God, I miss Chicago.
Btw, the appropriate term for that thing atop Rod Blagojevich's head is "chinchilla brain cozy."
So how's the smoking ban working out, Betty?
Chinchilla brain cozy, heh!
Still smoke-free. I made it through the college football national championship game without a smoke, so I think I can make it through anything!
the most interesting thing about this story was the MSM coverage.
they seem almost happy to disprove accusations of liberal bias by overdoing it when dem-related scandals occur. watching them try to tie this to obama made me wonder how much of this bullshit we're going to have to witness in the next four years.
Interesting analysis and I agree for the most part. However, where Blago's opponents screwed up was in taking positions that proved untenable. The walkback from that caused unnecessary damage. Had they done their homework then said "Under the law he can do this even though he shouldn't, and it would be in the best interest of all concerned if his appointee did not accept the offer, and could you guys in Illinois fast-track his impeachment PLEASE?" there would have been less of an issue. Oh, sure, the media would have jumped on that, but look (as Obama would say), they jumped on the other position too.
Obama's campaign was noteworthy for not constantly reacting to the "media narrative" and I am surprised he got himself into that position.
"Had they done their homework then said 'Under the law he can do this even though he shouldn't, and it would be in the best interest of all concerned if his appointee did not accept the offer, and could you guys in Illinois fast-track his impeachment PLEASE?'"
Good point. Taking a hard-line stance they couldn't enforce WAS a mistake. Did they imagine Blago wouldn't call their bluff or that a potential nominee craven enough to accept couldn't be found? However, I still think the fall-out will ultimately help more than it hurts.
The whole blago thing reminds one, if one needed to be reminded, that out of control people can do a lot of harm before they are wrestled to the ground. And that people who pride themselves on being powerful and in control can get rolled damned fast, even by a fast talking drunk, simply because they believe their own hype.
The Dems, in the form of Obama, Reid, Durbin et al simply couldn't stop Blago from making an appointment which, fool though he is, he was cunning enough to make unrebuttable and unstoppable. Instead of taking a deep breath and grasping that basic fact the entire dem establishment tried to demand that first blago and then burriss "respect their authoritah" when they *didn't have any* worth spit. Jane hamsher's post "I'd like to play poker with Harry Reid" summed it up. Everyone got confused by burriss' unwillingness to take one for the dem team and they simply couldn't figure out fast enough how to climb down once their original pressure plays didn't work.
It was massively stupid and can't be turned retrospectively into a good thing, but its a blip on the political horizon. Still, it could have a good outcome if every time Harry Reid comes down the hall one of the smarter dems asks him to sit in on a game of poker because they all need some easy money. If Obama learns that Reid is a weak reed, and Reid learns its time to go back to the small town hustling of las vegas, we will be better off as a party.
aimai
Nice wrenches. Definitely gotta buy me a set
Commenting by HaloScan
