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What’s amazing is that both Kjellander and Hastert were attempting to get Fitzgerald and they couldn’t do it because of the Plame investigation. Under any other situation, the Bush administration would have rid Illinois of Fitzgerald.

More bombshells were lobbed in the Antoin “Tony” Rezko trial even before the jury was seated this morning and they involved a purported attempt to pull strings with the White House to fire U.S. Atty. Patrick Fitzgerald. In a hearing before court began, prosecutors said they hoped to call Ali Ata, the former Blagojevich administration official who pleaded guilty to corruption yesterday, to the stand.

Assistant U.S. Atty. Carrie Hamilton said she believed Ata would testify to conversations Ata had with his political patron, Rezko, about working to pull strings to kill the criminal investigation into Rezko and others when it was in its early stages in 2004.

“[Ata] had conversations with Mr. Rezko about the fact that Mr. Kjellander was working with Karl Rove to have Mr. Fitzgerald removed,” Hamilton told U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve.

That sentence is loaded with a who’s who of political heavyweights. Bob Kjellander was the veteran Republican National Committeeman from Illinois who was a sometimes business associate of Stuart Levine, who has pleaded guilty to conspiring with Rezko to rig state boards for contracts.

Karl Rove for years was President Bush’s chief political strategist as well as an old friend of Kjellander. Patrick Fitzgerald was and is the U.S. attorney in Chicago who pressed the investigation of Rezko. Hamilton said the conversation she hoped Ata would testify to was about having Fitzgerald replaced by someone else, she said, “so individuals who have been cooperating in this investigation will be dealt with differently.”

G-Rod asked about Rezko, the obvious response: Mike Madigan is evil and insists we share the sand box:

Asked if the corruption trial of Antoin “Tony” Rezko has inhibited or distracted him from accomplishing his agenda, Blagojevich ticked off a list of accomplishments that came before the trial. They included his expansion of health insurance coverage for children, increased coverage of cancer screenings for women and “fighting those who want to raise taxes.”

But Blagojevich added, “When you consider the dynamics, I think we’ve made a lot of progress. It could be a heck of a lot more harmonious, though, if those Democrats in the House stand for what they say they’re for.”

Now, he didn’t get away with this diversion did he?  Sadly, he did.  The Trib’s headline:

Blagojevich chides House Democrats

Technically true, and entirely misses the point.

The problem for Blagojevich in appointing someone to be Senator should Obama vacate his seat is that he has a running feud with half the state and on that alone he won’t appoint most of the people mentioned in Laura Washington’s column.

Emil Jones as Senator doesn’t seem likely to me, but hey, it probably makes him feel good hearing that. I do think Emil would be fun to watch in DC, but I don’t see him wanting it. Jackson Jr. simply has too many problems with downstate. Downstate will elect African-Americans, but Jackson Sr. has enough baggage to make it difficult for his son–not to mention Blagojevich and Jackson aren’t so close.

Schakowsky would certainly love to do it, but has awkward relations in Springfield and I doubt Blagojevich sees an upside and there’s always got to be an upside for him.

Madigan is a no go on anger alone and Hynes is his best bet to win a 3rd nomination if Blagojevich runs a third time. Hynes and Madigan in a primary help Blagojevich eek out a possible win. I doubt they both run, but that’s Blagojevich’s best shot. Jesse White took himself out of contention.

Hull actually makes some sense if one thinks about Blagojevich. Hull is a big Blagojevich donor, most of his baggage is out there if not all. Hull would do best by not having to run in a primary where a cynical press would beat him up. As a sitting Senator, he’d have the ability to demand a little respect.

Other possibilities could be a Latino pol such as Flores. Gutierrez would be a natural other than he is one of the worst fundraisers ever.  A Flores appointment would anger African-American politicos just as an appointment of Jones or Jackson would Latinos.

Hull and Tammy Duckworth offer up a unique opportunity for Blagojevich. He loves loyalty and both of them fall in that category.  Hull has been a huge backer of the Governor and a 2010 run for election would coincide with Blagojevich’s reelection year so he’d have an ally running with him.  Duckworth would be a good public choice in avoiding most of the anger from different groups, satisfying vets, and providing a good face to run with in 2010.

Called impeachment:

Blagojevich’s reign follows the certifiably corrupt term of George Ryan. Whenever such failed leaders don’t have the personal dignity to stop pocketing a paycheck from citizens, those citizens shouldn’t have to wait for the next election to declare, “You are serving your interests, not ours. You are dismissed.”

