Wonkette
- DO NOT MESS WITH BANK OF AMERICA: Hmmm, curious! Just yesterday Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich was cold hangin’ with all the peoples who got fired from the window shoppe and threatening B of A with terrible consequences for cutting off that window shoppe’s line of credit. And TODAY, MYSTERIOUSLY, the Feds show up on the governor’s doorstep and take him into custody on suspicion of being a corrupt bastard. Never before in the history of Illinois has an elected representative of the people been suspected of pay-to-play politics, so you can see how this would concern everyone. (The take-home message is, Bank of America will throw you in jail.) [Chicago Tribune]
Damn it feels good to be a gangster.
Well, considering that the only politician here in New York who ever made any effort to stand up to Wall Street got busted with a prostitute (something no other politician in New York state has ever done), I’m going to go with my suspicions on this one.
Repeated from earlier comment
Smells a lot like the Spitzer Whore Diamond Scandal. Wasn’t he sniffing around AIG (Property of the US America Gubbiment) when he got defenestrated?
It’s the Chicago way…..
Don Siegeleman and Elliot Spitzer just passed out from the deja vu.
This isn’t just any bank we’re talking about here. It isn’t the 1st National bank of Tallahassee. It isn’t the Bank of Bilbao, or the Bank of Bangladesh. This is the Bank of AMERICA, bitch! That’s right: AMERICA. You try to roll us and we’ll fuck you. We will fuck you so hard with weathered hunk of plywood you’ll spend the next six months pulling splinters out your ass. We will fuck you with a red hot poker and then put it in the fire and fuck you again. We’ll tie you up and brand you and put you out to pasture with a stud horse who’ll fuck you silly for six straight hours. We will fuck you where you live, we will fuck you where you work and we’ll track you down and fuck you where you hide. So, you want to try and roll us? Bring it on. Try it, bitch. I double fucking dare you.
Holy shit, he was apparently conspiring to “trade or sell” Hopey’s Senate seat? I wish I had known about this while bidding was still open … maybe he had it up on eBay? Of course, I don’t live in Illinois, but then neither did Alan Keyes.
It’s nothing like the Spitzer scandal. The ongoing investigation into Blago’s blatant corruption has hardly been a secret.
Serolf Divad: S3XXAH
Wait that’s supposed to be a disincentive, right?
…Debtors Prison?!
Oh yea, the folks at BOA’s call center are getting an extra special Christmas card from me this year. Even if they are all in Hyderabad.
Bill Ayers and Rev. Wright must be loosely linked by association to this somehow. C’mon, start digging. Let’s beat the wingnuts to it.
Josh Fruhlinger: …there is a Larry Craig joke in there somewhere, I can feel it in my bones!
You have no idea how excited this makes me.
I would like to see a prison somewhere that all (conviced) politicians go. The sociology would be amazing. For good measure I would also include 50% child molesters in the prison, but this quota might already be filled by the Rupublican prisoners
TJBeck: ….ummmm, well they do live in the same state/galaxy/universe/realm of reality! That should be good enough for Sean Hannity!
And what does that known Illini Barry Hussein Obama Jr. have to say about all of this? Hmmmm?
AngryBlakGuy: Aha! You’ve found the smoking gun! You’re *this close* to getting your own editorial at the New York Times!
Maybe he can be the new cellmate to the previous gov, George Ryan. That would be awesome. It’s not so much B of A, as the Illinois tradition.
Bloomberg sez it’s because he was trying to sell Obama’s Senate seat (like no politician has ever before “sought a cabinet post, an ambassadorship or a seat on a corporate board for his wife” in exchange for favors.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=akI3Mk_JuwxE&refer=home
Serolf Divad:
Think about fucking…….much?
For the thx GWB website lists: Rod Jagofevich.
BOA is a ravenous animal.
Orthette: I demand you write a Blagojevich x Ryan erotic fanfic post-haste!
4tehlulz: There’s no deja vu here. The guy was a corrupt piece of garbage who tried to sell a vacant U.S. Senate seat. He gets what he deserves.
U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald made the announcement with longtime partner Gerald Fitzpatrick.
Sorry. Those gwb thank you names has locked my mind in the gutter.
Serolf Divad:
You speak such fluent Chicagoeese! How is your Detroitian?
