One Blagojevich trial juror from southwest Tinley Park expressed what most Illinoisans were feeling Monday afternoon in the Tinley Park Patch:

Asked if she's angry about Blagojevich's actions, [Karen] Wojcieszak sighed and shook her head in dismay.

"It just makes me wonder, are we the laughing stock of the U.S.?" she said. "He's like so many other Illinois politicians who took an oath to serve the people … He didn't come through. We have so many corrupt politicians here. Now, we officially have one more."

It's shame that Blagojevich had to join the state's line of crooked elected officials, she said, adding that he was just as charismatic as any politician she's seen speak.

by Teri O'Brien

I took the title of this post from the late Milton Rakove, political science professor and chronicler of what has come to be known as “The Chicago Way.” It was the title of one of his books, subtitled “An Oral History of the Daley Years.”

I thought about Prof. Rakove’s book yesterday as I watched our Thug-in-Chief at yet another propaganda event, staged by the CBS branch of his PR team, address a sob story from laid off government employee, Karin Gallo. The  43 year-old mother-to-be sought help from the One in the following exchange: 

“Just under three years ago, I took a job with the federal government, thinking it was a secure job,” Gallo told Obama during the town hall, which was taped Wednesday afternoon at the Newseum.

Gallo, who is seven months pregnant, told Obama that she and her husband are also building a new house. (Watch video of the exchange above or here.)

“I’m stressed, I’m worried. I’m scared about what I — what my future holds. I definitely need a job. And — I just wonder what would you do, if you were me?”  

Apparently, National Zoo’s “non-essential employee number 7” knew what she was doing. While some of us were still scratching our heads wondering why, if she is a self-admitted “non-essential” federal employee, she had a job in the first place, we learn the rest of the story.

On "The Early Show" Friday, Gallo said that, while she didn't get to speak directly with the president, she did have a conversation with a White House staffer on Thursday who seemed eager to help, and told her several other staffers were trying to come to her aid, as well. Gallo added that she also got a phone call late Thursday from the Presidential Personnel Office, which wants her to come in Monday for an informational interview.

Asked by co-anchor Erica Hill what she'd say to other job seekers who weren't fortunate enough to come to the president's personal attention, Gallo said she "never once thought there was no light at the end of the tunnel. I definitely thought there was going to be something on the other end. ... I always just kept the faith that something was going to happen, that there was going to be an opportunity. I completely lucked out that the opportunity was so huge for me. But I guess I speak for a lot of Americans who are out of work and frustrated. And I just have to say - keep the faith and know that there is something at the end of the tunnel."

Mrs. Gallo’s experience is very instructive, and the lesson seems to have been lost in the discussion about whether Barack Obama was being honest about the decline in the number of government workers (he wasn’t), or the emotionally-driven commentary about the plight of working mothers. WWBD (What Would Barack Do)? As it turns out, he would do precisely what Mrs. Gallo did; that is, get to someone with some clout.  As for the rest of you, those who aren’t fortunate enough to have friends in high places, you’re on you’re own. If that phrase sounds familiar, ironically it’s part of the mantra that Barack Obama and his apparatchiks like to use when they are bludgeoning Republicans with demagogic accusations of cruelly demanding that people be responsible for their own needs.

Barack Obama’s “remade” America is Chicago writ-large. Picture a pyramid. At the top, are the political royalty and their well-connected friends enjoying lavish celebrity-studded parties, vacations at pricey resorts, and opportunities to line their pockets at taxpayer expense. In the middle are the various mascot groups, representing the members of the identify politics coalition necessary to win and/or steal elections, and the beneficiaries of government largess, such as public employee union members, whose livelihoods and perqs depend on democrats remaining in power. At the bottom, as you guessed, are the serfs, whose role is to shut up and work without complaint to pay for the whole sorry mess. The “law,” ostensibly neutrally applied to all, is in fact only something that the suckers in the latter group have to worry about. For those higher up on the pyramid, those pesky rules don’t necessarily apply. If you have an in, there’s a “fix.” Witness the thousand-plus waivers to Obamacare, or the tax exemptions arranged by Governor Pat Quinn to avoid the wrath of voters when they realize that his anti-business policies cost them their jobs. 

