The Blagoyevich Case-Is There a Conspiracy?

Today, Governor Rod Blagoyevich's attorney, Ed Genson, dismissed the taped telephone conversations against his client as mere jibber-jabber since no deal had been made and no money changed hands. Others (like Alan Colmes) are beginning to question whether the Government really has a case on Blagoyevich for the same reason. Eventually, the tapes will tell the tale-what Blagoyevich and others said will be crucial. US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald has already told us some of the things the Governor said. We are still waiting to learn what Rahm Emanuel and others may have said or did not say on tape. The question is: can you prosecute Blagoyevich if no money changed hands and no Senate appointment was made?

First of all, anyone who thinks that there is no conspiracy here is delusional. This is more than just one crazy governor looking for a Senate buyer. Remember, this is Illinois-more specifically, Chicago that we are talking about here. There is a conspiracy, but a lot of people don't understand what the conspiracy law is. Different states have their own version of it, and the Federal Government has conspiracy statutes as well.

The Federal Conspiracy statute, explained in simple terms is as follows:

Two or more people (not including a Government agent)enter into an agreement to violate the law or achieve some legitimate end via illegal means. The agreement must be a sound agreement, with the co-conspirators knowing the illegal nature of their acts. In addition, the objective of the conspiracy must be realistically obtainable. For example, a conspiracy to smuggle Limburger cheese from the Moon without paying Customs taxes would not be a real conspiracy.

Once the agreement is reached, one or more of the conspirators must commit an overt act in furtherance of the conspiracy. The overt act does not have to be an illegal act in itself. For example, under the federal drug conspiracy statute (21 USC 846), which we used regularly in DEA, if two or more people agreed to travel to Mexico to smuggle heroin back into the US, and one person purchased airline tickets to Mexico, that would be an overt act. Other overt acts could be telephone calls, e-mails, hotel reservations, meetings etc.-anything in furtherance of the conspiracy. It is also not necessary for each co-conspirator to know all the others. In a large criminal organization, that is usually not possible.

You might ask, "how do you prove the existence of the actual agreement between the co-conspirators? Obviously, they don't draw up contracts." True enough, but the agreement can often be inferred from the overall evidence. It is also often supplied by the testimony of a cooperating witness/defendant, or unindicted co-conspirator who was involved in the conspiracy at some point.

The bottom line is that a conspiracy actually involves an attempt to commit a crime. Why have the law in the first place? Because-especially in drug cases-it enables the law to prosecute those at the top who direct other but never commit the actual criminal acts-or touch the drugs themselves. It also means that drug traffickers can be prosecuted even if no drug seizure has ever been made. We prove through the conspiracy and the evidence/testimony that drug transactions were, in fact, carried out.

In the case of Blagoyevich, there are obviously a lot of spaces to be filled in-at least for us in the public. If the tapes show others to be planning to buy the Senate seat, then all that is needed for a conspiracy to occur would be at least one overt act. For example, if-and I repeat if- the purpose of those two meetings at an Indian restaurant in Schaumberg were to buy a Senate seat for Jesse Jackson Jr, then those meetings would constitute overt acts, and the crime of conspiracy would be complete. If participants to those meetings went out and solicited funds to pass on to Blagoyevich, those are overt acts as well.

So the fact that Blagoyevich was arrested before he could actually sell the seat to whomever and collect his cash does not mean that a crime was not committed. Who the actual co-conspirators are remains to be divulged. Common sense tells me that there are others out there besides his aide John Harris (also indicted).

Furthermore, if the Government makes a deal with Blagoyevich, there is no telling how big this conspiracy could turn out to be.

Keith Olbermann and Teapot Dome

This is a doberman. It rhymes with Olbermann



Last night, I flipped on MSNBC and caught Keith Olbermann's "Meltdown" show. At first, I figured I must have caught a re-run. Instead of talking about Rod Blagoyevich, Jesse Jackson Jr, Rahm Emanuel or Barack Obama, what do you think Keith was headlining?

Dick Cheney.

That's right, Dick Cheney. No, Darth Vader himself didn't saw his mother in half yesterday. No, Keith Olbermann hasn't tied Cheney to the Teapot Dome scandal (heck, everybody knows that was Nixon.) It seems Cheney, in a recent interview with ABC, stated that he had talked to the CIA in regards to interrogation techniques used on that poor terrorist, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (one of the masterminds of 9-11).

