Senate-for-sale case threatens new chief of staff

[FreeStateDemocrat]

Source: AP/MSNBC

By BRETT J. BLACKLEDGE and TAMMY WEBBER, Associated Press

CHICAGO – Gov. Rod Blagojevich is legendary in Illinois political circles for not picking up the phone or returning calls, even from important figures like the state's senior senator, Dick Durbin.

But there was always one call Blagojevich regularly took, say his aides, and that was from Rahm Emanuel — his congressman, his one-time campaign adviser and, more recently — and troubling for Emanuel — one of his contacts with President-elect Barack Obama's transition staff.

The friendly rapport Blagojevich and Emanuel shared over the years has suddenly become a troubling liability for Emanuel and the new president he will serve as chief of staff.

Emanuel and Obama have remained silent about what, if anything, Emanuel knew of the governor's alleged efforts to peddle Obama's vacant Senate seat to the highest bidder.

Emanuel did contact the governor's office about the appointment and left Blagojevich with the impression that he was pushing Valerie Jarrett, a close Obama friend, so he wouldn't have to compete with her in the White House for Obama's attention, said a person close to Blagojevich. The person was not authorized to talk about the governor's discussions regarding the vacancy and requested anonymity.



Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081220/ap_on_re_us/illinois_governor_emanuel

---

BO should can Emanuel and replace with his good bud Rick Warren.

[Turbineguy]

1. I thought the tapes

pretty much cleared Emanuel of any possiblity of involvement.

This is a Democratic Governor and an Administration the RW would like to see fail. If they didn't undermine Obama, they wouldn't be doing their job.

[stillcool]

2. "BO should can Emanuel and replace...

with his good bud Rick Warren".. Now that would be fun! Great Idea!!

[droidamus2]

3. Ap - All Propaganda

From what I have read lately I can't say the AP is totally unbiased in their reporting anymore. The AP has seemed more than willing to run with any of the 'pseudo' scandals the rightwing wants to throw out there. So I wouldn't worry about this too much. I believe, by request of those prosecuting the case, Obama is holding off reporting what he and his staff know about the situation. Until they are allowed to tell their side I'm sure we will continue to see these none news stories that only opine that maybe possibly, if things are the way the reporter imagines (no proof just imagination) them to be that somebody might be in trouble about something that could be tangentially connected to President Obama.
We put up with 8 years of this crap with Clinton (Okay in the end he was stupid enough to actually get caught doing something) and I don't think we should put up with it this time. Whenever so called reporters come up with this stuff we should demand their sources and there evidence otherwise they should be told none to politely to shut the f**k up.

[rpannier]

28. Blago and Emmanuel have had a fairly close relationship over the past decade or more

I have friends who have/do work for Blagojevic and chances are this info is being leaked from his office.

If Blagojevic goes down someone (or someones <sic>) is going to soften his fall.

[Le Taz Hot]

46. Knowing a little something about

Chicago politics, this makes imminent sense. Both Blagojevic and Emmanuel are snakes. As for Rove? Most people don't get it yet that Emmanuel IS Rove, he's just working for President Change instead of *.

[EFerrari]

30. Authorized Propaganda. They've been cr@p! for years. n/t

[Doctor_J]

37. American Pravda. It's common knowledge that Rove tells AP what to run

There are validated e-mails that confirm this.

[tom_paine]

44. Exactly. AP is about as untrustworthy a source as one could ask for.

And not untrustowrthy in the old Soviet mold. They had to come up with a new Propaganda Strategy becausde the so few were fooled by the old Soviet Method.

Now comes Goebbels v2.0, authored by murderer and serial-felon Karl Rove, which contains the new and improved Tyrant's Friend, The Art of Lying Without Technically Lying.itself an amazingly powerful and nakedly evil strategic construct.

And AP is a HUGE part of it.

Only a fool trusts the AP without some level os skepticism. I'd as soon trust the Nazi Newspapers, Germany circa 1939.

[CitizenPatriot]

4. Source?

"The person was not authorized to talk about the governor's discussions regarding the vacancy and requested anonymity."

The person was not authorized to talk...the tapes said something different.

Until we hear otherwise, I'm going with tapes over an anonymous source who wasn't authorized. And by the way, AP, way to resspect the FBI's request to not disclose any info until they were done with their investigation. Stellar drama.

