Sarah Palin in 2012: senate seat

Showing posts with label senate seat. Show all posts

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Alas, Poor Blagojevich, we knew him too well....No thanks to the media

Hat Tip: http://therealbarackobama.wordpress.com/2009/01/25/blago-subpoenas-wheres-the-tanning-bed-media-now/

And where will Blagojevich and his sweet tempered bride be during the impeachment proceeding beginning tomorrow?

Why they are going to London to see the Queen or actually to New York, New York to appear on ABC’s “Good Morning, America” with Diane Sawyer and “The View” with Barbara Walters, as well as Monday evening’s “Larry King Live” on CNN. Lynn Sweet adds they will also appear on NBC’s Today Show (taped in Chicago) and FOX’s On the Record with Greta Van Susteren/Fox and Friends.

Doug Ross at Director Blue commented

And, once again, the mainstream media is AWOL, unwilling to report on this very newsworthy story.

Those subpoenaed:

Patricia Blagojevich, first lady
River Realty, her former employer
Friends of Blagojevich, the governor’s campaign committee
Citizens for Blagojevich, his former committee
Robert Blagojevich, the governor’s brother and campaign chairman
Antoin “Tony” Rezko, former adviser and fundraiser for governor
Christopher Kelly, former adviser and fundraiser for governor
Alonzo Monk, former Blagojevich chief of staff, now a lobbyist
Milan Petrovic, lobbyist and campaign fundraiser
John Wyma, former Blagojevich adviser, now a lobbyist
Paul Rosenfeld, lobbyist
J.B. Pritzker, wealthy Chicagoan whom Blagojevich might have considered to replace Obama in U.S. Senate
Gery Chico, former Chicago school board president and one-time U.S. Senate candidate
Doug Scofield, former Blagojevich adviser, now a consultant
Scofield Communications
Valerie Jarrett, Obama adviser
David Axelrod, Obama adviser
Service Employees International Union
Tom Balanoff, SEIU Illinois president
Change to Win, an SEIU-affiliated activist group
Sam Zell, owner of the Chicago Tribune
Nils Larsen, an adviser to Zell
The Chicago Tribune
The Tribune Co., the newspaper’s parent company
Michael Vondra, owner of asphalt and construction companies
Gerald Krozel, vice president of a concrete company
John Johnston, president of Balmoral Park racetrack
Fred Yang, Washington, D.C.-based Blagojevich consultant
Garin Hart Yang Research Group, Yang’s firm
William Knapp, Washington, D.C.-based Blagojevich consultant
Squire, Knapp & Dunn, Knapp’s firm
Doug Sosnick, political consultant

Doug Ross adds: “Blago’s ‘Senate Candidate 3′, Jan Schakowsky, was not served with a subpoena, but will have some questions of her own to answer in the days to come.”

And let’s not forget Rahm Emanuel, reportedly on 21 different taped conversations by the feds — dealing with his boss’ vacant Senate seat!

Friday, January 23, 2009

Clinton's Senate successor is Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand: NY station

New York City television station WPIX is reporting tonight that the state's Democratic governor, David Paterson, has settled on Democratic Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand as the successor for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's now-vacant U.S. Senate seat.

Democratic New York Representative Kirsten Gillibrand

Quoting unnamed sources, the station reported on its website moments ago (Hat Ti p Don Surber) that the governor would make the announcement at noon Friday in Albany. He has reportedly invited the state's entire congressional delegation to attend then, but asked Gillibrand to arrive at 11.

The governor's office would not confirm or deny the report.

Gillibrand is a moderate Democrat, the 42-year-old mother of two young children who lives in Hudson, N.Y., and is in her second House term.

Most important, perhaps, for Paterson, Gillibrand (pronounced JILL-a-brand) gives him not only a female on his ticket in next year's statewide elections, when she must run to fill the remaining two years of Clinton's term; Gillibrand's also an upstater to balance the dominant downstate power of New Yorkers like himself and Clinton that arouses such traditional resentment in the north.

