you guessed it, racist.

The examples of dog whistling we’ve heard since the name Barack Obama entered the political lexicon would form a dog whistle symphony of such proportions that it would drive the world canine population mad.  However, Nia-Malika Henderson thinks that the fact that “blacks and whites hear Obama differently,” is “mad cool:”

On his pre-inaugural visit to Ben’s Chili Bowl, a landmark for Washington’s African-American community, President Barack Obama was asked by a cashier if he wanted his change back.

“Nah, we straight,” Obama replied.

The phrase was so subtle some listeners missed it. The reporter on pool duty quoted Obama as saying, “No, we’re straight.”

But many other listeners did not miss it. A video of the exchange became an Internet hit, and there was a clear moment of recognition among many blacks, who got a kick out of their Harvard-educated president sounding, as one commenter wrote on a hip-hop site, “mad cool.”

You know, Nia-Malika, if I may call you that, I be black too, and I thought Obrother’s lapse into Ebonics was an insulting, shallow, cynical, transparent  attempt to curry favor with people he feels he can’t afford to address at all otherwise.  I mean, when he be trahn’ to bamboozle ‘n’ hoodwink da white folks he don’t be sayin’ “we straight.”  How come “we straight” ain’t cool when he be conversatin’ wit’ heads of state, huh?  He don’t be talking to us on the sly then, do he?  We cain’t be in that, right?  I guess I just ain’t up on the Donna Brazile’s mama-approved “roolz” of Dog Whistle Politics in Da Hood.

My bad.

Just sayin’, ya know?

You know, even though I was born and raised a Democrat, and remained one all my life until the lying rat bastards showed themselves to be the slimy bunch of lying rat bastards they are during this election cycle, every day I find myself agreeing with Republicans more and more.  Not because I think they’re right about anything much, but, because I’m beginning to hate Democrats, too.  What a sniveling bunch of whiny assed, wannabe crooks and schnooks y’all elected to guide this sinking ship to the bottom of the hellish Ocean of No Returns they keep dumping our good money after bad into via the coffers of the greedy corporate bankster masters they serve.  And no, I’m not talking about Rod Blagojevich and his hapless Senate appointee, Roland Burris, I’m talking about the sanctimonious, holier-than-thou charlatans fingerpointing scapegoats like school children jockeying for position at the head of the line for the teeter-totter, stepping on each other’s toes and poking each other in the ribs as they holler for Teacher, only to adopt angelic visages and mumble, “he did it,” in disingenuous attempts to escape attention when faced with the wrath of authority.

Buncha schmoos.

Obacrats of every stripe are vainly trying to lay their entire culture and history of corruption at the feet of two dimwits stupid enough to make it easy for them to do so, while pulling every sneaky, underhanded, trick in the book so they can stack the deck in their favor.  Fuck an election, who cares who the people want in Barack Obama’s vacated Senate seat, who even cares if the one they got stuck with is a perfectly acceptable warm body, party line voting seat filler, like the one holding place for Jo(k)e Biden’s son?  No, the Barack Attack is hell bent on race-baiting, bribe arranging, blame-shifting Candidate Number 5, Jesse Jackson Jr., now that his first choice, Valerie (Throw ‘Em in the Street) Jarrett, had to be sacrificed up to White House staff and National Economic Council member on the downlow.

No, Obie’s Boyz got a game plan, and anybody that doesn’t sign on is headed under the bus.  Or worse.  Even the Obasucking press is starting to see that.  Commenting on White House shill Robert Gibbs’ ominous sounding, thinly  veiled warning to Roland Burris, that the president wanted the clueless pawn to take some time off and think about his future, The Swamp’s Frank James wrote in the Chicago Tribune that maybe Burris might want to think about sleeping with one eye open:

That sounded like one of those “messages” you never want to get from the Chicago Mob.

Clearly, the White House would like to see the Burris story go away, embarrassing distraction that it is.

So was this the White House’s way of saying to Burris, “Nice mausoleum you got there; sure would hate to see anything happen to it?”

Or did it portend that he might be receiving a dead fish, like what reportedly happened to a pollster who once got on the wrong side of Rahm Emanuel, now White House chief of staff?

It all reminded us of that famous scene from the Godfather where the Hollywood mogul wakes up in bed next to a horse’s head. Not good.

So now, Burris is the movie producer who wouldn’t hire Frank Sinatra Johnny Fontaine for “From Here to Eternity” some movie-within-a-movie without an offer he couldn’t refuse, while Blagojevich is the Frankie Five Angels character encouraged to soak himself to death in a warm tub for turning against “da Family,” according to John Kaas.   Sheesh, who would put out such cheesy movie ripoff “hits” (the ripoffs are cheesy, not the fuckin’ awesome Godfather movie series) besides the skinny-but-tough, Godfather lovin’, gun to a knife fight bringin’,  Dudfather-in-Chief?

