[Rhodes22-list] Politics - The Daily Kass

[Brad Haslett]

More popcorn, please!  This ain't pretty. We have a saying in
aviation, "you'll either be a hero or a goat"!  I think the time for
action as a hero has passed.   Brad

------------------

Rendell slams Obama over Blago
Carrie Budoff Brown Carrie Budoff Brown Fri Dec 12, 9:02 am ET

Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell today criticized Barack Obama for not
being more upfront about the Illinois corruption scandal.
Now, he said, the story will continue to dominate the media's attention.

"They have never been in an executive position before," Rendell said
on MSNBC's "Morning Joe." "The rule of thumb is whatever you did, say
it and get it over with and make it a one-day story as opposed to a
three-day story. Politicians are always misjudging the intelligence of
the American people."

Known for his blunt critiques of fellow Democrats, Rendell did not
hold back during the interview.

The criminal complaint essentially exonerates Obama and his staff,
Rendell said, because it quotes Blagojevich as saying the
president-elect would offer him nothing but appreciation for
appointing Obama confidant Valerie Jarrett to the position.

"Did Rahm Emanuel who took Rod Blagojevich's seat in Congress have
contact with Rod Blagojevich? Of course he did," Rendell said. "They
may have thought he was the craziest S.O.B. in the world. But you
still have to have contact with him."

The criminal complaint exonerates Obama and his staff because it
quotes Blagojevich as saying the president-elect would offer him
nothing but appreciation for appointing Obama confidant Valerie
Jarrett to the position, Rendell said.

"Blagojevich curses them out," Rendell said. "It is easy [for Obama
to] just say, 'Hey folks here it is, of course we had contact.'

"But they made the mistake of making it a four or five or six day story."

Obama issued a tepid statement on the first day of the scandal, issued
a call through his spokesman for the governor's resignation on the
second day, and pledged Thursday to release details his staff's
contact with Blagojevich's office in the coming days.

Emanuel turned testy and declined to talk with a reporter who
approached him Thursday at Chicago City Hall, where he was watching
his children perform in a concert. The Chicago Sun-Times reporter
pressed him to comment about whether he was the emissary named in the
criminal complaint.

"You're wasting your time," Emanuel said. "I'm not going to say a word
to you. I'm going to do this with my children. Don't do that. I'm a
father. I have two kids. I'm not going to do it."

When pressed for comment, he said, "I'm not as capable as you. I'm
going to be a father. I'm allowed to be a father," and he pushed the
reporter's digital recorder away.

