Source: Feds take [Illinois] Gov. Blagojevich into custody

Chicago Tribune ^ | 12/09/08

[KeyLargo]

A source said today that Gov. Rod Blagojevich was taken into federal custody at his North Side home this morning. The U.S. attorney's office would not confirm the information, and a spokesman for the governor did not immediately return a phone call for comment.

[penelopesire]

“My hopes are dashed! Oh well, it’s not the first time, nor probably the last”

Mine aren’t yet. There is more to come...relax. Some of these recordings go back to 2002! Obama has been playing the Chicago game for many years and is knee deep in it. I am just anticipating the media seizing on this to cover for him.

[Old Professer]

If he ends up in prison maybe it’ll be Flogdabich...

[bcsco]

I think you might have something there ...

I don't know. I don't recall Quinn being a big part of this. I may have missed something, though...

[maggief]

(no link)

Wheeler-dealer with a cause - When Senate President Emil Jones pushes his help-the-poor agenda, pork is not a four-letter word

Chicago Tribune (IL) - Sunday, September 19, 2004

Author: Christi Parsons And Ray Long. Christi Parsons and Ray Long are Tribune staff writers who have been covering the Illinois Legislature for a combined 30 years.

EXCERPTS
As thousands of delegates sat rapt during the stem-winding speech Barack Obama delivered to July’s Democratic National Convention, there was a particular gleam of pride in the eye of Emil Jones . Tears wetting his weathered face, he watched as the U.S. Senate candidate from Illinois dazzled the audience.

A friend standing near Jones would later remark, “You would have thought it was his son up there.”

Indeed, says Jones, that’s how he feels about Obama , who is opposed in the Senate race by Republican Alan Keyes.

The first time Jones saw Obama was in the early 1980s. The energetic young neighborhood organizer was standing at the door of Jones’ legislative office with a group of activists. They were demanding the Chicago Democrat’s help on some of their projects in poor South Side communities. Jones liked the persistence and passion of the young man, and they began to work together on various neighborhood and legislative issues. When Obama won a seat in the Illinois Senate in 1996, Jones, by then the chamber’s Democratic leader, took a pronounced interest in the younger man’s career, often giving him a spotlight.

” Obama ‘s the future,” says Jones, 68, now the Senate president. “He embodies all that I dream for and work for.”

(snip)

JONES ALSO HAS taken a deep interest in the career of Obama . Like any rank-and-file senator, Obama could easily have faded into the woodwork without a few breaks from the chamber’s senior Democrat. When he showed up in the Senate seven years ago, Jones started kicking important assignments his way.

“Because of his political authority, I think it would have been difficult for me to move on some of the more difficult issues we worked on, like death penalty reform or racial profiling, unless [Jones] he had been determined to see it happen,” says Obama , adding, “He could have punished me politically for voting my own way, but he has always been respectful of my desire to vote the way I think was best.”

Jones also surprised some politicians by giving more than tacit support to Obama in the Democratic primary. A product of machine politics, Jones might have been expected to reserve his enthusiasm for Obama ‘s opponent, Comptroller Dan Hynes, a prominent Democrat of South Side Irish pedigree whose father, Tom, has been a political friend to Jones over the years.

Some observers think Jones did some of his most eloquent speaking on behalf of Obama last spring. Jones is not normally a glib and polished speaker; he has a deep, gravelly voice that can, at times, be nearly indecipherable. During the campaign, though, Jones seemed to prove right those who claim he can turn the fog machine on and off at will.

“I was at a ceremony where Emil was supposed to be introducing the governor, but instead he was talking about Barack,” recalls WVON’s Kelley.

One of those speeches highlighted an early fundraiser in Chicago for Obama , when Jones spoke to about 700 young black professionals. He acknowledged that Tom Hynes is a friend and that he thinks it’s a good thing to support the child of a friend.

But, said Jones, “Today, our son is running. When does our son have a chance to succeed?”

Jones has performed various acts of diplomacy on Obama ‘s behalf, smoothing over the reproaches and jealousies of fellow Democrats, particularly veteran lawmakers who felt passed over and outshone by the rising star. “It’d be a crime to hold him back,” Jones told them.

His clout also helped Obama win the backing of some important labor unions.

But the principal beneficiaries of Jones’ power continue to be the causes he has championed since the beginning of his career, not rising politicians or headline-making legislation. Supporters say he’s more interested in helping long-neglected communities and institutions, like the Gwendolyn Brooks Academy for which Jones earmarked the controversial $20 million. The academy, advocates say, has languished while its North Side counterpart, Northside College Preparatory, flourished.

“In the minds of some people, Emil is exercising his prerogative of getting pork for his district,” says Obama . “But if you talk to him, you see it’s grounded in his sense that, for years, a predominantly African-American institution was short-changed by the state.”

