What Friends Are For
A while back, I remember seeing a Chicago opinion column in which a wishful liberal columnist was hoping that the indictment of Tony Rezko, Governor Blagojevich's top wingman, would somehow reflect badly on George W. Bush instead of Rod Blagojevich, since Rezko did business in Iraq and, as any good liberal apparently knows, nobody is doing business in Iraq without the personal approval of Dick Cheney. No reference was made to arms dealer, convicted UN fraudster, raging Ba'athist, Saddam Hussein sympathizer Nadhmi Auchi, a friend and business partner of Rezko's, but now it also appears that Auchi isn't the only corrupt Iraqi with whom Tony Rezko was associated.

The State That Doesn't Pay Bills
I think that when they talk about "public debt", this isn't usually what they mean:

Last month, U.S. District Judge Matthew F. Kennelly ruled that the Sexually Explicit Video Game Law enacted by the Illinois State Legislature was unconstitutional and a violation of the First Amendment. Judge Kennelly ordered Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich to pay the legal costs of the video-game industry, which amounted to $510,528.64.

The Governor then took a path of non-action, while thousands of dollars in interest piled onto the sum. Kennelly then told Blagojevich "the time for waffling has passed," and proceeded to order the state to pay up. The judge set a hearing date January 30 if the bill isn’t paid.

"They have answered the plaintiffs' entreaties with what amounts to shoulder-shrugging and finger-pointing," U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly wrote in an opinion. "Specifically, they have made no real suggestion about what the plaintiffs need to do to collect what they are entitled to, largely leaving that up to one's imagination."

If only the Comptroller's office could sue Blagojevich and the bill's sponsors personally. Rod could just borrow the money from Tony Rezko. Where Rezko's going, he won't need it.

Quote of the Day
My friend Sara, watching a Blagojevich campaign ad (in which he conveniently provides us with video and audio of him uttering the words "I'm the worst person on Earth"):

He looks like he's straight from Lego's "American Politics" set... Cylindrical head and snap on hair.

I can't believe I get to do this for another four years.

Update: If you want to watch Blagojevich have one of his famous public losses of momentum, watch this victory speech, ignore the bizarre Elvis reference at :18, the weird smile at 1:10, the creepy smug kid behind him chewing gum who only gets funnier to watch as the video goes on, and behold a bizarre ramble at 2:15:

"You know, I get up every single day, have for the last four years, as the Governor of this great state, and Illinois is a great state. What makes Illinois such a great state isn't the map, isn't the shape of it, not the size of it, not even the climate of it! Sometimes it's good, sometimes the weather's not so good. What makes Illinois such a special place are the hard-working people who live in it.

See if you can count how many times Blagojevich refers to "hard work" in this speech. Does he not have a speechwriter, or what?

Point Missed
When Rod Blagojevich last increased the minimum wage, a number of struggling Illinois small businesses immediately cut back their hours or laid off employees, and some even closed their doors altogether. This was so successful, that he wants to not only do it again, but do it every year, forever.

Gov. Rod Blagojevich vowed Saturday that next month he will push for passage of his plan to boost the minimum wage in Illinois, a proposal that has become a linchpin of his re-election campaign.

Joined by Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, union leaders and Democratic lawmakers, Blagojevich reiterated his call to raise the minimum wage by $1 to $7.50 hourly but said he also plans to push for an automatic annual increase in the minimum wage based on the rate of inflation.

"What we're going to propose with our minimum wage increase is also to propose a built-in cost-of-living increase," Blagojevich told a crowd of about 100 gathered on the West Side. "So when the cost of gasoline goes up, the cost of living goes up, minimum-wage workers will see an indexing that will recognize those realities, and their pay will go up accordingly."

Presumably, since he brought up gasoline, Rod fantasizes that minimum wage income should support the ownership of an automobile, which isn't an entirely reasonable expectation for a grocery bagger or a food service worker, hence the point of Chicago's massive public transportation system. That, or he believes that it's actually typical for working class families to earn minimum wage, which is equally out of touch with reality.

Even so, Republican challenger Judy Baar Topinka argues that Illinois has fallen to 42nd in the country in job creation, and because of that, she favors an increase in the minimum wage nationally, "so all states are treated equally and Illinois employers are not unfairly disadvantaged."

This sounds great: Now the whole country can follow the Illinois lead in driving industry away. It's sad when industries consider Quebec a better place to do business than some American states.

The governor's office said only four states have an automatic cost-of-living adjustment to the minimum wage. They are Florida, Oregon, Vermont and Washington.

Any reasonable person would pause to wonder why so few states are interested in an idea like this. Rod Blagojevich wouldn't: Consider that virtually every state has passed concealed carry in the past few years, with none of the dire warnings of leftists (or Blagojevich himself) coming to pass, yet Blagojevich is still viciously opposed.

The Long, Electronic Arm of the Law
Remember in The Untouchables, the lengths they go to to arrest Capone's bookkeeper? Tag! You're it!

He's taken twenty trips abroad in the last two years and prosecutors say he's a flight risk.