Congratulations, Mrs. Gallo, not only on your new arrival, but for reminding all of us what this administration is all about, the Chicago Way. It’s one of the few things about which B. Hussein Obama is an expert. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Politics, Pop Culture, the Hottest Issues of the Day, and Your calls. The Teri O'Brien Show, featuring America’s Original Conservative Warrior Princess, Live and in color, Sundays 4-6 pm Central time  at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Teri-OBrien. Daring to Commit Common Sense, Fearlessly, and More Important, Cheerfully, in the Age of Obama.

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As one listener wrote “one of the most insightful and entertaining pundits in America. Also, her voice is magical.”

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Rod Blagojevich's retrial begins today with jury selection.  Chicago Mag's Carol Felsenthal spoke with a legal insider that predicted this time Blagojevich will be found guilty on all counts.  Here's a part of Felsenthal's interview:

You told me last summer that Rod would serve five years on the one count on which he was convicted, but a maximum of six-and-a-half years no matter how many other counts he was convicted on. 
I think he'll get six-and-a-half no matter how many more counts they get him on, but he could get more. Rod is incapable of saying he did anything wrong; because of his nonsense there is no way to cut a deal. If he had walked out of the courtroom last August, kept his mouth shut, he could have cut a deal for four to five years. Instead he responded with a tirade, and the Adams were worse than Blago. 

The government has streamlined its case to make it less boring and confusing to jurors. Should this help win convictions?
I don't think they streamlined it enough. They should have dropped more of the counts. [There are now 20 counts; in the first trial Blago faced 24.]

The first trial lasted two and one half months. How long will this trial last?
Five to six weeks.

What will the outcome be?
He'll be found guilty on most of the counts.

What do you think?

As they say in Illinois politics ... "You can't make this stuff up."  House Speaker Mike Madigan's son-in-law joins the RTA as its lobbying hired gun.  Guess the family law firm business of property tax appealing has no openings. Greg Hinz reports:

A press release announcing the appointment cites Mr. Matyas' "extensive legal and legislative background" but somehow neglected to mention that he is married to the former Tiffany Madigan, Speaker Madigan's daughter.

Another Madigan daughter, Lisa, is the Illinois attorney general.

The RTA's spokeswoman says there is "no relationship" between the hiring and the fact that RTA Chairman John Gates has had a rocky relationship with Mr. Madigan, with continual talk that the speaker might even run a bill to abolish the agency.

"We wouldn't call it a peace offering," the spokeswoman said. "We'd call it the hiring of a person for a posted vacancy who we have determined is very highly qualified."

Read more: http://www.chicagobusiness.com/section/blogs?blogID=greg-hinz&plckController=Blog&plckBlogPage=BlogViewPost&uid=1daca073-2eab-468e-9f19-ec177090a35c&plckPostId=Blog:1daca073-2eab-468e-9f19-ec177090a35cPost:b641ef83-9288-4a10-8e90-87769a12b79e&plckScript=blogScript&plckElementId=blogDest#ixzz1F1UJDJVb
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American Federation of State, County, Municipal Employees and the Service Employees International Union were crucial in Obama's 2008 campaign

There’s no denying the cloud of scandal over his administration. One of his chief fund-raisers, Antoin “Tony” Rezko, was indicted last week for alleged shakedowns for campaign contributions. More revelations likely will come right before the election when power broker Stuart Levine is expected to plead guilty. The governor said the charges against Rezko, if true, represent a personal betrayal by Rezko, and that he himself has never been involved in any unethical or illegal fund-raising. Our experience with Blagojevich prompts us to take him at his word. We’ve chosen to give him the benefit of the doubt and endorse him for a number of reasons.

