This SURPRIZED me, I wonder Who he pissed off? 9 times out of 10 they don't get caught,and when they do it's a slap on the wrist. I've always beleived the american people deserves the government they get, The people have grown lazy, they are Not the same americans who won WWII, The term SHEEPLE fits them to a tee. So One crooked politician got caught, How many does that leave? Their in county,state and federal governments. Just lift up any rock and you'll find them.

Why is it ok that Carolyn Kennedy is a major contendor for the vacant senate seat in NY, because she can pony up more money for the republican party than anyone else? To me, that's not much different than Rod trying to get the person who can pony up the most money....Ok the cause is different, but it's the same thing!!!

UPDATED JANUARY 2, 2009.  Blago is tightening the screws on Barack Hussein and the Democrats.  Naming Roland Burris, the first African-American elected to statewide office in Illinois, and who by Illinois standards, at least, is clean, as Obama's successor,  must be driving the pasha of Hope and Change nuts over the holiday season.  Also where does Harry Reid get his authority to deny Burris the right to sit in the Senate?  The Senate does have the power to judge the qualifications of its members, but the power is not limitless.  I remember the house trying to exclude Adam Clayton Powell, in the 1960's.  I think the U. S. Supreme Court slapped that down.

UPDATED DECEMBER 26, 2008:  Blago is hanging in there, and every week that goes by will now cause damage to the Democrats.  I will assume that Barack Hussein will sack the Republican prosecutor as soon as Mr. Hope and Change takes office. Result?  The new Democrat lackey can make a quick deal with Blago, get him out of there and stop the bleeding.  Stay tuned!

ORIGINAL COMMENT:  We call him Blago in Chicago. Blago is the biggest crook unjailed in Illinois. I think I have written about him before in these precincts.

He has few allies left as he has been politically shaking down Mayor Daley for the last couple of years. Daley wants the Olympics in Chicago. Blago is in the position to scuttle the deal and has made lots of noise that he will do so unless Daley plays ball. Daley has had to swallow hard and go along.

I wonder if our beloved mayor has not had a hand in Blago's latest trouble.

Blago is the son-in-law of Alderman Dick Mell, a power in Chicago politics. Dick engineered Blago's rise to the governship, Then Blago screwed Dick on some land-fill deal that Dick had an "interest" in, and now Mell is trying to line up primary opposition in the Democratic primary against Blagojevich.

Blago is the heir, once removed, of jailed congressional power Dan Rostenkowski. Flanagan defeated Rosty in 1994, and then Blago beat Flanagan in 1996.

This will be more than a pinprick to Obama, but not serious unless some more stuff floats to the surface. No respectible pol in Illinois will come withing ten feet of Blago. This has gotta be a distraction to Mr. Hope and Change, however. I didn't see much change with Barack Hussein stating, "The investigation is ungoing against Blago, and I can't comment on it." Gee. Where have we heard that before?

He's one of the sleaziest looking fellows I've seen-like some cheesy used car salesman.

This guy loves every minute of his fame and he must have wanted to get caught. To so blatantly discuss his plans to sell the Senate seat on his own phone line, when he Knew he had been investigated in the past, this couldn't have been an accident. I loved his press conference when he said he will fight, he will fight, he will fight, but he couldn't say anything about his innocence. Just living life as ordinary, keeping his job as governor. I am wondering if somehow he will get off with a great law team that can convince the jury he was set up and was talking about something else. Can this guy decide to keep his job with a lower than 8% approval rating? Obviously he's not concerned with the best interest of the people of Illinois.

  I very seriously doubt that Blago spends any time in jail.  I'm not confident that he will be forced to resign for two reasons.  First, he is a democrat, and, if the last fifteen years have taught us anything it is that ideology trumps criminality for a democrat politician. Second, the Chicago Tribune, a true political player with antics way beyond liberal bias, forced US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald's hand in going forward with a story regarding his probe back in early December, 2008, forcing Fitzgerald to arrest Blago, before he committed a crime which could be proven by Fitzgerald.   

The only real question: will democrats in Illinois re-elect him, knowing his true colors, as if they didn't know them before?  And, while Blago wallows in the cesspool of Chicago politics, we ardently believe that the guy who ran for (and got elected) president on a platform of hope and change, will not bring with him to Washington the residue of the same ceesspool. 

Alright, alright, I confess. I put in a bid for that mother funyun but I didn't have enough dough to score the job...

Hold on tight, this story might take a whole new twist.  It is now being reported by the Chicago Sun-Times (http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/obama/1326788 ,rahm-emanuel-blagojevich-obama-121108.article ) that Obama's Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel has been named in a criminal complaint filed against Gov. Rod Blagojevich.   Apparently Blago wanted a high profile appointment in the President-elect's administration in return for naming Obama's close friend and advisor Valerie Jarrett to the seat.  Emanuel apparently asked Blago "what he wanted" in exchange for the appointment.  It should be pointed out that no one is accusing Obama or Emanuel of wrongdoing, but it's clear that the Chief of Staff is currently under investigation.  Let's see where this goes--it's all going to depend on how zealous the investigating prosecutor is, which in this case is Peter Fitzgerald, who has been known to be quite aggressive.   

What a laughingstock this Blago guy is. Normally, when the misdeeds of a public figure come to light in this way, it's the result of long years of work by the Feds. Even with Elliott Spitzer, there was obviously a long trail of phone and bank records that needed to accumulate before anything could happen. In this case, Blagojevich made the case against him so stinkingly obvious that he was arrested just days after trying to sell Obama's Senate seat. I am sure that prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald is a smart guy, but I think Inspector Gadget could have cracked this case. Normally, there is a little bit of ambiguity about the alleged transactions. But, no, this Blago guy didn't even bother with coded language. Nothing about "extra anchioves," no beating around the bush for this straight shooter. "I've got this thing [to sell] and it's f*()*ng golden," he said. Why not just advertise? Highly doubt this in any way concerns Obama, though; apparently the governor was taped complaining that Obama was "not going to give me anything except appreciation. ... F*&k them." Klassy.

It just shows how corrupt a lot of politicans are.  Blagojevich got caught and rightfuly so.  Hopefully, Illinois can fare better under his successor.  It just makes me wonder how many other political dirtbags are out there.  I'm surprised Blagojevich isn't scalping Cubs tickets too.  He kind of reminds me of Larry Dallas from Three's Company....who sold his own mother one of his lemon cars.

A pretty disturbing story that could get a whole lot bigger if it ends up touching President elect Obama.