Blago drama for Obama - Headlines 12/18/08

Politics and Media Headlines 12/18/08

Obama Named Time Person of the Year
Obama has made it clear that he knows how to write new playbooks and do things in new ways. Which is a compelling quality right now. His arrival on the scene feels like a step into the next century -- his genome is global, his mind is innovative, his world is networked, and his spirit is democratic.

Is Time's Person of the Year Cover Propaganda? (by Sasha Issenberg, Boston Globe)
There is little surprise that Time decided to name Obama its "Person of the Year," and the magazine takes its usual pains to make the world-historical case for its choice. But the image the magazine chose for its cover is, quite literally, an Obama campaign poster.
Like Time’s gushing, above, which could be on a campaign poster.—Caro

Blago drama for Obama (Chicago Sun-Times)
President-elect Barack Obama's incoming chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, was pushing for Obama's successor just days after the Nov. 4 election, sources told the Chicago Sun-Times. Emanuel privately urged Gov. Blagojevich's administration to appoint Obama confidante Valerie Jarrett, and the Sun-Times learned Tuesday that he also pressed that it be done by a certain deadline… The disclosure comes days after Obama's camp downplayed Jarrett's interest in the post.

Emanuel Was Looking for Placeholder (Political Wire)
The Chicago Sun Times reports that incoming White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel had conversations about backing a special election candidate for his IL-5 House seat who would keep "his" seat warm for a few years so he could reclaim it later. However, with the scandal surrounding President-elect Obama's old Senate seat, Emanuel is now likely to stay out of the race entirely.
Now, THAT makes sense. Valerie Jarrett never seemed to me like a viable candidate on her own.—Caro

Blagojevich was bookie, says federal informant (ABC 7 Chicago)
The ABC7 I-Team has learned that an attorney who went undercover for the FBI in the late 1980's says he told federal authorities years ago about wrongdoing by Blagojevich. His name is Robert Cooley. Cooley was a criminal defense lawyer in Chicago in the late 1980's who became one of the most potent witnesses against Chicago corruption, testifying for federal prosecutors in cases that resulted in dozens of convictions. Cooley says that before Rod Blagojevich got into politics he was a bookmaker on the North Side who regularly paid the Chicago mob to operate.
My friend who really knows Chicago politics says, “More outrageous stuff .... Seems out of character.... If he was, it might have been some deal Vrdolyak had talked him into (he was Vrdoyiak's law clerk around that time). It probably involved sports betting (football, boxing) among other lawyers his age. If the mutuals got high enough, he may have turned to Accardo to lay off the heavier action but I think he was too wussy to be bigtime enough for the outfit to bother with. More than likely, it was just boasting to impress some crowd he wanted to get into.”—Caro

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Carolyn Kay
MakeThemAccountable.com