From what we have learned it seems that poor Mr Mohammed was "waterboarded" by interrogators while they were giving him a timeshare presentation for Camp Gitmo. So now, Krazy Keith is opining that Cheney is a war criminal who may be turned over to the World Court in The Hague.

And that was just for starters before Olbermann got into his nightly recitation of what Bush did wrong yesterday and giving Bill O'Reilly his 332nd "Worst Person in the World Award".

Just to prove he is not the only loon on MSNBC, Keith's first guest commentator was.........who else? Richard Wolffe of MSNBC and Newsweek, who is always (nightly in fact) available to echo anything that comes woofin' out the mouth of the Dobermann.

"Thank you, Richard."

"Thank you, Keith."

First of all, Olbermann is giving short shrift to the biggest developing scandal in the country. It seems to Olbermann and his cronies at MSNBC that it all boils down to a crazy governor in Springfield and stops right there. What "Keith the Teeth" is doing is sweeping the Chicago business under the rug lest it get too close to Obama while busily uncovering every last piece of dirt he can find on the Bush Administration.

It leads me to wonder what Keith is going to do after January 20 with his show. Will he spend the next four years going after Bush, or will it be an hour-long infomercial for the Obama Administration-sort of like those bits you used to see on Soviet TV-all the trucks rolling out of the factories staffed with all those heroic factory workers?

Secondly, I don't much care about what the CIA did or didn't to that poor terrorist, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. It probably saved a few thousand lives since it has been revealed that he sang like a bird. If those big, bad CIA types put him through an outlaw biker gang initiation, that's just fine and dandy with me. (What's an outlaw biker gang initiation, you ask?)

You don't wanna know.

So, Mr Olbermann, you keep right on talking about Bush and Cheney for the next four years. Ignore all the scandals that are on the way under Obama and his Chicago buddies. You and Ricard Wolffe, Eugene Robinson, Rachel Maddow, Chuck Todd, and Jonathan Alter can all sit in a big circle and.....er, discuss Bush-Cheney et al. See what that does to your ratings.

But what am I talking about? Keith has no ratings to begin with.

New Ad From National Black Republican Association

Below is a thought-provoking article from the National Black Republican Association, which is a conservative group opposed to Barack Obama's agenda.


WILL OBAMA'S SOCIALISM ENSLAVE BLACKS ?

A cartoon created for the NBRA by Brett Noel provides a chilling look at the future of black Americans under an Obama Administration as "Socialist Slaves" dependent on government handouts on the Democratic Party's economic plantation. As a corrupt Chicago "Community Organizer" for 20 years, Obama produced unlivable slums and wants to repeat his failure for the rest of America.



"Democracy is the road to socialism."
- Karl Marx

"We say that it may be possible in the U.S. to bring socialism through peaceful means. Perhaps through the ballot box. One thing is clear, there won't be socialism in the U.S. until the majority of the American people want it."
- The Communist Party USA

Join the NBRA Save the Dream Team



We have launched our "Save the Dream" campaign and put up our first billboard in Orangeburg, South Carolina. You can help save the USA from being changed into the United Socialist America. Become an NBRA grassroots "Eagle Eye" and make your voice heard. Contact Congress and the White House, write letters to the editor, call radio talk shows, pass on our NBRA newsletters and refer people to our website. You are the frontline in the battle to save America. Sign up now at: www.NBRA.info and get your Eagle Eye T-shirt from the NBRA online store. Join our NBRA Save the Dream Team today and just say no to Socialism!

Photo of our Orangeburg "Save the Dream" Billboard



In the News

Poll: Black Dems near GOP on moral issues – This is an article that shows the folly in the calls by "moderates" for the Republican Party to abandon its conservative base and veer to the left in order to attract more blacks into the party. The Gallup poll shows that on a number of moral issues, such as gay relations, blacks are aligned more closely with Republican views.
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2008/12/03/Poll_Black_Dems_near_GOP_on_moral_issues/UPI-62231228317975/

How Obama Got Elected - Interviews With Obama Voters is a video that exposes how Obama supporters lack even basic knowledge about politics and Obama, the man for whom they voted.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mm1KOBMg1Y8