If a Governor is violating the Illinois Constitution or engaged in illegal conduct, there is a such a thing called impeachment. It should be used.

That said, the voters knew virtually everything they do now about the man and reelected him in 2006.  We can bemoan that choice, but it was the voters’ choice.

Blagojevich:

Gov. Rod Blagojevich on Wednesday offered his first public comments since being named as Public Official A in court filings that are part of his top campaign fundraiser’s upcoming federal corruption trial.

“It doesn’t matter what letter of the alphabet it is. What was described there doesn’t describe me or how I do things,” said Blagojevich during a DeKalb news conference to announce a plan to tear down the building where five Northern Illinois University students were killed on Valentine’s Day.

As a reporter tried to follow up, about 500 NIU students started booing and hissing at line of inquiry.

Blagojevich, however, offered a response.

“I am not involved in that court case. I don’t know much about it. I have a job to do as governor. It’s a full-time job. And I don’t think it’s fair for me to comment on a pending court case,” he said.

I have to say that’s even impressive for him.

Chris Kelly oversaw much of the gambling policy for the Governor and is a gambling addict.

Stuart Levine is on the llinois Health Facilities Planning Board and is a drug addict.

What’s next?

Rich has the newest poll numbers on Blagojevich:

Now, I’m going to read you the names of several people who are active in politics. I’d like you to rate your feeling toward each one as either very positive, somewhat positive, neutral, somewhat negative or very negative. If you don’t know the name, just say so.

Rod Blagojevich...

Very Positive: 6
Somewhat Positive: 14
[Total positive: 20]

Neutral: 13

Somewhat Negative: 21
Very Negative: 42
[Total negative: 63]

Do Not Recognize: 2
Don’t Know 2:

[Fako & Associates poll of 801 registered voters, conducted January 3 - 6, 2008, with a margin of error of +/- 3.46.]

Just go away.

God help us all:

Rich,

You are treading on thin ice:

To establish a right to recover for the tort of Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress in Illinois, four elements must be proved:

(1) Extreme and outrageous conduct on the part of the defendant;

(2) Intent by the defendant to cause, or reckless disregard of the probability of causing emotional distress;

(3) Severe or extreme emotional distress suffered by the plaintiff, and

(4) An actual and proximate causation of emotional distress by the defendant’s outrageous conduct.

To say that this is emotionally distressing would be an understatement!

– SCAM

The Governor intends to run for reelection.

Potential candidates to beat him in the primary please start your netroots outreach now.

Lisa?

Dan?
Alexi?

Dick Devine? For the love of God man I hear you don’t really want to be Governor, but someone has to step up to the plate.

Vallas?

Anyone….please save us–and no I’m not talking to you Eisendrath.

Is coming under a lot of flak right now, and Eric Zorn makes the most complete argument about the issue:

What makes him think he can do that?

A: A passage in Article IV of the Illinois Constitution of 1970 allows a governor to make “specific recommendations for change” to any piece of legislation, then send it back to be OK’d. The informal name for this is an amendatory veto.

Q: Can the legislators reject such changes and pass a bill in its previous form?

A: They can. But they need a  three-fifths vote in both houses to do so. To accept the changes, however, they need only a majority vote.

Q: Do all U.S. governors hold such a mighty club?
A: No. Illinois is one of seven states where the governor has amendatory veto powers, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Q: Whose idea was that?

A: “It was mine, I’m almost embarrassed to say,” said former  state Comptroller Dawn Clark Netsch, now a Northwestern University law professor. She was a delegate to the 1969-70 Constitutional Convention and wrote the proposal that advanced the amendatory veto.

Q: What was she thinking?

A: That it was an efficient way for the governor and part-time legislators to tweak bills as needed and speed them along. “A governor can use the power with discretion and in appropriate circumstances and not abuse it,” Netsch said, and then she laughed merrily.

Dawn Clark Netsch is smarter than she is giving herself credit for. This is a bad use of the power, but it is often small changes that are essential for good government that get caught in the amendatory vetoes.

Some of the best examples actually come out of the controversy over Obama’s present votes.  In one particular case, the juvenile justice bill passed under Edgar had nearly unanimous support in the Senate with the two exceptions being Barack Obama and Ricky Hendon. Close pals those two from what I here.

The point they were making was to point out that making it too easy to try an adolescent as an adult severely harmed an otherwise decent bill, but their colleagues were too afraid to vote against it.  So the Governor took the heat and everyone went along happy and a better bill was composed.

It worked just as Dawn Clark Netsch wanted and it still can.

