The Fireside chat for December 13, 2008

Someone explain America to me...

Rod Blagojevich is the one who broke the law (alledgedly). Rod Blagojevich is the Governor with a 8% approval rating. Blagojevich is the Governor who's been made to look like a buffon on International Television (him and his wife cussing everything in sight). Blagojevich is the guy they're trying to get removed from Office. Blagojevich is the one who's made his state look like a fool...

...yet it's Rahm Emanuel that's getting the death threats?? The guy who may have turned Blagojevich in. The guy who may be responsible for getting him busted.

...yet it's Barack Obama who has to explain himself to the media?

Someone explain America to me.

CNN: Even if he was a Detroit Tiger...

Former Major League Baseball Player (Detroit Tigers 224-184, 3.27 ERA), Current Republican Senator from Kentucky, and first class idiot, Jim Bunning was scheduled to attend a Baseball card fair in Michigan.

Then he voted, along with his Republican colleagues, to shut down the Auto Industry bailout.

The card show promptly kicked him off the schedule.

Obama and Harry S

All I want from my Media is fair airing of the issues; an ability to take the bitter with the sweet, and hopefully get me to learn something.

More often than not, though, the Media is only about eyeballs. Getting you to buy the paper, change the channel or sit through the ad. Never mind that skillfully doing their job will get you (the audience) to do that anyway.

You know I feel that the Mainstream Media has gotten lazy. Not biased, but trifling. They're still as good as every at who, what, where, when, but on the all important issue of why, our current batch of reporters either has no clue, takes wild-ass guesses, or worst of all sails with the conventional wisdom.

So, I'm flipping through the online Newsweek, and I come across this headline:

Barack The Untouchable
What the Blagojevich scandal might tell us about Obama's ethics.

Oh God, I say to myself. What are they going to say now?

But I always should remember one thing about reporting. The Reporters never write headlines.

In the aftermath of the arrest of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich on a range of charges, including trying to sell Obama's Senate seat, and questions about whether other prominent Chicago politicians such as Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. were involved, some in the national media have begun re-examining the president-elect's ethics. Tony Rezko, for one, is back in our sights. The fact that the political fixer was a big-time crony of Blagojevich's and raised funds for Obama—despite the total lack of evidence that he ever received patronage for it—is disturbing enough. While Obama supported ethics reforms as a state senator, he still "has an ambiguous reputation among those trying to clean up Illinois politics," John Fund wrote in the Wall Street Journal on Thursday. Fund went on to quote Jay Stewart, executive director of the Chicago Better Government Association, as saying: "We have a sick political culture, and that's the environment Barack Obama came from ... Obama has been noticeably silent on the issue of corruption here in his home state including, at this point, mostly Democratic politicians."

I may not be right about this, but I suspect that these inquisitive minds have Obama entirely wrong. It was no accident that U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald went out of his way to say Obama was not implicated in any way. One of the more telling excerpts from Blagojevich's wiretapped conversations indicates the governor was "bleeping" upset that the Obama team was "not willing to give him anything but appreciation" in exchange for appointing the president-elect's preferred candidate, Valerie Jarrett. There's a pattern here. From all the available evidence we can gather from his time in Illinois politics, Barack Obama is a major goody-two-shoes. And that may tell us a lot about what kind of president he's going to be.

Michael Hirsh goes on to compare and contrast Obama to another Democratic President, but one that's been overlooked in all the Roosevelt tones being laid on. He talked about Harry Truman.

When it comes to public integrity, Obama's early experience in rising through the seemingly irremediable corruption of Illinois politics offers some interesting parallels to Truman's record. According to former Chicago Tribune reporter David Mendell, his biographer, Obama has consistently gone out of his way to steer clear of the Illinois taint he knew was all around him. When his wife Michelle wanted to go to work for Jarrett in City Hall, "Obama looked at her and said 'Let's slow down here.' He's heard what goes on in Chicago City Hall," Mendell told me. Eventually Obama relented after meeting Jarrett and getting her reassurances that she would look out for Michelle—they soon became good friends, and she'll be at his side in the White House—but "initially he was very hesitant about her taking that job."