In 2010 The Chicago Sun Times endorses Pat Quinn, despite widespread incompetence

We have our own reservations about Quinn. He can be maddeningly undisciplined, fumbling even the most sensitive issues, such as his botched early prison release program. And he has yet to find a way to check Madigan’s power.

We’d like to see the governor demand even larger concessions from the state’s main employee union and find greater Medicaid savings. We’d like to see more cuts in ineffective and duplicative programs. We’d like to see greater pension reform, with employees contributing more. And we’d like to see more ethics reforms, such as a cap on how much money party leaders can donate to candidates in general elections.

But if Illinois voters are looking for a governor who is both pro-business and pro-people, Pat Quinn is the easy call.

And bewilderingly, the Chicago Sun Times and a self appointed legal authority don’t think that Bill Brady did enough to battle Rod Blagojevich

Law professor Richard Kling, who sat in on the Blagojevich trial and teaches at Kent College of Law, similarly minimized Brady¹s role. “I don¹t remember a shred of paper generated that he was ever instrumental in anything having to do with the governor,” Kling said. “It’s bizarre these guys make these claims that they have no basis for.”

So aside from running against Blagojevich, and exposing the fraud at the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board that got Blagojevich and Tony Rezko under Federal Investigation to begin with, there is “no basis” in the claims that Bill Brady opposed Rod Blagojevich.

What brought us together was this: He was interested in meeting Andrew Young, then UN ambassador who was doing a guest lecture at my class to interviewi him for a book he was writing. He’s a sociologist and author…black and unconventional…and was rated as one of the best profs around.

My assessment still holds about Chicagoans’ cynicism which contributed to the passivity of the jury. But when the news first came down, nobody knew the identity, gender or race of the holdout juror. He and I were speculating idly on the phone when he said this:

“ I’ll bet you the ranch it’s a black woman.” .

Why do you say that?

“Poor black women, black women without husbands, particularly those who are Moms… far more than men…, support anyone who has been a conduit to government assistance because so many of them are hooked on it: and Blago had his All Kids program and free transit rides for seniors. With a great number of black poor women, marriage—at least to black men—is less important than it used to be. Take a look at the numbers. Far more black women are going to college than are black men. In the number of business promotions, they greatly exceed men. This is very sad because as even Pat Moynihan discovered with his report on the black family in 1965, increasingly then poor black women looked upon black men an almost useless commodity aside from being sperm donors. That finding almost killed Pat with the liberals.

“Poor black women who raise children by themselves must depend on government. And now even not-so-poor black women. That means that as jurors black women generally reward those defendants who though crooked have been involved in government and have endorsed governmental largesse for the poor. That’s not very surprising, is it?”

Well, I guess not now that I think of it. I’d like to refer to this on my blog.

“Okay so long as you don’t use my name. The statement I just made is exceedingly unpopular with the politically correct—and they rather not see it brought up. They are in denial. You know what political denial is, don’t you?”
Yeah.

“Of course. Take a look at the issue of gun control. It doesn’t work but is a staple to every liberal’s urban affairs repertoire (I was going to say “arsenal”) because without it the onus would be on chaotic families which produce kids running the streets who join gangs and shoot `em up. An indictment of the state of being, frankly. But don’t think this is largely a black issue. It is starting to go with white divorced or single women who are moms as well. They generally vote for Democratic candidates because they believe more assistance will come from the government if Democrats are in control—and they’re right. But black women are particularly responsive as jurors when support of someone like Blago is involved. I’ll bet you a good steak dinner I’m right. Agree?”

Yes if the payoff is at The Capital Grille.

“Capital Grille? We’ve got one here in Boston on Newberry street. You’re on.”

Wait a minute. It hasn’t been proven yet. If I win the dinner will be at the Capital Grille in Rosemont next to O’Hare.

“Not likely. I’ll win this one.”

You think.

Then the word came out that the holdout was named Jo Ann Chiakulas. The photo that flashed on and off over TV was indeterminate. I called my friend at once.