Who else would send out his Astroturfing, poor man’s Tom Hagen to enlist the footsoldiers in the media to go after New York Governor David Paterson for disobeying direct orders, but the same mob that took down his snooping in “da Family business” predecessor?  These same sorry saps playing cops ‘n’ robbers on the taxpayers’ dime are the only ones with enough clout to sic their prosecuters on the payroll the Feds who’re paid to protect the bigger fish with the power of employment on little fish like Burris and Blago .

Everybody knows that just like in the case of Rod Blagojevich, the reason that the Obacrats are putting so much media pressure on Burris to resign is that they have no legal leg to stand on.  They’re just pissed and petulant, because they got played, since they fancy themselves as playas, which is why they sat on Burris’ “affidavit” until after he delivered the stimulus bill for them, then leaked it to the Sun-Times like the leaders of a nation of cowards they are.

So, while the schoolyard bullies hide their dirty hands in their pockets as they nod their heads in unison in the direction of their agreed upon scapegoats, as if they’re the only ones guilty and that’s the only crime being committed on the playground, and bogusly promise to be good this time, at least one pragmatic veteran aware of the shifting allegiances often associated with political turf wars, is pretending to be Switzerland.  Chicago’s mayor, Richard M. Daley, whose JP Morgan Chase board member brother, William, rides with the ObaFather’s posse, is refusing to pile on:

“Let’s put everything in perspective and give him an opportunity to explain himself,” Daley said today when asked if Burris should step down. “Automatically, every time something happens people want everybody to resign. Is it becoming very common now to tell people to resign after he was appointed?”

Daley gave Burris credit for voting for the federal economic stimulus package which the mayor said “never would have passed” without Burris’ vote.

Perhaps sensing the difference between the way the wind and politics blows, Daley displayed a perspective rare in Illinois politics re: the BlagoBurris folderol:

“Three people got killed [last night]. Do you think the people who killed them care who is their U.S. senator?” Daley said. “Life goes on.”

It does, indeed, Dickie.  So, in this case, like the rightwingers, I’m rooting for Burris.

Now that the Illinois State Senate has done its duty and rid the state of the onerous presence of its vilified governor, exercising the “nuclear option” of preventing him from ever holding office in the state again, what happens next?  Lots of people probably wonder where he goes, what he does next, when will he come to trial, how does the state recover and all kinds of stuff like that.  Not me. What I wanna know is, what happens if he’s never officially indicted; if come April, when U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald’s extension to file charges is up, none are forthcoming?  What happens then?  Oooops?

Since the Illinois Senate has gone out of its way to make the case that theirs is a political process and not a criminal one, one wonders, too, on what grounds was Blagojevich really impeached?  The media harps on the alleged attempt to sell President Black Obama’s vacant Senate seat to the highest bidder, but Blago has not been indicted for that crime, and Fitzgerald made it clear that he was being arrested to prevent that from happening.  The official charges in Fitzgerald’s complaint were mail and wire fraud and solicitation of bribery, so without indicting the people/person Blagojevich conspired with, and sent money to, or, received money from, where’s the crime?

On CNN earlier today, immediately after the vote went down, Wolf Blitzer asked Illinois resident reporters Roland Martin and Don Lemon to weigh in.  Now, I have no love for either man, Roland’s over-the-top Soul Brother manlove for Black Obama renders most things out his mouth stupid, and Lemon’s rush-to-exonerate interview with Jesse Jackson Jr. after he was identified as Candidate Number 5, the likeliest co-conspirator in the Blagojevich complaint, undermined his objectivity pretty completely.  Yet, both men opined that the impeachment of Blagojevich was more the result of the Illinois legislature’s dislike of, and ongoing disagreement with, him, than of his legal troubles.

This assertion was forcefully and immediately countered by resident Democratic strategist (hack) Paul Begala, whose Obama man crush makes Martin’s look like a vendetta, and for whom I have even less use.  Begala’s rah-rah Obaba act is sooooo intense that it makes you wonder if his primary support for Hillary Clinton was as a Patti Solis-Doyle-esque mole, planted in the inner circle to destroy her chances from within.  His doofy-goofy gushing sucking up has me convinced that when looking up his name in the dictionary, one would find his picture next to the definition “see Ted Haggard.”   And CNN’s other turncoat Clinton supporting “strategist,” Judas Carville, is equally annoying with his “cardboard groping Hillary’s tit is a harmless prank when Obie’s boyz do it,” Obama fluffing shtick.  Anyway, Carville-lite jumped in and asserted that Blagojevich’s alleged attempt to sell the object of Begala’s love’s Senate seat and shake down a children’s hospital showed conclusively that Blago was not only a criminal, but a scum sucking sinner.

