… I think refraining from any political comments here would be the right thing to do.

If this post degenerates into that sort of discussion, it will be deleted.

I wonder whether they’ll let him watch Cubs games in the slammer.

I read through the 15 or so pages of the complaint, which can be found in pages 41-55. Basically Blago and his chief of staff were in regular contact with folks at Trib Co, attempting to have Tribune Editor John McCormick fired. Blago was unhappy about the coverage of the Tribune which called for his impeachment and was not very complimentary towards the governor. The complaint details Blago’s use of the Illinois Sports Authority and his potential influence to have the Authority purchase the Cubs. Blago was using his influence regarding the sale of Wrigley field in an attempt to having editorial board members fired.

There is some mention that there was contact with both “Tribune Owner” (one would assume this means Sam Zell) and “Cubs Chairman” (one would assume that this is Crane Kenney). It does not seem that there really was wrong doing on the part of Zell or Kenney, but here is the segment of text referring to Kenney:

After hearing that Tribune Financial Advisor had assured HARRIS that the
Tribune would be downsizing or making personnel changes affecting the editorial board,
ROD BLAGOJEVICH had a series of conversations with representatives of the Chicago
Cubs regarding efforts to provide state financing for Wrigley Field. On November 30, 2008,
ROD BLAGOJEVICH spoke with Sports Consultant, the president of a Chicago-area sports
consulting firm, whose remarks during the conversation indicated that he was working with
the Cubs on matters involving Wrigley Field. In that conversation, ROD BLAGOJEVICH
and Sports Consultant discussed the importance of getting the IFA transaction approved at
the IFA’s December 2008 or January 2009 meeting, because ROD BLAGOJEVICH was contemplating leaving office in early January 2009 and ROD BLAGOJEVICH’s IFA
appointees would still be in place to approve the IFA deal. On December 3, 2008, ROD
BLAGOJEVICH spoke again with Sports Consultant and explained that ROD
BLAGOJEVICH had control over state funds designated for use in connection with science
and technology, and which could be used to pay for improvements at Wrigley Field. Later
that same day, ROD BLAGOJEVICH spoke with Cubs Chairman and said that he could
make state science and technology funds available to the Cubs without having to go through
the legislature, and suggested that the Cubs come up with proposals that would allow the use
of such funds.

This is certainly all Cubs newsworthy. Without commenting politically I will say that Blago sure didn’t show himself to be much of a Cubs fan here.

I can’t believe how blatant this is! And he KNEW he was already under multiple corruption investigations!

G-Rod is officially booted out of Cub fandem!

the whole situation seems really bizarre. Hah and who would have thought the Cubs were involved…..in a governor’s scandal?!?!

You guys in Illinois always have the cool stuff happening. Here in Iowa it’s like, “That tractor was looking at me funny.” Next time, don’t arrest him, just ship him over here. We need somthing to do.

Also good to hear that the Wrigley ‘favor’ was in the early stages. Hope everybody in the Cubs organization comes out smelling like roses. Or maybe pine tar and rosin.

… because it seems important to discuss today.

And also to stop the duplicate posts.

a stupid corrupt politician.

… could have their governor try to extort them. Well, until a team goes into New Jersey. I suspect this will be going into a prominent place in permanent Cubs lore.

I wonder if we’ll see t-shirts that say “hold up that f***ing Cubs s**t. . . f** them” on the road this year.

Is the shock and indignation coming from other Chicago politicians.

Come on, how naive are they? You can’t tell me they weren’t aware of a lot of this.

Now topping my Christmas list is Blago trying to cut a deal by implicating Dickie Daley.

The lettering is a bit out of focus, but anyone familiar with Chicago’s alleys knows what that yellow sign means…

(that’s Blago on the right behind the Recycling bin – hey, now there’s an idea…)

The best part I thought was the guy from the FBI saying

“If Illinois isn’t the most corrupt state, it’s a contender for the title”

I find it even more hilarious given the fact that he ran on the platform of
fighting corruption from Ryan…

1. This is insane. Really Blago????

2. Appearently the Whistle Blower was Rahm Emanuel ( I am assuming that his camp was upset that they couldnt pick the seat and he alerted people that these shenanigans was going on)

3.The Prosecutors quote “If Illinois isnt the most corrupt state, it is one helluva competitor” made me lol

4. Really Blago??? It amazes me how stupid people can be (why would he talk about that on the phone)

5. I agree with Rod that a senate seat is very valuable.

6. He needs to resign before he gets impeached.

7. The people should elect his successor (It would BS in the wake of this if someone like Jesse Jr. or Jan Schakowsky was able to waltz in)

8. Just unbelievable

9. The Cubs stuff is what really bothers me the most becuase part of me thinks we could have had our ownership situation resolved if he wasnt being a corrupt ass.