Now, he says, the less-privileged have a “wheeler-dealer” on their side. “He’s playing the insider game to make sure money is going to these projects,” says Obama . “He feels, correctly, that he is making up for a lot of lost ground.”

If that’s his legacy, Jones says, he’ll be satisfied. “I feel government should help those who can least afford to help themselves. I will always fight for them.”

[retrokitten]

As much as I would love them to take O down, I’d be incredibly surprised if they did. Like someone else said, he’s very insulated and as much as I despise him, he’s not stupid. I would bet him and his people have made very sure that nothing can be traced back to him.

[Cheapskate]

I admit it I’m #5 ! /ducking!!!!

[ETL]

Disgraced DEMOCRAT governors list (did I miss any?):

__________________________________________________________

Jim Guy Tucker: Convicted of bank fraud in the first Whitewater trial, Tucker resigned as Arkansas governor shortly after the verdict came down May 28, 1996. He was sentenced to four years' probation and probably escaped jail time because of his failing liver.
http://www.cnn.com/interactive/allpolitics/9904/whitewater.cast/tucker.html
__________________________________________________________

James Edward "Jim" McGreevey (born August 6, 1957) is an American Democratic politician. He served as the 52nd Governor of New Jersey from January 15, 2002, until November 15, 2004, when he resigned from office. McGreevey coupled the announcement of his decision to resign with a public declaration of his homosexuality and an admission to having an extramarital affair with the Israeli man he had appointed homeland security adviser.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_McGreevey
__________________________________________________________

Eliot Laurence Spitzer (born June 10, 1959) is an American lawyer and former politician of the Democratic Party. He served as Governor of New York from January 2007 until his resignation on March 17, 2008 in the wake of his involvement in a high-priced prostitution ring. Prior to being elected governor, Spitzer served as New York State Attorney General.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eliot_Spitzer
__________________________________________________________

Milorad "Rod" R. Blagojevich (pronounced /bləˈɡɔɪəvɪtʃ/ listen (help·info), born December 10, 1956) is an American politician from the state of Illinois. A Democrat, Blagojevich currently serves as governor of Illinois and previously represented parts of Chicago in the U.S. Congress. ...

On December 9, 2008, Blagojevich was taken into custody by federal law enforcement agents at his home in Chicago.[5] The FBI confirmed in a 76-page news release allegations that the governor solicited significant contributions from candidates for consideration to fill President-Elect Barack Obama's vacant US Senate seat. His arrest included charges of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud as well as solicitation of bribery.[6]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rod_Blagojevich

[mewzilla]

I don't know. I don't recall Quinn being a big part of this. I may have missed something, though...

See my link at reply #321 and read the first paragraph :)

[lainie]

You guys, I don't even know what to say about that Quinn guy. He's amazing.. was just reading up on him. Blago was bad, Quinn's bad.

Someone on WLS is now saying the state senate & assembly needs to come back into emergency session and impeach this loser before the scandal gets worse. He's right.

The sitting governor is under indictment for trying to sell the seat of the former senator from the state, who has just been elected president of the united states.

If Big O's people aren't crapping in their pants & scrambing right now, they're dumber than they look.

[mewzilla]

Quinn’s either a perp or a dupe. If it’s the latter, he oughta be arrested for criminal stupidity.

[lainie]

You can’t be #5. Unless your cheapskateness is what helped you save up $10 million for that seat! hehe

[Mr. Silverback]

It’s beginning to look a lot like Fitzmas!

[the OlLine Rebel]

10-1 it’s always a Dem.

[mewzilla]

If Big O's people aren't crapping in their pants & scrambing right now, they're dumber than they look.

They've only gotta stall for a few more weeks then the inmates'll be running the penn.

[oscars300]

I am SHOCKED! SHOCKED I TELL THEE! (And this from the home of “Hope n’ change”? How can it be?)

[Cletus.D.Yokel]

Will Blago be arrogant enough to appoint Opossum’s successor from a jail cell?

I say, yep!

[Towed_Jumper]

“Another of Hussein’s creepy friends. Does he hang with anyone normal?”

Yes, he has a friend named “abby”-normal.

[bcsco]

It says he was there at the request of Blago. That doesn’t make him corrupt. I’d want something more than that before I make that leap...

[mewzilla]

Don’t leave out NY Gov. David “Hot Sheets” Paterson. He’s bucking for an indictment.

[Truth Addict]

Obama has been playing the Chicago game for many years and is knee deep in it.

Yes, there are other aspects to Obama's Chicago roots that have yet to be played out in the media, especially with Rezko apparently singing. My disappointment is restricted solely to this lack of Obama offering anything to Blago for the Senate seat.

I'm still keeping hope alive.