This is worrisome because Blagojevich has not been indicted for anything, let alone convicted, so Begala’s vehemently defending his impeachment on those grounds is unsupportable.  More worrisome is the fact that Begala gets his talking points straight from the White House via his longstanding tradition of daily early morning conference calls with Rahm Emanuel, a practice reported by Politico and decried by News Busters.  From Politico:

Under other circumstances, the morning calls between Emanuel, Carville, Stephanopoulos and Begala — pollster Stan Greenberg is another frequent member of the core group, a kind of “fifth Beatle” — might be a Society of Has-Beens, reliving ancient glories from the Little Rock “War Room.”

It was Emanuel’s ascension into Barack Obama’s inner circle — even as Carville and Begala remained closely linked with the defeated Clinton political machine — that saved the group from irrelevance.

The calls “are about what’s happening, what the implications are of what’s happening and what’s going on,” said Emanuel.

edit

Stephanopoulos’ role is as the analyst and the skeptic. “George is really a big-systems thinker,” Begala said. “As a journalist, he is half of a political scientist, and because he’s not in the partisan battles anymore, he sees things differently.”

Begala offers the most academic interpretation of the calls and their daily survey of political news.

Emanuel is the most likely to be talking policy, usually some program Democrats can use to score points in the daily partisan brawl with Republicans.

edit

Begala’s own interest, as a former speechwriter, is in rhetoric — what is likely to be the sound bite that will echo through the news cycle.

Carville is the wild card, “a genius,” in Begala’s view, “who can look at the same operative facts as everyone else and come to a different conclusion.”

Like News Busters, I find this practice deeply troubling in general, but in the case of Blagojevich’s CNN coverage, such complicity is especially egregious, given the lazy copy cat, follow-the-leader nature of the media nowadays.  Rahm Emanuel has been interviewed by the Feds in this case, for goodness sake!  Blagojevich has repeatedly demanded to call him specifically as a witness in his defense, and this guy is giving talking points to the prosecutors in the court of public opinion case against him?  Straight from the president’s mouth, perhaps?

No wonder Blagojevich felt that going straight-to-video was his only option.  With the entire news media being covered with government issue Astroturf, what chance did he have against a political process administered by a tribunal of sworn enemies allied with his potential co-conspirator?  And, if President Black Obama, the Obamessiah with the power to heal or hurt by the mere laying on of hands, who was also interviewed by the Feds with lawyer present, had a hand in offering up the Senate seat in question for any reason, what better way to cover everybody’s ass than have your Chief of Staff issue daily marching orders to your street crew?

Maybe Blago’s right; if they can do this to a governor…

Guilty in the press, Rod Blagojevich not only came out swinging at a press conference today, he was kicking ass and taking names, like Valerie Jarrett, Jesse Jackson, Jr., and Rahm Emanuel.  Calling himself an already hanged cowboy like in a “B” Western movie, he claimed the newly adopted Illinois Senate impeachment rules were stacked against him, and refused to participate in the upcoming kangaroo court impeachment trial, as his lawyers did last week:

Then, he called out the press, including the Chicago Tribune, whose editorial board members he is accused of trying to have fired, and basically demanded they stop ganging up on him and start editorializing for “fairness” on his behalf.   The guy’s got cojones grande, you gotta give him that.  The nerve to throw around phrases like, “due process ‘ and “presumption of innocence” like that!  What chutzpah!

Another phrase fondly bandied about, “conspiracy theory,” reared it’s ugly head during the day’s proceeding, with the closed-minded “journalists” sneering, “So, you’re saying the entire Illinois political contingent is conspiring against you?” or words to that effect, as if such a thing not only doesn’t happen every day, has not happened very recently.  While most “conspiracies” don’t rise to the level of a Dealey Plaza grassy knoll, or a Sirhan-Sirhan extra bullets theory, “let’s car pool and save gas,” is a conspiracy, and speculation about the vehicle occupants’ motivation would be a theory.  But far more substantial conspiracies have been fixtures in the news even up until today, they just weren’t called what they are.  Somebody conspired to get Caroline Kennedy considered for Hillary Clinton’s vacant Senate seat and colluded with the New York Times and other media outlets to push the failed idea; somebody conspired to try to get Al Franken seated in the Senate before Norm Coleman could possibly prevail at trial, likely colluding with the same media outlets involved in the Kennedy push; and the entire Democratic contingent of the United States Senate conspired to defy the law and prevent entry to its chambers by a duly appointed Senator, just because they felt like it.  So, the possibility that the Democrats in Illinois, in collusion with the Republicans, have determined that ridding themselves of Rod Blagojevich is a good idea in their best interests is not that far-fetched; though various members of the conspiracy may well have vastly different motives.  Some may find the criminal investigation into his activities as governor uncomfortable, some may feel his removal allows for an easier path for their ambition, some may wish to implement policies he opposes, some may, as he said, want to pump up the campaign issue.  Hell, some just might not like the guy, or his hair.  Whatever.  Doesn’t mean that he’s wrong when he says they’ve all joined together to get him out of office.