I’m not one to say that better people can fix government in general, but when you have someone so craven and awful as the current Governor, we have a tool to deal with him. Impeachment.  Apparently no one has the balls to do it in Springfield and that’s a shame.  There is a cure to the problem, however.

Most of the Governors since 1970 have used the power responsibly since the 1972 court ruling and as such there’s no need to throw out that part of the Constitution.  There is good reason to throw out the Governor.

LOL–it’s hard to imagine that he thinks this is going to help:

Today, the governor didn’t repeat that veto threat when given the opportunity at a news conference aimed at heading off the CTA, Metra and Pace service cuts and fare hikes that loom Jan. 20.

Asked if he would sign legislation that increased the sales tax, Blagojevich hinted he might be able “to improve” a bill so that enough constituencies are satisfied. If it’s a bill that includes an increase in sales taxes to fund transit, then so be it, the governor said – just send it his way.

“If, however, the legislature believes in that (sales tax) bill, they ought to pass that bill and give me a chance to improve it,” Blagojevich told reporters in Chicago.

“There are a lot of creative things you could with the ability to rewrite legislation and I’ll leave it at that,” he added. “If they believe in that bill, they ought to pass that bill. We want them to pass something and give me the ability to act.”

When pressed on how he would “improve” the bill if he remained dead-set against increasing the sales tax, Blago said only: “Stay tuned. Stay tuned.”

He’s had the ability to negotiate with the Lege leaders in good faith and has passed up every opportunity.  The level of arrogance is just astounding.

You might stop helping them do that then.

“The reality is they like to sell newspapers,” the governor said, gesturing toward reporters as he again called for a funding solution for CTA, Metra and Pace. “They’re not interested in concrete solutions to problems for people. They just like controversy and tangents that have no relevance to the quality of life for people.”

As I mentioned yesterday, throwing away money to contracts for political insiders most certainly does affect the quality of the life of the people.  More than that, the man didn’t come up with a plan, he joined with Cross’ plan. He sat on his ass calling special sessions and whining that The Lege wasn’t doing anything.  The problem was he was threatening to veto the very solution that likely could have passed over the summer–a sales tax increase.

Whines that the transit issue isn’t being settled because the press is focusing on non-issues like is he paying off contributors and pals with fat state contracts which don’t affect people–well, other than waste money that could be used on transit.

The other problem being he doesn’t have  a plan other than to keep calling special sessions and complain that no one is solving anything.

When you appoint someone to be your point person on gambling because he’s an avid gambler, not much good can come out of that.

A 12-count indictment against Kelly, 49, of Burr Ridge, alleges he placed millions of dollars in wagers with a bookie in Chicago and casino in Las Vegas, then paid the debts out of corporate funds from his roofing business, portraying the payments as legitimate business expenses.

As a former adviser to the Blagojevich administration on gambling issues, Kelly once had been asked to represent the administration in negotiations between the Illinois Gaming Board and the Emerald riverboat casino.

Blagojevich had said he picked Kelly, in part, because Kelly is an avid gambler.

The charges outlined Thursday against Kelly include five counts each of filing false federal income tax returns and filing false corporate tax returns, one count of obstructing or impeding the Internal Revenue Service and one count of illegally structuring monetary transactions. A message seeking comment was left for Kelly’s attorney, Michael Monico.

Rezko and Kelly were some of the closest people to Blagojevich and given what we know about Fitzgerald, it’s certain he’s applying the pressure to get the guy at the top.  How many prosecutors can claim two Governors’ scalps?

Jim Thompson was and is as clubby as can be–which is one reason why he was effective.

 However, he had standards:

Everyone realizes that Big Jim Thompson’s letter to the Chicago Tribune defending Rod and Patti Blagojevich was just a service to his client. His argument that it wasn’t a legitimate story that the FBI is probing Patti Blagojevich’s real estate commissions from state contractors and contributors is absurd and he probably knows it.

Back when he was governor, his own wife sought to avoid mixing her legal work with her husband’s job as governor. This is from a March 4, 1987 story in the Tribune titled, “Family First: Jayne Thompson’s sticking to her diet, helping with homework and working part-time to make ends meet (link not available).”

She no longer practices law because “I`m somewhat of a liability to some law firms. It precludes them from getting the kinds of state business they think they are entitled to and probably are.“

Sensitive to conflict-of-interest charges, she tries to avoid any hint of impropriety as wife of the highest official in the state.

Not exactly the ethical standard that Patti Blagojevich is abiding by these days.