Blago to name former attorney general to Senate seat

What in the world is Gov. Rod Blagojevich trying to accomplish?

The Chicago Tribune is reporting that Blago is planning on naming former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris to the U.S. Senate - the same seat that Blago has been accused of attempting to sell to the highest bidder. A press conference is scheduled for 2 p.m. today.

This will accomplish very little. The Democratic led Senate has already refused to seat anyone named by Blagojevich to that seat.

The new Congress will be sworn in in early January and Illinois will only field one senator until the seat held by President-elect Barack Obama is filled. Blago currently is the only one in the state who has the authority to fill that seat.

With all the legal trouble surrounding Blago currently, any candidate he puts forth for that seat will bear the taint of Blago's corruption.

Burris, who was the first black man to win statewide office in Illinois in 1978, would be wise to reject the governor's nomination.

And the state legislature would be wise to speed up their investigation into Blago and any impeachment hearings before Blago further drives the state into ruin.

Watchdog groups keep eye on Illinois State Police violations

What do citizens do when the man really does keep them down?

According to an article in the Chicago Sun Times, that's precisely what's happening in Illinois. Once again state officials are taking the law into their own hands and doing what they think is best. Over the past few years the Illinois State Police are ignoring orders from a sitting judge to expunge convictions because they "don't agree with the judge's interpretation of the law." According to the Sun Times report the police refused to expunge 281 records over the past eight years.

No one always agrees with a legal interpretation of the law - certainly the people of California disagreed with a court's ruling on homosexual marriage and in turn overturned that ruling at the ballot box. (Of course that political football will continue to be challenged)

The United States is a nation of laws. And it is important for the citizenry to follow the rule of law even if it's a law one may not agree with. Laws can be changed, but picking and choosing the laws we want to follow while ignoring others leads to a breakdown of society. Fortunately watchdog organizations like the Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago are keeping an eye on the State Police and fighting for the people when the powers that be ignore the rule of law or judicial commands.

The legal assistance organization filed a lawsuit against the State Police and have succeeded in having 137 of those 281 cases expunged. However the State Police refuse to comply with the rest despite the contempt of court charges. The contempt-of-court petition was dropped on Friday when the state agreed to negotiate the remaining cases.

Hopefully the State Police will file future objections to expungements in a court of law rather than taking the law into their own hands. Until then it is important watchdog groups remain vigilant.

Despite protestation of innocence, Blagojevich should step aside for the good of Illinois

Is Gov. Rod Blagojevich channeling Richard Nixon's I am not a crook address?

His comments this afternoon that he has done nothing wrong are astounding. Now I know that in this nation a man is innocent until proven guilty, but I think there's enough evidence that's been released by the U.S. Attorney's office for the citizenry to make a fair judgement about the man.

At a press conference this afternoon Blago said:

I'm here to tell you right off the bat that I am not guilty of any criminal wrongdoing, that I intend to stay on the job and I will fight this thing every step of the way. I will fight, I will fight, I will fight. Until I take my last breath. I have done nothing wrong. "And I'm not going to quit a job the people hired me to do, because of false accusations and a political lynch mob. Now that's what I'm going to do. Let me tell you what I'm not going to do. I'm not going to do what my accusers and political enemies have been doing. And that is talk about this case in 30 second sound bites on 'Meet the Press' or on the TV news. Now I'm dying to answer these charges, I am dying to show you how innocent I am. And I want to assure everyone who is here and everyone who's listening that I intend to answer every allegation that comes my way. However, I intend to answer them in the appropriate forum, in a court of law, and when I do, I am absolutely certain that I will be vindicated.

Again, the man is innocent until proven guilty. But until he has his day in court, Blago should step aside from his now severely hamstrung position, and allow the Lt. Governor to step into temporary leadership. The people of the state of Illinois deserve no less than exceptional leadership during these difficult economic times. With Blago's strained relationships with House Speaker Michael Madigan, Attorney General Lisa Madigan and Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn, running the state will be next to impossible for the governor. The legislature will fight any initiative by the governor, and it's possible the governor will veto legislation that comes across his desk out of spite.

