Friday Blagojevich Post: E J Dionne looks at Illinois

Dionne looks at Illinois and thinks the Guv's shot his last bolt.

Barack Obama’s patented approach to problems — wait and think before acting to see what develops — is the Democrats’ best way out.

Blagojevich had one powerful weapon, his ability to appoint a senator. Now that he’s used it, his arsenal is depleted. If Democrats face down Blagojevich by walking away from Burris, they deprive themselves of a Senate vote for a bit and may even face litigation. That’s still better than implicating themselves in Blagojevich’s game by making a deal.

Treating this appointment as a circus act makes more sense than taking it seriously.

I doubt it. Fitz has over 1,000 wire tap transcripts. Fitz and the Guv probably the only two who know what's in those conversations. I'm betting the Guv has plenty more up his sleeves he can throw at Obama or any other Demcorat who stands in his way. Wait-and-see may well be paralysis panic E. J.

I'll keep the rest of my Blagojevich Posts below.

xp Bill Baar's West Side

Steve Roades looks at Obama's exoneration of his staff,

"Emanuel has declined to speak to reporters about his role in Senate succession and left for vacation in Africa before the report's release," the Tribune reports. "In a conference call with reporters, Craig characterized Emanuel's conversations with Blagojevich as 'completely innocent' and 'completely appropriate'."

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Transparency policy: we'll post our carefully calibrated positions and failures to comment on our website and make our bleep transparent!

Right, that's not wait-and-see, that's bamboozle- and-hope-it'll-all-pass.

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A comment from Blago Sphere yesterday.

It will be interesting to see if there are any organizations willing to step forward and seek permission from the IL SC to submit an Amicus Curiae brief in support of Senator Burris’s suit against Secretary White.

The Urban League, IL NAACP, and Black Contractors United are the one’s that come most immediately to mind. Without the promise of an alternative African American appointment from Quinn, it would be consistent with their established mission statements to do so; even if it meant opposing Jesse White in the process.

Given that there is no other African American in the U.S. Senate; I don’t believe Obama’s opposition to the appointment provides sufficient cover; if the attempts to reject Burris were ultimately to be successful, and Quinn were not to follow suit with his selection. Those pre-disposed to this way of thinking already have held Obama suspect on this front in the past, and the collapse of a Burris appointment, followed by a Schakowsky replacement by Quinn would only throw gas on their fire.

O’bama would have been better suited to stay out of this I think; and let the Senate take the heat for dealing with this. He could have expressed regret, and disappointment at what has taken place, and then assured all that he felt the Senate leadership was capable of resolving this satisfactorily.

You bet... a very interesting thing to watch. That Obama got sucked into this too from Rahm's first call with the Guv, doesn't speak very well of Team Obama's judgement.

What will they do with the worlds real tyrants?

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Edwards CEO Pamela Davis is in the New Yorker now talking about her experience as an FBI informant hunting Rezko: Secret Agent Dept Whistle-blower.

A story there was no interest telling nationally until after the election I guess.