[KamaAina]

5. Replace "Rick Warren" with...

...almost anybody else and you may be on to something.

[Infinite Hope]

41. Wow. n/t

[TankLV]

6. awwwe - what a shame this is still going on...

but ya know what - since obama's SLAP in the face to us GBLT - I now could care less...!

and I'm to busy to lift a finger to help anymore...

kharma's a bitch...

let us know when you want our help again...HA!

[RBInMaine]

9. Perhaps you'd like Bush/Cheney back you FOOL !

[rpannier]

29. He never said that, nor did he allude to it

He is reveling in a story that casts a bad light on someone who works for the PE

As I've mentioned in other posts (short form) Lived in Chicago know people who have/do work for Blago. Emmanuel and Blago are reasonably close. This info is probably being leaked from Blago's office.

Obama and Blago not real close.

If the story begins to tilt badly for Rahm, the only thing it will do to Obama is make his decision to give a position to Emmanuel look bad.

Let the previous poster revel.
In the long run, it's a non-issue to Obama -- except he'd have to find a new Chief of Staff.

[mopinko]

34. some people learned nothing from the clinton years.

the price of outrage- a failed presidency.

[Doctor_J]

39. THis is being leaked by Blago? Are you high?

It's being leaked by Rove.

[TankLV]

35. Nope - that's the ONLY reason I voted for obama...

the alternative was worse...

but go ahead and make idiotic statements...

I will not support ENABLERS of HATRED - no matter who thay are...

[Le Taz Hot]

47. Yeah, 'cause with Bush/Cheney

(more accurately, McCain/Palin) we'd have somebody like Rick Warren giving the Invocation and we wouldn't be getting out of Iraq until 2010 and we'd keep Don't Ask, Don't Tell, and there would be no repercussions against those who lied to us about getting into the Iraqi War and we'd be giving away multi-billion dollar bailouts to Wall Street and we'd have pro-war and pro-bailout individuals on our Cabinet. That would be terrible, wouldn't it? :eyes:

[madrchsod]

7. ap is making shit up again....

as much as i do`t like rahm there`s nothing there

[Pastiche423]

8. Please let it be true!

I can't think of anything better right now, than to see rahm go down in glorious flames.

[RBInMaine]

10. Oh, perhaps you'd rather have Andy Card back? Or Rove. You're FOOLISH !

[scarletwoman]

12. False dichotomy. One can wish to be rid of Rahm without wanting bushies instead.

At least TRY not to commit logical fallacies.

[scarletwoman]

11. It's a lovely fantasy, I've despised Rahm for years. Unfortunately, I doubt it will happen.

As other posters have pointed out, AP is not a particularly honest source.

Still, a girl can dream...

sw

[Pastiche423]

14. This girl will be dreaming that dream!

[dflprincess]

17. It is a beautiful dream

I'll enjoy it while I can.

[PassingFair]

23. We must be experiencing mass hysteria!

I am having the SAME DREAM!!1!

:hi:

[bvar22]

38. OMG...Me Too.

...a former Consiglieri/Enforcer for the DLC....
taking a last ride in the backseat of the limousine...
"This ain't personal, Rahm. Its business"....

[PassingFair]

40. In MY dream....

Obama hands him a parachute....

[karynnj]

13. No fan of Emanuel here - but, no - that would be a horrible start to

the new administration. First of all, it will take months to find if the Blago charges themselves hold up and longer to see if Emanuel did anything wrong or even just embarrassing. It would be wrong of Obama to "fire" him before the facts were known, so this is a mess. The likelihood is that they have nothing on Emanuel - Fitzgerald would have said something if that was the case. It is completely wrong to destroy an innocent man - even if he is not likable.

[Pastiche423]

15. There ain't nothing innocent about that man

[karynnj]

20. Context is everything - he may be innocent of doing anything

illegal with Blagoyovich

[Pastiche423]

22. "May be" is the operative word(s)

He is still a slimey scumbag.

[scarletwoman]

16. It's not his "likability", it's what he stands for -- "Third Way" DLC anti-progressive politics.

I'm quite sure that Rahm will stay right where he is, but that doesn't mean I have to be happy about it.