Obama was so keen on escaping the miasma of corruption that surrounded him, Mendell says, that he wouldn't even joke about it. During one campaign trip, Obama bought pizza and asked his entourage of reporters to chip in five dollars apiece, Mendell recalls. "I said, as kind of joke, 'That'll be 20 bucks on my expense account.' He chuckled and said, 'You only gave me five dollars.' He didn't get it. It was like, 'How could you even think of doing that?' … The guy does have a moral streak."

And, finally, he ends on a point of fairness:

So, yes, there will be questions about Obama, and there should be. "There's something on everybody. Man is conceived in sin and born in corruption," Willie Stark declared memorably in Robert Penn Warren's classic novel of political corruption, "All the King's Men" (inspired by Louisiana's Huey Long, of course). Obama may never entirely free himself of his association with the appalling Blagojevich and the state's culture of corruption.

...

But it's also clear that Obama came out of the presidential election intent on thoroughly burying these questions—on proving that, like Harry Truman, he could out-ethics everybody else. Hence, at the beginning of the transition, when questions arose about his relations with lobbyists, his campaign announced the strictest and most comprehensive ethics rules ever applied to an incoming administration. As initially drafted, they prohibited anyone who had lobbied or registered as a lobbyist in the previous 12 months even from working for the transition team in the policy areas on which they lobbied. They were so strict, in fact, that even some reform types complained they were excluding advisors who had lobbied Congress on not-for-profit issues like human rights, environment and labor.

Newsweek: Rahmbo not under investigation...

Well, how nice of Newsweek to declare his innocence.

People who have been briefed on the Illinois governor corruption investigation say Barack Obama chief of staff Rahm Emanuel is not a target of the probe. Emanuel, a Chicago congressman who would have been a likely contact between the Obama transition office and Gov. Rod Blagojevich, has been a focus of media attention since Obama said Thursday he has asked for an internal review of contacts between his staff and Blagojevich.

Emanuel has been refusing to answer questions about whether he's the "president-elect adviser" referred to in the criminal complaint that accuses Blagojevich of putting Obama's Senate seat up for sale. The complaint does not say that Blagojevich ever spoke to the unidentified Obama adviser about the Senate seat.

The two people who said Emanuel is not a target of the probe spoke on a condition of anonymity because the investigation is still under way. One is a person close to Emanuel, who said he has been told by investigators that he's not a subject of their investigation.

Bush V. Gore 2008

Al Franken wins a major victory in the recount fight...and Norm Coleman's going to court.

Wow. A Non-Hollywooder Gets It...

Robert Reich accurately summarizes how NBC is helping destroy the Economy:

How Jay Leno is Contributing to Our Awful Economy

On Monday, NBC Universal chief executive Jeff Zucker told weary investors at an industry conference that the network was determined to cut costs. His comments came as the company laid off 500 employees and annnounced it would move Jay Leno to its 10 pm weekday time slot. This makes sense for NBC: Every hour of scripted programming costs about $5 million -- for fleets of writers, directors, cinematographers, actors, editors, and everyone in between. Leno's compensation is hefty but not nearly $5 million an hour, and his live show costs a fraction of that. (Big-name stars come to hawk their latest films and books for free.) The Wall Street Journal estimates the move will save NBC as much as $25 million a week, minus Leno's larger takehome pay.

It's happening all over the economy now. Star players are being moved to where they can do the work of many others, who are being laid off in large numbers. The stars earn more yet the companies save big because they decimate payrolls. It's done to improve profits and thereby calm anxious shareholders.

Somehow, though, it's not working. Shareholders are still anxious -- and becoming ever more so. Why? Because all the payroll cuts, multiplied across the economy, are reducing the capacity of consumers to buy goods and services. Which is why advertising budgets are being slashed. And with less advertising, NBC's profits will continue to plummet even as it cuts its costs.

What's rational for an individual company and wonderful for its star players turns out to be irrational for the economy as a whole. It's not Jeff Zucker's fault or any other executive armed with an axe. But this does suggest why smart government policies are critically important, especially now, and why a very large stimulus package is in the interest of everyone -- including Jeff Zucker and Jay Leno.

I can't wait until NBC/Universal asks for a bailout.

The Daschle Press Conference...

The Motherf#$%$% reponsible...

Obama gets called a motherf#$%$% on the Blagojevich tape, and yet it's his responsibility to come clean.

That's the angle being taken by our worthless Mainstream Media.

Ed Rendell:

"They have never been in an executive position before," Rendell said on MSNBC’s "Morning Joe." "The rule of thumb is whatever you did, say it and get it over with and make it a one-day story as opposed to a three-day story. Politicians are always misjudging the intelligence of the American people."