After being fitted by federal authorities with an electronic monitoring device today, Tony Rezko offered reporters only stoic silence.

A source close to top Illinois Democrats said that there is concern about what Rezko might tell prosecutors, should he decide to cooperate with some or all of the multiple investigations into Governor Blagojevich's administration.

...and here's a flashback to December, 2005 and an earlier phase of Tony Rezko's life of pizza crime:

Papa John's International Inc., a Kentucky-based pizza franchise operation, sued a group of pizza restaurant operators charging, among other things, that they infringed the company's trademarks and operated as "fronts" for real estate mogul and restaurateur Antoin "Tony" Rezko after the company cancelled its franchise agreement with Mr. Rezko in 2004.

The eight-count complaint, filed in federal court in Chicago on Wednesday, charges two individuals and four businesses with racketeering, trademark infringement, unfair competition and other infractions.

Mr. Rezko, a fundraiser and confidant of Gov. Rod Blagojevich, signed the original franchise agreement for Papa John's in the Chicago area in March 1998 as CEO of Rezko Enterprises.

Mr. Rezko isn't named as a defendant in the lawsuit.

The individual defendants are Abdelhamid Chaib and Khaled Shair, businessmen the lawsuit alleges are "personal friend(s) and long-time business associate(s)" of Mr. Rezko. The suit also names Chaib Investments LLC, AR Pizza LLC, Newco Pizza LLC and LayaZia LLC.

AR Pizza, which the lawsuit alleges is short for "Antoin Rezko," was incorporated in June 2004 and Newco Pizza was incorporated in Aug 2004, just months after Papa John's terminated the franchise agreement with Mr. Rezko, the lawsuit charges. LayaZia was incorporated in September 2005.

AR Pizza, Newco Pizza and LayaZia have their principal places of business at 440 West Ogden Ave. in Downers Grove, the same location as that of Rezko Enterprises, according to the lawsuit. The restaurants operated by the entities did so under trade names other than Papa John's, including "Papa Tony's" and "Pizzeria Zia," "while still continuing to use trademarks, trade dress and other intellectual property belonging to Papa John's," the lawsuit says.

At the time, Rezko's attorney claimed that Papa John's was merely "trying to eliminate the competition".

Update: Reader MaverickRonin comments:

Interesting, so that's what happened to all the Papa John's in the NW Chicago suburbs. There was one by my house that went from Papa John's to Papa Murphy's and the pizza was exactly the same. Seriously, who's ever heard of Irish pizza?

Heh. Who, indeed?

It's Almost Official
Tony Rezko, warn those familiar, may not be coming home.

He's facing foreclosure on his Wilmette mansion, he's behind on his property taxes and his pizza business is in ruins.

"We don't think Tony's coming back," said an associate of Rezko's, speaking on condition of anonymity. "Why would he?"

Niewoehner told U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve that Rezko's absence "raises concerns" that the Syrian-born businessman cares little about appearing in court on his indictment. "It does suggest that Mr. Rezko had other priorities other than this court case," Niewoehner said.

St. Eve let an arrest warrant for Rezko, 51, stand and asked for Rezko's travel itinerary. The warrant calls for detaining Rezko without bond.

There was no public indication the government attempted to freeze Rezko's assets. And it was unclear Friday just how much is left to seize.

On Tuesday, LaSalle Bank National Association filed a foreclosure lawsuit on Rezko's Wilmette mansion. The suit alleges Rezko and his wife, Rita, haven't made their $30,000-a-month-plus mortgage payment since August and owe more than $5 million in principal, $96,108 in interest and at least $3,290 in late fees.

Also, $25,000 in taxes on Rezko's mansion are more than a month late.

Besides that, civil litigation against Rezko is mounting. A friend and business associate, Semir D. Sirazi, sued him Thursday alleging Rezko bilked him out of millions of dollars in a loan arrangement.

And Papa John's International, a pizza chain that helped Rezko build his fortune, has accused him in a civil racketeering lawsuit of defrauding the company.

Given Rezko's financial troubles, some investigators long have theorized that Rezko wouldn't return from overseas, sources said.

But the Rezko family's roots are in the north suburbs, including three children, some of whom are enrolled in school. Another restaurant chain with which Rezko is involved, Panda Express, remains successful. And Rezko is expected to make a fortune on a lucrative overseas venture: building a power plant in Iraq.

With the assistance of convicted criminal Nadhmi Auchi.

Beyond that, Rezko going on the lam could embarrass his friend Blagojevich, who is up for re-election Nov. 7.

Duffy wouldn't specify his client's location, saying outside of court: "I reported what I knew."

Rezko, Duffy added, had been in contact with the feds since 2004 and offered to talk to them. "They never took up the offer," nor did they warn him of the charges, Duffy said.

Not much left to talk about, really.

There Is Violence In Chicago
You can't script October, and Rich Miller is explaining that something is missing from the Rezko picture.

Once again, Illinoisans are forced to wonder whether their governor is an idiot or a crook or an idiotic crook.

