By Steve Rhodes
A lot of folks in Sun-Times’s story today about the Blagojevich patronage machine are calling the clout lists the paper’s reporters got their hands on nonsense.
And in many cases that might be true. It’s not always clear how someone’s name ends up on these lists – though, curiously enough, it’s always the same people whose names you find when these lists emerge into public view.
But even I’m willing to grant some benefit of the doubt until or unless we know exactly who recommended whom for jobs and why. In many cases the Sun-Times reports on just that. Other cases are less clear.
On the other hand, in many cases I’m going to presume guilty into proven innocent. These are those cases – and you’ll see why:
* “[Ed] Burke didn’t respond to a request for comment.”
* “[Cheryle] Jackson’s press secretary did not respond when asked for a comment.”
* “[Former state Rep. Calvin] Giles, a current state employee, didn’t return a message left at his office.”
* “[Dick] Mell didn’t respond to an interview request.”
Guilty! Guilty! Guilty! Guilty!
*
My favorite:
“Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Cheryle Jackson, former communications director for Blagojevich. She is listed as having secured a deputy directorship for her husband, Charles Jackson, with the Department of Public Health in April 2003. Jackson’s press secretary did not respond when asked for comment.”
*
Funny how dramatically the tone of the reporting shifts when it comes to the jobs Barack Obama sought from the Blagojevich administration. Everything sounds so ominous in the main story, but in the Obama sidebar we are repeatedly assured that there was no wrongdoing and, you know, everyone does it.
Text of the Day
From Texts From Last Night:
(917): half the nation just spent an hour watching a balloon fly around. we are officially the dumbest fucking country.
This one was also good:
(778): some girl in front of me in class just googled “hungover+throwing up blood”
Facebook Feed
“Matt Farmer has dropped out of the group of investors attempting to buy Rush Limbaugh.”
State of Play
“Report: Majority Of Newspapers Now Purchased By Kidnappers To Prove Date.”
Payola
“CNN admits commentator has insurance industry ties.”
Maybe the FTC will turn its attention to the mainstream media when it’s done cleaning up the blogosphere.
*
And it’s not like I support blogola in any way, but this is a bit more of a problem.
ID IQ
Agreed. There’s a difference between identity theft and getting your wallet stolen.
*
“Sanitation expert and a maintenance engineer . . . “
Dunking Duncan, Daley
“In a surprising about-face, Chicago schools chief Ron Huberman announced yesterday afternoon that students attending Fenger high school on Chicago’s far South Side would be allowed to transfer back to schools closer to home rather than continuing to attend Fenger, the scene of neighborhood conflicts and recent violence,” Alexander Russo writes at This Week in Education.
“Last week as you may recall, former Chicago schools chief Arne Duncan vigorously denied that changes in attendance areas were to blame for the increased youth violence in Chicago and specifically the death of Darrion Albert, the honors student who was murdered after school in September. The Mayor derided the notion of making changes that would conform to gang or neighborhood boundaries.”
*
The funny thing is that by continuing to refuse to re-draw outdated beat boundaries, Daley also refuses to let gangs determine policing boundaries.
State Street To K Street
Axelrod’s old firm spreads its evil.
Daley’s Tax Game
Don’t read his lips; watch his hands.
Naperville Held Hostage
Day 9.
If Rush Limbaugh Owned The Bears
In The Blue And Orange Kool-Aid Report.
Taking The Sixth
Beachwood legal correspondent Sam Singer examines Padilla vs. Kentucky.
Cab #240
“We should have known we were in trouble,” our very own Ivana Susic writes in our latest taxi cab review. “The gold jacket and leopard-print denim pants should have given it away. We apparently caught her during lunch as she was working on a tuna sandwich and chips. She had a Jamaican accent, but while she was kicking us out of the cab, it sounded suspiciously less Jamaican.”
Open Books . . .
. . . opens a store.
Accident Update
Most members of the Scotland Yard Gospel Choir have health insurance – but they don’t have instrument insurance.
The Nerfing of America
In The College Football Report.
Rush Limbaugh, Terrell Owens and Milton Bradley . . .
. . . walk into a bar.
Illinois Online
The new old wagering.
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The Beachwood Tip Line: Over/under the counter.
Posted on October 16, 2009