The man hasn’t been formally charged with anything, no matter what the teeth-grindingly annoying Shepard Smith kept interjecting over the coverage until I had the good sense to change the freaking channel before I reached the “throw-something-at-the-TV-to-shut-him-up-cut-off-my-own-nose-to-spite-my-face” stage.  It seems to me, impeaching a man based on allegations of things not yet even indictable, by conveniently adopted rules, is pretty unfair.

The Senate also approved rules for the trial, which is to begin Jan. 26. The rules govern issues such as issuing subpoenas. They also allow a majority of senators to override rulings by the judge.

Contrary to the news people who indignantly shouted that Blagojevich was not addressing the charges against him, by repeatedly calling out Barack Obama’s Three Stooges, Valerie, Rahm, and Jesse, as well as the Chicago Tribune, Hot Rod was making it very clear that he was not afraid to face them, or charges regarding them, in a court of law.  In a move that is in many ways reminiscent of the “I appoint Roland Burris” big ballin’ “eff ewe,” this might be the biggest “eff ewe” of all.

NOTE I:  “Adviser ‘B,’” referenced in the 78 page charging document filed by U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald against Blago, has been recently identified as Frederick S. Yang, an executive with Peter D. Hart Research Group and Associated, the company where Geoff Garin, who took over Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign from Mark Penn, is a partner.  From Fox News, Jan. 22:

In a Nov. 7 recorded conversation characterized by prosecutors, Yang told Blagojevich he “should leverage the President-elect’s desire to have ‘Senate Candidate 1′ (Jarrett) appointed to the Senate seat in order to get a head position” with a union organization called Change to Win.

The complaint alleges that Yang is on tape indicating that leveraging the Senate seat to Valerie Jarrett in return for the “Change to Win” position would insulate the President-elect.  Further:

The union organization that figures in the complaint, Change to Win, is a 6 million-member coalition of unions that was started in 2005. Its members include the Service Employees International Union, the Teamsters and the United Farm Workers of America. Tom Balanoff, an official at SEIU’s Local 1 in Chicago, has been identified as the SEIU official mentioned several times in the Blagojevich complaint, including being identified as “an emissary” for the appointment of Jarrett.

SEIU is listed as a client of Peter D. Hart Research, which has conducted surveys for Change to Win, according to a union news release.

The same story appears here and a breakdown of the participants is here.

SideNOTE:  SEIU endorsed Obama immediately prior to the Nevada caucus.  He lost, anyway.

NOTE II:  In other recent Blago news, the Hair Bear was quietly  re-fingerprinted on the 21st, and his brother, Robert, caught on tape “as many as 50″ times himself, is not fighting the tapes’ release.  Yet.

As the wheels on the Barack Obama “Obus”  seem to be improbably blowing out simultaneously, all over the ever-increasing hordes of former sycophants he’s so fond of tossing under it, there’s evidence that a new driver just might be reporting for duty who can get it rolling again.  The Associated Press is reporting that Dianne Feinstein is disappointed enough with the way things have been going to take the wheel and do something about it.   In a rare show of leadership by anybody in the budding Obama administration, Feinstein, reacting to the Obacrat’s indefensibly juvenile actions and positions regarding the appointment of Roland Burris by emabattled Governor Rod Blagojevich to replace President-elect Obama in the Senate, showed she’s got eggs:

The chairman of the Senate Rules Committee has parted with many of her Democratic colleagues and says that the Senate should seat former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California said Tuesday that Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, however tainted by corruption charges, has the right to appoint someone to President-elect Barack Obama’s former seat. The Rules Committee decides whether Burris is qualified to serve.

Feinstein said that blocking Burris would have ramifications for other governors’ appointments.

