Uhm, dang good point.

Even Tom Shipley agrees Obama and or his team had to know what the Gov was trying to do, and didn’t report it.
The didn’t play, BUT they also did nothing to stop it.
Guess that level of corruption in politics is just not important to Obama.

Is this going to be the prism that his admin is viewed through for the next 4 years?

Tru dat, Tom

Obama: I had ‘no contact’ with Blagojevich about Senate seat.»
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/12/09/obama-no-contact-blagojevich/

Watch it:
OBAMA: “I had no contact with the governor or his office and so we were not, I was not aware of what was happening. As I said it is a sad day for Illinois. Beyond that I don’t think it’s appropriate for me to comment.”

Tom your so close.

BTW did you go to UC Berkeley?

Yep Tom there is no such thing as a “bad Samaritan” law.
If you witness a crime you have NO legal obligation to report it.

If you see a crime being committed you have NO legal obligation to intervene or report it.

If you have “witness a crime” or know of a crime that has been committed or is being committed and you don’t report it you have done NOTHING legally or technically “Inappropriate”.

So yes Tom you are correct, Obama, Team Obama or David Cash all saw and knew of crimes being committed and did nothing about it.

Does that make them look good?

Ask the parents of Sherrice Iverson, the 7-year-old girl that David Cash watched his “buddy” Jeremy Strohmeyer rape and murder.

If you think that’s your definition of “clean and ethical” then I would have to disagree.

Oh BTW David Cash, who went to UC Berkeley, didn’t bother to report it as well.

Guess that would be like “ an afterthought.”

Congratulations you won this argument.

“Mrs. Pelosi’s problem is politics. Her refusal to temporarily remove Mr. Rangel from Ways and Means is in part a reticence to further anger the Congressional Black Caucus, which remains steamed that she worked for Mr. Jefferson’s ouster from his seat on Ways and Means. Worse, next in line for Mr. Rangel’s slot is Rep. Pete Stark, an off-the-charts liberal who Mrs. Pelosi would struggle to leash.”

Jezzz!
Sounds like Romper room the next generation

It seems to me that the new administration was bound ethically to report this to the AG and bound, politically, to report this to Harry Reid so he would know to block the appointment.

Y-not on December 19, 2008 at 4:33 PM

A reasonable expectation, if Team Obama had conceded Vacancy Game over at that point. But having delivered an “approved list” to Harris, and with a point man in Emanuel who makes Sarah Palin’s metaphoric pit bull look like a neutered shitzu by comparison, you’ll pardon my skepticism.

Because of Fitzgerald’s (and the Chicago Tribune’s) premature intervention, among the other things we don’t (and may never) know is what Obama/Emanuel’s revised plan was regarding that seat, other than that Jarrett was no longer in play. Perhaps more clues are yet to emerge. Perhaps ethics weren’t the top consideration.

If they didn’t report it, they’ll still end up looking good because they had a chance to “pay to play” but turned it down.

After how many conversations?

That will make them look clean and ethical. Not reporting it would be an afterthought.

Didn’t the people of Illinois have a right to know that their governor was dirty?

Wasn’t Obama’s team concerned that Blago would make an appointment based on a deal he cut with someone else?

It seems to me that the new administration was bound ethically to report this to the AG and bound, politically, to report this to Harry Reid so he would know to block the appointment.

So let me get this straight… if it comes out that Blagojevich wanted Obama to “pay” for his preferred candidate to be named to the senate, and Obama (or his team) refused, then it makes they look “very dirty and unethical?”

If they didn’t report it, they’ll still end up looking good because they had a chance to “pay to play” but turned it down. That will make them look clean and ethical. Not reporting it would be an afterthought.

Tom_Shipley on December 19, 2008 at 9:23 AM

If that were true, Rahm would be saying things like “yeah, we talked but we didn’t want to do anything unethical so we left.” Instead, all we get is “nobody I know talked to Blago at all.”
The most likely situation is that he knows some of the conversations were recorded, but not sure which ones were caught. He is trying to not say anything to incriminate himself accidentally if they don’t have those conversations on tape.

