Obama, Blagojevich, Emanuel Cover Up - Willie Brown Blows the Whistle

Willie Brown, former legendary Speaker of the California Assembly and far less legendary former Mayor of San Francisco, got a telephone call from Governor Blagojevich. They chatted about Willie's assertion in his San Francisco article last week that Patrick Fitzgerald's case against the governor was very weak because it was just loose talk, and no deal was made.

According to Willie, this is the gist of their chat (click on this for the link to Willie's World):

I can't go into details, but my impression is that the whole mess started because the governor had been considering appointing a political rival, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, to the Senate so she wouldn't be able to run against him when he went up for re-election in 2010.

Apparently, Obama's people weren't happy about the idea of Madigan coming to Washington, and there were some pretty heated conversations between Blagojevich and Obama chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, which I understand will burn your ears off.

Let us reconstruct what this may mean. Blogojevich told Willie Brown that he had conversations (that means more than one) with Rahm Emanuel. Apparently the conversations were very heated, meaning a lot of disagreement should be on Fitzpatrick' tapes.

Meanwhile, We have George Stephanopoulos in George's Bottom Line reporting (in an exclusive!):

Sources tell me that the Obama team's review of contacts with Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich will show that Rahm Emanuel had only one phone conversation with Blagojevich.

When will we get to the bottom of this?

Is Willie right? Are George's sources telling him the truth, or Clintonesquely parsing it? Will Fitzgerald's tapes declare the winner, or will we be left wondering for all time?


I'm betting that Willie's version is closer to the truth, that there were many contacts, because Blagojevich called him and volunteered the information, one cynical politician to another. I think George was being spun by Obama/Emanuel operatives with the goal of arguing about which contacts between Blagojevich and Emanuel count as Senate nomination contacts.

Regardless of George's bottom line, I think the bottom line on this will end the same as always: "it's not the crime, it's the cover up."


When will they ever learn?

Democrats Put the Bounce in Blagojevich Kangaroo Court

The impeachment of soon-to-be ex-Illinois Governor Blagojevich reminds me of a story about jury selection for a murder trial. An old rancher was called up and as he approached the bench looked around and asked: “Which one of you is the guilty bastard we’re supposed to hang?”

Except the Blagojevich impeachment skipped the parts about impartial jury selection, presumption of innocence, confronting of witnesses, and calling witnesses for the defense.

In truth, I sympathize with the Democrats rush to judgment. If left to his own devices, I wouldn’t be surprised if Blagojevich wouldn’t take out many prominent Illinois politicians, from a list headlined by Rahm Emanuel and Jesse Jackson, Jr.

According to legendary former California Speaker of the Assembly Willie Brown, Governor Blagojevich phoned him when he read an item in Willie’s World, Willie Brown’s column in the Sunday San Francisco Chronicle. In the article Willie opined that all Prosecutor Fitzgerald had on Blagojevich was loose talk, no done deals. Blagojevich told Brown that he had had many “heated conversations” with Rahm Emanuel about the Senate appointment.

This isn’t one of them. This link takes you to a fictional discussion between Blagojevich and Emanuel which was posted on the Daily Kos. Although fiction, it’s as close to fact as you’ll find on Daily Kos, and I’ll bet Fitzgerald has several similar taped conversations which will make much more interesting reading when Blagojevich is called before a real judicial procedure instead of the Illinois kangaroo court.

When Blagojevich is finally brought to trial, which it seems Fitzgerald must do even though all Democrats will object, it will be interesting to learn how well Obama, Emanuel, and Jesse Jackson, Jr. tip-toed through the Chicago cesspool without getting splattered by Blagojevich.

I think that a lot of what Blagojevich tossed around has stuck, and it will be interesting to find out what it was and who were the stuckees.

And to watch the Democrats do all they can to keep embarrassing disclosures from public scrutiny.

Blagojevich Going Strong, says Willie Brown

As I previously noted, the former Speaker of the California Assembly and Mayor of San Francisco, Willie Brown, chatted with Governor Blagojevich and found that he had "many heated conversations" with Rahm Emanuel about nominating a replacement for Obama in the Senate.

In Willie's latest column, he notes a "Joe Montana" play: "Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's appointment of Roland Burris to fill the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama - the same seat Blagojevich stands accused of attempting to sell - is the political play of the season."

Now we know that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid earlier tried to get Blagojevich to not appoint three other black males, preferring that he appoint a white female because he thought any of the blacks would not be re-electable. And it's all on tape, waiting to come out and add to the Democrat's embarrassment both before and after Obama's inauguration.

Speaking of embarrassing, now "New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson on Sunday announced that he was withdrawing his nomination to be President-elect Barack Obama's commerce secretary amid a grand jury investigation into how some of his political donors won a lucrative state contract."

The Obama Administration-elect is already the most scandal-prone administration-elect of all time.

And it will only get better.

Willie Brown was Right about Blagojevich

As I have noted and updated, Willie Brown, legendary California Democrat, said that Fitzpatrick's case against Governor Blagojevich was weak because the Chicago Tribune forced the indictment before there was anything of substance to prosecute.

Now another notable California Democrat, Senator Dianne Feinstein, has upped the ante by stating that Blagojevich's choice, Burris, should be seated. Since Senator Feinstein chairs the Senate Rules Committee, which Democrats thought would stall Blagojevich until he could be impeached and removed, I think I hear the sound of a done deal here.

Remember Bill Clinton making appointments as he was being impeached?

Senator Roland Burris, take your seat!

Isn't it obvious that with no deal done, Blagojevich skates free?

To embarrass Democrats another day!

Obama - As good for our country as he was for Illinois

Obama's very thin resume was based on his deeds in Chicago and in Illinois.

His reputation as a reformer gave his supporters hope.

What did Obama reform in Chicago and Illinois?

Good question.

Any answers?

In a very related story, thanks to the Chicago Tribune the Governor Blagojevich scandal may haunt Obama's administration for months, even years. For reasons probably too sordid to be admitted, the Chicago Tribune forced Federal investigator Patrick Fitzgerald to arrest Blagojevich and his assistant just as the investigation was getting to the critical part.

Personally, I think the Tribune caused Fitzgerald to commit "premature indict-ication" in order to prevent his investigators from nailing Senate Candidate No. 5, Jesse Jackson, Jr., with his hands in the Senatorial nomination cookie jar.

The Tribune has been doing its part to protect Democrats, as Chicago and Illinois once more demonstrate why they are both ranked at the top of corruption ratings. The Tribune withheld the Blagojevich story before the election to protect Obama from being associated with the cesspool of corruption in which his political career was founded and nurtured.

Once their mission of getting Obama elected succeeded, the Tribune then undertook a damage limitation mission to prevent other Illinois and Chicago politicians from being pulled down along with Blagojevish. The Tribune's big mistake was that they ended the investigation before Fitzpatrick had much of a case against Blagojevich. Since Blagojevich only talked about a deal, but didn't make one, I have a feeling that this will go on and on since Blagojevich knows the case against him is very weak.

Why resign now?

Hopefully Fitzpatrick will be able to pull some evidence and testimony out of the tantalizing tidbits he collected on the tapes, and eventually nail Blagojevich.

However, I think that Willie Brown, former Speaker of the California State Assembly and Mayor of San Francisco, and a poster boy for cynical insider politics, was right in his December 14 San Francisco Chronicle Willie's World column (Illinois scandal from politician's view) when he noted that if all you got is "just a couple of guys sitting around and talking ... this case could go up in smoke."

At least the smoke will be in Obama's eyes for a long time.