Burris was blocked from assuming his legally appointed seat on ticky-tack procedural issues he plans to fight, by Obacrats miffed about Blagojevich’s legal troubles.  That those troubles have the potential to reach out and bite a number of them in the ass, including the President-elect, has absolutely nothing, nothing, ya hear me? to do with anything!   Harry Reid, the most cluelessly disingenuous buffoon in the bunch, is reportedly captured on one of the same tapes that snagged Blagojevich, dictating to the Governor that 3 black contenders for Obama’s vacant seat not be considered.  The illogical non-logic put forth by Sir Miss A-Lot is that such candidates would have difficulty being elected.  Since the most obvious thing they have in common is race, it seems that Reid is concerned that the people of the only state to send 2 black Senators to Congress are…what, racially tapped out?  Rahm Emanuel, who himself had called Blagojevich before being appointed White House Chief of staff to put forth a candidate, Valerie Jarrett, over Blagojevich’s own reported pick, rival Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, supposedly advanced Reid’s call.  From the Chicago Sun-Times:

Days before Gov. Blagojevich was charged with trying to sell President-elect Barack Obama’s U.S. Senate seat to the highest bidder, top Senate Democrat Harry Reid made it clear who he didn’t want in the post: Jesse Jackson, Jr., Danny Davis or Emil Jones.

Rather, Reid called Blagojevich to argue he appoint either state Veterans Affairs chief Tammy Duckworth or Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, sources told the Chicago Sun-Times.

Sources say the Senate majority leader pushed against Jackson and Davis — both democratic congressmen from Illinois — and against Jones — the Illinois Senate president who is the political godfather of President-elect Barack Obama — because he did not believe the three men were electable. He feared losing the seat to a Republican in a future election.

Emanuel, Jarrett and Obama have all lawyered up and been interviewed in connection with the pay-to-play scandal, possibly due to information gleaned from wiretapped Blagojevich conversations, one of which was played for Emanuel by authorities desirous of jogging his spotty memory.  But the impending clouds of doom hang only over the poofy-haired head of Blagojevich.

The Los Angeles Times reports that Feinstein has also been critical of Obama and the Obacrats in regards to the president-elect’s choice for CIA Director, Leon Panetta…

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who this week begins her tenure as the first female head of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said she was not consulted on the choice and indicated she might oppose it.

“I was not informed about the selection of Leon Panetta to be the CIA director,” Feinstein said. “My position has consistently been that I believe the agency is best served by having an intelligence professional in charge at this time.”

…a media-reported unofficial pick Obama is now seeming to be laying the groundwork for backing away from.   The New York Times transcript  of today’s “media availability” (doncha love it?) contains this exchange after a reporter asked him about Panetta:

Obama: Well, as you noted, I haven’t made – haven’t made a formal announcement about my intelligence team.

(cell phone rings)

Obama: That may be him calling now… finding out where it’s at.

Obama: I have the utmost respect for Leon Panetta. I think that he is one of the finest public servants that we have. He brings extraordinary management skills, great political savvy, an impeccable record of integrity.

As chief of staff, he is somebody who – to the president – he’s somebody who obviously was fully versed in international affairs, crisis management, and had to evaluate intelligence consistently on a day-to-day basis.

Having said all that, I have not made an announcement. When we make the announcement, I think what people will see is, is that we are putting together a top-notch intelligence team that is not only going to assure that I get the best possible intelligence unvarnished, that the intelligence community is no longer geared towards telling the president what they think the president wants to hear, but instead are going to be delivering the information that the president needs to make critical decisions to keep the American people safe.

And, thoroughly in keeping with the tendencies of a WestWing-inspired leader of the Gang Who Couldn’t Shoot Straight, who brings a gun to a knife fight to prove that though skinny, he’s tough, and who preens and postures for the sheer adolescent pleasure of being a blowhard playing dress-up, Obama is said to be close to appointing CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta as Surgeon General, for no apparent good reason, which of course, the obviously soon-to-be-renamed Obama News Network is thrilled to talk up:

The Obama transition team approached Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN’s chief medical correspondent, about becoming U.S. surgeon general, according to sources inside the transition and at CNN.

Gupta was in Chicago, Illinois, in November to meet with President-elect Barack Obama on the matter, sources said.

Gupta has declined comment.

The transition team is impressed with the combination of Gupta’s past government experience, as a White House fellow in 1997 and a special adviser to then-first lady Hillary Clinton, along with his medical career as a neurosurgeon and his communication skills, the transition source said.

Gupta is a member of the staff and faculty of the Department of Neurosurgery at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia. He regularly performs surgery at Emory University Hospital and at Grady Memorial Hospital, where he serves as associate chief of neurosurgery.

What, Dr. Phil was busy?  Anyway, given that the loony Obacrats face months of litigation surrounding the contested Senate seatings of Al Franken, as well as Burris, and that they find themselves suddenly short a Commerce Secretary appointee, here’s hoping that Big Mama Feinstein can convince the unruly children she works with to shape up and let her or another grownup try driving the bus for once, instead of taking turns joyriding over their friends.