Rezko was the ultimate Rod Blagojevich insider. He raised millions of dollars for Blagojevich's campaign fund. After the election, Rezko recommended tons of people for big-time state jobs. He got people appointed to state boards and commissions, including some who "coincidentally" contributed large sums of money to Blagojevich's campaign right around the time of their appointments. There have been many such "coincidences" in the last four years.

But Rezko was more than just a political pal. Much more. Rezko was one of the governor's most trusted friends. Rezko had an eight-year business partnership with the governor's wife. They attended personal and family events together.

Rezko also appears on the governor's gift disclosure report. Actually, Rezko wasn't listed on the report until Blagojevich was visited by his friendly neighborhood FBI agents, and then suddenly the form was amended.

The governor won't say what Rezko gave him except that the gifts may have been presents for his daughter. We went down that road last month, remember, when we found out that a city worker friend gave the governor $1,500 after the worker's wife got a state job. Blagojevich claims that the $1,500 went into his daughter's college fund. One can't help but wonder how much the fabulously wealthy Tony Rezko might have contributed to that same college fund.

Kid's going to George Washington University, apparently.

If Rezko was just a guy who raised a few bucks for the campaign and got a friend a job inspecting bridges for IDOT, then I can see how the governor could be excused for not knowing anything about this mess. But no matter how hard they spin things, he at least should have known something was amiss.

Accusations have swirled around Rezko since 2004, when it was alleged that he was part of a group that was shaking down hospitals and also that he may have sold seats on a state hospital oversight board for $25,000 contributions to the governor's campaign fund.

And it's not just Rezko.

Rezko was half of the gruesome twosome that helped the governor create his administration from the ground up. The other half was Chris Kelly, a roofing construction magnate who also raised millions of dollars for Blagojevich's campaign fund. Blagojevich has called Kelly "one of my closest friends." Kelly often described himself as "chairman of the governor's political organization."

I've wondered about what will become of Kelly, myself. Among his previous exploits, he raised money for an alderman whose brother determined how much Kelly got paid for roofing work at O'Hare, his sister landed a do-nothing job at the Bureau of Real Estate Professions, and threatened to sue Dick Mell, the Governor's father-in-law, for questioning the Blagfather's ethics.

Kelly is not mentioned by name in Rezko's indictment, but everyone's reporting that he is "Individual B." Individual B is alleged to have participated in a crooked scheme with Rezko and others to make sure that the Teachers Retirement System used investors and lawyers that he and Rezko recommended. According to a guilty plea by another player involved in this corrupt cabal, those investors and lawyers were then to be shaken down on behalf of Blagojevich's campaign fund.

The governor has spent millions of dollars on TV ads depicting his opponent Judy Baar Topinka as a "George Ryan Republican," but the most ironic part of this scandal is that the governor's guys were allegedly teamed up with some of the most entrenched Republican players in Illinois. Stu Levine was the ringleader and Bill Cellini is alleged to have been a facilitator. Levine has been a player for years. Cellini is the founding father of pinstripe patronage.

Meanwhile, the governor didn't see a thing and is totally clean. Or so he says. I'm not so sure.

Remember Al Capone's response in The Untouchables to the accusation he ran his business empire through violence?

"I grew up in a tough neighbourhood. We used to say, 'You can get further with a kind word and a gun than you can with just a kind word.' And in that neighbourhood it might've been true. And sometimes your reputation follows you. There is violence in Chicago, but not by me and not by anybody l employ, because it's not good business.

That's basically been Blagojevich's defense since all this started unravelling. In fact, Rod is now claiming that he hasn't seen Rezko in months. Next week, he'll completely throw him under the campaign bus and claim he hardly knew the guy, like he did with longtime friends Dominic Longo and Daniel Stefanski (who, ironically, was made a deputy director of the Department of Transportation, despite being a repeat DUI offender who eventually wound up nearly killing a number of motorists in yet another drunken joyride, finally getting crammed into the back of a squad car by three cops while shouting "Do you know who I am?!").

That's what it's like knowing Rod Blagojevich: One sunny day, he's telling you how you're going to get rich together if you'll just hold the bag, the next day, you're getting handcuffed and he's disavowed all knowledge of your existence, just like Mission: Impossible, but without any of the redeeming elements. The guy's father-in-law had him pegged.

It's not a partisan issue, it's a Chicago Machine issue, and if there is a just God, they're all going to prison.

Illinois' Least Wanted
Apparently, Tony Rezko wasn't all that unreachable, after all:

A fundraiser and political confidant of Gov. Rod Blagojevich failed to appear in court on fraud charges Friday, and prosecutors questioned whether he intends to return from an overseas trip.

Antoin "Tony" Rezko, 51, of Wilmette, is out of the country but plans to be back to answer the charges within a week, according to defense attorney Joseph J. Duffy. Federal prosecutors said that remains to be seen.

"With all due respect to Mr. Duffy, we don't necessarily take the word of Mr. Rezko that he is returning as he told Mr. Duffy," Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher S. Niewoehner told U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve.