She's known as a Blue Dog Democrat, not always popular with liberals for her support of the National Rifle Assn. in her significantly rural 20th District, but said to be Clinton's favorite as her replacement.

Thursday, January 1, 2009

Consolation Prize for a Failed Marriage or Bauble for Bored Socialite???

In last month's front-page story exploring Caroline Kennedy’s name recognition in her bid for New York’s vacant Senate seat, The New York Times made an observation: “Ms. Kennedy, who declared last week that she would like to succeed Hillary Rodham Clinton as the junior senator from New York, is in many ways embarking on a test of the enduring power of her politically royal name.”

That is certainly true, but over the years Caroline has been called Ms. Schlossberg more often than anything else in spite of the fact she kept her own surname. Technically, Caroline Bouvier Kennedy’s name is…Caroline Bouvier Kennedy, or “Caroline Kennedy” for short: (“You don’t use the name Schlossberg, do you?” Larry King asked her in a 2002 interview. “I mean, you do and you don’t.” To which she responded, “Right. Well, I never really changed my name.”)

Because, as Amy Holmes declared on CNN, “Let’s face it, if we were talking about Caroline Schlossberg, this conversation would be absurd.”

For the record, ~~Ms. Bouvier Kennedy~~ ~~Princess Camelot~~ ~~Mrs. Schlossberg~~ ~~Ms. Kennedy~~ Caroline is still married to Edwin Schlossberg. Though there is much speculation that they have led separate lives since 2006. Additionally, although Ms. Kennedy made a pointed remark that she "has raised her children", her youngest is 15.

Gossip has it that she is having an affair with Arthur "Pinch" Salzberg but you won't read about it in the New York Times for the very good reason that Salzberger is the NYT publisher. JC

Times Bars Note on Caroline's Rumored Affair With Publisher

Posted Dec 22, 08 3:45 AM CST in Politics, Gossip

(Newser) – The New York Times will report almost anything newsworthy—except a rumored affair between its publisher and Caroline Kennedy, Gawker reports. When a reader commented on the paper’s City Room blog wondering if the Times would address the gossip surrounding the two, the comment was deleted with the explanation that “We don’t report stuff like this, regardless of people involved.”

Uh, sure.

“It’s very relevant that someone who wants one of the highest political offices in the state is in a romantic relationship with the publisher of the most influential newspaper in the state,” said the deleted post.

Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Angry Democrats: IT'S NOT ABOUT RACE

Rod "caught red-handed with his hand in the cookie jar" Blagojevich continues his bizarre governorship of Illinois

Huffington Post Image Credit

Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.), on CBS News' 'The Early Show': 'All these folks who are opposed to Governor Blagojevich, they need to take a chill pill.'

TOP STORY -- Chicago Tribune banner: 'A defiant pick,' by Rick Pearson and Ray Long: 'In a display of political bravado, disgraced Gov. Rod Blagojevich on Tuesday appointed former Illinois Atty. Gen. Roland Burris to the U.S. Senate, challenging national Democratic leaders to reject the appointment of an African-American to the seat that propelled Barack Obama to the White House. The defiant move tests the resolve of Senate Democrats who said they would not admit anyone appointed by Blagojevich, who is facing impeachment after being accused of trying to sell the Senate seat for personal gain. And it reveals to a nation celebrating Obama's victory the underbelly of Chicago's race-based political scene.'

Chicago Sun-Times cover: 'State of Disbelief.'

***Sun-Times editorial: 'The governor's defense now can argue that the governor never intended to sell the Senate seat. See for yourself -- he chose Burris. Nor does Burris' appointment hurt Blagojevich if there happen to be African Americans on Blagojevich's jury, according to traditional thinking among the defense bar.'

