What goes together like beer and pretzels or Lindsay Lohan and rehab? Chicago and corruption, of course! Since the days of Bathhouse John Coughlin through the St. Valentine’s Day massacre and the 1968 Democrat presidential election,the Windy City has provided connoisseurs of crime and corruption with an unending feast of sleaze. Now we’ve got the Blago and Barry Scandal.
An article from TheHill.com reports: “Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich said Sunday that he would call a host of high-profile witnesses — including White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel — to testify if he is retried on corruption charges. Blagojevich, in a combative interview on ‘Fox News Sunday,’ said he was ready for a second trial on charges that he tried to sell President Barack Obama’s former Senate seat. Federal prosecutors have vowed to retry Blagojevich after a jury deadlocked on all but one of 24 criminal counts the government brought against the fiery Democrat.”
For those who haven’t seen him, Blagojevich looks like a bad Elvis impersonator with a brown squirrel curled up on top of his head.
The article notes ” ‘In the second round, we’re going to put a defense on, I’m sure,’ Blagojevich said, vowing to call Emanuel, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), DSCC Chairman Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.) to testify in his defense. Blagojevich also said he would again attempt to subpoena Obama. That attempt was rejected during the first trial. ‘We would call Rahm Emanuel and a whole bunch of other people in the second trial to show what was really going on,’ Blagojevich said. ‘The decision I made was to try to make a political deal. Rahm Emanuel a day before my arrest was going to make it happen. They did nothing wrong, either.’ ”
I would not be completely surprised if Blagojevich was found dead in his cell. It’s dangerous to try to drag a sitting president into a criminal case, where you’re the main culprit. Just ask Ron Brown or James MacDougal. Oh wait, I’m sorry; both those men are dead. MacDougal was in a federal prison where they denied him his heart medicine while in solitary and he wound up dead. Ron Brown was on Air Force Two when it flew into a mountain possibly following a false signal. Shortly before his death, Ron had threatened that he would not being going down alone, implying he would take the Clintons with him in his corruption scandal.
The Hill.com: “Blagojevich said he intended to call those witnesses during the first trial, but stopped short when he opted not to put on a defense. Despite being convicted of lying to the FBI, Blagojevich said he and his lawyers made the right decision.”
The key figure in all this is a sleazy political influence-peddler named Tony Rezko, who was tight with both Blago and Barry back in the old days. The potential interest in this trial is that it might pry the lid off Obama’s early days as a ward heeler and errand boy for the Daley machine, not to mention some of his radical leftist connections.
What will add to the fun is that once the Republicans get back in control of the House and maybe the Senate as well and they can start holding Whitewater-style hearings and maybe appoint a special prosecutor as well, then they can start digging into the whole Obama scene, and no doubt Blago will feature as a star performer in any Congressional hearings. I’m sure the Dems were hoping Blago would just get convicted and go away.
