Read all this

http://cannonfire.blogspot.com/

If it is JJJr — and I think it is — it’s going to be very, very bad. From Paragraph 115 a:

In a recorded conversation on October 31, 2008, ROD BLAGOJEVICH described an earlier approach by an associate of Senate Candidate Five as follows: “We were approached ‘pay to play.’ That, you know, he’d raise me 500 grand. An emissary came. Then the other guy would raise a million, if I made him (Senate Candidate 5) a Senator.”

Could Emil Jones get that kind of money? I know that JJJr could.

(I hear a baritone from the grave: “Yes, but it would be wrong.”)

It turns out that Blagojevich may have discussed a bribe with Rahm Emmanuel, Obama’s pick for Chief of Staff. You have to read the indictment past paragraph 100 or so.

Keep two things in mind:

1. Rahm currently represents the Fifth Congressional District of Illinois. It appears that Blago can appoint a replacement until a special election is held.

2. Blago became fixated on a wacky scheme in which he would take charge of a well-funded 501(c)4 lobbying organization. This was to be backed by Warren Buffett and Bill Gates, acting at Obama’s request. The org was to be Blago’s nest egg after leaving office.

Blago thought he could make a quid-pro-quo arrangement with Obama: He (Blago) would appoint Obama’s preferred candidate, Valerie Jarrett, to the Senate — and in return, Blago would get that comfy sinecure, a place where he could live well and regain his political muscles.

…according to Advisor B , from the President-elect’s perspective, there would be fewer “fingerprints” on the President-elect’s involvement with Change to Win because Change to Win already has an existing stream of revenue and, therefore, “you won’t have stories in four years that they bought you off.”

Blago preferred the 501(c)(4) idea because he wasn’t sure whether Change to Win would stay in business.

How do I know that the person called “President-elect advisor” was Rahm? Here’s how.

On November 13, Blago spoke to John Harris (who plays Robin to Blago’s Batman). Blago told Harris to call the above-referenced Obama adviser and ask for “10, 15 million” for the 501(c)(4) project. You know, enough to get started.

Let this sink in.

But on November 23, 2008, his senior adviser David Axelrod appeared on Fox News Chicago and said something quite different.

Governor Rod Blagojevich of Illinois — identified in previous posts as Obama’s partner in corruption — has been arrested. Here is the indictment.

A wiretap caught him in the act of trying to sell Obama’s soon-to-be-vacated Senate seat. He also stands accused of trying to rake in as much pay-for-play money as possible before new a new ethics law kicks in. He also tried to strongarm the Chicago Tribune into canning an anti-Blago editor. (The Tribune needs the Governor’s help in order to go forward with the sale of Wrigley Field, owned by the Trib.)

This is whitewater all over.

Blagojevich is innocent Kossaks. These charges are bullshit.

…what we have here is another Don Siegelman case.

Time to take out the trash. How in the world did Obama come out of the cesspool of Chicago politics so clean?

Oh jeez. Oh jeez. It’s so sad to encounter a poor, deluded bastard who refuses to read a single article that does not flatter his preferred hallucinations.

Of course, TPM has been attracting some towering intellects as well:

I’m reading this stuff, and so far I have seen nothing to substantiate the charges in what Fitzgerald made public.

The main TPM article tries to imply that Fitz has cleared Obama. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Look at the facts, people:

How was Blago caught? Wiretaps.

1. Fitz wants to pressure Blago into testifying against an even bigger fish. Right now, the only bigger fish is Obama.

2. Fitz wanted to haul in Blago before the transition of power. After this arrest, if Obama quickly replaces Fitzgerald, the stench of rat will become so overpowering as to penetrate even a Kossack’s nostrils. If Obama shuts down the investigation, he’ll be as villified as Nixon was after the Saturday Night Massacre.