At the urging of prosecutors, St. Eve declined to block execution of a warrant for Rezko's arrest. Duffy argued that if Rezko were stopped at an international border because of the warrant it could delay his return, but federal authorities said they wanted the warrant because they can't be sure of Rezko's plans.

Duffy had to explain Rezko's absence to two judges Friday. He appeared before U.S. District Judge James B. Zagel Friday morning. Rezko is charged in that case with using fraud to obtain $10 million in loans from General Electric Capital Corp. and swindling several investors.

Duffy appeared before St. Eve Friday afternoon. Rezko is charged in that case with plotting with millionaire campaign contributor Stuart Levine to shake down investment firms seeking business from the state.

"I spoke with him this morning and he told me that he was aware of his obligation as a citizen, and he was prepared to meet that obligation," Duffy told Zagel. The two arraignments were continued until next week.

Duffy told both judges that he did not know Rezko's exact travel plans but would know more "once I get the itinerary."

Switzerland, the Cayman Islands, maybe hang out with his Iraqi-born friend and business associate Nadhmi Auchi, one of the richest and most corrupt men in Britain, convicted in France for his receipt of tens of millions of dollars in the French/Iraqi oil kickback scandals.

Prosecutors had said after the two indictments were unsealed that Rezko could be considered a fugitive if he failed to show up for his arraignment. He was not declared a fugitive Friday, but an arrest warrant issued earlier in the week still stands.

One of the indictments accused Rezko of mail fraud, wire fraud and other charges in an elaborate scheme to squeeze millions of dollars out of companies, including a $1.5-million contribution to "a certain public official" from a company seeking state business.

A person familiar with the investigation, who spoke only on condition of anonymity because the probe is ongoing, said the unnamed public official is Blagojevich.

There are so many ways this could turn out, and almost all of them are hilarious.

Feel The Corruption Flow Through Your Body
Friends and associates ponder the life of Tony Rezko, and try to figure out how he was converted to the Dark Side.

Antoin "Tony" Rezko traveled in the entourage of boxing great Muhammad Ali, gave confidential advice to Gov. Rod Blagojevich and criss-crossed the globe to craft multimillion-dollar business deals.

But the business magnate's rise from Syrian immigrant to clout-rich Chicago millionaire was fueled in large part by a humble product: the pizza pie.

Two indictments unsealed Wednesday suggest Rezko's life was on two tracks--even as he ascended in influence in state government, his pizza businesses were spiraling into financial trouble, the government alleges.

Rezko, who is traveling abroad, has not formally responded to the charges and could not be reached for comment. His attorney, Joseph J. Duffy, called the charges unsealed against his client Wednesday "sensational" and "pure fiction."

What, is he backpacking Mongolia? It's 2006. Rezko's people know where he is, and he could be reached for comment if he wanted to be.

But the charges mark a troubling new chapter in a career that has arced from a Middle East town to America's halls of power.

"The Tony Rezko I went into business with in 1989 was a humble, hardworking immigrant success story," said Daniel Mahru, who partnered with Rezko in real estate ventures until they parted ways last year. "At 19 years old, he came off an airplane and couldn't speak English, but over the years he must have brought a hundred Rezkos over from Syria. He worked so hard to take care of nephews, nieces and children."

Then he added: "But the Tony Rezko I knew after the governor got elected was not the same person. He changed."

There can be only two Sith lords at a time: A master, and an apprentice.

Fat Tony
Oh, yes.

A top adviser and fundraiser for Gov. Rod Blagojevich was charged in a federal indictment, unsealed Wednesday, with scheming to collect millions of dollars in kickbacks from companies seeking to do business with the state.

Businessman Antoin "Tony" Rezko was charged with operating a fraud scheme in which he, millionaire political contributor Stuart Levine and other insiders used Levine's position as a member of two state boards to pressure companies to pay kickbacks in exchange for state business.

Rezko, 51, is also accused of trying to squeeze a company seeking to do business with the state for a $1.5 million contribution "to a certain public official." Prosecutors declined to name the official or to say whether anyone in the Blagojevich administration, including the governor, might be a target in the corruption investigation.

"This basically involved a pay-to-play scheme on steroids," U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald said. Rezko and Levine engaged in "a frenzied effort to collect kickbacks," he said.

Rezko was also charged with swindling General Electric Capital Corp. out of $10.5 million in loans to a pizza restaurant business and bilking a group of investors.

Rezko attorney Joseph J. Duffy issued a statement saying his client was innocent and would be vindicated at trial.

Yes, but did he twitch a little bit after the awkward silence?

The indictment unsealed Wednesday "appears to be the creation of Stuart Levine, a twice-indicted individual desperate to curry favor with the government to avoid being held accountable for his many years of corruption," Duffy said.

Topinka said she believed the charges against Rezko would influence how voters perceive Blagojevich.

"This is his right-hand man. This is not some third-level clerk," she said.

Blagojevich issued a statement saying the allegations, "if proven true, are a violation of my trust, but far more importantly a betrayal of the public's trust - the indictment details a pattern of self-enrichment by two individuals acting on their own that is reprehensible."