>>n October 23, 2008, the Chicago Tribune reported that Blagojevich suffered the lowest ratings ever recorded for an elected politician in nearly three decades of Chicago Tribune polls … In order to afford college, Blagojevich worked at the Trans-Alaskan Pipeline System as a dishwasher … Blagojevich does not have a middle name, but uses the initial “R.” in honor of his late father Radisa Blagojevich … ispute with his father-in-law, Richard Mell. Although Blagojevich had been elected largely with Mell’s help, the two had previously had a contentious relationship since Blagojevich was elected governor;[12] however, the feud went public in January 2005 when Blagojevich shut down a landfill owned by a distant cousin of his wife Patti … after ridicule from lawmakers, voters, and editorial cartoonists, he stopped the daily flights home … Religion: Serbian Orthodox<< wiki
He sought “a lucrative job with a union”? Like he wanted to be named Jimmy Hoffa? Very ambitious for a Polack.
Serolf Divad: Funny, that’s what my loan officer said to me when I took out a mortgage on my house. Needless to say, I’ve been fairly prompt with my payments each month.
I for one welcome our new penny-pinching, Scrooge McDuck overlords.
Since not a single print or broadcast outlet has even mentioned the B of A in their stories about Blagojevich today, I must conclude that the Wonkette editors have succumbed to an hysterical conspiracy theory.
Cape Clod: If Bank of America had more loan officers like that, maybe they wouldn’t be sucking so much right now with delinquent subprime mortgages.
Look for the “Tony Rezko” rightwing conspiracy tidal wave in 3… 2… 1…
And Dick Cheney walks free.
Has a sitting U.S. governor ever been arrested?
Blago is so fukkkkked. The indictment has him on tape weighing the pros and cons of appointing this candidate vs. that one, talking about “getting money up front”, a $150k/yr job for his wife, etc. Also getting certain editorial writers at the Chicago Tribune fired in return for tax considerations.
By the way: in one conservation, Blagojevich refers to a female candidate for the seat (probaby Madigan) and says that he knows that “they” prefer her for the seat, but “they” aren’t willing to give Blago anything but appreciation in return, so “fuck them”. I hope this means that Barry wasn’t willing to do anything untoward.
I’m pretty sure this guy is still kicking, although they stole one of his banners:
http://consumerist.com/tag/bank-of-america/?i=5019899&t=after-one-error-too-many-man-places-i-hate-bank-of-america-banner-on-his-house#cafter-one-error-too-many-man-places-i-hate-bank-of-america-banner-on-his-house
jagorev: I agree. My loan officer was some guy named Marcellus Wallace. I pay early on my mortgage every month.
Fast Eddie Vrdolyak, former Democratic Party Committeman and Alderman of the 10th Ward, currently deceased, was his mentor/godfather/chinaman. That in itself would be enough to get a corruption investigation going.
World B Free: He also threatened to block the sale of Wrigley unless the Trib’s editorial board endorsed him.
Pretty fucking stupid moves - try to blackmail a newspaper? Engage in a new pay-for-play scheme while already under investigation for corruption? What a dipshit. I was a Paul Vallas guy, anyways.
From the Trib article: “If they don’t perform, (expletive) ‘em,” Blagojevich said, according to the complaint.
Blagojevich is clearly from the Serolf Divad school of political discourse.
So exactly how balls out brazen do you have to be in selling an open Senate seat that the Feds roll you for it a month after the seat opens up? Did he have billboards up? What are the odds that he was ratted out by one of the people that didn’t have deep enough pockets and was pissed they were getting outbribed for the seat? Even money?
http://thesebastards.blogspot.com/
Y’know, in the general election newsy types often made reference to “Chicago Style Politics” as if that was supposed to mean something, but the only thing I knew about it was that some dead folks probably voted for JFK.
Now i get it. Holy crap that’s the most blatant corruption I’ve ever heard of! It’s incredible!
Of course, who the hell appoints the Senator, now?
I hope this doesn’t damage his 4% approval rating:
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/favorables/governors_approval_ratings
wow, i wonder how much the new york senate seat is going to cost?
null: Siegelman.
obfuscator: No, it means he’s unwilling to do at least 1 thing untoward. It’s official - he’s an improvement from Bush!
Charles de goal, Blago is a yugoslav of some sort. don’t go draggin down the poles with this tool.
Politicalchef: Short of conviction or impeachment or resignation, he remains the governor.
One rumor farting around Springfield is that the feds might threaten to arrest his wife in hopes that he resigns/pleads guilty/whatevs. He was allegedly trying to secure a job for her in return for the senate seat, so they could make a case for her being complicit or something.
Meanwhile, the Governor Paterson of NY leaves cute messages on his own cell phone regarding Hilary’s replacement:
“Hello, Governor,” he said. “It’s David Paterson here. I am calling to remind you that things would be a lot easier if you appoint yourself to the Senate seat.
“Leave that budget mess in Albany to some other sucker,” he said, adding, “I can’t believe you’re not thinking about this. I know I am.”
