Good morning.
I was just down at Dominick’s cafe, scanning the pages of The New York Times over coffee and eggs, looking at the astonishing mess that has been exposed in Illinois. Never underestimate the power of Uranus to bring about change, and we are also getting a window into Pluto in Capricorn.
A lot of people are wondering how these scandals happen. A governor tries to sell a senate seat? What was he thinking? (When a seat in the United States senate is vacated, that state’s governor makes an appointment to complete the term. He can appoint himself by resigning from office and having the new governor give him the job.) Scanning over one article after the next, about Gov. Blogowitz (as I call him, since his whole scene is great for bloggers and his name is impossible to spell), his bossy wife, Jesse Jackson Jr. and lots of other demented surprises, I was reminded of a moment shortly after taking over the campus magazine at SUNY Buffalo.
The prior editorial board had been thrown off campus after a scandal (I will skip the details) and I was hired at age 20 to reconstitute, rename and start the magazine over. I called it Generation, and it was a beautiful thing (still in print, by the way), built on a reasonable budget and my usual knack for attracting talented artists and writers. Shortly after beginning, the owner of the printing plant where we printed 10,000 copies of the magazine each week, HMS Printers of Lacawanna, called me and our photo editor, Henry Rappaport, into his office. He had a deal for us. We would overcharge for printing and he would give us some of the money back.
He was offering what are called kickbacks. I must have looked at him like he had turned purple or grown a second head. “You’re asking me to steal from my own magazine?” I said, never being one to mince words. I declined the offer. He let it drop. I let it drop. But it occurs to me that there is a world of people who would think nothing of going for such a deal; after all, it’s money, and everyone needs that. Stealing is only wrong if you get caught. Then there is this nifty thought form: What if I don’t take the kickback? Will this person do something even more evil to me? Will he mess me up somehow? I better take it, lest something worse happen.
It is a tricky thing, trusting people with power. We all know that most serious wrongdoing goes unacknowledged, unprosecuted, unpunished. This makes it appealing to some, and it leaves the issue in our own hands, subject to our own sense of ethics. Most of the people around us, fearing for their own skin or wanting to keep their lives simple, won’t say anything to anyone — and the beat goes on.
Gov. Blogowitz was particularly brazen — comically so. Read one of those articles and set aside your sense of morality for your sense of irony. It’s almost as funny as The Onion, but lacking the imagination. He neglected to notice that Patrick Fitzgerald, the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, was in his own neighborhood. Fitz was the guy who went after Cheney, Rove and Scooter Libby in the Valerie Plame spy outing scandal a few years back.
This is a healing process. I love these scandals because they scare the shit out of the many, many politicians who are involved in precisely this kind of deal-making. They are fascinating morality plays and studies in human nature.
They are disgusting because they lack creativity, vitality and reveal just how unconscious we humans can be. Now we have a moment of awareness. I would propose you not let this shake your faith in democracy, because if such exists, it begins and ends with you.
Yours & truly,
Do you suppose there are more of him out there? This is like reading a comic strip.
I’m re-printing the Talking Points Memo timeline on the Blago case here and at the “Flaming Out” post on the same. Very entertaining.
12.09.08 — 2:35PMBy Lila Shapiro
What’s the going rate for a seat in the U.S. Senate? According to a 76 page federal complaint filed Tuesday against Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, not enough. Here’s Blago, overheard on wiretap, dishing on the Obama Team: “They’re not willing to give me anything except appreciation. Fuck them.”
Now, Blago had been the subject of a wide ranging federal probe since 2003, but thus far, he had avoided direct charges. (Unlike his former principal fundraiser and friend, Tony Rezko.) In spite of all this scrutiny, Blago was apparently so comfortable that when the FBI called his home early Tuesday morning, he asked the agent if the phone call was a joke.
Here we’re going to track the chronology of the Governor’s current troubles, which come down to two issues. First, the solicitation of bribery for Obama’s Senate seat– a position the Governor had the sole authority to fill. Second, a surreal and creepy series of maneuvers where Blago leveraged his power with the Tribune Company to attempt to induce the firing of Chicago Tribune editorial board members critical of Blago’s corrupt regime. Blagojevich and his chief of staff John Harris were each charged with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and solicitation of bribery.
It’s not yet clear whether the feds stumbled across these latest schemes in the course of their ongoing investigation, or whether some new information had come to light to prompt them to set up the tap. What is clear is that the current charges, aside from some evidence obtained from testimony prior to October, stem from a very brief time period from the end of October until December 9. And that the recorded conversations that reveal the story are dirty mouthed enough to have been scripted by David Mamet.