Ha, ha, ha…I’m sorry, I can’t stop laughing.  “Crazy ol’” Rod Blagojevich, the embattled Illinois governor currently being impeached for everything from supposedly trying to sell a Senate seat to people who claim to have no idea such a seat was being offered for sale, to being declared certifiably insane based upon his enemies’ dislike of his Bob’s Big Boy hairdo, has just flipped a monkey wrench of enormous proportions off of his middle finger and into the game.

In late October, rumors began to fly about who would assume Barack Obama’s Senate seat should he be elected president.  In the following days, according to media reports, parties in both the Obama and Blagojevich camps began to toss names around among themselves and with each other.  There had also been talk from various factions that the seat should be filled by a black butt, since Obama was the lone African American in the Senate, one of only five in American history, three since Reconstruction and two from Illinois.  Given all that, Valerie Jarrett, being both black and Obama’s “big sister” and neighbor, soon became the front-runner in the mind of the media (assuming there is such a thing) largely due to the efforts of Rahm Emanuel.   Then, curiously, in early November, Valerie Jarrett removed her name from contention for an office she now claims she never sought, and Barack Obama officially resigned his Senate seat earlier than any other president-elect in history for no apparent reason.  Soon, thereafter, if memory serves, Jesse Jackson, Jr. became the media’s odds on favorite.  Interestingly, all names being considered in the press at that time were folks likely to be sanctioned by Team O.

Once Blagojevich was arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and solicitation of bribery, not specifically for trying to unload the Senate seat, btw, all bets were off;  people began to call for Blago’s head, impeachment was placed squarely in the center of the table, outraged howlers demanded that Blags give up his right to name a Senate successor, Harry Reid and the Senate Democratic Caucus even weighed in saying nobody Blago selected from that point on would be confirmed, and all the horses in the race began to jockey for position in public and in earnest.

While all this was going on, however, Blagojevich went to work.  Oh, sure, he proclaimed his innocence, blah, blah, blah, he went for runs, he passed some bills, whatever, but basically, he just kept on being governor.  As part of his duties, he still has the right, and some might say, obligation, to appoint Barack Obama’s Senate successor.  And, at 2:00 today, it seems Rod Blagojevich is going to do just that:

Gov. Rod Blagojevich is expected today to name former Illinois Atty. Gen. Roland Burris to replace President-elect Barack Obama in the U.S. Senate.

The action comes despite warnings by Democratic Senate leaders that they would not seat anyone appointed by the disgraced governor who faces criminal charges of trying to sell the post, sources familiar with the decision said.

Shortly after Obama’s Nov. 4 victory, Burris made known his interest in an appointment to the Senate but was never seriously considered, according to Blagojevich insiders. But in the days following Blagojevich’s arrest, and despite questions over the taint of a Senate appointment, Burris stepped up his efforts to win the governor’s support.

Though he is 71, Burris has said that Obama’s replacement should be able to win re-election and he has noted that despite a string of primary losses in races ranging from Chicago mayor to governor and U.S. senator, he’s never lost to a Republican.

Blagojevich, who has sole authority to name a replacement senator, scheduled a 2 p.m. news conference at his downtown Chicago office.

It bears noting that while a lot of people in Illinois politics hate Blagojevich’s guts and will go to great lengths to defeat him by any means necessary, the fact that he is or is not a crook has absolutely nothing to do with anything.  Everybody in Illinois politics is a crook, crookedness even trumps party affiliation in the state.  As I’ve said before, indicting any one Illinois pol on corruption charges is like trying to point out the one sinner in Hell.  What’s going on with the hue and cry surrounding Blago is pure, down and dirty politics, all protestations of ideological and moral consternation nothing more than dramatic fuel for the elbow throwing fire. And, in this game of hand crushing ladder climbing, the too complacent enemies of Blags, believing their opponent to be sufficiently neutralized, just got punked.

Burris, who officially threw his hat into the ring after Blags was arrested, is going to be hard to assail, Harry Reid’s premature saber-rattling notwithstanding.

Reid had said when the Blagojevich scandal broke earlier this month he would ask the Senate not to seat any Blagojevich appointee, in order to make sure the seat is free of taint. All the Senate Democrats concurred. Manley said Reid’s position has not changed.

Reid’s position may not have changed according to his aide, but most assuredly, the game now has.

That would be the headline for any other president-elect at any other time in our history, since it accurately reflects the facts of a pretty sensational story.  However, since we’re talking about an extraordinary Teflon TelePrompTer  Messiah, elected/anointed/selected to lead us to the Promised Land of Peace and Prosperity at this unique point in history, the bulk of the headlines referring to Barack Obama’s “internal investigation report” into his own and his staff’s involvement in the Rod Blagojevich “Got A Hot Senate Seat, Gotta Move It” scandal read more like, “Jesus’ Little Brother Absolves Himself And All Who Love Him.”  Hey, it’s Christmas.