Man has a point.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/08/nyregion/08paterson.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=Paterson%20Kennedy&st=cse
I mean in a country full of truly stupid elected representatives, this guy may actually take the cake. His stupidity and corruption are so openly glaring, it really does far exceed even the most blatant cases we have seen recently, foot tapping and all
did you see his comments? oh my lord, he makes W look like a wordsmith. this one going to keep on giving for awhile cause it sounds like one jaw dropper after another.
cant wait to see Patrick Fitzgerald at the press conference in an hour
Basically if you’re not corrupt, you’re not an Illinois Governor. George Ryan was a pretty mean old bastard. Blagojevich had that smiley sprite thing going on, but he still knew how to play Chicago politics. Maybe they will share a jail cell?
Who’s going to appoint Hopey’s Senate replacement now? Pat Quinn?
null: I don’t know if he was ever arrested, but Arizona Governor Fife* Symington was indicted and convicted of some scam/fruad from before he was elected. He was booted out of office after that.
(*yeah, the fuckwad repubs here in AZ elected someone named FIFE … I didn’t vote for the asswipe, Fife?? I mean that conjures up images of a bumbling sheriff with one bullet in his pocket)
Miller: The real fucking irony here is the asshole was already under investigation by the feds for all sorts of shit. I mean, when the cops are watching you, and you KNOW they are watching you, even the dumbest of dumbfucks doesn’t walk into a bank and try and rob it. The clown is too stupid to be street sweeper, and he deserves some time in prison where Bubba can work on converting him to the other party with the good ol’ republican buttsecks!!!
Rod will get the rod. He deserves that and much more for doing something so stupid and dragging our African King Hussein Obama former job into such a scandal!
jagorev: Yeah, my bank is a local Co-op. They tend to be a little tough on you but at least they are solvent.
kimbongil: Right, I can’t wait to see who the candidates were who offered money and whores for the seat.
So how close was Hopey to “this guy”? How soon do we start hearing about Hopey’s Senate election in 2004? Is Palin gonna be president now? Game over man game over! It’s a bug hunt!
Hopey’s like, megaclean here, TPM quotez the indictment:
“In a conversation with Harris on November 11, the charges state, Blagojevich said he knew that the President-elect wanted Senate Candidate 1 for the open seat but “they’re not willing to give me anything except appreciation. [Expletive] them.”
NoWireHangers: I love how the indictment shows that Milarod (yes, that’s his real name, folks) thought seriously about appointing himself to the seat as a way to shield himself from his legal problems. The icing on the crazycake: he thought that getting out of Illinois would rehab his image in preparation for a possible White House run in 2016. This guy!
Bank of America saw this coming many years ago, so they purposefully baited Blajoegobaiatch into graft and corruption. Just like AIG saw it with Spitzer…they knew before he was ever gubernator of New York that he would go after them, so they paid to have him programmed with a whoremongering tendency while he was in his twenties and undergoing a routing medical exam.
It’s a conspiracy, I tell you!
I have a pic of me and the Gov from a Chicago St. Pat’s Parade about 6 years ago–I need to dig that sucker out tonite and use it as my Xmas card!
Serolf Divad: Very nicely stated. You must have worked in BOA’s marketing department, or maybe “government relations” (i.e. lobbying.
True story: one time I foolishly used a BOA debit card to buy gin and vermouth in a VA state liquor store. The clerk picked up my number and ordered some diamond earrings off a Web site. BOA rejected the purchase three times, and then authorized it anyway. WTF, it wasn’t their money.
Urbanachiever: You should caption the pic “I am on the short list for the senate seat. Please send cash instead of gifts or fruitcakes.”
He dropped a state college bond program a few years back, and my sis got screwed out of $5,000. This is one of his more minor sins. This guy deserves to rot in hell, if I have any say in such things.
And O’s fine in all this. No Ill. politician’s wanted anything to do with him for years.
Why does Patrick Fitzgerald get all the good cases? He’s like the Dr. House of the DoJ
sheldy13: Yes, this is excellent news - for JOHN MCCAIN!!!
dannygutters: With all due respect for Fitzgerald’s great success in bringing Scooter Libby to justice, in Illinois a crusading prosecutor is in what the fighter pilots call a “target-rich environment.”
mrpuma2u: I stand corrected. Serb. Sorry.
V572625694: us Wonketteers prefer the term Low Hanging Fruit.
What do ya know, its the month of Dickcember.
NotNotLickingToads: it was not not a conspiracy!
V572625694: Not to be quarrelsome, but nevertheless — Pat Fitzgerald will probably be OK. Former crusading US Atty for the Northern District Illinois, Honorable James R. Thompson, Governor Emeritus, is still extant. In fact, he is representing former Governor George Ryan in his campaign to get clemency from Dubya.