Blago Hiring Story Any Reporter Could Work
Cynics who thought Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s release of the thank-you-for- letting-me-do-the-investigation-on-Governor-Rod-Blagojevich-hiring-scandal letter from U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald who don’t read the Tribune can be excused for gloating this morning. 
After all, they went with the Governor’s weekend spin for the headline. The real story was relegated to subheads.
The headline on Elgin’s Courier News, for instance, is
Gov. says misconduct limited with a subhead ofThe State Journal-Register’s is
Despite allegations of fraud at multiple agencies
Governor says misconduct is limited with the subhead beingAssociated Press featured this quote:
But inspector general found aide manipulated hiring, report says
As you police the system, every so often you're going to find some people who violate the rules. The test of leadership is, what do you do about it? Do you act and do you pursue it? Do you work with other law enforcement agencies to ferret more of it out. Those are the things we've been doing.But the Tribune reports reveals damaging parts of Blagojevich’s first Inspector General ”Z” Scott’s September, 2004, report. Scott resigned last year, refusing to say why.
The report focuses on the Federally-funded Department of Employment Security, citing violations in veterans’ preference laws in hiring for the agency best known for handing out unemployment compensation.
A second Tribune story describes a patronage operation that seems to have worked about as it did under former Governor Jim Thompson.
There was, of course, a personnel office within which was the governor’s personal representative. That person, under Thompson, and, in 2003 and 2004 under Blagojevich, made most of the hiring decisions from referrals from the governor’s patronage office.
So, maybe the governor’s spin worked for the weekend—except with the Tribune—but doesn’t every county have an unemployment comp office?
This is a story any reporter could work.
More political stories at McHenry County Blog.
= = = = =
A second Tribune story on clout in the Illinois Department of Employment Security.
5 comments:
No matter how you slice it, Illinois has the most sleazy, greasy, egotistical leadershp around. Lies, lies, and more lies every time their misdeeds hit the papers. Introducing "initiatives" that don't fly or are shell games, hiring friends and relatives by the bushel-load, taking money from unsavory characters and then giving them contracts, setting up agencies who make sure that these "favored" folks get their cut by designing the contract to fit their bid - the list goes on and on.
These folks make the Outfit look like choir boys.
I saw His Excellency Friday in Peoria; my friend's kid was there with numerous others getting a scholarship award handed to him by His Blagness. It was a labor-heavy gathering and they gave him a pretty solid welcome.
Bernie will appreciate this: The Governor started off with the old "little black girl saw me in the car and mistook me for Daley" joke.
But this was the kicker to me that made me just shake my head in disbelief.
He finishes his speech up with that old joke of his where his mom makes him promise to "be for the people", "never take bribes", "never dishonor the family name"... the punchline for which is; "can you get cousin so-and-so a job?" His response to that in the joke is; "We'll see what we can do".
Apparently, this was never a joke, but a policy statement.
This was just hours after the story hit and he ran from the press at the earlier event that day. You can't say he didn't know the joke was about as inappropriate as could be considering the day's news.
So I have to wonder, does he really think this whole hiring corruption thing is a JOKE???
I will be laughing all the way to the polling place.
As far as I’m concerned, it is a joke. It’s blown out of proportion by wishful thinking Republicans. The same Republicans that enjoyed politically based hires for 26 years.
I’m going to laugh all the way to the polling place, too. I’m really going to be laughing the next day when Judy is packing up the camp and heading for the house. You guys are too funny.
I wonder why Judy is being so quiet. Do you think that she might have a few political hires in the treasurer’s office? Matt, can you answer that?
Again, if it were any candidate other than Judy, I’d be worried.
Oh, to answer your question, he’s not worried at all.
Lisa did a great job against Blago, but why could she not find any wrong doing with Mayor Daley and John Daley?
Maybe now Sen. Bill Brady will stop asking Atty. Gen. Madigan to break the law so he can cull cheap political points by acting like he knows what he's doing.
L. Madigan was clearly looking into the Blagojevich administration for some time before Brady's cheap stunt (demanding she break the law by revealing an on-going investigation).
This latest story also clearly shows the Illinois AG backed off when the Federal AG asked her to, because of the Feds' own on-going investigation.
(But why would any conservatives bother to correct Bill Brady, eh?)
Post a Comment