FBI: Illinois Governor Sought To "Sell" Obama's Senate Seat By Brian Ross is an article that shows the unfolding drama about Obama's senate seat sale scandal.
http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/story?id=6424985&page=1

Are we not to see the obvious? It is obvious and logical that Barack Obama who is vacating his Illinois senate seat to become president talked about his replacement with the governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich, who has the power to appoint Obama's replacement. Now, if that did not happen, Obama is either stupid or clueless. Since Obama is neither stupid nor clueless, then Obama must think that the American people are stupid enough to believe him when he looked us in the eye on camera and said he had "no contact" with Blagojevich. Such a blatant lie by Obama -- in the face of the fact that his chief political strategist, David Axelrod, said that Obama had "multiple" conversations with Blagojevich about the senate seat replacement -- means that Obama has something to hide. Recall how Bill Clinton had something to hide in the Monica Lewinsky scandal. Lewinsky's semen-stained blue dress proved that Clinton lied when he said he had no "sexually relations" with Lewinsky. Is there a metaphorical "blue dress' hidden in Obama's scandal-ridden closet?

In the wake of the arrest of Blagojevich and his chief of staff for corruption and conspiring to profit from the Governor's ability to appoint Obama's successor, Obama is duty bound to uphold his transparency pledge and release all records of discussions between the Obama-Biden transition office and Blagojevich regarding the appointment of Obama's successor to the United States Senate. We, the American people, deserve no less. We certainly do not deserve to have Obama, who is a lawyer like Bill Clinton, bamboozle the American people by hiding behind the technical definition of the word "inappropriate" as a way to put up a smoke screen around his contacts with Blagojevich.

Blagojevich Arrested by FBI, Michelle is a "specifically named individual" in the Complaint – A video about the Obama scandal from an average concerned American.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sy42sTv3YFI

The Impatient Mr. Fitzgerald By Paul R. Hollrah is an article that explores two critical questions. First, why did Obama resign his Illinois senate seat so early, and finally, why was U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald so uncharacteristically impatient to arrest the Governor of Illinois and his chief of staff? What was so compelling about this scandal that makes it different from the scandalous behavior of every big city Democratic machine in America? Was there a hidden agenda to protect Obama? As Rush Limbaugh noted, while Jesus walked on water, Obama seems to walk on cesspools.
http://www.newmediajournal.us/staff/p_hollrah/2008/12152008.htm

Fred Thompson on the Economy - A video that explains in common sense terms how our economic crisis happened, who is responsible and how it will get worse under Obama's socialism.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IrR3o7x1ps&eurl=http://copiousdissent.blogspot.com/2008/12/fred-thompson-on-economy.html&feature=player_embedded

Is Obama a Marxist? You decide.

Making the World Safe for Marxism By Randall Hoven provides startling evidence demonstrating that Obama was essentially a "red diaper baby" who was raised and educated by Marxists to be Marxist.
http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/11/making_the_world_safe_for_marx.html

Hoven's article shows that Barack Obama's ideological mindset can be understood by taking a look at Obama's deeds, radical associations and words in his two books. Based on his legislative actions, Obama's voting record was the most liberal in the U.S. Senate for 2007, even more left than Bernie Sanders, a self-declared socialist. The roots of both socialism and communism can be traced to Karl Marx, the co-author of the Communist Manifesto. Marx formally launched the first meeting of the Socialist International (SI) and devised its structure, according to Pierre Mauroy, president of SI from 1992 to 1996. In his books, Obama reveals that his childhood mentor was" Frank", aka Frank Marshall Davis, an acknowledged communist. Obama also admits that he attended "socialist conferences" and read Marxist literature. While in college, Obama took classes taught by Marxists and personally sought out Marxists. In his book, "Dreams from my Father", Obama wrote: "To avoid being mistaken for such a sellout, I chose my friends carefully. The more politically active black students. The foreign students. The Chicanos. The Marxist professors and structural feminists and punk rock performance poets." Obama spent 20 years in Chicago where he sought out radicals, including the anti-American Rev. Jeremiah Wright and Bill Ayers, an unrepentant domestic terrorist who calls himself a communist. It was in Ayers' home where Obama kicked off his run for elective office. If Obama acts like a Marxist, talks like a Marxist, and associates with Marxists, what is he? Don't birds of a feather flock together?