You lose. She’s a Greek. Her name’s Chiakulas.

“I’m still in the game. I saw the photograph as well. Can’t tell from the picture. But she’s a retired state public health worker with ties to the Urban League. She listens to NPR and liberal talk radio shows.”

But her name is Chiakulas.

“Not a factor. Probably married a Greek. You’re closer to the scene than I. Once you find out, give me a call.”

A day later I called and said:

Okay, the Capital Grille in Boston it is. Tell me what made you call it right—right from the start.

“Fifty years ago ethnic identity meant about as much to whites as black does to my African American colleagues—especially women. An Irishman would, all things considered, vote to sustain an Irish defendant and so on. It has to do with the low esteem the Irish felt they were rated with other nationalities—Brahmins– in some social circles. Well the Irish were right. Then they tended to stick together. The same with blacks except not so much the men. Black women are vulnerable votes for any defendant. My guess is she lost her objectivity long before she was picked for the jury because of Blagojevich’s All Kids program. And in case she forgot, you’ll remember that the young defense attorney what’s-his-name…”

Sam Adam, Jr.

“–Sam Adams,. Jr…”

Adam. Singular. Sam Adam, Jr. and his father Sam Adam, Sr.

“Ok, ok. Adam. We out here are used to the name Sam Adams because–.”

Please. I know about the Adams boys from Massachusetts.

“Junior was the guy who as he talked to the jury wiped a tear away and called attention to his developmentally disadvantaged son who benefited from All Kids. Apart from the outrage that a wealthy young lawyer poached on the All Kids program which was designed for children of the poor, it was a not so subtle reminder to the jury to take into account an issue that had nothing whatsoever to do with the charges. It’s dynamite with black women. Especially former social workers, Urban League, workers with the state health agency. My God, that prosecution was really inept to let her sneak by into the pool without a challenge!”

Looks like it.

“Well, Blago can have his fun now but on the re-trial it’ll be different. As a matter of fact, this cocky-ness he’s showing is going to do him in.”

**

Tom Roeser is the Chairman of the Editorial Board of the Chicago Daily Observer and a Kennedy Fellow at Harvard

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 things.

FIRST, , Chicagoans are inured to the belief that the way Blago worked the phones is what politicians do all the time…and the jury believed that the crimes he was charged with were akin to criminalizing political wheeling and dealing as they know it—and what they have respected grudgingly for years. It is not incidental that we buried Dan Rostenkowski in the same week and the papers were filled with how he maneuvered to help Chicago…paying for his dexterity with some minor offenses including non-payment of postage stamps.
Pat Fitzgerald’s initial statement that Blago’s crimes would make Lincoln turn over in his grave was evidence of a super-heated overstatement in the minds of many locals. Come again: Lincoln would turn over in his grave?

Anyone who has deeply studied Lincoln, a political and literary genius, knows that he was a successful railroad lawyer while he was a state legislator…knows that he unfurled a map of Illinois on his desk in the House and bargained the routes of railroad lines across the state, making deals on what towns the trains would stop at…which he used to run for the U. S. Senate where he got more votes than Stephen A. Douglas (not that it did him any good as the legislatures in those days named U. S. senators and they picked Douglas). Remember there were no serious conflict of interest laws then binding state lawmakers.
This is the same Abe Lincoln who when he was a presidential candidate hopped on a train solo to Council Bluffs, Iowa and bought up a scad of real estate there. Later as president when he got legislation through setting up cross-country railroads, the property ownership became valuable as Council Bluffs was a key centerpiece for the switching that sent trains throughout the country. Again, no conflict of interest laws hindered him…and to-boot Lincoln’s trip to Council Bluffs was paid by the railroads as he was a key attorney for many of them.

