Bush pardon in Chicago scandal
The ACLU’s campaign to stop President Bush from pardoning corrupt officials failed today when President Bush announced a full pardon for a prominent Chicago politician caught in the Illinois bribery scandal.
Republican President Bush today pardoned President-elect Barack Obama for any and all crimes committed in the Chicago Blagojevich scandal. The President-elect, whose role was uncovered by skilled investigative reporters for the New York Times, gracefully accepted the pardon. The pardon also covers the Obama campaign’s donations fraud that was uncovered by the Times.
American Civil Liberties Union Executive Director Anthony Romero expressed outrage at the pardon. The ACLU has been campaigning hard in recent weeks to prevent the president from pardoning corrupt officials before the end of his White House tenure. “Preemptive pardons aimed at letting high-ranking officials escape accountability for undermining the Constitution and violating the law go against American values of justice and due process,” said Romero in an e-mail to members. “The ACLU is urging concerned people all across the country to speak out against this pardon.”
The Washington Post wrote that the collapse of the Illinois government is yet another example of President Bush’s failed foreign policy. The Post urged Vice-president-elect Biden to keep his campaign promise to “team up with the French and kick the Serbs out of Illinois”.
- Obama campaign skirts campaign finance law
- I expected the New York Times to be silent on the illegal donations that the Obama 2008 campaign encourages. I should have known better: they’re trying to cover for the campaign. But the bigger issue is that laws that don’t get enforced are counterproductive; they encourage dishonesty and lawlessness.
- Rezko’s singing, Blago investigation shows
- “How much larger will the scandal surrounding Rod Blagojevich grow? According to a footnote in the affadavit filed by US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, the sky could be the limit. Convicted political fixer Tony Rezko has been singing to investigators, and his connections reach all the way to the White House.”
- Contact: Emanuel spoke with Blago “on multiple occasions” about Senate seat
- “Sources within the investigation say that Rahm Emanuel, Obama’s chief of staff, spoke with Governor Rod Blagojevich on ‘multiple occasions’ about the Senate succession that Blagojevich had wanted to sell to the highest bidder—and that Emanuel will likely be on the FBI wiretaps.”
- Chicago Dominos Beginning To Fall—Where Might They Fall Next?
- “The Chicago-Way Corruption Scandal is actually a legal domino effect that is just beginning to fall. First we had Rezko, then Blagojevich, and now the Deputy Governor of Illinois has resigned.”
- National Journal Picks Up Story, Weakly
- “I cannot stress enough: AVS is default. It is not an arcane option you can choose. It is the default. To turn it off requires deliberate, intentional action.”
- Joe Biden’s Alternate Universe
- “What on Earth is he talking about? The United States and France may have kicked Hezbollah out of Lebanon in an alternate universe, but nothing even remotely like that ever happened in this one.”
- The Media’s “Almost Willful” Fantasy That Obama Is Untouched By Chicago Corruption
- “In case you don’t know the details by now: Obama wanted to buy a property a fair bit out of his league. The owner insisted that that property and the adjoining lot be sold on the same day. Obama could barely afford the one, let alone the lot.”
Omar decries “White Hate”: In the wake of anti-white violence by a Muslim shooter in Denver, Representative Ilhan Omar begins campaign to “stand together to stop white hate.” (read more…)