Barack Obama & Friends Sean Hannity Special – A multi-part video that provides an in-depth look into Obama's radical associations, demonstrating how the liberal media failed to provide the scrutiny of Obama accorded all other presidential candidates. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_HZMD97nMw&eurl=http://dontvoteobama.net/

The 2009 Republican Freedom Calendar



This calendar presented by the Fredrick Douglass Foundation promises to be a keeper that has captured numerous historical events. Featured in the calendar are the 2008 elections of Dr. Ada Fisher (NC), Bishop Keith Butler (MI) and Businessman Glen McCall (SC) to the Republican National Committee. Also included are State Representative Jennifer Carroll (R-FL) who ran unopposed, Governor Bobby Jindal (R-LA) who became Louisiana's first Indian American governor and immigration attorney Anh "Joseph" Cao (R-LA) who became the first Vietnamese American elected to serve in Congress and the first Republican to hold that seat since 1891. The calendar will serve as your daily reminder that the Republican Party has and will continue to be the vanguards for human rights, independent thinkers and the party best capable for translating new and innovative ideals into action. Order your 2009 Republican Freedom Calendar today by going to www.fredrickdouglassfoundation.org website where you can also see a sample version.

More Black Republican Achievements – Congratulations to all of the other black Republicans who were elected to leadership positions across the country, our new generation of Republicans to lead our Party. Included are Mary Amonitti who won the presidency for the Republican Women of Southern Beaufort County, South Carolina. Pearl Burris Floyd became the first African-American female to be elected to the North Carolina House of Representatives. Tim Scott who defeated two other candidates and became the first African American Republican to be elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives since Reconstruction. Lawrence Boschulte who won reelection for the Board of Elections and is currently the only elected Republican in the Virgin Islands. They join other black Republican luminaries, many of whom are highlighted in the four edition of our magazine, The Black Republican, that are posted on our NBRA website.

NBRA Civil Rights Newsletter – Click here or visit the NBRA website to see our online newsletter with information that dispels the myth of Republican racism.
http://www.trustedpartner.com/docs/library/000143/NBRA%20Civil%20Rights%20Newsletter.pdf

"The Drama of Obama" by Wayne Perryman is a book that shows how it was the consistent efforts of the Republican Party that paved the way for our nation's first black president and for all black elected officials. While the Democrats were fighting and giving their lives to maintain the institution of slavery and deny blacks civil rights through Jim Crow, Republicans were literally giving their lives to eliminate both slavery and Jim Crow. From the development of our first historical black colleges, to the contributions of George W. Bush, African Americans and women have been the benefactors of the Republicans' consistent efforts on their behalf. This impressive history is captured in Wayne Perryman's highly endorsed books: "The Drama of Obama", "Unveiling the Whole Truth" and "Unfounded Loyalty". Visit Perryman website at: www.wayneperryman.com and click on "products" to order your copies of his books.

Getting Beyond Race
By Walter E. Williams



http://townhall.com/columnists/WalterEWilliams/2008/11/12/getting_beyond_race

Despite the fact that President-elect Barack Obama's vision for our nation leaves a lot to be desired, the fact that he was elected represents a remarkable national achievement. When the War of 1861 ended, neither a former slave nor slave owner would have believed it possible for a black to be elected president in a mere century and a half, if ever. I'm sure that my grandparents, born in the 1880s, or my parents, born in the 1910s, would not have believed it possible for a black to be president and neither did I for most of my 72 years.

That's not the only progress. If one totaled black earnings, and consider blacks a separate nation, he would have found that in 2005 black Americans earned $644 billion, making them the world's 16th richest nation. That's just behind Australia but ahead of Netherlands, Belgium and Switzerland. Black Americans have been chief executives of some of the world's largest and richest cities such as New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. Gen. Colin Powell, appointed Joint Chief of Staff in October 1989, headed the world's mightiest military and later became U.S. Secretary of State, and was succeeded by Condoleezza Rice, another black. A few black Americans are among the world's richest people and many are some of the world's most famous personalities. These gains, over many difficult hurdles, speak well not only of the intestinal fortitude of a people but of a nation in which these gains were possible. They could not have been achieved anywhere else.