PUNDIT PREP – 1) If the appointment is certified, Senate Democratic leaders are likely to introduce a motion to withhold seating 'the gentleman from Illinois' until the outcome of an investigation by the Rules Committee, which will look into whether the choice was fair and proper, whether there was a quid pro quo, etc. 'That buys us 90 days,' an official said. That should be enough so they won't have to act. An official calls Blago's move 'a tantrum ... 'I am TOO the governor.' It inflamed Illinois legislators, speeding up the impeachment process. 'He will not be governor by Valentine's Day,' the official said.

cont. here:

http://www.politico.com/playbook/

UPDATE: http://radarsite.blogspot.com/2009/01/another-burris-memorial-in-chicago.html

© Janet Crain

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Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Who is Roland Burris?

by Janet Crain
Adding to the circus like atmosphere of 2008 politics, beleaguered and discredited Chicago governor, Blagojevich, has pulled a rabbit out of his hat.

Told that the senate body would reject anyone he attempted to appoint, he chose a man it will be very hard for Harry Reid to reject without being called a racist. JC

Politico

by Ryan Grim

On Election Day in November, Roland Burris walked alone to his polling place and was greeted by a local news team working on a historical piece about African-Americans elected statewide in Illinois.

Back in 1978, Burris had become the first. But on Election Day 2008, only the older folks at his polling place recognized him.

“How soon they forget,” Burris mused then. “You get pushed to the side, when you’re no longer in office, quite easily.”

He must not have been enjoying the anonymity. Within weeks of Barack Obama’s election as president, Burris stood in front of the cameras, with Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn behind him, to announce his interest in the president-elect’s Senate seat.

The nascent campaign for the seat went positively subterranean when Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich was arrested for allegedly attempting to sell it. Burris, though, kept hope alive.

He is a persistent man. After winning statewide races for comptroller and attorney general — which straddled a losing 1984 bid for U.S. Senate — he set a course for the governor’s mansion. He failed to win the Democratic primary in 1994, and he followed that with a failed bid for the Chicago mayor’s office in 1995 and two more unsuccessful runs for governor in 1998 and 2002.

Burris has two children: Roland and Rolanda.

He now runs the lobbying and consulting firm Burris & Lebed Consulting. That might make him ineligible to work in the Obama administration, but it doesn’t rule him out of the Senate. Blagojevich declared him to be a man of “unquestioned integrity” in announcing his appointment Tuesday.

Before the governor’s presser, however, the Illinois GOP released a collection of old reports that questioned Burris’ integrity, noting that he continued to raise money for Blagojevich even after the governor came under a dark ethical cloud.

The questioning goes back further.

“He decries pinstripe patronage, but Burris' terms as comptroller and attorney general have been rife with contracts for contributors,” wrote a Chicago Tribune columnist in 1994 as Burris was running for governor. “In a petty complaint, he criticizes [an opponent’s] use of significant campaign loans from her husband, yet Burris accepts questionable contributions from nursing home operators regulated by the state and once sweetened his state pension with a loan from his own political fund.”

But Burris’ persistence paid off Tuesday with a Senate appointment. He beamed as Blagojevich trumpeted him and asked that he not be found guilty by his association with the embattled governor. When Blagojevich mentioned that the pair had previously been political opponents, Burris smiled wider.

Blagojevich, too, seemed to be making the most of the show. He told reporters that he had enjoyed his recent time in the limelight, but wanted to defer to Burris. Later, when Burris turned to Blagojevich to see if the governor wanted to answer a question, Blagojevich smirked, “You’re the senator.”

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Thursday, December 11, 2008

Down the Memory Hole

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memory_hole

Hat Tip to:http://mainstreamconservative.blogspot.com/2008/12/obama-lied-axlerod-complied.html

What did the president-elect know, and when did he stop knowing it? Yesterday, the Lightworker attempted to distance himself from his good buddy Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D-IL) in familiar Obama fashion - by tossing the accused crook under the bus:

Saddened and bla bla.....

