“Righteous Wind” or “Foul Odor”?; Scandal before even taking office

A “righteous wind”? As of now, it doesn’t feel that way… More like a “foul odor” to me…

Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich has been indicted, along with his chief of staff John Harris, by the FBI on charges of corruption, including charges on conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and a count of solicitation of bribery. This all started when Blagojevich intended on “selling” Barack Obama’s seat in the Illinois Senate for political favours or money. Knowing full well he was being wiretapped, the governor still bragged about his intentions to an adviser, saying “(the seat) is a f****** valuable thing; you just don’t give it away for nothing”.

Now what does this have to do with Barack Obama? It is his seat to start with, and, according to various sources, Obama had promised Blagojevich political favours if he chose someone he wanted to fill his position in the Senate. According to David Axelrod himself, Barack’s campaign organizer, Blagojevich and Obama had been discussing replacements and “whole range of names many of which have surfaced, and I think he has a fondness for a lot of them”. Jack Tapper of ABC broke that story, but soon after it hit the press, Axelrod recanted his statement, saying that he “misspoke”. While Obama has corrected Axelrod, this isn’t the only person who let it slip that “The One” is far more involved in this mess than he would let on. Rahm Emmanuel, Obama’s chief or staff, let it slip that Barack and him advised Blagojevich during his run for governor. While he has retracted the statement, much like Axelrod did, it does appear that there is much more they aren’t telling us…

UPDATE: You didn’t speak with Blagojevich? Seems Obama has selective memory… It’s called photographic evidence, but of course it means nothing right? After all, if “The One” tells us this didn’t happen, then it must be “Photoshopped” or something right? Good catch Ed Morrissey!

In the midst of this, Jesse Jackson Jr has gone on record saying that he isn’t part of this investigation. According to Marc Ambinder from The Atlantic, Jackson is “Candidate Number 5″ (either him or Emil Jones Jr), the one discussed in the Blagojevich tapes.  It also appears that Jackson was one of the individuals offering the governor money for Obama’s Senate seat, and while he tries to distance himself from this mess, it does appear that he is now part of this evolving story. One wonders what this will mean for his father, but knowing Jackson Sr, he will probably spin this through his hatred of “the white man”…

UPDATE: Good news, Jesse Jackson Jr DID try and buy Obama’s Senate seat . It appears that his brother Jonathan Jackson and other “movers and shakers” in Chicago held a fundraiser for Blagojevich three days before his arrest. Ed Morrissey at Hot Air has more on this story…

The more we learn about this story, the more people seem to be wrapped up in it. Harry Reid even gets to play his role, demanding Blagojevich not lose this Senate seat to a Republican. No matter what happens, this does seem to fly in the face of Barack’s promise of “hope and change”. Even now, the FBI has decided to open up an investigation into the Rezko-Obama land deal, causing even more problems for the President-Elect. One has to wonder whether or not “The One” will even make it to his inauguration, or whether he will be taking the oath of office in handcuffs. Michelle Malkin has a point, this does remind us of the Clinton years, but while we are comparing Bill Clinton’s time in office to this, let’s not forget that it wasn’t until his second term that the sex scandal broke. Seeing how Barack is already involved in this sort of activity before he even takes office, I wonder whether or not this is a new record for Presidential corruption.

No matter which way you look at this, even if you are a “nutroot”, this does smell awfully bad, especially from someone so many believed would change the dirty politics of Washington…

UPDATE: Is it just Rod or the entire Blagojevich clan? Patti, the governor’s wife, was heard on one of the FBI tapes swearing about the editors of the Tribune. She isn’t Laura Bush, she is a hateful, spiteful woman who let her anger get out of control. No matter what the MSM does, they can’t protect her public image from her own words… Tip of the hat to Michelle Malkin for this one…

UPDATE: Obama gives a press conference about his feelings with this situation. He is standing their with his seal of the President-Elect (and office which doesn’t exist), trying to spin the current situation by discussing the economic crisis he has done very little, if anything, to deal with. Allahpundit at Hot Air has more on this…

UPDATE: Seems Emmanuel might have had more to do with this then he let on. According to a Fox News reports, Rahm spoke with Blagojevich about the Senate seat on multiple occasions, discussing candidates Obama wanted to replace him. Ed Morrissey has more on this story… I guess this explains why he was using his children to keep from answering questions about this fiasco…

UPDATE: It just keeps getting better… Michelle Malkin is reporting on all the attention Rahm Emmanuel has been getting due to his connection to “Blago-gate”.  According to a report put out my Matthew Jaffe of ABC News,

(Emmanuel) won’t go to the Chicago presidential transition offices in order to avoid reporters trying to ask him whether he had contact with Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich  about the Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama’s election… Emanuel appeared “beet-red,” according to an ABC News cameraman who was invited inside by Emanuel to use his bathroom this morning

Beat red? HA, it is nice to see the camera is facing the right way this time around. With all the negative attention Sarah Palin had to put up with, you would think the Democrats could understand that it is their turn under the microscope.

UPDATE: Ed Morrissey from Hot Air is reporting that Blagojevich has “lawyered up” and might resign by Monday. It is no surprise that he is being forced out, especially when Obama himself asked the governor to resign last week. One wonders when “The One” will be asking Emmanuel to resign once his full involvement is known…

With that said, I would also like to raise something Michelle Malkin AND Mark Levin discussed recently, the appointment of Carol Browner to Energy Czar. With all the problems Barack is having now, I don’t think it is wise to bring in another shady politician and give them a high ranking post in the new administration. Browner, as both Malkin and Levin have pointed out, gained infamy through the deletion of requested files when the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was being sued by the Landmark Legal Foundation in 2001, a time when she was the EPA’s Administrator. One can only imagine what she had to do to weasel her way back into power…

I suspect that we will be in for four years of this; One Clintonite after another, coming out from the shadows demanding for payment for their support of Obama’s presidential bid. This isn’t simply “politics as usual”, this is politics as usual on STEROIDS… If it isn’t Browner’s file deletion, it is Emmanuel’s connection to Freddie-Mac…

UPDATE: Michelle Malkin is reporting that Carol Browner has now officially been appointed to the position of Energy Czar within the Obama administration… It just keeps getting worse…