He was holding his nose too, he just had to pinch it a little harder than most of us since he was so close to it.

Neither campaign put out a — no, I’m not going to speak for the Democrats but I mean, the Republicans didn’t put out a candidate for us to really vote for. It’s the lesser of two evils.

But he's a big fan of Sarah Palin

I only got to spend a short amount of time with her but, you know, it was been asked if I felt any presence when I was with John McCain or Barack Obama. You know, with Sarah Palin, I don't want to say I felt a presence but she definitely had energy and she definitely went to work for American people, and it disgusts me on how often they try to bash her just for her sincerity.

Ah poor Maverick, no one really liked him. Alas, I'm sure he'll spend the next 4 years getting even with those of us who voted for him (I stole that from a commenter, sorry I can't remember who).

Posted by: DrewM at 02:44 PM | Comments (52)
Post contains 217 words, total size 1 kb.

Magic Bus. Beep beep!

Obama's getting pretty good at denying any contact whatsoever with people known to be close associates.

Flashback: Among his many sudden "I don't even know that guy" claims-- Franklin Raines. And fellow communist Mike Klonsky.

Note that Raines is similar to this new claim-- Raines self-reported being an advisor to Obama on economics, the Washington Post reported it and then reported it again. Team Obama did not ask for a correction.

Until Franklin Raines was linked to Fannie Mae and became a liability. At that point, the famously media-patrolling Obama machine objected that Raines original claim, and the Washington Post's two reports, were faulty.

In this case, Axelrod's statement has been on the record for, what, two and half weeks now. Why is Team Obama only now realizing he "misspoke" after 17 days?

Might it be -- see if you can follow me on this; it gets a little complicated -- that Axelrod didn't misspeak at all, and hence no correction, until now, when Blago's arrested, and it suddenly becomes important to claim Axelrod misspoke?

I know that's crazy-talk. Just throwing it out there.

Obama and Blago's Connections:

Obama Advised Blagojevich On His Victorious Gubernatorial Run. “That year, [Obama] gained his first high-level experience in a statewide campaign when he advised the victorious gubernatorial candidate Rod Blagojevich, another politician with a funny name and a message of reform.” (Ryan Lizza, “Making It,” The New Yorker, 7/21/0

Obama: “If the governor asks me to work on his behalf, I’ll be happy to do it.” (John Patterson, “Senator Says He’s Still Willing To Help Blagojevich Despite Hiring Concerns,” Chicago Daily Herald, 7/27/06)

Obama Endorsed Blagojevich For A Second Term. “Obama, who endorsed Blagojevich for a second term nearly 18 months ago, said he’s ready to help Illinois democrats in the upcoming elections.” (John Patterson, “Senator Says He’s Still Willing To Help Blagojevich Despite Hiring Concerns,” Chicago Daily Herald, 7/27/06)

Obama: “We’ve got a governor in Rod Blagojevich who has delivered consistently on behalf of the people of Illinois.” (Deanna Bellandi, “Illinois Democrats Talk Unity But Don’t Show It,” The Associated Press, 8/16/06)

Posted by: Ace at 01:41 PM | Comments (110)
Post contains 399 words, total size 3 kb.

When there's a hot story, the media usually likes to pile on with background pieces, context pieces, related pieces. This is flood-the-zone type coverage as former NYT editor Howell Raines dubbed it. And the media likes doing this coverage... so long as it's not harming The Cause.

In arguments between liberals and conservatives on media bias, liberals will often point out "But the media did cover that particular story!" Yes, there is usually a short article out there, failing to note the Democratic wrong-doer's partisan affiliation. But there is no flood-the-zone. There are no background pieces, context pieces, related pieces. Some follow-up, but no pile-on. Not when a Democrat has been caught dirty.

If there were going to be flood-the-zone coverage of the corrupt Chicago machine, some background as to how it operates and how breathtakingly blatant corruption is viewed as normal business practices by pols and citizens, what sorts of stories would we see?

