Chicago -
By Scott Buckner
Our former governor’s future viewing schedule.
Midnight – 1 a.m.: Scrambled porn.
1 a.m. – 2 a.m.: More scrambled porn.
2 a.m. – 3 a.m.: Screw Talk with Lisa: No-mark billy club etiquette.
3 a.m. – 4 a.m.: Guard-TV: Advanced cavity and cell search techniques.
4 a.m. – 5 a.m.: Mass for shut-ins.
Posted on July 30, 2010
By The Beachwood Vs. Affairs Desk
Compare and contrast.
LiLo: Cried first night in prison.
Blago: Will cry every night in prison.
Lilo: Got to keep her extensions.
Blago: Will get to keep his extensions.
LiLo: Cornered by the Sisters in the laundry.
Blago: Will be cornered by the Sisters in the laundry.
LiLo: Dated Sam Ronson.
Blago: Hired Sam Adams.
LiLo: Had a talking car.
Blago: Talked too much.
Posted on July 29, 2010
By Steve Rhodes
How did this man get elected twice to the governorship of America’s fifth-largest state?
That’s a media meme that took hold as the trial of Rod Blagojevich began to wind down last week.
The media analysts largely ignored their own role in Rod’s rise; instead it was, um, Rod’s charm that was to blame. And the political establishment. And voters. Everyone but themselves.
But the media was complicit in the rise of a man who had no business running a state. Let’s take a look.
Posted on July 27, 2010
By Scott Buckner
* Chicago River reverses itself. Also no longer be “green.”
* Memorial statue erected – on Block 37.
* Citizens confused by CTA trains and buses running on time.
* One-day parking meter holiday declared. No, make that 75-year parking meter holiday declared.
* Children in Hell enjoy unprecedented Snow Day.
Posted on July 26, 2010
By Matt Farmer and Steve Rhodes
After all, there’s an opening and both the team and the city need fresh looks.
1. The home plate umpire will only be able to get the Cubs starting lineup if he submits a pre-game FOIA request.
2. He will have no idea any of his players are using steroids right in front of him.
3. Each of next season’s 81 guest conductors for “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” will be named Vanecko.
4. The commissioner will order Daley to attend anger management therapy in July after Daley threatens to put a gun up the butt of Cubs announcer Bob Brenly.
5. Position of bench coach will be renamed buffer.
Posted on July 21, 2010
By Karen Weise/ProPublica
Last December, a $500 donation could buy a ticket to a fundraiser that, the invitation said, would feature “Bojangles’ Fried Chicken, Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, And Mel Watt, of course!” Two days later, Watt, a Democratic congressman from North Carolina, withdrew a provision from the House’s financial reform bill that would have regulated loans from car dealers.
This event and several others have come under scrutiny by the Office of Congressional Ethics, The New York Times reported yesterday. The ethics office sent donors and party hosts a formal request for documents relating to a number of fundraisers for members of Congress in the run-up to the House vote on financial reform last December.
Posted on July 16, 2010
By Bill McMorris/Illinois Statehouse News
Rod Blagojevich’s former second-in-command said the Illinois governor didn’t just run from his executive responsibilities, he hid from them as well.
Bob Greenlee, who served as deputy governor for Illinois in 2008, said Blagojevich would dodge former budget director John Filan by hiding out in the bathroom. The game of hide-and-seek came at a time when Illinois was running a multi-billion dollar deficit.
While that may seem immature, at least he was at the office – an atypical occurrence, according to Greenlee’s testimony Thursday at Blagojevich’s federal corruption trial. Blagojevich usually worked from home or his Chicago campaign headquarters, Greenlee said, only coming into the office for two to eight hours a week.
Greenlee had a busy job tracking Rod down to sign or veto laws and discuss policy. He would regularly get late evening calls from the governor for advice. But in the 2008 election season, Blagojevich kept Greenlee and his staff researching possible scenarios for the U.S. Senate appointment that would be his to make if Barack Obama won the presidency.
Posted on July 9, 2010
By Illinois Statehouse News
Rod Blagojevich told FBI agents they had little to worry about in a 2005 interview; he had a “firewall” in place to separate governance from fund-raising.
But those words provided little comfort to those the former Illinois governor allegedly tried to shake down.
Prosecutors introduced the jury to one of his alleged targets, road builder and former fundraiser Gerry Krozel. He testified that Blagojevich, his brother and co-defendant Rob Blagojevich and Lon Monk approached him in September 2008 with a proposition.
The governor had been fixating on the idea of a multi-billion dollar tollway construction project, at a time when the state was strapped for cash, making legislators less than eager to add to the budget. Blagojevich allegedly assured Krozel he had a way around the General Assembly – but it came at a price.
Posted on July 7, 2010