The man who just cracked on Janet Napolitano for having no life is giving Barack Obama advice on handling the press?

Are you kidding me??

And they were worried about Biden??

Eugene Robinson:

The scandal involves Obama in only the most tangential way, as far as anyone knows, and actually seems to cast him in a favorable light. But the longer he leaves obvious questions unanswered, the longer the president-elect will have to talk about the seamier side of Illinois politics rather than initiatives such as saving the U.S. auto industry or revamping health care.

Maybe, I'm the one who misjudged Ed and Eugene. I like these guys, but they're dead-ass wrong.

What exactly is your responsibility for a story when you're as much a victim in these circumstances than anything else??

You actually had Reporters questioning Obama over the fact that he didn't repeat his call for Blagojevich's resignation.

You actually have reporters parsing when Obama used "I" versus "we" in his Press Conference yesterday.

I'm starting to get the feeling this is as much a result of Press Corps addicted to News Cycle Journalism with nothing to cover, finally getting their teeth into something, and if necessary making @#$% up to feed the beast.

Apparently covering the Financial Apocalypse is just too damn boring...

If Obama doesn't walk up to the State House, and put Blagojevich in cuffs himself, somehow it's his fault.

I expect this B.S. from Fox News...not Democrats and otherwise smart columnists...

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Leahy to Specter: Get off your @#$!!!

Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) just sent Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) a letter, which in Senate speak roughly translates to get off your ass!

Leahy this week proposed holding hearings to confirm Eric Holder as Attorney General. Initially, Specter seemed warm to the idea, noting that the Marc Rich pardon would come up, but would not be a serious impediment to his confirmation.

As I have said repeatedly from the time reports of his likely designation began appearing in the press in mid-November, I thought we should move promptly. It hardly came as a surprise when the President-elect announced that Eric would be a key part of his national security team at the designation announcement on December 1. My recollection is that your initial reaction on November 18 was that you were at that time already reviewing his record. Of course, Eric is someone you and I both know well and have known and worked with for years.

Now, all of the sudden, Specter needs more time to review Holder's materials (even though by his own admission, Specter's been review his materials since November).

Now, all of the sudden, Specter's extending his travel plans to Europe, delaying the Hearings.

Now, all of the sudden, Specter wants to attend a Senate Republican retreat before the Hearings.

Leahy (again in Senate speak) calls bullshit.

Harry Reid tells Blago to back away from the Senate Seat...

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's (D-NV) letter to soon to be former Governor Rod Blagojevich (D-Ill):

Dear Governor Blagojevich:

We write to insist that you step down as Governor of Illinois and under no circumstance make an appointment to fill the vacant Illinois Senate seat. In light of your arrest yesterday on alleged federal corruption charges related to that Senate seat, any appointment by you would raise serious questions.

It is within the authority of the Illinois legislature to remove your power to make this appointment by providing for a special election. But a decision by you to resign or to step aside under Article V of the Illinois Constitution would be the most expeditious way for a new Senator to be chosen and seated in a manner that would earn the confidence of the people of Illinois and all Americans. We consider it imperative that a new senator be seated as soon as possible so that Illinois is fully represented in the Senate as the important work of the 111th Congress moves forward.

Please understand that should you decide to ignore the request of the Senate Democratic Caucus and make an appointment we would be forced to exercise our Constitutional authority under Article I, Section 5, to determine whether such a person should be seated.

We do not prejudge the outcome of the criminal charges against you or question your constitutional right to contest those charges. But for the good of the Senate and our nation, we implore you refrain from making an appointment to the Senate.

Obama: Blago should go!

Obama tells Blagojevich to hit the bricks. MSNBC has it here.

ABC: Senate Candidate No. 5 is...

This would be the Senate Candidate No. 5, who alledgedly offered somewhere between a half-million to a million dollars to get Obama's Senate Seat...

According to ABC News, it's Jesse Jackson Jr.

Jesse Jr. has agreed to talk to Federal Investigators...just as soon as he talks to a lawyer.

TPM: Guess who's keeping his job?

Patrick Fitzgerald.

This comes as the Republicans are demanding Obama answer whether or not he'll keep Patrick Fitzgerald.

He answered the question, apparently, back in June.

WaPo: Procedure...