Acknowledgement of these achievements is not to deny that a large segment of the black community faces enormous problems. But as I have argued, most of today's problems have little or nothing to do with racial discrimination. That's not to say that every vestige of racial discrimination has been eliminated but as my colleague Dr. John McWhorter said in "End of Racism?" Forbes (11/5/08), "There are also rust and mosquitoes, and there always will be. Life goes on." The fact that the nation elected a black president hopefully might turn our attention away from the false notion that discrimination explains the problems of a large segment of the black community to the real problems that have absolutely nothing to do with discrimination.

The illegitimacy rate among blacks stands at about 70 percent. Less than 40 percent of black children are raised in two-parent households. Those are major problems but they have nothing to do with racial discrimination. During the early 1900s, illegitimacy was a tiny fraction of today's rate and black families were just as stable as white families. Fraudulent education is another problem, where the average black high school senior can read, write and compute no better than a white seventh-grader. It can hardly be blamed on discrimination. Black schools receive the same funding as white schools and most of the teachers and staffs are black and the schools are often in cities where the mayor and the city council are mostly black. Crime is a major problem. Blacks commit about 50 percent of all homicides and 95 percent of their victims are blacks.

Tragically, many black politicians and a civil rights industry have a vested interest in portraying the poor socioeconomic outcomes for many blacks as problems rooted in racial discrimination. One of the reasons they are able to get away with such deception is because there are so many guilt-ridden white people. Led by guilt, college administrators, employers and others in leadership positions, in the name of diversity, buy into nonsense such as lowering standards, racial preferences and acceptance of behavior standards they wouldn't accept from whites. Maybe the election of a black president will help white people over their guilt feelings so they can stop acting like fools in their relationships with black people.

A Letter From a Holocaust Survivor

University of California at Irvine


On December 6, I posted a letter I had written for public dissemination on the on-going situation at UC-Irvine involving anti-Semitic hate speech by speakers sponsored by the campus Muslim Student Union (No Problem at UCI?). This letter was widely disseminated within the local Jewish community. Today, I received an e-mail response, which I am posting below, and which speaks for itself. It is responses like this that make it all worthwhile.

"Sorry I did not see this until today, since I left on vacation on Dec. 6. What can be done about this situation? None of us really has a solution. I am a Holocaust survivor. Came to this country as a 13 yr. old in 1936 to live with a foster family. You may not be aware that there is a website called:
One Thousand Children. I was one of those kids

Last year Chancellor Drake came to our University Synagogue to speak to an informal group in the Social Hall. He told us what is going on at the U. and kept reiterating that nothing can be done. Free Speech, he kept saying. The next day I sent him a letter, offering to head a group of families who would invite Jewish and Muslim students in small groups to our homes, so that they could have dialogue away from the school setting. He replied that it was a great idea, and he would have an assistant contact me. Needless to say, I was never contacted.

Did you send your very informative email to my rabbi, Arnold Rachlis, at University Synagogue? If not, I would urge you to do so. When Drake spoke at our synagogue, it appeared to us that he and our rabbi were good friends.

To close, it's very painful to me , as a refugee, to see what is going on at UCI. Yes, I so well remember the horrible pictures in the Stuermer and other papers. ---- By the way, you mention that you teach English as a second language. I spoke no English when I arrived in Cleveland Oh, and an English teacher at the Jr. Hi offered to give me lessons if I could come to school 1/2 hour early every morning. I bless her to this day. She taught me correct English! When I became an English major at Northridge U. (after my last child started school)I had A's throughout my school career and was asked to join the English Honors Seminar. Now I volunteer for the Merage Foundations as an assistant to two wonderful teachers of 4 yr. old children from disadvantaged families. I am constantly amazed how these little ones learn English so rapidly, when their "home" language is not spoken in class. They love books, and one of my main jobs is reading to them on a one-on-one basis. What a joy!

Thank you for your very insightful email."

Ruth Moos


* I would urge the reader to go to the One Thousand Children website and read this remarkable story.

http://www.onethousandchildren.org/

Let's Play, "Name That Snitch!"

News item: Jesse Jackson Jr (according to his own staff) has been snitching out Governor Rod Blagoyevich to the Feds. (You can't make this stuff up, folks.)


"I know it was you, Jesse. You broke my heart."

What would Pop say?

Greta Van Susteren Wants to Know....

"Where is Baby Rahm?"