Knew nothing........

Cannot comment.......

Never spoke with the Governor about this bla bla.....

But unfortunately for the Hope and Change set, there is a problem. Let's set the Not-So-Wayback machine for November 5, more than two weeks before the day Axlerod allegedly "misspoke." Quincy, IL television station KQHA reported:
Now that Barack Obama will be moving to the White House, his seat in the U.S. Senate representing Illinois will have to be filled.

Vanity: What is going on?? Drudge removed the Connect Tri states link http://www.freerepublic.com/^http://drudgereport.com/
Posted on Wednesday, December 10, 2008 3:47:17 PM by *****
It was in the top list of links a little while ago
which says Obama talked to Blagojevich

Has now been scrubbed, but here's the screen shot.

7 Questions Obama Needs to Answer

by Janet Crain
In 40 days we are going to inaugurate a man for the highest office in our country about whom we know very little. Many of us had serious reservations about Barack Hussein Obama and voted against him. Others had some reservations but voted for him anyway and many just blithely voted for him on a whim. We are about to reap what has been sown. The ill winds are blowing in a stench from Chicago already.

The stinging criminal complaint against Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and his chief of staff John Harris raises lots of questions for President-elect Barack Obama – questions he’ll have a chance to answer Thursday when he does his first news conference since Blagojevich was charged.

Here are seven worth asking:

1 – “Did you communicate directly or indirectly with Blagojevich about picking your replacement in the U.S. Senate?”

2 – “Why didn’t you or someone on your team correct your close adviser David Axelrod when he said you had spoken to Blagojevich about picking your replacement?”

3 – “When did you learn the investigation involved Blagojevich’s alleged efforts to ‘sell’ your Senate seat, or of the governor’s impending arrest?”

4 – “Did you or anyone close to you contact the FBI or U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald about Blagojevich’s alleged efforts to sell your Senate seat to the highest bidder?”

5 – “Did federal investigators interview you or anyone close to you in the investigation?”

6 – “When did you and Blagojevich last speak and about what?”

7 – “Do you regret supporting Blagojevich?”

Click here to read the full article:

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1208/16465.html

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

'Senate Candidate No. 5' sure doesn't smell like Chanel No. 5

Sources Say Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. Is 'Senate Candidate No. 5'

Feds Plan to Interview Chicago Congressman as Part of Blagojevich Probe

By BRIAN ROSS
Dec. 10, 2008

Chicago Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., D-Ill., is the anonymous "Senate Candidate No. 5" whose emissaries Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich reportedly offered up to $1 million to name him to the U.S. Senate, federal law enforcement sources tell ABC News.

The politician says he is not a target of the Blagojevich investigation.

http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=6431894

According to the FBI affidavit in the case, Blagojevich "stated he might be able to cut a deal with Senate Candidate 5 that provided Rod Blagojevich" with something "tangible up front."

Jackson said this morning he was contacted Tuesday by federal prosecutors in Chicago whom he said "asked me to come in and share with them my insights and thoughts about the selection process."

Jackson said, "I don't know" when asked whether he was Candidate No. 5, but said he was told "I am not a target of this investigation."

Jackson said he agreed to talk with federal investigators "as quickly as possible" after he consulted with a lawyer.

(Click here to watch ABC News interview Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.)

The congressman, a son of the famed civil rights leader, denied that anyone had been authorized to make payments or promises to the governor on his behalf.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/

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Was Blagojevich brought down by the fact that he broke the law or because he crossed someone that is getting even?

Can Obama Escape the Taint of Blagojevich?

By Massimo Calabresi / Washington Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2008

(l. to r.) Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, Barack Obama, and Richard M. Daley.