That is all…

thought he could sell the Senate Seat for a staggering price…..and not get caught..

I’m ratting out Blago the first chance I get (if he hasn’t done so already.)

I’ll think you won’t see Dick Durbin asking Bush to pardon George Ryan anymore.

Rod Blagojevich won’t be able to run the Witness Protection Program for errant Cubs fans who get in the way of Cubs outfielders during playoff games?

What a preening, self-aggrandizing and sociopathic jackass this guy turned out to be.

But Made in Illinois and home grown! Our export of scandal is second to none!

The outgoing Democratic and anti-statehood governor of Puerto Rico awaits trial in federal court in San Juan. Both came to power on an anti-corruption platform. So, I fully understand what Illinois is going through right now. It never ceases to amaze me what greedy and corrupt persons can do with political power.

Corrupt Chicago politics is the normal way of doing things…

…this is pretty stunning. Although we’re all aware of the political corruption that exists in Illinois, this is of a far greater magnitude than anything we’ve seen. It sounds as if the US attorney was stepping up their investigation into pay-to-play contracts (i.e., the Rezko stuff) and just stumbled onto the Senate seat auction and the extortion of the Tribune Company. That Blagojevich would attempt something so brazen, at a time when everybody knew he was “Public Official A” from the Rezko indictment, is utterly insane.

Now, the state legislature needs to impeach him as quickly as possible. If Blagojevich was crazy enough to do this in the first place, I’ll bet that he’s crazy enough to try and hang on as governor while awaiting trial. The special election idea seems like the best idea, simply because the appointment of anyone other than a placeholder will be questioned on it’s face, even if its Pat Quinn making the choice and not Rod. Still, the seat will be vacant as of 1/3 so there’s not really time to hold a special election without appointing a placeholder first. And who would the placeholder be?

Dawn Clark Netsch makes sense, or maybe Jim Edgar if they want to appoint a Republican for a few months as a goodwill gesture. I’ve heard Carol Moseley-Braun’s name mentioned but her own scandals will come back up if that option is actually scrutinized. Heck, even Chuck Percy’s name came up today and he’s older than Mr. Burns.

Perhaps Blago’s biggest mistake was in failing to appoint Pat Fitzgerald (the US attorney) to the senate seat…maybe he could’ve taken the pressure off himself but, then again, why would Blago throw away his golden ticket?

What amazes me is him not knowing he was being taped. this is like those baseball players who wrote personal checks for their steroid/HGH purchases.

I don’t know about you guys but when I make calls about bribes I clean my phones first and when I buy my illegal drugs I pay cash.

What is even more amazing is people are surprised by this. My dog knows how corrupt the guy is.

As far as Daley goes, the reason he is still mayor is sadly there has never been anyone even close to qualified to run against him. When Jesse Jackson Jr is probably the best possible choice that’s how low it is.

When the Cubs clinched in 03 I was right in front of him and Jackson Sr.

Ever notice… the similarity?

I think its only appropriate if Blago is sitting in Prison or a jail cell come Oct. ‘09 while the Cubs are winning a World Series title. He’d go from sitting in the first row next to Crane Kenney watching the team in front of him to sitting in the prison rec room with his George Ryan and other white collar criminals watching on a 19 inch RCA.

Al I would be interested in you relating what it was like in the newsroom Tuesday morning when it broke!

…their attempt to sale the team and their relationship with their fans, many of whom are Illinois tax payers. I don’t doubt for a minute that the tribune owner would have done such a deal. taxpayers subsidize this B.S. to the tune of $100 million plus, and fans face higher prices. Simultaneously, the owner of your favorite baseball team could potentially participate in a plot to feed the fans and voters watered down coverage/propaganda regarding their elected officials. To me, the onwer of the Tribune is just as greedy as the governor, they were made for each other and this sort of “deal”. It’s totally BCB worthy.