CNN - You Call This Journalism?

"Jack has mail!"


Yesterday, I was killing a couple of hours in my hotel room in Las Vegas and catching up on the news. Fox must have been doing the weather because for some strange reason, I turned it onto CNN for a while. There was the hapless Wolf Blitzer, seemingly lost and confused in "The Situation Room", as usual. I also had a chance to watch Rick Sanchez and Jack Cafferty doing what they do best; reading e-mails from people who hate George Bush. What kind of talent does that take? We know all they have to do is read a teleprompter, but reading emails on air? Where do I sign up for that job? If these two jokers were hot lookin' babes, they'd be flipping name cards on some game show.

Cafferty, who can't put two sentences together without slamming Bush, spent 10 seconds making some inane comment on the Blagoyevich scandal then shifted right over to reading a bunch of e-mails from people in places like Bulls Nuts, Wyoming- all weighing in on the most important news story of the day- some Iraqi guy throwing his shoes at George Bush. According to Jack's co-respondants-all Bush haters, this had far-reaching implications for American foreign policy- Arabs don't like us.

Of course, no one bothered to point out that had this Iraqi guy thrown his shoes at Saddam Hussein, he would have been put into a tree shredder within 15 minutes. As it is, authorities are still trying to decide if they will charge him or not. That, of course, never occurred to Cactus Jack, who takes a 2nd seat only to Krazy Keith Olbermann in his hatred of George Bush.

Is it any wonder that people are getting their news from Fox or the Internet? Sean Hannity is right; the news media officially died in the 2008 election.

R.I.P.

Nancy Grace Wants to Know....

Where is Baby Rahm?

A Note of Encouragement from Las Vegas

Las Vegas Hofbrauhaus


I am writing this post from Las Vegas, where we arrived last night. As is my custom, we headed straight for the Hofbrauhaus to enjoy real German beer straight from Munich without all the changes. Even if you are not into German food and beer, the Hofbrauhaus is always a great time. Last night was special. Even while I am thinking up a post on the decline of American society, I got a feeling of real encouragement last night at the Hofbrauhaus.

At some point in the evening, the German band struck up the Star Spangled Banner. The people stopped their eating, drinking and dancing and stood, some a little belatedly because it came as a surprise amid the German drinking songs. Later, the bandleader announced to the audience that we had a group of Afghanistan veterans from the Marines and Navy, who were eating at a corner table. They got a standing ovation, and, once again, the Star Spangled Banner was played. Everyone again stood in respect.

A few minutes later, my wife and I went over to shake hands with the young men, one of whom was walking with a cane. We thanked them for their service and told them how much we loved them. They really appreciated the thanks and show of affection they received. We all left with a good feeling.

In spite of all the problems we have, we are still the greatest country in the world. I know I write a lot about the negative things and gripe about those who don't seem to love our country very much. Maybe I just spend too much time around universities.

"Change" is Here

For those of you Obamamaniacs who expected "Change" and transparency, well here it is-the on-going mess that involves Governor Rod Blagoyevich selling Obama's Senate seat to the highest bidder. Only that party-pooper, US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, prevented the deal from going through (kinda like a star ballplayer refusing to waive his "no-trade" clause).

Now the Chicago Tribune is reporting on a couple of meetings at an Indian Restaurant in Schaumberg, near Chicago. Present were about two dozen people, some wearing turbans (a couple of whom are already under FBI investigation), the Governor himself, and a guy named Jonathan Jackson (who happens to be son of Jesse Jackson Jr and brother of Senate hopeful, Jesse Jackson Jr). According to a couple of attendees who spilled the lentils to the Trib, the purpose of the meeting was more than just Tandoori chicken. The real purpose of the meeting was to raise a million dollars in "contributions" to Blago in order to get Jesse Jr. appointed Senator. The second meeting occurred the day before Blago was put in handcuffs. Now Jesse Jr is asking reporters how he can get his good name back-the name he is so proud of (Jackson). He insists he had no knowledge of anyone trying to buy that Senate seat for him. Darn, those younger brothers can sure be a problem, can't they?

Meanwhile, as Blago, Jonathan Jackson and the guys in turbans were meeting at the Hatchafelony Indian Restaurant in Schaumberg, Barack Obama was telling reporters he had no contact with Blago regarding the Senate seat. Then he said that he was conducting an internal review to see if any member of his staff had had any contact with Blagoyevich regarding the seat, and he would get back to them in a few days.