Let it always be said that Clarence Thomas is a second-rate Supreme Court Justice (and in my personal opinion a twit...and a lapdog to Scalia).

Let it also be said that uhhh...we're still waiting for a African-American to succeed Thurgood Marshall on the Supreme Court. (Yeah, that's a nasty dig, but given his record...)

But let it also be said that Clarence Thomas's bringing the Obama Citizenship case may have been...procedural, and thus...

Can't believe I'm going to say this...normal.

All I have is this posting from Robert Barnes of the Washington Post (which doesn't exactly go into detail), but:

Right-wing blogs were outraged when Justice David H. Souter denied Donofrio's petition for an injunction, and left-wing blogs smelled trouble when Justice Clarence Thomas referred the matter to the full court for consideration.

In fact, both were routine procedures, as the court's action today shows. There were no recorded dissents to the decision dismissing the case.

Given the climate of today's attack dog politics, and the desire of both the left and the right to generate raw meat (even if Obama doesn't feed it to them), I think there is something to this story, but I would like to know more.

NYT: The Liberal Media???

Well, that lasted a minute.

Despite praising the New York Times, they just couldn't stop themselves.  Keep reading that article I held up, and you come to this paragraph.

Beyond the irony of its outcome, Mr. Obama’s unusual decision to inject himself into a statewide issue during the height of his presidential campaign was a reminder that despite his historic ascendancy to the White House, he has never quite escaped the murky and insular world of Illinois politics. It is a world he has long navigated, to the consternation of his critics, by engaging in a kind of realpolitik, Chicago-style, which allowed him to draw strength from his relationships with important players without becoming compromised by their many weaknesses.

So...by getting out in front of Ethics Reform in Illinois, by making sure a Ethics Bill headed for defeat was instead passed, he's been...tainted?

This is why newspapers are going bankrupt (or at least should be).

I really should have read further into the article.  It was late.  I wanted to get into bed, and read more in the morning. Will Bunch caught this first, and appropriately ripped the Grey Lady a new one.

This Times story is Day One of what is going to be a brand new silly season in American politics, just when you thought it was safe. No matter how much the next few days demonstrate that Obama didn't want any part of Blago's scam, every phone call in which a junior staffer didn't immediately hang up, or any time that Obama and Blagojevich were in the same room and Obama didn't slap a pair of cuffs on the governor will be more proof of the "murky" circles that Obama travels in.

NYT: Did a phone call from Obama wind up nailing Blagojevich?

Apparently, according to the New York Times:

In a sequence of events that neatly captures the contradictions of Barack Obama’s rise through Illinois politics, a phone call he made three months ago to urge passage of a state ethics bill indirectly contributed to the downfall of a fellow Democrat he twice supported, Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich.

Mr. Obama placed the call to his political mentor, Emil Jones Jr., president of the Illinois Senate. Mr. Jones was a critic of the legislation, which sought to curb the influence of money in politics, as was Mr. Blagojevich, who had vetoed it. But after the call from Mr. Obama, the Senate overrode the veto, prompting the governor to press state contractors for campaign contributions before the law’s restrictions could take effect on Jan. 1, prosecutors say.

I remember this story.  This was back in September. I thought, at the time, it was a cute "Hey, look how powerful Obama already is story". Instead, lets look at this. In reaction to the possible (at the time) override of this veto:

Trying to stay in the game on the issue, Blagojevich announced Thursday that he's calling the General Assembly into special session Monday to deal with ethics reform. With the potential for the Senate to also override his veto, Blagojevich summoned lawmakers back to Springfield in an attempt to get them to deal with his suggested changes.

What changes was he trying to put in there, I am left to wonder.

WaPo: I guess this is why he didn't get a speaking slot at the Convention...

From the Washington Post, but of course...this story is pretty much everywhere...

FBI agents this morning arrested Illinois Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich (D) and his chief of staff on conspiracy and bribery charges, including allegations that the governor was seeking to benefit financially from his appointment of a successor to the U.S. Senate seat that was vacated by President-elect Barack Obama.

Yeah, not surprising.

One of the most underreported stories of the 2008 Election is that Tony Rezko was going to be waaay more of a problem for Blagojevich than for Obama.

Not alone...

droogie6655321 at Daily Kos, it seems also remembers Obama's line that "the change will come from me"...and he uses a Godfather metaphor to do it!