On Fri, Dec 12, 2008 at 7:58 AM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
> Why watch the Sopranos?  This is much better material! Yesterday was
> not a good day for Tiny Dancer (Emanuel).  Maybe he should take some
> lessons from Sarah Palin on how to multi-task as a public servant and
> parent.
>
> Brad
>
> ------------------
>
> www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/chi-kass-12-dec12,0,723256.column
> chicagotribune.com
>
> Man behind curtain is wizard of Rod, Rahm
>
> John Kass
>
> December 12, 2008
>
> When it comes to being the guy behind the guy, there is no one more
> conspicuous than Rahm Emanuel.
>
> As chief of staff for President-elect Barack Obama, he's usually at
> Obama's news conferences, standing off to the side, glowering like
> some fiercely loyal mini-me.
>
> But Emanuel wasn't there Thursday when Obama faced reporters to answer
> questions about federal charges against Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich
> (D-Dead Meat), accused of trying to sell Obama's Senate seat to the
> highest bidder.
>
> "I have never spoken to the governor on this subject," Obama said. "I
> am confident that no representatives of mine would have any part of
> any deals related to this seat."
>
> Wow. No staffers tried to make a deal for his Senate seat?
>
> "I've asked my team to gather the facts of any contacts with the
> governor's office about this vacant seat, so that we can share them
> with you over the next few days," Obama said.
>
> He could have just asked Emanuel, but he wasn't there, and reporters
> kept wondering, "Where's Rahm? Where's Rahm?" What they should have
> been asking is, "Where's Jimmy?"
>
> As in state Sen. James DeLeo (D-How You Doin?)
>
> DeLeo is an extremely powerful politician. You know this because he's
> hardly ever quoted in newspaper stories.
>
> Emanuel and DeLeo have a relationship. Emanuel is the congressman from
> the 5th Congressional District, where DeLeo is the Democratic state
> central committeeman. What hasn't been reported on much is that
> Emanuel has not yet resigned from the House. And if you want to play
> politics in Jimmy's sandbox, you need his OK.
>
> DeLeo is also considered by some to be the real governor of Illinois.
> Blagojevich is the nutty guy who makes the speeches and gets the
> federal slap. They're so close that if Jimmy suddenly stopped walking,
> Rod would chip his teeth on the back of Jimmy's head.
>
> It's reasonable to assume that if there's one fellow Rod would talk to
> about the Senate seat, it's Jimmy. And given their relationship, Jimmy
> could talk to Rahm. I'm not suggesting money was offered. There is
> nothing illegal about politicians horse-trading to fill seats. Only
> when such deals are monetized—as the governor is alleged to have
> done—is it illegal.
>
> I'm just talking about putting political pieces on the board the
> Chicago Way. A vacant Senate seat and a soon-to-be vacant House seat
> in Illinois would be a package deal. Consider this mathematical
> equation: Jimmy/Rod + Jimmy/Rahm = Happy Rod, Jimmy and Rahm. Get it?
>
> Before he became so powerful, Jimmy was a lowly traffic court bailiff
> making a measly $20,000 a year. Yet he was able to own shiny new
> Cadillacs, Jaguars and Mercedes, astounding federal agents, who in
> 1989 charged him with taking bribes to fix tickets in the Operation
> Greylord probe of judicial corruption.
>
> Later, his former roommate told a federal grand jury that there was
> $35,000 in cash in their freezer, carefully wrapped in butcher paper
> so the bills wouldn't get freezer burn. But the roommate came to
> Jimmy's defense, saying the money was his, not Jimmy's, and that it
> came from the roommate's stolen-car business.
>
> At Jimmy's trial, Outfit gambling boss Ken "Tokyo Joe" Eto emerged
> from the witness protection program to testify that he passed cash to
> Jimmy via handshakes. Eto had been hiding since Outfit hit men tried
> to kill him. They used cheap bullets, and three slugs failed to fully
> penetrate Eto's diamond-hard cranium.
>
> The jury didn't believe the feds. They believed Jimmy and acquitted
> him, so he rose to political prominence, and now Obama's chief of
> staff is the congressman in the district Jimmy controls.
>
> Jimmy didn't return my call to his office, so we checked other joints.
> "DeLeo?" said Glenn, the manager at Carmine's. "I've never heard of
> the name. Who?"
>
> At Tavern on Rush, a hostess said, "I haven't seen him today." A woman
> at Cafe Bionda simply said, "No, he's not here."
>
> So I phoned the Excelsior Casino in Aruba, where Jimmy takes
> politicians to gamble, including Illinois Secretary of State Jesse
> White. I figured Jimmy might be there.
>
> "Who's calling please?" asked a secretary in the office of Michael
> Posner, the casino boss who has Chicago connections.
>
> Tell him John from Chicago is calling, I said. Posner picked up and
> was quite chirpy, for about three seconds, until he realized I was a
> newspaper guy.
>
> "If you want to find him, call him yourself," Posner said. Click.
>
> Later, Jimmy's attorney phoned, upset that I'd called all over looking
> for him. She told me that Jimmy had nothing to do with any deal for
> Rahm's seat or Obama's seat.
>
> "The answer is no," said Jimmy's attorney. "No."
>
> OK, but I'm still waiting to hear from Jimmy, so I can ask him about
> Rod and Rahm. I won't hold my breath.
>
> You never hear from the real guy behind the guy.
>
> That's how they remain the guy behind the guy.
>
> jskass at tribune.com
>
> Copyright (c) 2008, Chicago Tribune
>