Try to Act Surprised: More Chicago Democrat Corruption
If there's one thing we know about Democrats, it's how much they love to lecture anyone within earshot about greed.
The greedy oil companies, the greedy drug companies, the greed on Wall Street, corporate greed in general, none if it escapes detection from their ethical divining rod. How fortunate we are to have them as guardians against free enterprises that want to do evil things like employ people and pay billions in taxes for them to spread around.
So, let's not be too surprised that: A) another Chicago politician is found to be more crooked than the teeth of a BBC sitcom actor; and B) the Democrats have lost their appetite for serving up lectures on greed the very moment the politician in question is one of their own.
Democrat Illinois Governor Rob Blagojevich was arrested Tuesday by federal authorities for going on a "political corruption crime spree" that Federal Prosecutor, Patrick Fitzgerald, called "staggering." Chief among the allegations is that he tried to "sell" his gubernatorial appointment to fill Barack Obama's vacated U.S. Senate seat, which he called "valuable," adding, "you just don't give it away for nothing." Look for his enterprising defense counsel to argue that he was just looking for additional revenue streams to close the state budget deficit.
With the investigation still on-going, Blagojevich is also alleged with threatening to halt any possible sale of the Chicago Cubs by the Chicago Tribune Company unless they fired certain reporters who had been unfavorable to him, as well as numerous scams that involved kickbacks and favors to allies. Much of it, by the way, captured on wire taps that if transcribed here, would cause Al Capone to blush from the barrage of foul language used against Obama and others.
This guy Blagojevich didn't just get his hand caught in the cookie jar, he was caught shaking down the Cookie Jar Makers Union, Local 6.
Somewhere Honest Abe is doing cartwheels in his grave, especially since the political heir he's been waiting for all these years -- Barack Obama -- is a long-time ally of Blagojevich, with each man being knee-deep in each other's campaigns. Obama served as a top advisor on Blagojevich's 2002 gubernatorial campaign and endorsed him again in 2006 even though he was already under an ethical cloud.
Now this isn't to say that Obama played any role in Blagojevich's corrupt schemes, in fact it looks as if he refused to play ball on the Senate appointment scam, which is one reason why Blagojevich let loose with the profanities on the federal wiretaps. But as ABC News notes, this in itself raises some questions that need to be answered.
As in past affairs involving Rev. Wright, Tony Rezko, ACORN, and Bill Ayers, Obama once again reveals himself to be the candidate of change on the matter of keeping his facts straight. On Tuesday, after the arrest, Obama told the press he never spoke with his pal Blagojevich about the for-sale Senate seat. But this contradicts the words of his own chief strategist David Axelrod, who last month told Fox News in Chicago that Obama and Blagojevich spoke at length about potential names for the Governor to appoint.
Axelrod has since "corrected" himself after the Blagojevich arrest, saying he is "mistaken," and no such conversations took place. So now we are supposed to believe that Obama didn't speak to his own political ally about filling his Senate seat even though both parties at one point admitted they did? This strains credibility even for those that think Obama will pay their gas bill.
Why would Axelrod say several names were discussed if, as the Obama camp now claims, no names were discussed? Even if you're terrible at math, it's kind of hard to confuse "several" with "none." Why would Blagojevich curse Obama for brushing him off if the topic were never discussed? Who did the Governor talk to, and did that person keep silent about a federal crime? Whatever the truth is, it seems clear that we have yet to hear it.
So here's the question: will the Democrats who demanded to see Fitzgerald "frog march" Karl Rove out of the White House in chains approach this substantiated criminal case with the same indignation and vigor as they did a phony one? Will Congressional Democrats like John Conyers, Henry Waxman and Charles Schumer shoot off letters to interfere with a criminal investigation as they did in the Valerie Plame affair? Will the media air discrepancies in this story on a daily basis like they did when Republicans were the principals?
If the answer to the above questions is "no," well, try not to act surprised.
Jeffrey M. Frederick, Chairman
Republican Party of Virginia
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