Change.

That shouldn't take more than a few hours. All he needs to do is ask two people, David Axelrod and Rahm Emanuel. Of course, Axelrod told reporters on November 23 that Obama and Blago were in regular contact regarding the Senate seat. Now he says he "misspoke." That reminds me of that Nixon spokeshole who said during Watergate that a previous statement was now "inoperative".

Change. Transparency.

Emanuel, for his part, is now suspiciously nowhere to be found. After skipping an Obama meeting with the press, he was found at his son's school and angrily refused to answer those intrusive reporters' questions. Now he is laying low-or has entered the Witness Protection Program, who knows? The Chicago Tribune is reporting today that Emanuel did, in fact, have conversations with the Governor and his aide, John Harris about the vacant seat and who should be appointed.

Change. Transparency.

So all you folks who voted for Change, enjoy. We are about to witness at least 4 years of stories like this.

Oh ye suckers.

Two Voices in Britain

Anjem Choudary



If you want to get your blood boiling, read the below article. Then check out the blog, "Lionheart" to see the double standard that exists in Britain when it comes to free speech.


"RANTING Anjem Choudary launched an astonishing anti-British tirade as terror experts warned yesterday of a Mumbai-style massacre in Britain.


The hate preacher called for apartheid in the UK just days after backing the killers in India. And his supporters threatened to unleash 'blood on the streets'.

Experts said the chance of a terror attack here has increased since last week’s gun rampage in Mumbai left nearly 200 dead.

Choudary, 41, spoke at a packed public meeting called “Not So Great Britain”.

It was held at a council-owned arts centre in Southall, Middlesex, by Islam4UK.com – a website he founded with banned hate preacher Omar Bakri Mohammad.

Filthy

He branded Britain “filthy”, accused children of being “prostitutes” and demanded non-Muslims wear signs like the Nazis forced on the Jews in WWII.

Crazed Choudary said: “In Britain there are 230 rapes every day, that’s 10 per hour. Supermarkets are selling poles for little children so they can become prostitutes when they grow up. There’s no comparison between our way of life and theirs.

“In an Islamic state, non-Muslims will have to wear a sign to show what they are – it should say Kaffir. We won’t discriminate on height, race or appearance but we will discriminate on faith.” Earlier, Bakri spoke via videophone from Lebanon.

Meanwhile, one of Choudary’s henchmen at Islam4UK, which has close links to banned group al-Muhajiroun, warned: “You will know when the Muslims have ignited an insurrection when there is blood on the streets of London and New York like there is blood on the streets of Fallujah and Mumbai.”

MP Patrick Mercer, the chairman of the Commons counter-terrorism committee, warned: “What can happen in Mumbai can just as well happen in Manchester or Birmingham.

“This style of attack is something we would find very difficult to deal with.”

* Last week 99 per cent of Daily Star readers called for Choudary to be booted out of Britain and police pledged to crack down on his rants."
By Tom Savage and Josh Layton, Daily Star, November 28, 2008



The above article in the Daily Star (UK) just about sums it up. While madmen like Anjem Choudary go off on their rants, praise the atrocity in Mumbai, and threaten murder, those in Britain who speak out, like the blogger Lionhheart, are threatened with prison for "stirring up hatred", a newly enacted law that seems to exclude seditious Muslims who preach openly about Islam taking over the UK and beheading anyone who has a problem with Islam.

As this is being written, Lionheart is in hiding outside of Britain. He faces arrest if and when he returns to the UK-that is if the police get to him before Choudary's fanatical followers in Islam4UK. And what is his crime? On his blog, "Lionheart", he warns of the impending takeover of Britain by fanatical Muslims who want to install Shariah as the legal authority in the land. It matters not that Choudary and his crazy followers promise that blood will run through the streets of British cities. It only matters to the cowardly British authorities that Lionheart warns them about what is coming.

It seems reason and common sense have been turned upside down in the UK.

Blagoyevich-Why Was the Case Terminated?