So was Lincoln turning over in his grave when Blago was dickering to fill a Senate seat? Not hardly. Not hardly.
Illinoisans don’t know much about Lincoln other than he was a great president but intuitively people in this state have always understood this is how things get done…and they grudgingly admire those who can do it…from Old Man Daley to his kid, to Eddie Burke, to Mike Madigan.
The only ones they can’t forgive are those pols who don’t do it very well…ala Jane Byrne (too inept) to Peter Fitzgerald (too damn honest…refusing to vote for goodies for Illinois out of pristine contentions…, who was allowed to retire when Ms. Barr Topinka deferring to Denny Hastert knifed him without much protest) to a number of Republicans whom they sneer at even acknowledging they were good for the city. I’m thinking of one of the finest urban experts practically and intellectually in the nation., Dr. Donald Haider, who ran as a Republican against Harold Washington (Dem) and Ed Vrdolyak (Solidarity party), getting 4.3% of the vote.
No he wasn’t an overeducated academic with his head in the clouds. Haider had been the city’s budget director, assistant deputy secretary of the treasury when New York city was bailed out, a consultant to key public officials—all on top of a Stanford BA, a Columbia Masters and Ph.D. He would have been our greatest mayor but Big Business was in bed with the Dems and preferred to see those get elected who work the old ways.
That’s the first reason Blago got off from 23 counts. Jurors didn’t see any exchange of money. Nobody was killed or “disappeared.”
The second?

SECOND is a relatively late development: dislike of the federal government which is percolating like a kettle ready to blow its top. Pat Fitzgerald and his team represent the federal government—a government of which the average guy is very suspicious.

THIRD, the jurors heard much about Tony Rezko, Stuart Levine, Valerie Jarrett, Rahm Emanuel but heard none of them testify. They didn’t understand that in federal prosecution parlance conspiracy is a crime. They asked “where is the smoking gun?” not recognizing that the smoking gun was apparent in the phone discussions.
Make no mistake: I think Blago should have been hit with the full book. I’m just trying to explain why he wasn’t. The bill of indictment wasn’t too complicated. Jurors regularly deliberate on intricate financial matters. I’m sure they asked themselves: Wait a minute? If this guy is so bad, did he get a payoff. No? Well what’s the shouting about then? I think they would have been happy to convict young Jesse because that had all the earmarks of a proffer with a promise of dough to come. I must say I think Fitz is no angel. I think what he did to Scooter Libby was far too slick—knowing all the time who leaked the Valerie Plame story and pretending he didn’t. So in summary, I was for Blago getting the book thrown at him—but Patrick is sometimes too pristine for his own good—as he was with Scooter.

The Political Consequences.

Immediately after the jury’s decision and the judge’s statement that there would be a re-trial of the 23 points, the aura descended on the populace that this is somehow unfair. Something like double jeopardy—which it isn’t. It immediately crafts a feeling of sympathy for Blago—the non-legal public sentiment being that the jury considered all the evidence fair and square and let him walk on 23 points…now the big bad Feds are going to go after him again…and again…and again…and again—until they send him to jail. Something strikes people as unfair.
It also strikes people as the height of federal prosecutorial excess. The refrain was started by the Adamses: The Blago trial cost $30 million and he got convicted on one count. We’re going to spend maybe another $30 million of federal money to do it again? Plus Illinois taxpayers’ money to defend Blago since his private political money has run out?

A retrial will be exceedingly dangerous for all Democratic candidates and the Obama administration because it will likely showcase Emanuel and Jarrett as well as Tony Rezko.

Schakowsky the Saint?

I’m told by a wise reader that I was far too generous to Mme. Schakowsky in my critique yesterday of Melissa Bean…as when I said that Schakowsky didn’t have thugs at her Town Halls. He told me she most assuredly did. Okay, I apologize for being overly generous to Schakowsky. It’ll never happen again.

**

Tom Roeser is the Chairman of the Editorial Board of the Chicago Daily Observer

image Bust of Antisthenes, Greek Cynic

• 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 Hung Counts
• Newsalert:
  Illinois Now Has Back to Back Governors Convicted of