Posted by
VBushmills on Tuesday, December 16, 2008 7:45:39 AM
It will be awhile before the true reasons are revealed, and even then, as it was with Travelgate (where the White House also fiddled and the media danced) they will remained locked in historical speculation for years to come. But a speedy and irreversible conclusion to this Senate-Seat-for-Sale fiasco must be reached right away.
True, under Reid, Dodd & Co, the whole Senate's been for sale for years, but rarely has a single chair drawn so much attention. For once, Joe Biden seems to have been the least ham fisted of that notable bloc of retiring senators. (I only mention Joe's name here nostalgically, for it's the last time we'll hear his name until the 2012 convention...unless of course, he heads a commercial delegation to the Balkans.)
Make no mistake about it, this is political, although in Illinois Barack Obama is not the only, indeed, not even the most major player to be considered. There is a network of relationships, perhaps even alliances, there, that feel some compelling need to get rid of Blagojevich right away.
And it's not just to prevent Blago from making a precipitous appointment while awaiting trial. That's a canard. In ten minutes and a couple of phone calls he could easily pass the whole appointment process over to a transparent Senate Search Committee, his signature the only required involvement of his office.
The fact is, a criminal trial will take months, and a conviction iffy at best. After all, there is and always has been "consideration" involved in filling the chairs of retiring congress man and women. Didn't anyone see "Mr Smith Goes to Washington"? The practice is older than Pitt the Elder.
The same goes for giving some little sinecure to the wife. Even Obama's wife was the benficiary of such a perquisite.
The problem with a criminal conviction is that Blago's only crime to date was to conspire, from the evidence of tapes we already have, to sell the senate seat. He has taken no bribe, er, consideration. He's only talked about it, and if he talked about it to just one other, it's an indictable conspiracy. But that is not to say it is a convictable conspiracy. As they say in Texas, that remains to be saw. Much of what is going on today is to taint what evidence might be placed in Blago's defense when that day comes. If he's as loonie as so many who've known him for years are suddenly stepping forward to say he is, then isn't it a greater indictment on the Illinois political system that he was able to escape the seine net for so long? (Sadly we said the same thing about Bill Clinton, which only goes to prove the corruptibility of human institutions.)
It's clear that Blagojevich has lost all his corrupt support, and suddenly find himself on his own, utterly alone. Baptists call that "getting saved", by the way.
Our guess is that Blago tried to shake Obama down and Obama said no. This is laudable, but only if for the right reasons. We can't know his heart, but one theory on Obama's character, is, like Jonathan Winters, he's started believing his own stuff, in which case, he would think his word, his countenance, his mere asking er, polite asking, was credit card enough. No cash advances required. Blago should have not only acceded but come away feeling as if he'd just been blessed at Lourdes. But Blago doesn't strike us as the type (he is Serbian after all, and they fought the Turks and Dracula right up to the bitter end) as one who kneels at the altar of majesterium.
That's just a theory of course. Blago could just as easily have done nothing more than p*** off Emanaul, which, if you're a movie buff, you know you should never do to psychopaths. Or John McCain.
We just know it was entirely proper for Obama to meet with Blago directly, or through agents, at the earliest date possible, to discuss the President-elect's wishes concerning a replacement. That they lied, lied, lied, and were so quick about it, says much about what is still yet to be said and discovered.
We also smell the sweet Damascene aroma of Tony Rezko in this affair, whose upcoming allocutions in exchange for other judicial considerations may largely depend on corroboration by Blago, with whom he was also intimate (yet distant). Or it could be the other way around. Instead of silencing Tony, maybe his case will find some exoneration in Blago's dismemberment. Either way, we believe Blago will change Tony's fortunes in some way.
We rarely muse, but there you have it.
VB