John Gress / Reuters

On more than one occasion during his stunning press conference Tuesday, U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald bluntly said he has found no evidence of wrongdoing by President-elect Barack Obama in the tangled, tawdry scheme that Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich allegedly cooked up to sell Obama's now vacant Senate seat to the highest bidder. But for politicians it's never good news when a top-notch prosecutor has to go out of his way to distance you from a front-page scandal. And indeed, there are enough connections between the worlds of Blagojevich and Obama that the whole thing has the potential to grow beyond a colorful Chicago tale of corruption to entangle members of the Presidential transition team, to test Obama's carefully cultivated reformist image and to distract the President-elect just as he is preparing to take office.

The Obama Senate seat scheme is only one of the allegations lodged against the two-term governor, whose administration has been under investigation for alleged "pay to play" patronage practices for years. The complaint claims Blagoevich tried to extort the owners of the Tribune company to fire editors at the Chicago Tribune, and to withhold $8 million of state funds to a children's hospital in hopes of extracting a $50,000 campaign contribution from one of its executives. Blagojevich, who came into office in 2002 with promises to clean up the state's culture of graft, made no comment Tuesday during a bail hearing where he was released on his own recognizance. But late in the day his lawyer Sheldon Sorosky told reporters that the governor "is very surprised and certainly feels that he did not do anything wrong...a lot of this is just politics." (See pictures of who will be in Obama's White House.)

In laying out the federal criminal complaint, U.S. Attorney Fitzgerald said Blagojevich went far beyond the realm of hard-knuckle politics into a "political corruption crime spree." The central allegation is that the governor schemed to extort money and jobs for himself and his wife from the Obama transition team in exchange for naming Obama's preferred candidate (unnamed in the charges) to the open Senate seat. The complaint details Blagojevich's attempts to contact intermediaries to the transition and in one case shows him soliciting favors from a union official he identifies as an "emissary." All this alleged activity was taking place, amazingly, at a time when Blagojevich had every reason to believe he was being closely monitored by the U.S. Attorney's office.

For the time being, Obama and his aides have declined to comment on the complaint. Asked about the matter at a photo op Tuesday afternoon, Obama himself said he was "saddened and sobered" by the news but that he had not been in contact with Blagojevich and was "not aware of what was happening."

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1865370,00.html?iid=tsmodule

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Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Did Rahmbo bring down Blago?

Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2008 14:20 EST
Did Rahmbo bring down Blago?
Think Progress notes that at least one Chicago reporter thinks that future White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel might have had something to do with the arrest of his fellow Democrat, Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich. And no, not because he's been caught up in the investigation, but because he may have gone to the feds and told them about the governor's alleged attempts to sell President-elect Barack Obama's Senate seat.

The reporter, Jack Conaty, said Tuesday:

We did receive a tip this morning that perhaps all of this came together so quickly because the Governor may have reached out to Rahm Emanuel, the president-elect's chief of staff, in attempting to leverage filling the Senate seat. And it may have been Rahm Emanuel who tipped the scale and made this move as quickly as it did.

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2008/12/09/rahm_blago/index.html

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Want That Pizza Chicago Style?

Politics; Chicago Style

December 09, 2008

Report: Blagojevich taken into custody

Scandal-tarred Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D-Ill.) won't be making that Senate appointment after all. The governor has been arrested -- and is being accused of attempting to sell President-elect Obama's Senate seat in exchange for financial benefits for his family.From the Chicago Tribune:
Gov. Rod Blagojevich and his chief of staff, John Harris, were arrested by FBI agents on federal corruption charges Tuesday morning.Blagojevich and Harris were arrested simultaneously at their homes at about 6:15 a.m., according to Frank Bochte of the FBI. Both were awakened in their residences and transported to FBI headquarters in Chicago.In one charge related to the appointment of a senator to replace Barack Obama, prosecutors allege that Blagojevich sought appointment for himself as Secretary of Health and Human Services in the new Obama administration, or a lucrative job with a union, in exchange for appointing a union-preferred candidate.

Cont. here:

http://www.politico.com/

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