Well, in this Bizarro universe I'm hypothesizing, we might see some fresh mention of this story:

Dan Riehl notes, via Amanda Carpenter, that in the list of earmarks he requested, $1 million was requested for the construction of a new hospital pavilion at the University Of Chicago. The request was put in in 2006.

You know who works for the University of Chicago Hospital?

Michelle Obama. She's vice president of community affairs.

As Byron noted, "In 2006, the Chicago Tribune reported that Mrs. ObamaÂ’s compensation at the University of Chicago Hospital, where she is a vice president for community affairs, jumped from $121,910 in 2004, just before her husband was elected to the Senate, to $316,962 in 2005, just after he took office."

Looks like that raise was worth it.

But the media is not going to offer context in this case.

What context do you need to explain One Man's Crime?

Blago did something bad. That's it. There's no more context to explain, no political culture which requires further elaboration.

The story begins and ends with Blago himself. There is no point in expending all those journalistic resources to story which is simply about a single man's failings.

Nothing to see here, folks. MoveOn.org.

Posted by: Ace at 12:44 PM | Comments (61)
Post contains 380 words, total size 2 kb.

Okay, the judge in My Cousin Vinnie was a hard ass.

But six months in jail for contempt of court? For muttering, under his breath, that the opposing counsel was "a fucking liar"?

Seems... harsh.

Posted by: Ace at 12:36 PM | Comments (41)
Post contains 57 words, total size 1 kb.

All this nationalization of industry. Corporations becoming dependent on government officials for their lifeblood.

What could go wrong?

In this excerpt, Blago plans to block the state's support of the sale of the Cubs unless the Cubs' parent company, the Tribune Company, plays ball.

(Slublog's special Blago-centric flaming skull)

As Instapundit would say, "They told me if George W. Bush were elected, politicians would use muscle to muzzle the free media, and they were right!" Update: Whoops, he did say it. I thought he'd missed the opportunity.

more...

Posted by: Ace at 12:01 PM | Comments (83)
Post contains 1149 words, total size 8 kb.

Wow, this is going to be a bad idea down the road.

Bank of America today sent a letter to Republic Windows & Doors LLC indicating that the bank is prepared to provide a limited amount of additional loans to Republic to help fund a comprehensive resolution of Employee Claims.

Bank of America expressed concern in the letter about Republic's failure to pay their employees the Employee Claims to which they are legally entitled.

Bank of America is prepared to make these additional loans despite the fact that Bank of America is not obligated to pay Republic's employees or make additional loans to Republic.

Because Bank of America has no direct relationship with Republic's employees, Bank of America must rely on Republic and its management to negotiate with the Union and Republic's employees regarding the Employee Claims.

Didn't we get into this crisis by giving loans to people who couldn't pay them off? And from now on if you get laid off, aren't you just going to sit you ass down and demand a buyout?

Some background here if you weren't following this yesterday.

Posted by: DrewM at 11:40 AM | Comments (46)
Post contains 204 words, total size 1 kb.

The court refused to take a wider stance.

Idaho Sen. Larry Craig has lost his latest attempt to withdraw his guilty plea in the Minneapolis airport men's room sex sting that effectively ended his Senate career.

A three-judge panel of the Minnesota Court of Appeals on Tuesday rejected the Republican's bid to toss out his disorderly conduct conviction.

Craig still has the option of appealing to the Minnesota Supreme Court, and he said Tuesday he was considering future options, one of which involves being chained to the wall in Boy George's basement.

I added that last part. Thanks to Iceman.

Posted by: Ace at 11:37 AM | Comments (29)
Post contains 114 words, total size 1 kb.

I forget, did we extend this through the playoffs last year? You know, the games that Dallas won't be in?