On Dec. 11, Obama called for an internal investigation and said he and his staff were definitely, for sure not involved, no how, no way:

The president-elect said he was “as appalled and disappointed as anybody” by the allegations. He said that neither he nor his transition team have been a part of the continuing federal investigation, using language that was very specific but left several questions unanswered.

“I have not been contacted by any federal officials and we have not been interviewed by them,” Obama said.

On Dec. 15, we were told, hey, we’ve got a report, but the US Attorney wants us to hold off on releasing it, and since we’re such transparent good guys, of course we’re gonna comply:”

President-elect Barack Obama said Monday that his transition office was delaying release of a report on contacts with the Blagojevich administration until next week because the U.S. attorney’s office in Illinois asked for more time to conduct interviews about the controversial Senate vacancy.

I guess they just forgot to mention that the interviews the US Attorney wanted to conduct were with the president-elect and two key members of his inner circle.  Their bad.  On Dec. 18, 19, and 20th, Obama, Rahm Emanuel and Valerie Jarrett were questioned by authorities with their lawyers present:

Those with knowledge of the federal investigation have said that Emanuel is not a target in the case. There also is no indication that Jarrett ever was a target, a transition official said. Like Obama, both were accompanied by lawyers for their interviews with the prosecutor’s staff, Gibbs said.

We also now know that Jarrett talked to SEIU official Tom Balanoff about appointing Blagojevich Secretary of Health and Human Services, but that it had nothing to do with Jarrett or Obama’s Senate seat:

Obama’s report details a conversation about the appointment between Jarrett and Tom Balanoff, head of the Illinois chapter of the Service Employees International Union, in which Balanoff told her that Blagojevich had “raised with him” the idea of being appointed Health and Human Services secretary.

Balanoff informed Jarrett he had told Blagojevich it wouldn’t happen, and Jarrett agreed, discounting the notion as “ridiculous,” the report states.

However, there was never any suggestion in the conversation that Blagojevich was linking the Senate appointment to the possible Cabinet posting, the report states.

Ha, ha, ho, ho, and a good time was had by all.  Another curious thing, at least to me, is that the interviews were held on consecutive days, with Emanuel’s being last.   Emanuel, who had long been suspected of having had multiple contacts with the Illinois governor re: the Senate seat, seems to have needed to have his memory jogged by authorities:

During Emanuel’s interview Saturday, federal authorities played for him a taped recording of at least one conversation he had with Blagojevich’s office, according to a transition official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to discuss information not included in the report.

As soon as Rahm’s interview was concluded, he went to Africa.  No word on where David Axelrod went, but a trip to a creative writing class might be in order.  Davey’s storytelling skills need a bit of brushing up:

Obama’s report also addresses confusion over earlier statements by David Axelrod, a top adviser who had said at one point that Obama discussed the Senate appointment with Blagojevich. Axelrod had discussed potential recommendations for the Senate appointment with Obama and Emanuel, and “was under the impression” that it would be Obama who would offer those to Blagojevich.

“He later learned that it was Mr. Emanuel who conveyed those names,” the report states.

Davey’s not the only one deficient in “once upon a time” skills; Greg Craig, the “investigator” who put the report together probably bores little kids to sleep, too:

Obama’s report states that none of Blagojevich’s aides reached out to the president-elect’s staff. The report only notes that Obama friend Eric Whitaker was approached by one of Blagojevich’s top aides to learn “who, if anyone, had the authority to speak for the president-elect” about the Senate appointment.

Obama told Whitaker that “no one was authorized to speak for him” and that “he had no interest in dictating the result of the selection process,” according to the report.

So, they didn’t reach out to staff, people just happened to bump into each other in the hall, or pick up silent phones only to find representatives from Blago’s office on the other end, or powerful psychic connections were made between highly receptive simpatico telepaths on both sides, or, just maybe, all the “reaching out” came from the Obamessiah side.  Politico has an accounting of some other inconsistencies and curiosities associated with Oblagoma-gate, but one thing we’re not ever likely to figure out is why the New York Times mentioned Jarrett staffer Michael Strautmanis as a name likey to be dropped into this mess when it wasn’t.  But, it’s a comfort to know that the president-elect absolved himself before and after he was hauled in front of the authorities.  In fact, it’s nice to be reminded of that other heartwarming tale of righeous indignation spurring justice seeking, “The Ballad of Candidate Number 5,” who was also not only questioned by Fitz’s boys, but alerted to the governor’s impending arrest; only in his case, it was on other occasions that he exercised his civic duty to report unethical behavior.  Makes my heart cockles all warm and fuzzy.