So what would Fitzgerald want Blago to talk about? Oh, gosh — any number of things. You can read about them in Evelyn Pringle’s work. Here’s one very important, very basic matter that I’ve mentioned in this column before — a fine bit-o-sleaze that all of the pro-O “progressive” bloggers have, so far, refused to acknowledge:

There is a specter haunting the Democratic Party, and that specter is Illinois State Senate Bill 1332. Why is that bill so important? Allow a bit of self-quotation:

Sarah Palin got it wrong. She said that Barack Obama has authored two autobiographies but no legislation. He stood behind one terribly important piece of legislation during his time in the Illinois State Senate, although he may not have penned the exact words.

Remember that number. Bring it up anytime someone asks why you have the crazy idea that Barack Obama is corrupt.

Senate Bill 1332 was Obama’s baby. The legislation — completely unneeded, from the standpoint of the public — reduced the state’s hospital board from 15 to 9, and insured that the corrupt governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich, would control the board which controlled a huge pile of public funds.

The corrupt members appointed included three doctors who contributed to Obama.

The first order of business concerned a hospital which experts said was not needed…

That would be Edward Hospital. Board member Stuart Levine — who was appointed by a previous Republican administration, but who soon transferred his affections to Blago — asked the folks who wanted to build that hospital to send him a stiff kickback. And the money did not just go to Levine — it went, via straw donors, to Democratic candidates who were part of Blago’s cartel.

Favors like that explain why Blago made sure Levine could stay on that board after his term expired in 2004.

Levine pled guilty and became a star witness at the trial of his former partner, Tony Rezko. Rezko — as we have established beyond the point of rational debate — was Obama’s mentor and partner throughout Obama’s career in Chicago politics.

True, Obama was not the author of 1332, but no-one pushed for the bill harder. The thing simply would not have passed without his tireless work.

All that is necessary to make the case against Obama is for Blagojevich to admit that which is already apparent to anyone unhypnotized by Barack-mania: Obama pushed for the passage of Senate Bill 1332 to help line the pockets of the Governor (who was then considering a run for the presidency) and his comrades — a group which included Obama himself.

Blago was pissed because Obama wanted “senate candidate 1″ to take his seat but would not pony up any dough. Blago’s exact phrasing

:

…the FBI says it heard Blagojevich complain he has to give this “motherf***er [the president-elect] his senator. F*** him. For nothing? F*** him.”

The governor is heard saying he will pick another candidate “before I just give f***ing [Senate Candidate l] a f***ing Senate seat and I don’t get anything.”

By the way, note this:

Blagojevich also sought a high paying job for his wife, according to the FBI. “Is there a play here, with these guys, with her” to work for a firm in Washington or New York, he reportedly asked.

The FBI affidavit said Blagojevich had been told by an adviser “the president-elect can get Rod Blagojevich’s wife on paid corporate boards in exchange for naming the president-elect’s pick to the Senate.”

Blagojevich’s current antipathy toward Obama may loosen his lips. On the other hand, he surely must understand that a President Obama would be a powerful ally.

This is from the indictment, paragraph 35 — under the heading “Corruption of the Planning Board”:

As described more fully in following paragraphs, Mercy Hospital, which sought permission fromt he Planning Board to build a hosptial in Illinois, received that permission through Rezko’s exercise of his influence at the Planning Board after Rezko was promised that Mercy Hosptial would make a substantial campaign contribution to ROD BLAGOJEVICH. Rezko later told a member of the Planning Board that Mercy Hosptial received the permit because ROD BLAGOJEVICH wanted the organization to receive the permit.

During his testimony, Levine described a plan to manipulate the Planning Board to enrich himself and Friends of Blagojevich. The plan centered on an entity commonly known as Mercy Hospital (”Mercy”) that was attempting to obtain a CON to build a nw hospital in Illinois. Levine knew the contractor hired to help build the hospital. In approximately November 2003, on behalf of the contractor, Levine checked with Rezko to determine whether Rezko wanted Mercy to obtain its CON. Rezko informed Levine that Mercy was not going to receive its CON. According to Levine, he asked Rezko whether it would matter to Rezko if Mercy’s construction contractor paid a bribe to Rezko and Levine and, in addition, made a contribution to ROB BLAGOJEVICH. Levine testified that Rezko indicated that such an arrangement would change his view on the Mercy CON.