Did Blago genuinely believe in his own rectitude? In March 2007 the Tribune editorial board questioned the Governor about the wide ranging probe on his office. He responded with characteristic cheer:
“I’m happy to make an appointment, talk to you guys about that. But I feel real good about all the different things that we do because we follow the rules and we do things right and at the end of the day, as they say in the Bible, the truth shall set you free. The truth is what it is. And the truth is we do things right.”
Enjoy the ride.
Oct. 21, 2008: The Campaign Fundraisers Are Bugged
Chief Judge Holderman authorized the bugging of two rooms in the Friends of Blagojevich office.
Oct. 29, 2008: On The Home Front
Federal investigators began wiretapping Gov. Blagojevich’s home.
Oct. 31, 2008: From The Wiretap, Let The Bidding Begin
The first gem overheard on the wiretap is a big one– we hear of Senate Candidate Number 5, since identified as Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., who Blagojevich described as a high bidder for Sen. Obama’s possible open senate seat. Blago told advisers on a call that an associate of Number 5 sought him out in a “pay-to-play” scheme: “That, you know, he’d raise 500 grand. An emissary came. Then the other guy would raise a million, if I made him (Senate Candidate 5) a Senator.”
Nov. 3, 2008: The Lives Of Others
On a call, Blagojevich told Deputy Governor A that if he is not going to get anything of value for Sen. Barack Obama’s Senate seat, then he will take the Senate seat himself: “If … they’re not going to offer anything of any value, then I might just take it.” Throughout the tap, Blago returned to this idea for a variety of reasons, including a possible run for President in 2016, a belief that he will be able to obtain greater resources if he is indicted as a sitting Senator as opposed to a sitting governor, facilitating his wife’s employment as a lobbyist, and higher speaking fees as a U.S. Senator.
Same day, in a different phone call, the Governor discussed the possible sale of the Chicago Cubs. Blago had been involved in this negotiation since The Tribune Company, (owner of the Chicago Cubs, Wrigley Field and The Chicago Tribune, among others) approached the Illinois Finance Authority to ask for assistance with the sale. The IFA’s official role is to support the Governor of Illinois’ economic development agenda. The governor’s wife, Patricia Blagojevich is overheard in the background of this call telling her husband: ‘to hold up that fucking Cubs shit … fuck them.'”
Nov. 4, 2008: I’ll Scratch Your Back, You Scratch Mine
The Governor attempted to use state taxing leverage over the Tribune Company: according to the wiretap records, Blago made it clear that he would not help the Tribune Company in their attempted sale of Wrigley Field unless the Chicago Tribune changed the makeup of an– in his view– overly critical editorial board: “Fire all those [expletive] people, get ’em the [expletive] out of there and get us some editorial support.
The drama may be be slightly undercut by a phone conversation one day earlier. Blago asked Deputy Governor A whether the board had recently ‘advocate[d]’ that he be impeached.” They had not. Something he probably would have known if he actually read the page.
Nov. 4, 2008: Sen. Obama Will Leave The Senate
Sen. Barack Obama won the Presidential election, leaving Blagojevich with the sole authority to appoint his successor.
Nov. 5, 2008: Drunk With Power
In an ecstatic phone call, Blagojevich reveled in his new appointment power. “I’ve got this thing and it’s [expletive] golden, and, uh, uh, I’m just not giving it up for [expletive] nothing. I’m not gonna do it. And, and I can always use it. I can parachute me there.” The positions he envisioned for himself included: Sec. of Health and Human Services, various ambassadorships, and a top post at the Red Cross. When chief of staff Harris cautioned that “It’s got to be a group that is dependent on [the President-elect],” and that a President probably could not influence the Red Cross, Blagojevich directed Harris to “Look into all of those.”
Nov. 7, 2008: Six Of One, Half Dozen Of The Other
Reps. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-IL), Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) and Illinois Veterans’ Affairs Director Tammy Duckworth all expressed interest in the open seat. Meanwhile, on the phone, Blagojevich and his advisers continued scheming. Harris said, “We wanted our ask to be reasonable and rather than … make it look like some sort of selfish grab for quid pro quo.” Blagojevich added, “I want to make money.”
Nov. 10, 2008: An Offer They Couldn’t Refuse
According to a taped conversation from Nov. 11th, Harris met with the Tribune Financial Adviser to discuss the firing of certain members of the editorial board. The TFA told John Harris that the Tribune Owner “got the message” about the editorial staff.
Nov. 11, 2008: Fingers Crossed!
John Harris told Blagojevich that the Tribune Financial Adviser said there will be “certain corporate reorganizations and budget cuts coming and, reading between the lines, he’s going after [the editorial] section.” Blago: “”Wow. Okay, keep our fingers crossed. You’re the man. Good job, John.”