Misguided judge upholds Chicago's gun ban

So much for the Constitution.

Today a federal judge upheld the city of Chicago's firearms ban. Citizens of Chicago continue to be denied a basic right defended in the Constitution - the right to bear arms.

In a 5-to-4 decision in June, the Supreme Court overturned the D.C. handgun ban on grounds that the Second Amendment establishes the right to own a handgun for personal self-defense. Within hours, Second Amendment supporters filed lawsuits challenging a similar ban in Chicago.

Why do (typically liberal) lawmakers believe that responsible citizens should not be allowed to own a firearm? Is it a lack of trust in people?In his typical style, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley uses straw man arguments to bolster his disdain for firearms. Claiming that his support for a firearms ban would protect police officers, Daley said:

“What does a policeman do when there’s a domestic battery [call] and they’re both armed? Do they enter the home or apartment or do they wait outside?” Daley asked reporters earlier this year.

Fortunately the District Court's ruling will be appealed and chances are the U.S. Supreme Court will overturn the lower court's ruling. Even the judge who made the ruling suggested as much. According to the Chicago Sun Times, Judge Milton Shadur said:

"This court should not be misunderstood as either rejecting or endorsing the logic of plaintiff's argument. It may well carry the day before a court that is unconstrained by the obligation to follow the unreversed precedent of a court that occupies a higher position in the judicial firmament," the decision stated.

Obama Senate seat belongs to everyone, not just black politicians from Illinois

A black Senate seat?

That's what Laura Washington of the Chicago Sun Times calls the seat vacated by President elect Barack Obama. Well if that's not a fine reversal of racism. And here I thought the Senate seat was open to anyone seeking that office. Silly me. So much for the bridging of a racial divide with the election of Obama.

Like a politic Black Panther, Washington laments that the criminal troubles Gov. Rod Blagojevich is finding himself in will likely end the chances of a black holding that seat.

Washington says Illinois deserves a black senator. Really? I think we deserve an honest senator in office regardless of his or her race.

Washington's rhetoric is eerily similar to the calls from racists who wanted to prevent blacks from voting. But this time it's the reverse.

What it gets down to is Washington doesn't trust in the people to decide for themselves who they want to be senator. She states that white voters can't be trusted to support a black candidate. But Washington is forgetting the overwhelming support white voters showed to Obama - in electing him to the U.S. Senate and to the office of President of the United States.

The seat should be opened up to the voters and remove the taint of Blagojevich and the lawmakers indebted to the Chicago Machine. That's what the people of Illinois, of all races, deserve.

Illinois Democrats play politics with U.S. Senate seat

It's not surprising that the Democrats in the Illinois House have held off on stripping disgraced Gov. Rod Blagojevich of his power to appoint a replacement to the United States Senate.

The Chicago Tribune reports the House Democrats did not move for a special election because they were fearful of losing the seat to a Republican candidate. While the Democrats' argument that a special election would cost the state money it does not have, Illinois citizens should be distrustful of any appointee out of the Democrat controlled Springfield. How far does Blagojevich's corruption go? How many members of the legislature (or possibly the transition team of President Elect Barack Obama) are guilty of corroboration with the corrupt Chicago Machine that gave Illinois Blago?

There is only one viable solution to Illinois' lack of a second senator, and that is give the people the right to select Obama's replacement. Costs can be minimized during municipal elections in 2009. The people have the right and the responsibility to select a Senator that can begin to restore trust in elected officials. The Chicago Machine which runs Illinois can only give the people corruption.

Pay to Play may mean Blago's silence has a price

The Illinois General Assembly will meet Monday to discuss a possible impeachment against Gov. Rod Blagojevich. Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan appeared before the Illinois Supreme Court at week's end to argue that Blagojevich, who is in federal cross hairs on corruption charges, is unfit to hold his office.