Long story short: Mercy made the pay-off to Blago, and got the necessary CON. (Note that Rezko, who held no elective or appointed office, is the prime mover behind this public board. Rezko was also the man who started Obama’s career. And yet Rezko claimed that he was nearly bankrupt at this time.)

Paragraph 41 of the indictment:

Mercy received its CON as a result of a controversial and irregular vote at a public planning board meeting… Rezko stated: “The Governor wanted it to pass.”

This Washington Post article, published on August 27, 2008, reveals that Hunter Biden — the Veep-elect’s son — is a lobbyist. One of his clients is Mercy Hospital. The primary person he lobbied was Senator Obama. And the lobbying was successful — Mercy got millions, despite Obama’s public denunciations of earmarks.

“Hunter Biden met with the Obama Senate office, not with Senator Obama,” Wade said. “It’s hardly surprising that a Senator from Illinois would fight for investments in Mercy Hospital, Thorek Hospital and St. Xavier University right in Illinois, or that he’d be joined in that effort by a Republican colleague, Representative Judy Biggert.”

“Wade” is David Wade, an Obama campaign spokesperson. His blandishments seem less soothing now that we know that Mercy willingly participated in the pay-to-play scheme, and that Obama’s cronies Rezko and Blagojevich were getting loot from Mercy.

Fitz now has a month-and-a-half to get Rezko and Blago to rat out Obama.

The other possibility — which I favor — is that Rahm was the “go between” guy who offered Blago the bribe involving a cushy job for Blago’s wife. If this scandal does not destroy Obama, it may at least stop Emmanuel.

A belated thought: Is this the single dumbest racket ever attempted by a major politician? He knew the U.S. Attorney was investigating him, he knew he couldn’t trust his cronies — and yet he was still willing to talk openly about selling a seat in the United States Senate?

Incidentally, speculation has it that Jesse Jackson Jr. Senate candidate #5. Candidate 1 (Obama’s pick) was female, probably Valerie Jarrett.

As recently as Dec. 4, in separate conversations with Advisor B and Fundraiser A, Blagojevich said that he was “elevating” Senate Candidate 5 on the list of candidates because, among other reasons, if Blagojevich ran for re-election, Senate Candidate 5 would “raise money” for him.

Blagojevich said that he might be able to cut a deal with Senate Candidate 5 that provided Blagojevich with something “tangible up front.”

Noting that he was going to meet with Senate Candidate 5 in the next few days, Blagojevich told Fundraiser A to reach out to an intermediary (Individual D), from whom Blagojevich is attempting to obtain campaign contributions and who Blagojevich believes is close to Senate Candidate 5.

Blagojevich told Fundraiser A to tell Individual D that Senate Candidate 5 was a very realistic candidate but Blagojevich was getting a lot of pressure not to appoint Senate Candidate 5, according to the affidavit.

All of this tends to point to JJ Jr. Note the date: December 4. Now note this story, from December 8:

Following a 90-minute audition meeting today with Gov. Rod Blagojevich, Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. said he was confident in the process the governor is using to make his choice for a Senate successor to President-elect Barack Obama.

Jackson has mounted the most highly visible campaign among several people who are being considered for the Senate post. He said the meeting with Blagojevich amounted to a “very productive conversation, very thoughtful” that covered a broad range of issues.

“I am convinced that the governor has a very thoughtful process that he has put in place and is wrestling and weighing a number of issues in this enormous decision that he has to make,” Jackson said.

On Dec. 4, Blago said that he would meet with Candidate Five within a few days. The ONLY candidate he met with during that time period was Jesse Jackson Jr. — the man who insulted Hillary so disgustingly during the primaries.