Top to bottom:

Jonathan Jackson (brother of Jesse Jackson Jr.) with Governor Rod Blagoyevich
Jesse Jackson Jr.
Barack Obama and Rod Blagoyevich



This week, Rush Limbaugh was speculating on his radio show as to why the investigation into Rod Blagoyevich was brought to a sudden halt by his arrest. Limbaugh raised interesting questions about the decision made by the US Attorney's Office in the Northern District of Illinois (Chicago). He asked why the wiretap wasn't allowed to continue and identify other corrupt conspirators, specifically those who may have been trying to buy Barack Obama's Senate seat. Limbaugh seemed to be dangling the implication that the case might be getting too close to Barack Obama-the president-elect. While I wouldn't completely discard that possibility (and I am not accusing Obama of anything), I think the possibilities are more complicated.

Having worked as a DEA agent (1973-1995), I was an employee of the Justice Department. Prior to that, I was a US Customs agent in the Treasury Department. However, in both positions, cases that I was involved in at the prosecutorial stage were handled with the US Attorney's Office. Aside from working with federal prosecutors in my posts of duty (Los Angeles and Pittsburgh), I also had occasion to work with US Attorney's offices in numerous other cities like San Francisco, Seattle, New York, Kansas City, San Diego and others-including Chicago. Based on my experience, I can speculate about how this decision may have been made. But I underline the word speculate.

First of all, rest assured that US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald did not act unilaterally in deciding to indict Blagoyevich when he did. Nor did he act unilaterally in his decision to authorize an application for a Title 3 (phone intercept) on the Governor. In sensitive cases involving prominent political figures, the US Attorney's Office must coordinate with Main Justice in Washington. This case, with all its obvious implications, would surely have fit into this category.

There has been a lot of speculation this week about how Obama's Justice Department will handle this matter. What instructions will they give to the US Attorney's Office in Chicago? These are valid and important questions; however, it is the Bush Justice Department that is still in charge here until January 20, 2009.

On the one hand, it would be tempting to think that the Bush Administration and their Justice Department would be eager to nail the Democratic Governor of Illinois and possibly extend the scandal to others, such as Jesse Jackson Jr or even Obama himself. Yet, there is also reason to believe that they would not want to be accused of engaging in a partisan witch hunt. Remember the reluctance of the Bush Administration to delve into Bill Clinton's suspicious deeds, such as the pardons granted in his final days in office. So it's hard to read how the Bush Administration might react to where this case in Illinois was possibly headed.

It is quite probable that the decision to initiate a wiretap on Blogoyevich was based on a tip that the Senate seat was in the process of being sold. It may also be that the decision was made (at the Washington level in coordination with Fitzpatrick) to not allow Blagoyevich to actually complete the deal, which would create a real political crisis in how to deal with a newly-and corruptly-appointed senator. It seems undeniable that allowing the wire to continue a few more days or weeks would have not only further incriminated Blagoyevich (who appears to be sufficiently incriminated to indict), but at least one other prominent politician and his emissaries. Obviously the above two considerations were weighed-both in Chicago and Washington.

Another big consideration was obviously the President-elect. Was the wire starting to incriminate him as well? If not, were the prosecutors afraid that it eventually might? What kind of constitutional crisis would that cause? I should reiterate at this juncture that the tapes-as described in the media-seem to exculpate Obama since he or his people were offering only "appreciation" if their favored candidate got the post.

I would hope that this case does not end with Blagoyevich. There are obviously others involved in a serious case of political corruption-the attempt to sell/buy a Senate seat. I hope Fitzgerald will continue in his position after Obama's inauguration and be allowed to continue the investigation-no matter where it leads. I also hope the Bush Administration gives him a free hand in its final weeks.

It is entirely possible that honorable people in the Justice Department are having to consider "possible damage to the nation" that this case could cause if it goes beyond the Governor of Illinois. I hope that they will put that aside. Real damage to the nation will be if justice is perceived to be corrupt and that some people are above the law. For generations, the public-both in Chicago and the nation chuckled at the tradition of corruption that has existed in that city-and extended to the Statehouse in Springfield. Now it has the possibility to harm the entire nation at a moment we can least afford it. Nevertheless, if this mess does, in fact, go higher than Blagoyevich, it has to be revealed. Our whole political system is starting to catch up with Chicago politics when it comes to corruption. Maybe now, the public will stand up and demand an end to this disturbing trend.

Whoever is involved in this tawdry scheme should be exposed and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.