All of Capone's guys were acting "on their own", too. The only violation of Blagojevich's trust is that Rezko got caught.

Rezko, a Syrian-born U.S. citizen, has been a fixture in Illinois politics since Blagojevich won the governor's office in 2002. He raised funds for the campaign and contributed more than $65,000 himself.

Several individuals close to Rezko got state jobs from Blagojevich, a Democrat seeking a second term.

Rezko is due to appear in federal court Friday for arraignment, but prosecutors said they believe he is traveling abroad.

Uh oh.

"Efforts are being made to advise him of the charges and arrange for his return to the United States," Duffy said.

The indictment accused Rezko and Levine of hatching their scheme in 2003, when they agreed to divert $250,000 out of a $375,000 "finder's fee" paid by an investment firm that received $50 million in assets to invest for the state's Teachers Retirement System.

There's lots of Rezko History on this blog, including his awkward associations with known mobsters and arms dealers who tried to sell warships to Saddam Hussein, his scamming of a City of Chicago fund for minority-owned businesses, and more background on Levine and friends.

I truly hope Rezko does time, and that Blagojevich goes in right after him.

Update: What do you do if you want an authoritative source for a lie, but nobody credible has ever said it? Well, if you're Rod Blagojevich, you have your flunkies tell the lie to reporters, get the reporters to quote you on it, then quote the newspaper as if they were the primary source of the claim. It also seems that a state worker's union is concerned that the state's "internal investigation" of hiring practices may be a smokescreen to obstruct the federal investigation.

In other news, while Chicago-area property tax assessments have been going up anywhere from 15 to 90 percent, inculding the Governor's next door neighbors, the Governor himself somehow managed to land only a 1% increase. Luck!

Disclaimer
Watch as Rod Blagojevich apologizes to a Democratic Party rally for Abraham Lincoln having been a Republican.

...but we're a party that's bigger than holding petty partisan differences with Republicans....

If they were, would that remark have been needed? 30 seconds later, he turns around and complains about "the Republican party today".

The Obamanator Fails To Condemn Modest Rod
Barack Obama, a Chicago Democrat, is worried about corruption.

In Kenya.

"Corruption has been pervasive in this country. It's considered one of the 20 most corrupt nations on earth in terms of just daily interactions, everything from the top of the government all the way down to the bureaucratic... at the airports," Obama said.

Meanwhile, the Governor of Obama's state, Rod Blagojevich, appears to be illegally using state employees to respond to the budget proposals of political opponent Judy Baar Topinka. When pressed on the matter, Blagojevich responded that his budget director was "on vacation" during the press conference.

Dan Curry has been reviewing Governor Blagojevich's income statements.

So, in aggregate, Rod has accepted at least $12,000 in gifts the past three years and won't say what he accepted. Cash? A car? A boat? Let your imagination run wild, because our "reform" governor refuses to tell you.

The man has great friends, and, according to the filing, those friends are almost all people you know by name from reading this blog.

In other news, an angry Blagojevich says he's kind of like Lincoln, but not in a sacrilegious way.

Gov. Rod Blagojevich angrily lashed out at the Springfield press corps Friday, repeatedly calling them "sharks" while comparing himself to Abraham Lincoln.

The Chicago Democrat, making a rare appearance in the capital city to open the Illinois State Fair, defended his administration's handling of claims of corruption in state hiring.

"I just feel good about how we do things. You guys, take a look at the real facts and get the real story," Blagojevich testily told reporters.

Asked whether he was aware if his office had not, as of 2004, imposed a "blind" hiring system that would keep politics out of the hiring process, a clearly irate Blagojevich said he has other things to worry about.

"Do you think I get up every single day wasting my time doing that? I get up trying to get health care done for people, education funding, create jobs, stuff that people care about," said Blagojevich.

Asked whether his own office broke hiring rules, the governor said, "I'm not involved in those things."

"Look, I'm modest. You want me to pat myself on the back? I'm not going to do that," he said.

"Not every military initiative from the Union Army was successful. It took a while to kind of get that together and get it right. But the whole purpose of what they were trying to do was absolutely right, keeping the country together and then emancipating the slaves and providing freedom to millions and millions of people," Blagojevich said.

Modest.

Why Does Rod Blagojevich Hate Freedom?
Governor Blagojevich: Stifling democracy.

The Green Party gubernatorial hopeful Rich Whitney said he "can practically guarantee" his place on the November ballot - claiming the Greens have upheld 1,000 more signatures than legally required for ballot access.

Whitney, a civil-rights attorney from Carbondale, said he has followed the provisions of the law and proved himself as a candidate. Now, he'd like to treated as one and be included in the upcoming fall debates.

"It is in the best interests of the people of this state to have more choices for governor, not fewer," Whitney said. "It amazes me that Mr. Blagojevich would be opposed to testing his stances in an open marketplace of ideas."

Gov. Rod Blagojevich said he is primed and ready to debate Republican challenger Judy Baar Topinka - just so long as there are no Greens on stage. Blagojevich said the upcoming fall debates should be left to the political professionals.