Nov. 11, 2008: While The Situation With The Trib Is Developing Nicely, Other Things Aren’t Going As Well
In another call, Blagojevich expressed dissatisfaction with the Obama team for not bribing him to appoint their preferred replacement. “They’re not willing to give me anything except appreciation. [Expletive] them,” he said.
Nov. 12, 2008: Legal. Personal. Political.
In a particularly frank phone call, Blagojevich stated that his decision about the open Senate seat will be based on three criteria in the following order of importance: “Our legal situation, our personal situation, my political situation. This decision, like every other one, needs to be based upon on (sic) that. Legal. Personal. Political.”
Nov. 16, 2008: The Seat Is Open At Last
Obama’s resignation from his Senate seat went into effect. Top contenders included Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr (D), Illinois Veteran Affairs chief Tammy Duckworth, Rep. Jan Schakowsky, and retiring State Senate President Emil Jones. And of course, Blagojevich himself.
Nov. 21, 2008: John McCormick Is Mean!
Via the tap: John Harris singled out Tribune deputy editorial page editor John McCormick to Blagojevich as being “biased and unfair.” (McCormick was never fired and still works for the Tribune editorial board.)
Nov. 26, 2008: The Conversation Continues
Wiretap 30-day authorization renewed.
Nov. 30, 2008: The F–king Cubs!
Blagojevich spoke with a Chicago sports consulting firm who was working with the Cubs. They discussed the importance of getting the Illinois Finance Authority deal with the Tribune approved in December or January.
Dec. 4, 2008: Blagojevich Expresses A Sudden And Weird Concern For Discretion
During one of his negotiations over the Senate seat Blagojevich told a fundraiser, “You gotta be careful how you express that and assume everybody’s listening, the whole world is listening. You hear me?”
Dec. 5, 2008: Someone Is Listening
The Chicago Tribune revealed that federal investigators have been covertly recording Blagojevich conversations. That morning Blago discussed McCormick’s retention with Harris, concluding: “Okay, at some point we should talk to [Tribune Financial Advisor] again, right?”
Dec. 8, 2008: Don’t Fear The Reaper Wiretap
Blagojevich told reporters he does not fear the wiretaps: “I don’t believe there’s any cloud that hangs over me. I think there’s nothing but sunshine hanging over me.”
During the same presser, Blagojevich went on: “I should say if anybody wants to tape my conversations, go right ahead, feel free to do it. I appreciate anybody who wants to tape me openly and notoriously, and those who feel like they want to sneakily and wear taping devices, I would remind them that it kind of smells like Nixon and Watergate,”
Dec. 9, 2008: The Joker
Officials woke up Blagojevich with a phone call to inform him that agents were on their way to arrest him. “Is this a joke?” he responded.
Dec. 10, 2008: Happy Birthday!
The Governor turns 53.
Fe,
I hope so, I truly hope so and I do care … just feel as though I’m tapping away at a granite block with a chocolate hammer in the middle of Death Valley in High Summer. The way that ‘democracy’ is run in my corner of the world just leaves me forever dumbfounded and to be honest … hopeless. And its not a simple matter of partisan politics but of the fundamental way that politics and Government is run in this country. (not the US) which seeks to disenfranchise and disconnect the ordinary man in the street from being involved and holding anyone to account ….
Just frustrated that’s all…
This week has produced a lot solved crimes. It would be interesting to know if police departments everywhere are making a lot of progress this week. Seems like criminals are being exposed left and right. Might not be a good week to fudge on taxes or diets either. Even Oprah had to confess.
Mandy:
I kind of agree with both you and Eric, but my perception of this is, that scandals like these have happened before, and that if there is some blood in the movement of Pluto into Capricorn, hopefully, we will see a slow but inevitable death of play for pay politics.
Governments end up that way because we’re encouraged NOT to care.
Old habits die hard. Stay optimistic and proactive. That’s the most important thing. Let’s start caring again. And stay awake.
Eric,
With all respect and love, Imust disagree with this:
They are disgusting because they lack creativity, vitality and reveal just how unconscious we humans can be. Now we have a moment of awareness.
I would propose you not let this shake your faith in democracy, because if such exists, it begins and ends with you.
Politics, as we know it, is broken. Every story like this smashes the shards into smaller and smaller pieces…
Eric:
So right. Blago was a perfect product of the system in Illinois. He had absolutely no shame about what he did. And he was willing to turn on anyone as long as he could continue the pay for play.
Is this something new? No. But it was a natural occurrence given what it takes to run a city or state. There’s alot of shit, literal shit that goes into making power, and unfortunately, it attracts a wide variety of shitheads to do so.