Heroes and Hypocrites
Think about this. Nearly a year ago U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald was vilified by the hard core right (especially the national talk radio crowd) for his prosecution of Vice-Presidential Chief of Staff Scooter Libby on perjury charges. Today he’s a hero for filing criminal charges against Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich.
My how times have changed.
December 12th, 2008 at 10:30 am
You are so right.
If only our county prosecutor had the same kind of diligence, regarding multiple issues I know his office has info on:
Monroe Gray’s city contracts, peashake house operators who conspire in RICO fashion, etc.
December 12th, 2008 at 10:43 am
You are correct. Only difference is that Libby will be pardoned by GW and Blagojevich will serve his entire sentence.
December 12th, 2008 at 10:58 am
Yeah, it’s amazing how things change when there are real crimes involved.
December 12th, 2008 at 11:16 am
Hard core “right”? Are we back to that pendulum thing again? Hard core right in media is a propaganda tool. The only people who are truly hard core right are the folks who the propagandists are preaching to. The ones behind the microphone sing whatever tune works to bring the audience into alignment.
.
“I hate to admit it because it goes against all of my beliefs, but we NEED this 700 Billion Dollar bailout. And by the way, I’m a hard core right winger. I’ve got audio tapes to prove it.”
.
Regarding Blago, I knew he was thoroughly corrupted when he offered to patrol Chicago with Illinois National Gaurd. The man has no loyalty to this nation or to civil liberty. It therefore comes as no surprise that he would have no loyalty to Illinois State representation in Washington or to ethics in choosing a successor to Obama.
.
But I will add one caveat – if the top recommendations on his list for the Senate seat had been aligned with the aggressively militant doctrines of the Bush and the emerging Obama Administrations, there would have been no charges filed. This fight is about control of the US Senate by private interests. Blago’s documented crimes are simply the leverage used by those interests to oust him when he doesn’t sing the right tune for the right people. If he performed as instructed, he’d be facing no charges.
December 12th, 2008 at 11:28 am
From day one the sob knew the source of the leak. And,he knew that Libby was not the source of the leak. So, he remains an sob. A blind prosecutor could fire a gun in Chicago and hit an elected crook. I think the guy filed a complaint to keep from getting his sorry ass fired as most certainly would be the “chicago way”. That may yet happen since there is little chance that Mr. Obama swam in that soup without inhaling.
December 12th, 2008 at 12:32 pm
Speaking of times changing…Wilson is very quiet these days.
December 12th, 2008 at 3:17 pm
Think about this. Nearly a year ago Republican Senators were getting in trouble, and it was “Republican, Republican, Republican” in the media. Today in a much bigger scandal we don’t even know what party Governor Blagojevich belongs to, or the media doesn’t know, because I haven’t heard it.
December 12th, 2008 at 5:26 pm
Uhh…I am a lawyer and I still have no idea what exactly or how exactly he charged Scooter Libby…it was like splitting hairs…that is a disgrace to the justice system, to bring someone to trial…for what??…
So, I have not forgiven him for that…so please call others hypcrites, but I am not one…PARDON SCOOTER LIBBY!!! (and i dont even like Bush/Cheney)
December 12th, 2008 at 8:59 pm
Good: if you’re a lawyer, you ought to join the others who decry the Bush DOJ’s partisan use of USAttorneys across the land. Multiple examples. Gonzalez oughta be in stripes. WHat a horrendous, incompetent AG. Add to that, all those Liberty U. Law grads who rose to high levels in his DOJ. Fine examples of educated idiots.
And if you’re a lawyer, you might want to re-read the Libby indictment. The man committed a crime. Period. It was admittedly a small crime, but don’t we all know he took the fall to keep Fitz away from Cheney?
If I were Bush, I’d pardon Libby. He was a good soldier, and one of the only real perks of being president, is being able, on your way out to give the finger to you hard-core opponents with pardons.
While he’s at it, he might want to pen a Cheney pardon for “any crimes whether indicted or not.” He’s gonna need it.
December 12th, 2008 at 11:42 pm
Ain’t nothing changed. There has always been hypocricy in politics, on both sides of the aisle. What has changed, and it certainly has since the “Republican Revolution” of the mid-90′s, is the degree of hypocrisy.(Palin is experienced but Obama is not? Clinton lied about a bj and that was worthy of impeachment? But GWB lying about WMD isn’t? Franz Kafka couldn’t have wrote better.)
Also added to the mix is the level of personal hatred brought to the game by the hard-core right. Personally, I hope they keep it up. It wins elections in the short-term, but it sullies the brand in the long run.
BTW, I am not a Dem., but they are the lesser of 2 evils. Politics is (under our 2-party system) not so much voting FOR someone so much as voting AGAINST another. This is why negative campaigns work, but only in the short game.
Fitzgerald, as I recall, is a Republican. However, he is also an honest man, that’s why he was put in there with Dem. support. Same reason Gerry Ford’s appointment didn’t raise a stink. Viva la justicio!
December 13th, 2008 at 7:01 am
Ever hear the adage that a prosecutor could get a ham sandwich indicted?
-
Getting any warm and fuzzies yet ???
December 13th, 2008 at 7:07 am
I see where the Wall Street Journal editorial page allows Victoria Toensing to educate the rest of us on the ethical lapses (many) of Patrick Fitzgerald. Many a prosecutor has been a self serving sob and this shoe fits Fitz.
December 13th, 2008 at 7:27 am
Think agian:
Speaking of Monroe Gray, when are we going to see Doris Minton-McNeill in court? Arrest has been made, charges have been filed but let she has not be brought into court.
December 13th, 2008 at 8:36 am
Remember Jeff Modisett, Marion County prosecutor, one of Evan Bayh’s associates? He sat on many criminal cases that involved democrat officeholders during his one term. Later served as AG one term and moved back to California in a hurry before he was exposed. He was run out of state.
December 13th, 2008 at 9:30 am
Am I the only one around who has the gut feeling Fitzgerald did more than a few people a big favor by pulling the plug on this investigation when he did? When one considers how long he let the Libby investigation drag on (when he already knew who the leaker was) this just seems a bit odd. Why didn’t he let Blagojevich keep bargaining until there actually was a deal?
Oh, isn’t it interesting Obama denies his office had any involvement in this scandal yet Blagojevich was mad Obama wouldn’t play? I truly believe Obama isn’t so stupid to make a deal with Blagojevich. But I don’t believe the denials about contacts of some kind to discuss Obama’s sentate seat. There had to have been.
I wouldn’t be surprised someone from the Obama team ‘dropped the dime’ on ‘ol Blago. Would’ve been sweet plus easily spun to Obama’s benefit.
December 14th, 2008 at 2:40 am
Shorebreak: I agree that we needed something like the “Bail-out” but am not sure that it is the answer. Especially, when you consider that no one has been charged or prosecuted for the (in my estimation) criminal actions of the investment banks and their employees and officers. Yet congress in its’ infernal procedings will not help the Big 3 because the UAW (its workers) refuse to take huge wage and benefit cuts. There are some huge incongruencies here. And they add up to no help for the economy. Where is the guy that p;rosecuted the Wall Street baddies – Eliot Spitzer – oh that’s right he was caught up in a call girl ring and discredited. How convenient.
Patrick Fitzgerald may make some charges stick but he probably won’t make a dent in Chicago politics. By the way, isn’t that the Daley machine, and I haven’t heard that name mentioned in any of the current proceedings. Maybe Abdul could shed some light on that.
December 15th, 2008 at 10:09 am
I disliked Fitzgerald not because of partisanship but because he was overzealous. I suspect he will again be overzealous with respect to Blago.