"I think the debates should be between the two major party candidates," Blagojevich said. "I think it's important for the major parties to focus on the issues, because the two major parties are the ones that are in a position to make the decisions for the people of Illinois."

I'm not sure that Rod realizes that electoral debates aren't about politicians making decisions for the people of Illinois, it's about the people of Illinois making decisions about the politicians.

When asked if he would pull out of a debate if a Green was also invited, the governor had only this to say:

"Let me put it to you this way: we've offered a series of 12 to treasurer Topinka. Our offer is to debate her one-on-one." And added, "I'm interested in debating (Topinka) in 12 debates. I sure hope she's not looking for some excuse to get out of these debates."

The Topinka camp said it is not looking for any excuses to get into another debate about debates - nor to make up excuses.

"We're willing to debate anyone," said John McGovern, spokesman for the Topinka campaign. "We believe it is up to the debate sponsors and organizers to determine who's invited and who participates."

Blagojevich took a softer line when it came to whom he thought could be included on the November ballot.

"Whoever wants to run - with enough signatures - should be able to run in America," he said.

How generous of him. Of course, in Illinois, unless you're a Democrat or a Republican, the state's "established party" laws require you to collect five times more signatures than they do.

If Topinka wanted to play it bold, she'd make the existing closed circuit political system in Illinois a campaign issue, invite the Libertarian and Green candidates to the debates, and utterly trash Blagojevich for resisting.

Update: A friend calls, ironically, to tell a story about the removal ofGovernor Blagojevich's personality chip: She was walking to a video store in Ravenswood, and happened to see someone who "kind of looked like one of the Monkees" (or did she say "a monkey"? I'm not sure) talking to two people, and yelled out "Hey, Governor, how's it going?", earning a brief chat with Mister Roboto, who laughed mechanically and slapped her hand in jest.

"He was like a zombie," she says. He then walked into a Cold Stone Creamery to accost the people waiting in line.

Soon, I'll get somebody to actually attach a GPS tracking tag to his ear, like one of those specials on the Discovery Channel.

Sadly, my friend says that she's more likely to vote for Blagojevich over "that Topinka" because she heard that Topinka "opposes all kids". Sigh. Why, oh why couldn't we have had Jim Edgar back in the game?

His wife probably makes more money than he does, too.
Does Governor Blagojevich's combination of massive ego and paranoid insecurity combine to make him jealous of Barack Obama? It'd fit the pattern, and Barack gets to hang out with the cool kids. Blago has to buy friends.

He must be particularly offended that Barack says he doesn't even bother to follow Rod-related news, when pressed about federal and state investigations into the "alleged" criminality of his fellow Chicago Democrat.

Whistleblowers Announce Intention To Form Orchestra
Insert your bad joke about Serbians and the cleansing of unacceptable minorities here:

A lawsuit filed by Maynard Crossland claims aides to Gov. Rod Blagojevich came to his office in 2003 with a chart with red X's over the names of people the governor wanted to fire. Crossland says he was told the employees should be fired because they were Republicans, even though their jobs were protected from political hiring and firing.

It'd sure be great if the state's employment decisions were made using some radical new metric like "talent" or "qualifications".

All Kids Already Dealt With
Governor Blagojevich's latest healthcare innovation, "All Kids", is a huge success:

A spokeswoman for the state Department of Healthcare and Family Services says so far about 45,000 kids have signed up.

That includes 40,000 who already qualified for state coverage but hadn't signed up and 5,000 kids who didn't qualify until All Kids was created.

So, the State of Illinois hasn't actually done much, they've just spent huge amounts of money creating a new program because they weren't competent to properly promote awareness of the pre-existing ones.

The state has now teamed up with the Chicago White Sox to get the word out. This is almost as great as the wildly promoted ISave-RX program, which, despite being projected to attract 1,500,000 senior citizens to buy Canadian drugs, had, months later, an actual enrollment of less than 1% of that number.

Physicians remain not just skeptical, but scared:

"We are extremely, extremely worried about whether the program will run smoothly enough to allow access to care," said Dr. Peter Eupierre, president of the Illinois State Medical Society, a physicians group.

...Many experts question whether Illinois is ready to make good on its promise of health care for all children while simultaneously implementing two major new programs affecting most of the state's nearly 2 million Medicaid recipients.

Along with All Kids, the state [rolled out] a new disease management program Saturday for 160,000 Medicaid members with costly chronic conditions such as diabetes and asthma. Beginning next year, it will make a form of managed medical care known as primary-care case management mandatory for 1.2 million members.

"We're pretty well-prepared. We know how to do expansions," said Anne Marie Murphy, head of the Illinois Medicaid program, noting that Blagojevich has added 450,000 people to government-sponsored health plans in Illinois since he took office.

It should be pointed out that since most state medical assistance programs target the poor, a significant number of people "added" to the plans are likely to be people who have been driven to poverty by Blagojevich's policies. The public would be better served by policies that eliminate the need for 450,000 people to be on government-sponsored health plans.