Saying “i’m sure something won’t happen” is different. It implies a level of certainty that the former two do not. And I have never stated that I was certain Emmanuel would not be dropped because of his actions in this. In fact, in this thread I said as much. I don’t think it will happen and I’ve said why, but I’ve never said I was “sure” or certain it wasn’t.

You misquoted me and misrepresented what I’ve been saying.

“Fight, fight fight!” said the Cheshire Cat! He’s not going anywhere until he gets a nice soft landing. Your move, Pat!

And, Genson having said that Blago will not appoint a replacement for Obama, what are the Democrats going to do now . . . file an action in lieu of Mandamus in order to get a court order compelling him to fill the vacancy, and then impeach him for failing to comply with the court order to perform his duty of naming the replacement?

Heh!

That, when it is obvious that no self-respecting person would likely accept the appointment? And, that given the fact that Harry has already as much as nixed the idea of seating any appointment made by Blago?

No . . . it looks like the Democrats have painted themselves into a corner. They either have to either go ahead and impeach him (allowing his replacement to then fill the seat), or pass a law to provide for a special election. They do NOT want that rock fight, so they may be forced to go for the special election.

If they quickly set it up for the April election, it will cut down on the costs. If they wait for November, that would be eight months with only one U.S. Senator for Illinois — how would that be for handing a few future campaign issues to the Republicans?

That is, a few in addition to the obvious one — hint: the guy with the funny hair!

Don’t use quotes unless you are sure I used that word:

What I’ve said that I think happened (to which I will own up to if it turns out not to be true) is that Obama (or someone on his team) didn’t play ball with Blagojevich and pulled Jarrett from consideration once they found out what Blago wanted. This, I think, is pretty clearly backed up by the evidence.

Now, it’s also been shown that Blagojevich wanted to go back and offer to seat another candidate in exchange for some sort of “501″ scheme. Now, since Obama knew Blago was under investigation and had been distancing himself from him since at least August, I don’t think he would pull his #1 candidate only to “play ball” with his second choice. That doesn’t make sense to me. And since Blago shifted attention to Jessie Jr. in early December, it doesn’t seem he didn’t.

If that scenario turns out not to be true, I will come here and post that I was wrong.

Tom_Shipley on December 12, 2008 at 11:56 AM

Tom_Shipley on December 19, 2008 at 11:31 AM

Archives and search engines: the bane of liberal statements.

Let us return to December 13th.

… I don’t see it causing Obama to drop Emmanuel. I don’t think people will really care.
Tom_Shipley on December 13, 2008 at 4:44 PM

The “I don’t see” was, I guess, not a true indication of your feelings about whether Obama was going to shed a member of his team over this issue. So, not a “sure” thing on your part. Am I to believe that when you say “I don’t see” you really don’t see? Also, “I don’t think” means you really don’t think?

The archives really show a very subtle shift in your “thinking” as the situation evolves. But, that is the liberal way.

The impeachment inquiry is essentially a civil action for removal of the Governor from office, and there is simply no suppression rule, or fruit of the poison tree rule known to man that should prevent those tapes, especially the already public portions thereof, from being introduced as evidence at an impeachment inquiry, that is, unless the Illinois legislature foolishly (or deviously) decide to adopt such a rule.

Blago is obviously not considering resigning now because, at least in part, he sees it as a bargaining chip in dealing with the United States Attorney. If Fitzgerald were to negotiate him out of office (and pull some charges), that action would probably be seen as justified by the public, but Blago has the upper hand in the sense that he can continue to tread water by demanding more than Fitz is willing to give. That’s because he knows that Obama does NOT want this to drag on into his term of office! And neither does Fitzgerald. They both are beginning to look a bit powerless under the circumstances. Fitz hasn’t even indicted the guy.