There are lots of political ramifications from Blagojevich's arrogant criminality that has this state in a legislative and legal upheaval. But the primary ramification is the immediate fallout of a possible impeachment.

If Blagojevich is impeached, it's likely that he's not going to go down alone. A product of the corrupt Chicago Political Machine, Blagojevich might try to cut a deal with the feds and name names. This could have a lot of legislators with Chicago ties examine the skeletons in their own closets before agreeing to oust the governor. It's reasonable to assume that these lawmakers are urging Blago to step down before they have to make that decision.

If Blago does step down, his finances need to be carefully scrutinized. Reports say that Blago owes nearly $2 million in legal fees stemming from three years of being under the scrutiny of federal agents. It would not be surprising if Blago twisted Illinois' history of pay to play to his own gains to cover legal expenses and his shattered future.

Blago has shown that everything in Illinois is for sale. Nothing is sacred, and that will include his silence. And it's not outside reason that there will be plenty of tainted lawmakers ponying up cash to make sure he stays silent.

Culture of Corruption and Stupidity Continues in Illinois

The Chicago Tribune is reporting that federal authorities arrested Gov. Rod Blagojevich today. Illinois has a long history of corrupt officials. When will this stop?

Like others who have fallen victim to power and money, Blago was using his position to influence state contractors to donating to his campaign fund. According to the US Attorney's press release, Blago was also conspiring to sell the Senate seat of President elect Barack Obama.

While it's widely known in Illinois that Blagojevich is incompetent and corrupt, the press release indicates that the Illinois governor is irretrievably stupid as well. He's known he was the target of a federal investigation for some time, yet he continued to conduct his crooked business as usual. He conducted business on the telephone!! Has he never heard of wiretaps?

The press release also indicates that Blago was interested in obtaining a "lucrative" position with a union after his tenure as governor ended. This may explain his call on Monday for the state to cease business with Bank of America - which would benefit members of United Electrical Workers

The people of Illinois will do well to end the cycle of corruption in state and local offices and elect men of integrity. Business as usual cannot continue in the land of Lincoln

Were Mumbai attacks an Al-Quaida attempt to remove Pakistani troops from Afghanistan border?

Last week's terrorist attacks on the Indian city of Mumbai bear all the hallmarks of a classic Al-Quaida attack. They were multiple attacks within a short window of time in a heavily populated area.

But was carnage the end goal of the attacks? Or was it something more sinister - or even more tactical for Al-Quaida?

McCaltchey newspapers are reporting that Pakistan is warning it will shift tens of thousands of troops away from the Afghanistan border - an area heavily populated by militant islamists - to the border with India. Since Pakistan's creation in 1947, it's had a shall we say, tenuous history with it's mother land of India, particularly over the province of Kashmir.

Since last week's terrorist attacks in Mumbai, Indian officials, and a captured terrorist, have pointed fingers at Pakistan as the culprit behind the attacks. India has blamed Lashkar-e-Toiba, a terrorist group based in Pakistan, and with past links to Pakistan's intelligence service, for the Mumbai atrocities.

"They can say what they want, but we have no doubt that the terrorists had come from Pakistan,” said Sriprakash Jaiswal, India's deputy home affairs minister, on Sunday. “Our intelligence will be increased to a war level, we are asking the state governments to increase security to a war level.”

War tensions between these two nuclear powered foes is at a new level following the attacks and accusations. But the removal of troops from the Afghani border certainly benefits Al-Quaida. It means that less troops will be looking for Islamic militants in the Pakistani wild-lands and gives the terrorist organization responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States some breathing room in that area - especially since Pakistan will not allow US troops within its borders to hunt for Osama bin-Laden.

While the world watches the tension mount between Pakistan and India, Al-Quaida is breathing a bit easier.