1 Nodakdrunkhobos 115
2 Is pigskin kosher? (joshin) 114
3 buzzion 113
3 Physics Geek 113
4 Dave in Texas 112
4 mesablue 112
5 All Hail Alex 109

Not at all football related, kinda related to feet, Larry Craig loses appeal to withdraw guilty plea.

Posted by: Dave in Texas at 09:33 AM | Comments (22)
Post contains 78 words, total size 1 kb.

Expect all the networks to carry and stream online. I'll put up updates as they come along.

Apparently they bugged his campaign office and tapped his home phone. They have all of this 'pay to play' stuff on tape.

The government says he wanted a $50K kickback from the CEO of a children's hospital that received state money. When the kickback didn't show up, he tried to have the funding pulled from the hospital.

Classy guy.

Blagojevich wanted to have Tribune editors who were critical of him in exchange for state support for tax credits.

He wanted a cabinet post or an ambassadorship and a job for his wife in exchange for nominating a particular person to Obama's Senate seat.

Fitzgerald says Obama was not involved in any negotiations.

Wow, this isn't some sort of complicated scheme, it's just hardball give to get.

Now Fitz is asking people who may have been approached by Blagojevich before the taps went in to come forward...so there maybe more to come.

FBI Agent in Charge of Chicago says 'it's a new low for Illinois', that's saying something. "If it (Illinois) isn't the most corrupt state, it's certainly one hell of a competitor". Says his agents were shocked and sickened by what they heard.

Fitz says there's a bills sitting on the Governor's desk that was the subject of a bribe and they wanted to get Blagojevich out before he could act of them. That's part of the reason for the timing of the indictments.

Wow, just wow.

Fitz says he isn't going to suggest whether Blago should resign or be impeached. He is still governor and could still appoint Obama's successor.

Interesting the Trib had a story on this ready to go before the wiretaps and bug were ready to go but held the story after Fitz asked them to hold off. So the Trib held off publishing a story they are a part of. I think in general it's the right thing to do but they held off when they had something at stake as well. Interesting ethics case study for future J-school classes.

At this point Fitz says they are charging 'conspiracy to commit a crime' and not acting on it. Yet. They are still trying to find out if any of these schemes came to fruition. Even if they haven't they still think they have him on conspiracy, which will get you tossed in jail just as much as actually doing the crime.

Fitz doesn't know if Obama was told about the investigation as part of his normal briefings. He was pretty flustered trying to answer that one. Can't wait to see what Obama says about this.

Well, that's over. Damn. If half that shit is true (and it's apparently all on tape), that's just off the charts.

Posted by: DrewM at 08:11 AM | Comments (273)
Post contains 482 words, total size 3 kb.

Breaking:

Illinois Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich and his Chief of Staff, John Harris, were arrested today by FBI agents on federal corruption charges alleging that they and others are engaging in ongoing criminal activity: conspiring to obtain personal financial benefits for Blagojevich by leveraging his sole authority to appoint a United States Senator; threatening to withhold substantial state assistance to the Tribune Company in connection with the sale of Wrigley Field to induce the firing of Chicago Tribune editorial board members sharply critical of Blagojevich; and to obtain campaign contributions in exchange for official actions – both historically and now in a push before a new state ethics law takes effect January 1, 2009.

Blagojevich, 51, and Harris, 46, both of Chicago, were each charged with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and solicitation of bribery. They were charged in a two-count criminal complaint that was sworn out on Sunday and unsealed today following their arrests, which occurred without incident, announced Patrick J. Fitzgerald, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Robert D. Grant, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Both men were expected to appear later today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Nan Nolan in U.S. District Court in Chicago.

Update - The story linked above is actually a release from the US Attorney's office, so it doesn't mention party. However, CNN gives us a chance to play "Name That Party!"

Just for fun, compare their curious silence on Blagojevich's partisan affiliation with how they covered Ted Stevens. more...

Posted by: Slublog at 06:07 AM | Comments (268)
Post contains 394 words, total size 3 kb.