More importantly, though, they really seem to not know how to do expansions, because they apparently haven't bothered to clue in their most important partners, the doctors themselves:

"There are still a lot of things we don't know and a lot of questions we have," Eupierre said. On Wednesday, the chairman of his organization's board of directors sent a letter to Barry Maram, director of Illinois' Department of Healthcare and Family Services, asking for more detailed information.

"We would like to know, if we need to make a referral, how will that work?" Eupierre said "What number will we have to call? Will we have to fax documents? Will we have to discuss the case with someone from the state? How long will that take? Or can we do this online? None of those details are available yet, and that's frustrating."

Illinois health care will soon run almost as smoothly as Canada's.

Leading the list of concerns is whether the state can persuade doctors to participate in All Kids and the other changes it is making. Without a large network of participating physicians, access to medical care will be compromised and new medical management strategies for Medicaid won't work, experts note.

The problem is, doctors across Illinois are increasingly reluctant to work with Medicaid because of the state's long delays in paying medical bills, said Vince Keenan, executive director of the Illinois Academy of Family Physicians...

The state has tried to ease concerns by assuring pediatricians treating All Kids patients that it will pay them in 30 days. But doubts are widespread.

"The state has promised providers time and time again that it will pay our bills promptly, and they just don't do it," Pescatore said.

The state currently owes providers in excess of 1.5 billion dollars.

Question: When doctors refuse the Governor's "insurance" and angry families want their money back, how will that work? What number will they have to call? Will they have to fax documents? Will they have to discuss the case with someone from the state? How long will that take? Or can they do that online?

Rock You Like A Blagojicane
Long time ago, Governor Blagojevich promised to "rock the system" in Illinois. Now, the feds are getting ready to rock his.

Gov. Rod Blagojevich insisted Saturday that misconduct in his administration is limited to isolated events by people who are soon punished, even though his own inspector general found a top Blagojevich aide took part in a "concerted effort" to subvert the law.

"As you police the system, every so often you're going find some people who violate the rules."

I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest that Blagojevich's idea of "every so often" differs greatly from mine.

"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?" he said. "Those are the things we've been doing."

His comments came one day after the release of a letter saying that a yearlong federal investigation had produced credible witnesses related to hiring fraud at multiple state agencies.

And the Chicago Tribune reported that Blagojevich's former inspector general, Zaldwaynaka "Z" Scott, found that the governor's patronage chief had worked with the Illinois Department of Employment Security to manipulate state hiring.

Joe Cini, head of the Governor's Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, worked with personnel officials at the Department of Employment Security to manipulate job titles, candidate credentials and job descriptions to aid jobseekers sponsored by the governor's office, Scott concluded.

"This effort reflects not merely an ignorance of the law, but complete and utter contempt for the law," Scott wrote in a Sept. 9, 2004, report obtained by the Tribune.

Scott, who resigned a year ago to join a private law firm, found "a concerted effort to subvert the laws including veterans' preference and the hiring process" for jobs that are supposed to be insulated from politics.

"In fact, that's a good sign," [Blagojevich] said at a news conference. "Again, that shows we're not even afraid to police people, you know, who are working for us who have responsibilities."

Blagojevich acknowledges he has been interviewed by the FBI. Prosecutors have issued subpoenas for hiring records and other information from state agencies, but Blagojevich won't say which agencies.

The administration -- after a list surfaced to prove the practice -- admitted it keeps track of jobseekers and their politically influential sponsors. Another list obtained by The Associated Press showed the administration tracked, by name, hundreds of jobs and promotions that are supposed to be shielded from political considerations.

A scene from the future: Blagojevich explaining why "this is actually a good thing" as the gate to his federal prison cell slams shut.

Update: Apparently, while I was hemmed in by the river, Governor Blagojevich was up to his hears in an entirely different murky liquid.

The Daily Herald's Eric Krol broke a big story this morning about a $100 million contract that mysteriously went to a firm that employs the sister of Rod Blagojevich's chief of staff.

I say mysterious because the administration is refusing to release the contract or details about whether it was competitively bid, and, if so, who the other bidders were.

The beauty of watching the Rod Blagojevich administration being pursued doggedly by the U.S. Attorney's office and the news media is wondering what creative and insincere answer it will come up with next.

It sometimes gets Rod by when the episodes are spaced far enough apart that people don't readily compare the bogus excuses. It's a bit of problem when the attacks are coming daily, like this weekend.

In Saturday's Tribune, which recounts the Patrick Fitzgerald letter describing "endemic" hiring corruption in the Blagojevich administration, this sentence appears.

Blagojevich has steadfastly denied that (Joe) Cini, the director of the governor's office of intergovernmental affairs, and the others engaged in any wrongdoing.

Then, in today's paper, the Tribune breaks another big story that reveals the contents of a Sept. 9, 2004, Inspector General's report. In it, Blagojevich's former IG said the Cini-led hiring office's "effort reflects not only ignorance of the law, but complete and utter contempt for the law."...

So, his hiring chief is found to have blatantly and willfully violated the law and he's still working for the state? I think Blagojevich answered his own question: he flunked the test of leadership.

As Yogi Berra would say, "It's deja vu all over again."