As for a horrible start to the Obama administration; that's already been accomplished by his bringing so many corporatists, neo-liberals, and Clinton retreads on board. Not to mention inviting a misogynist bigot to give the invocation at the inauguration.

Nope, Obama has accomplished a horrible start all by himself.

sw

[natrat]

18. interior,agriculture and epa are really bad---meet the new boss same as the old boss

http://firedoglake.com/2008/12/20/obama-serves-up-five-star-science-and-rancid-food-choices/#more-35223

[karynnj]

19. Transportation may be as well

[scarletwoman]

27. There's no question, we're going to have to keep fighting every step of the way. (nt)

[scarletwoman]

26. Yep, I was singing that tune even before the election. Lots of us knew this was coming.

I fully expected to have to fight Obama from day one.

sw

[leftchick]

21. could not happen to a bigger traitor/scumbag

let him loose Obama.

[groundloop]

24. I cannot believe...

how quickly everyone is becoming fragmented, and even before Obama has taken his oath. It wasn't that long ago everyone on this site was united for one purpose, elect Obama. Well, that's come to pass and now everyone wants to nit-pick about one thing or another. The repubs are way more disciplined than that, that's how they caused Clinton so much grief and kept him from getting everything accomplished he wanted to. Maybe dems and indies could take a clue from them, lest we risk any meaningful reform in healthcare, the environment, and everything else that needs to happen.

[scarletwoman]

25. Listen, we HAD to get Obama elected, there was no other choice.

But that doesn't mean we thought he was all that great, he was (once again) just the lesser of two evils.

The Class War goes on, there's no time to rest and let our guard down. I learned my lesson from the Clinton administration.

sw

[EFerrari]

31. I never voted for Rahm. There is nothing sudden or new about my dislike for him.

[McCamy Taylor]

32. I see a RNC coordinated Divide and Conquer action going on. Do not doubt

that a fair number of the outraged voices who are demanding Obama's head on a platter are actually Freeper moles who delight in seeing Democrats in disarray before they ever even take over the WH.

The internet allows people to pretend to be whatever they want to appear to be. In the primary, we saw Hillary Clinton haters from the right pretending to be Obama supporters mouthing off about the Clintonistas and cattle futures and Vince Foster. There can not possibly be this many people who are doing so well in the current recession that the only thing they care about is who reads a friggin' prayer. I will bet that most people, no matter what their sexual persuasion are holding their breaths, praying that the new administration fixes health care and the job situation and the minimum wage and all that other rhetorical bullshit is just secondary right now while so many of us are struggling to make it. Being called a bitch or queer does not matter so much if you are facing homelessness. That is why I find it difficult to believe that the overwhelming majority of DU has completely forgotten about their economic woes and is only concerned about Warren's fear of gays. I think that we are under attack. Hell, people here lost their interest in the war in Iraq because of the economy, and if they can not be bothered over the mindless deaths of innocent people because times are so hard, how are they supposed to get so excited over a prayer?

[scarletwoman]

33. (a) What the hell does that have to do with the OP? (b) I can assure you that the majority of us who

are outraged about Rick Warren are true progressives who are passionate about human rights and social justice.

You're "seeing" figments of your own imagination.

sw

[Doctor_J]

36. Two things about this:

1. This is probably what Rove was aiming for when this investgation became public.
2. Big Media (and some DUers) continue to whore for Rove.

[madrchsod]

42. it`s a fabricated story---

the use of fabricated article to attack obama is repulsive.

[tom_paine]

45. Sure it is. Whitewater 1993 redux. With as much merit.

None. Zip. Zilch.

We can, of course, count on the disgusting M$M to catapult Bushie Propaganad and Lies with their usual unquestioning obedience. They will launder those lies and lend the appearance of reality to the Bushie False Reality Bubble, STILL believed by at least 70% (and maybe as high as 99.9 STILL) of the American Subject Populace.

AP makes me laugh. But then, ALL totalitarian instituitions make me laugh, especially those masqeurading as the old, free institutions they parasitized and replaced.

[alfredo]

43. From ABC News:

http://blogs.abcnews.com/george/2008/12/exclusive-obama.html

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

48. I love the smell of Fournier in the morning.