The whole added stink about Rahm Emanuel, and what he and Blago or Blago emissaries may have said to one another, is what has really stalled this entire drama from moving forward.

So, if a Fitz tape were introduced against him as evidence in an impeachment inquiry, Blago, through Genson, would want the right to cross examine, and would use the opportunity to try and pry open other issues and lines if inquiry.

In fact, one would think that one of the last things that Fitzgerald, Obama or Emanuel want to see happen, is for Rahm to be subpoenaed to testify in an impeachment inquiry being held to remove Blago from office.

Ed has a reputation for his cross examinations! From Time’s latest on Genson, here:

“I teach cross-examination at my law firm, and a lot of what I teach I learned by watching Ed Genson carve up my witnesses,” said Scott Lassar, the former U.S. Attorney in Chicago and current partner with the firm of Sidley Austin, who went mano-a-mano with Genson as a young prosecutor.

So, the impeachment move has ground to a screeching halt, and Blago suddenly has the look of the Cheshire Cat on his face.

The Republicans should continue to loudly demand that the groundwork for impeachment inquiry move forward apace, and that the Legislature immediately pass a bill to hold a special election to fill the remainder of Obama’s term, which, as some Republicans have noted, could be held on the same date as the consolidated election (for municipal offices) on the first Tuesday in April. Hell, they should seek to put Rahm’s seat up for election too, although he hasn’t resigned yet!

There is no inconsistency involved in seeking to move forward on two tracks. If one doesn’t work (impeachment) the other will at east put a replacement Senator in place.

That seems to be their best shot at ringing the bell to end this intermission in the drama.

I had no contact with the governor or his office and, so we were not – I was not aware of what was happening….

Emanuel was acting on his own? Without instruction or authorization? Without reporting results? Discussing status? Revising negotiation tactics? Does a principal acting through his agent not have “contact” with the agent’s correspondent?

So, aside from what Emanuel and Blagojevich (or Harris)spoke about regarding the Senate seat, wouldn’t these questions be relevant: What did Obama say to Emanuel? What did Emanuel say to Obama? When?

How careful should they be in reconstructing those conversations?

Emanuel could well be on tape. If so, what are the chances Emanuel made exculpatory statements about his authority to speak on Obama’s behalf? Would Emanuel’s job be to represent and convey his principal’s authority, or concede that the whole thing was just a nice gesture he, Emanuel had dreamed up?

As Ed Genson has made clear, once indicted, Blagojevich is entitled to review ALL the tape evidence, and not only that which Fitzgerald chooses to release publicly. Thus, at some point Blago may know more, and be able to prove more, about what Emanuel said than Emanuel himself can even recall, let alone prove.

Perhaps we’ll be treated to the first claim of executive privilege by a president-elect.

They may be come true–they just had the Chief of Staff of the wrong President.

And lets not forget about this story that totally knocked Blago off the front pages for a few hours and just keeps on going! I bet the Blago sent Drew a big ole fruit basket for the favor.

Knucklehead on December 19, 2008 at 12:05 PM

This one is probably waaaay more important than anything that’s happening in Chicago right now…

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2008/12/19/levi-johnstons-mother-arrested-drug-charges/

“My staff or I did not have contact with Blago…”

Reporters: Yes, he did not have contact with Blago….

The authorities are asking people to stay home. The only thing on the news (all the stations) is weather related. This is probably the best thing to happen to Blago in a week and a half.

Tommy_G on December 19, 2008 at 8:53 AM

And lets not forget about this story that totally knocked Blago off the front pages for a few hours and just keeps on going! I bet the Blago sent Drew a big ole fruit basket for the favor.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,468348,00.html

Now back to the regularly scheduled moonbat Shipley crapola. Are you still getting paid by the One to troll around here, Tom lol?

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays to Ed, Allah, Michelle, and the entire HA community! Yes Shipley, that includes you too. No matter what, it’s nice to have a place like this to come and vent, share ideas, and try our best to educate Liberals.

God Bless our Troops!