Anagram (For Longo)

7:00 am, 1/23/05

Anagram (For Longo)
It seems Dominic Longo has recruited himself some attorneys, the law firm of Avila and Tomic, and together, they wrote the Governor a love note, the full text of which is available over at Illinois Leader.

Via Certified Mail, Personal & Confidential

Gov. Milorad "Rod" Blagojevich
2934 West Sunnyside
Chicago, Illinois 60625

The Law Offices of Avila & Tomic, LLC., have been retained by Dominic Longo to advise him about the defamatory statements you and your agents have been making to the media on and off the record regarding the character and employability of Dominic Longo. It is quite obvious from all your statements and the statements of your agents that you want to distance yourself from Dominic Longo and view him as a potential liability. However, that is no excuse for your press secretary to state that you would not recommend him for work anywhere based on his work record. This is true especially in light of the fact that you publicly commended in 1996 as seen on television and he played prominent roles in your 1992 State Representative and 1996 Congressional races. Dominic Longo introduced you to Chris Kelly, who has clearly played a critical role in your administration....One of your employees on the Congressional staff was the mother of a Coalition for Better Government member hired at Longo's suggestion. Dominic Longo and the Coalition for Better Government helped you during the 2002 gubernatoral race. Further, Dominic Longo was invited and appeared at the Governor's mansion in 2003. As recently as 2002, after your primary, at an event for State Representative Bob Bugielski you committed to making Dominic Longo a rich man. To deny your association with Dominic Longo is clearly false, and to criticize him is clearly defamatory. You are hereby served with notice that your statements effect his ability to find employment.

It goes on to discuss the threat of a lawsuit for "defamation of character and intentional infliction of emotional distress and perhaps other things", division of assets, who gets the kids, etc. Now, I doubt Longo has any trouble finding work, since, as reported here last year, Longo took early retirement from the Chicago Park District, after which he immediately landed another cushy do-nothing desk job with the Water Reclamation District. In Mayor Daley's opinion, he's apparently the most employable guy in Illinois. However, this is a political artillery shell through the roof Blago's home. It's almost beautiful. Longo has simultaneously blamed Blagojevich for ruining his reputation, and publicly attached all his corruption to Blago. There's something ugly going on up there, and Dick Mell is telling the press about the good old days.

The future governor then was an underdog who, many believed, didn't have a chance to win. And that made scaring up donations difficult.

"If you told me you had $2,000," Mell recounted in typically jocular fashion, "he and I would come to your house on a Saturday night, have dinner with you and your family, paint your kid's bedroom and wash your dog--for two grand."

How things have changed. According to the most recent filing with the Illinois State Board of Elections, the Blagojevich war chest contained a whopping $10.2 million.

Leader article:

R.B. + D.L. = Friends 4ever

A spokesman for Longo from the law offices of Avila & Tomic, LLC, added that Longo could understand the Governor's need to distance himself politically from Longo but that the Governor's denial of their friendship and his negative comments are beyond the pale.

Longo's spokesman also added that Longo, who is currently employed at the Chicago Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD), bristles at the assertions made by several media outlets including IllinoisLeader.com that Longo is a "mob associate."

"Dominic Longo is not a mob associate, he has never been involved with or tied to organized crime in any way whatsoever and the media has presented no evidence to the contrary," he said. "Dominic feels like he has been stereotyped because his last name ends in a vowel."

Longo's spokesman continued, "Dominic wants to make four points: (1) he has had a long-standing relationship with Blagojevich that is undeniable; (2) he introduced Chris Kelly to Blagojevich; (3) he feels Blagojevich has been ungrateful to him, to Mell and to other people who supported Blagojevich throughout his political career; and (4) he believes the media has been unfair to him and has unfairly stereotyped him."

As to the last point, Longo's spokesman attributes Longo's conviction for voter fraud in 1982 as the charge on which the media hangs their unfair characterizations of Longo 20-plus years later.

So, what, he's saying he was a freelance vote fraudster, unburdened by mafia overhead? Sure, those pesky felony convictions can attract scrutiny sometimes, but seriously, hanging out with a guy like Blago, what do you expect people to say? Longo even questions Blagojevich's masculinity in the Tribune:

In an interview, Longo said Blagojevich called him a few weeks before the 2002 general election, asking for campaign help--even as the then candidate was publicly declaring that Longo and other associates in his group would have "no place in state government."

"I sort of had a split with him because of the things he said in the paper about me. [That] I felt wasn't right ... 'cause he wasn't man enough to, you know, admit his friendship with me," Longo said.

Awww.