And, who wouldn’t want their cockles toasty on Christmas Eve?

Rahm’s in Africa, Barack’s in Hawaii, and the proverbial stuff is about to hit the fan.  According to the Associated Press, the “internal investigation report” into Obama staff involvement in the Rod Blagojevich Senate seat sale scam shows that Barack Obama, Rahm Emanuel and Valerie Jarrett have been questioned by the US Attorney’s office, and that Emanuel had “one or two” direct conversations with Blagojevich, and did so without Obama’s approval at least once:

The report was released Tuesday as a transition official disclosed that Obama and two of his top aides, Rahm Emanuel and Valerie Jarrett, have been interviewed in connection with the federal investigation into Gov. Rod Blagojevich. The transition official, speaking on a condition of anonymity before the report’s public release, also confirmed that Emanuel had been captured on wiretaps taken as part of the investigation.

edit

Emanuel had one or two conversations with Blagojevich and four with Harris on the subject of the Senate seat, according to the review. The report said Obama authorized Emanuel to pass on the names of four people he considered to be highly qualified to take over his seat — Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes, Illinois Veterans’ Affairs Director Tammy Duckworth, Rep. Jan Schakowsky and Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.

“In later telephone conversations, Mr. Emanuel — also with the president-elect’s approval — presented other names of qualified candidates to Mr. Harris including Attorney General Lisa Madigan and Ms. Cheryle Jackson,” the report said. “Mr. Harris did not make any effort to extract a personal benefit for the governor in any of these conversations. There was no discussion of a Cabinet position, of 501c(4), of a private sector position or of any other personal benefit to the governor in exchange for the Senate appointment.”

The report said that earlier, Emanuel recommended Jarrett for the Senate seat without Obama’s knowledge, and Jarrett later accepted a job as a senior White House adviser.

So, now we know, US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald’s office has “interviewed” Obama, Emanuel and Jarrett, and Rahmbo had “multiple conversations” with Blago’s office, but “nobody knows nothin’ ’bout sellin’ no Senate seats.”  Right.  Merry Fitzmas?  We also know that Rahmbo did not come forward of his own accord:

In the meantime, the transition official said, Emanuel was interviewed by federal officials who replayed a wiretapped conversation for him. He then was able to give Craig more details about what he said, and those details were included in the final report, the transition official said. Transition officials discussed the final version with Obama on Monday as he vacationed in Hawaii.

While George Stephanoploulis had previously reported that Emanuel spoke to Blagojevich once, and his staff four times, and let it go at that, the  New York Times had told us there was more to it than that:

Rahm Emanuel, the Illinois congressman selected by Mr. Obama as his White House chief of staff, had a handful of contacts with the governor’s office. At least two other names also are expected to be mentioned in the review, including Michael Strautmanis, a longtime aide to Mr. Obama who once worked for Mr. Blagojevich.

Valerie Jarrett, a close friend to the Obama family who is a co-chairwoman of the transition effort, could also be referred to in the report. Her name was raised as a possible candidate for the Senate seat, but she withdrew from consideration last month and took a position in the White House.

Oh, and who is Michael Strautmanis, you ask?  Wikipedia says:

Michael Strautmanis is an American lawyer. President-Elect Barack Obama announced on December 5, 2008, that Strautmanis will serve as Chief of Staff to the Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Relations and Public Liaison.^[1] He is currently Chief Counsel and the Director of Public Liaison and Intergovernmental Affairs on Obama’s presidential transition team.^[2][3]

Previously Strautmanis served the Clinton administration as Chief of Staff to the general counsel at the United States Agency for International Development and served Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich and the American Association for Justice.^[3]

A Chicago, Illinois native,^[3] Strautmanis was educated at the law school of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He started his career as a paralegal in Michelle Obama’s law firm.

Though he seems expendable, since his conversations with Blago obviously occurred before he was named to the staff, he has a longer official relationship with Obama as Senior Adviser for Obama for America and his presidential campaign.  His current boss is either Valerie Jarrett, senior advisor and assistant to the president in charge of intergovernmental relations, or Tina Tchen, or both.  The question remains, why did the New York Times mention his name when Greg Craig’s sketchy memo to the president-elect did not?

We now know more than we did about the whole thing, but the information is coming in at dribs and drabs.  Wonder why?  Hmmmm.  I also wonder why Obama had seemed so sure about what was in the report last week when he didn’t have all the details until he got to Hawaii?  And, did Rahm plan his African vacation before or after he heard himself on tape?

Stay tuned.