Keane observations about life, politics and sports.

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

BREAKING NEWS: FBI Arrests Illinois Governor

I'm sure this has been brewing for a while. Shame it didn't come to the surface prior to November 4th.
Gov. Rod Blagojevich and his chief of staff, John Harris, were arrested by FBI agents on federal corruption charges Tuesday morning.

In one charge related to the appointment of a senator to replace Barack Obama, prosecutors allege that Blagojevich sought appointment for himseld as Secretary of Health and Human Services in the new Obama administration, or a lucrative job with a union, in exchange for appointing a union-preferred candidate.

Another charge alleges Blagojevich and Harris conspired to demand the firing of Chicago Tribune editorial board members responsible for editorials critical of him in exchange for state help with the sale of Wrigley Field, the Chicago Cubs baseball stadium owned by Tribune Co.
Gov. (for now) Blagojevich probably doesn't even see what the problem is with his actions - just business as usual in Chicago politics. And to think some people voted a political hack from that cesspool to be president. To quote Don King: "Only in America!"

UPDATE:

In my initial post I failed to note this is a classic example of the "Name the Party Game." Name the Party Game is where bloggers note the odd habit of the mainstream media including party affiliation only in certain stories (ie: negative for Republican or positive for Democrat). In other words being a Democrat is germane to a story if the Democrat saves a drowning child but not if a Democrat is caught acting like a standard Chicago politician. A couple other bloggers quickly noticed that Blagojevich suddenly no longer seems to have a political party.
Mere Rhetoric
BizzyBlog
A Blog for All

Some dismiss these concerns as minor issues, but history shows that public perception is created and fortified by how the media presents the news. A couple years ago Democrats successfully used the line "Culture of Corruption" to describe the Republican majority in the House in order to win the 2006 election cycle despite having many more corrupt politicians in their own party. It. Does. Matter.

Labels:

1 Comments:

Blogger Ben said...

They should have let the investigation go to see who would have bought the seat. Someone would have.

December 9, 2008 at 9:08 PM

 

Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]

<< Home

 

View My Stats