OCTOBER 1998
"In every government entity there are a few bad apples," said Jeremy Margolis on behalf of George Ryan and his emerging corruption scandal.

JUNE 2006
"Among those we hired there were some bad apples who violated the rules," said Abby Ottenhoff, on behalf of Rod Blagojevich and one of his emerging corruption scandals.

Blagojevich should use the theme from COPS as this year's campaign song.

Tired of Waiting, Tired of Waiting For You
Illinois State Senator Bill Brady, frustrated with the doddling of federal investigators, wonders what the heck is wrong with Illinois that they need the Feds to begin with.

"I am tired of waiting for federal prosecutors to clean up the mess in Illinois," Sen. Brady said. "If Illinois is ever going to shake its reputation for political corruption, we've got to start policing ourselves, instead of relying on the feds to do our work for us. It's an embarrassment."

Brady's call came as new evidence surfaced that top officials in the Governor's office, kept names and reviewed and approved the hiring of state employees for hundreds of routine jobs that are supposed to be protected from political influence. An Associated Press story (Read Full Story) reported that "...people familiar with the process, who spoke only on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the documents, said (Governor's Office) personnel director (Joe) Cini and a representative from the budget office" discussed job-seekers' names during meetings before approving new hires.

Brady, a Bloomington Republican, is also asking the Attorney General to publicly report on what steps her office is taking to ensure that critical evidence currently controlled by the Governor's office is not destroyed or altered. Recently, a former employee of the Blagojevich Administration told the media she had been instructed to delete files involving campaign contributors. At the time those allegations surfaced, the Blagojevich Administration claimed it had the right to delete those files.

"This is a major concern. This Administration knows they are the target of prosecutors. In that kind of situation, the pressure to destroy or alter evidence is intense," Sen. Brady said. "We need to make sure the evidence is being preserved for future prosecutions, if they become necessary."

"We've soaked the filing cabinets in gasoline, Governor, just like you asked!"

I'd say the reason state officials can't do anything to the Governor is because they know he'll have them fired and replaced with a handpicked goon. I mean, that's already what he's accused of.

When Corruption Collides
In Illinois, when multiple forms of corruption cross paths, the result is not unlike a matter/anti-matter reaction.

Dawn DeFraties, who was personnel director for the [Illinois] Department of Central Management Services, argued in a November 2004 e-mail that a review of her bureau duplicated work that was already under way by another consultant.

"Why do we have to do this again?" DeFraties asked in the e-mail, obtained by The Associated Press.

Her boss, Ed Wynn, responded that the work done by the other contractor -- The Revere Group Ltd. -- wasn't what the department needed. He said he wanted a consultant he knew from a private-sector job to do it correctly.

Wynn, then CMS chief administrative officer and legal counsel, later praised Chicago-based Revere on an advertising circular the company produced.

DeFraties' lawyer says one reason she was fired was her complaints about the multiple contracts. But a CMS spokesman said none of the work was redundant and, instead, DeFraties feared having her work scrutinized.

Aides to Gov. Rod Blagojevich announced May 12 that DeFraties and her one-time deputy, Michael Casey, had been fired for altering job-testing grades to give 28 favored applicants a better chance at state jobs. DeFraties and Casey deny any wrongdoing and have appealed their firings to the Civil Service Commission.

In the fall of 2004, The Revere Group was performing three reviews of operations in the personnel division at Central Management Services. Then Wynn hired Donna Simmons, an Indianapolis-based consultant who had previously worked for Wynn at Ameritech, to do another.

Simmons e-mailed DeFraties on Nov. 23, 2004, asking for information to begin her study.

DeFraties responded to Simmons, with a copy to Wynn, "I don't feel there is a need."

"I have already paid $80,000 to have my processes reviewed FOUR times by an outside consultant," DeFraties wrote, referring to the Revere contracts. "Not to be uncooperative here, but why do we have to do this again?"

Wynn's answer: "What was done before wasn't what we need. I've asked Donna to do this, using the correct methodology and process, as we discussed. So, it will be done."

Despite his criticism, Wynn's name and state title later appeared on a company flyer. "Revere has done a very good job for CMS ... they have been outstanding on these complex, in-depth projects," read Wynn's testimonial.

Wynn, who left CMS in July 2005, declined through a spokesman to comment on his exchange with DeFraties. He said last week Simmons did not benefit from her relationship with him in getting state work.

Of course not, that would be wrong!

Meanwhile, Mesirow Financial, a subsidiary of which was forced out of state work after an embarassing audit revealed they were billing taxpayers for "things like ice tongs, candy, parking at a Chicago Bulls game and a party to celebrate winning the contract"...

"Let this serve as notice to every company that does business with the state of Illinois: If you try to stick the taxpayers with these kinds of expenses, your contract will be terminated," Blagojevich said.

...has a new deal with the tollway department. Mesirow's lobbyist is the cousin of Blago's budget director.

You Have Entered The Twilight Zone
OK, if Ernie Fletcher goes to jail and Rod Blagojevich does not, I am going to freak out.