When the news broke that the Blago jury was hung up on 23 counts and could only get agreement for conviction on one, I was talking on the phone with an old Harvard buddy who was on the faculty the same time I was a Kennedy Fellow in 1977 (he’s since retired). Since Kennedy Fellows are treated the same as faculty, we’d chow down frequently at a not too shabby place: the Harvard Faculty Club during January to June of that year.

What brought us together was this: …

What a week! Blago poisons the jury pool and “Dr. Laura” poisons the airwaves. Couldn’t let either pass without comment, so here you get two (brief) columns for the price of one. First, there is already enough commentary on the Rod Blagojevich decision to fill an encyclopedia: guilty on only one count, lying to federal agents; and a hung jury on 23 more substantive counts, with a retrial promised by the U.S. attorney. Volumes have been written about the quality of the prosecution and the defense …

The story I did a few days ago about the Gangland Bus cruising around with goggle-eyed tourists hearing crime and corruption stories this town savors—and advertises—almost came true yesterday in every respect when a jury of Blago’s peers found him guilty of only one of the 24 criminal corruption charges he faced.
The reason the former governor didn’t get convicted on all 24 was not due to ineptitude of the prosecution—or the ineffable brilliance of the defense (although I will grant the defense better understood Chicagoans) —but because of three …

CDOBS Syndicate

The Capitol Fax Blog:
Quinn to hold 6:30 pm presser
Illinois Review:
Brady on Blago Verdict
Dennis Byrne’s Barbershop:
The worst possible Blagojevich verdict
. . . With Both Hands:
Federal Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald – What You Want Ain’t What You Get?
The Capitol Fax Blog:
*** UPDATED with Videos *** Blagojevich, prosecutors expected to speak soon – And Quinn
Illinois Review:
Blago guilty on one count: Lying to the FBI
Newsalert:
Blagojevich guilty of one count; jury hung on 23 counts
The Capitol Fax Blog:
*** UPDATED x9 *** Topinka: Justice will prevail, it’ll just take some time
Newsalert:
Feds Intend to Re-Try Blago on …

By the time you read this we may or may not know whether impeached Gov. Rod Blagojevich is found guilty of trying to auction off President Barack Obama’s former U.S. Senate seat, to which he wound up appointing Roland Burris for the two years remaining in Obama’s term.

But a local federal appellate court decision, with national implications, may curtail the ability of any governors to make such long-term appointments—depriving them of the perk Blago described as “f—ing golden,” worth a huge campaign contribution or high-paying job.
The decision can affect more …

How do these people get elected?

George Ryan, Rod Blagojevich, Mike Madigan, Richard Daley. And many, many more. We know all about these people. And yet we elect them. And we re-elect them.
How do these people get elected? I have been asked this question many times since my book on Len Small, Illinois’ most corrupt governor, was published last year. Whether it’s Len Small in 1920, Rod Blagojevich in 2006, or Otto Kerner, Orville Hodge, Paul Powell or any one of a thousand others in between, how is it that the …

Maybe voters shouldn’t have listened to Barack Obama, who claimed Rezko as his “political godfather.” Obama assured voters in a re-election endorsement that “We’ve got a governor in Rod Blagojevich who has delivered consistently on behalf of the people of Illinois.”
Party leaders knew that wasn’t true.

* * *
And when the media did begin reporting on the allegations swirling around the governor’s office, even alleged party reformers were there to defend Blagojevich.
“I don’t like government being used as a tool to reward political favors and I never have. I don’t like …

I was coming out of a polling place in East Rogers Park, where I had served as a precinct judge of election, when I found that my Pontiac would not start. I placed a telephone call to a police officer assigned to the 24th District and he helped me get a tow truck. While we were waiting for the truck, we began talking about local politics and he told me that Alderman Dick Mell (33rd) was going to begin pushing hard for a young lawyer by the name of Rod …

Sam Adam Jr. has just accused President Barack Obama and his transition team of negotiating with Blagojevich.
The offer came from Rod to Tom Balanoff, Adam says. Balanoff brought it to Valerie Jarrett and word came back from Rahm Emanuel through John Wyma. It’s a negotiation they were in, he said of Obama and Blagojevich.
“You start high and they come low,” Adam said.

Read more at the Sun-Times

From the Obama-Blagojevich Blog

Here’s what Obama told the Tribune in November 2006:
—He wasn’t sure if he called Rezko to tell him about his interest in the house.
—Said Rezko had raised about $20,000 for him over the years.
—Said Rezko hadn’t been “involved with him in any legislative work whatsoever or any governmental activities of any sort.”
—Said he and Rezko shared lunch “once or twice a year” and as couples the Rezkos and Obamas dined “two to four times.”
By the time Obama finally was forced to answer questions to the Tribune and …