From The Daily Show:

Rio de Janeiro claims the 2016 Olympics because of its compelling presentation and its new Double Dome Stadium.

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From D.L. Hughley Breaks the News, Hughley and Cliff Kelley discussing the Blago impeachment. Whether anyone agrees with Hughley's defense of Blago here or not, he's spot on with this statement:

Hughley: Now I listened to those tapes and I'm not going to hide my affinity for this guy. I never met him before then but to me we have become such a trivial place that we will impeach a man for having sex, or lying about having sex with a woman. In California we will impeach a guy because he raises taxes on license plates because energy gets out of control. We'll impeach a guy for saying some things on tape. But a man can take us to war and lie and we won't do a damn thing about that. That makes me so mad.

Governor Shakedown compares himself to Martin Luther King and Gandhi, and refuses the back of the bus. Open thread below.

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Roland Burris makes his stand in defiance of Harry Reid today.

MSNBC's Chris Matthews talks it over with a panel including Howard Fineman, Pat Buchanan, CNBC's John Harwood, Brian DuBose of the Moonie Times, and Ann Kornbluth of the WaPo, and it's unanimous: Reid really doesn't have a legal leg to stand on.

Being a right-winger, DuBose clearly relishes this mess:

No, the conservatives don't have to cause any havoc here. The Democrats are doing a fine job themselves. Pat is right -- Harry Reid has put the Senate in a very precarious legal position, constitutionally. They have no constitutional authority to not allow Burris to take his rightful seat in the Senate. Now, they could expel him for reasons that they come up with if they seat him, that's a much better position to be in. But by barring him from the door they put themselves on a path towards legal suicide with the Supreme Court, if Burris decides to go that route. They have no legal standing to stop a representative of a state -- which is what the Senate is, representatives of states in their entirety -- they have no legal position to stop him from representing that state, as he is duly bound to do, appointed by a governor who is in power. It's -- it's case closed. He is the senator. Period.

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MSNBC analyst Jim Warren, discussing the Rod Blagojevich-Roland Burris mess, sounded a deeply cynical note yesterday on Hardball with Chris Matthews and Lynn Sweet of the Chicago Sun-Times. Cynical, but probably right:

Warren: And one vision you didn't -- along with, you know, Lynn's vision of what might happen tomorrow, one we should have that would make us slightly dyspeptic, is that of Rod Blagojevich back there grinning like a Cheshire Cat, because -- the Saturday Night Live caricature aside, the bipartisan animus toward him aside, the likelihood that he will be indicted aside -- he has every legal right to do this. And I think he has pulled one over on Harry Reid and Dick Durbin. And Harry Reid is left looking like some parent huffing and puffing and warning his kid that there's gonna be big punishment unless he does what he says, and then the kid doesn't stop doing it, and then Harry Reid doesn't have anything left to go to, unless what? He's going to send it to the Rules Committee? And Chuck Schumer, head of the Rules Committee? Who wants Al Franken seated ASAP because Minnesota's gotta have two senators on that floor as quickly as possible. Boy, I think Blagojevich has really played this in the most cynical but adroit of ways.

Sweet goes on to suggest that Reid may cave if Burris agrees not to run in two years, but then Warren appropriately notes that Burris doesn't believe he has anything to negotiate.

I'm not sure why Burris needs it explained to him that Blagejovich himself tainted the process of selecting this Senate seat by his own actions and words, and that anyone he chose would be similarly tainted. It's kind of sad, really.

Let's just say that this is not an auspicious start to a Senate career, much less a Democratic defense of that seat. A better man would not have let himself be so tainted. Hell, even Danny Davis -- who hasn't enough sense not to take part in coronation ceremonies for Rev. Moon -- thought better of this.

Roland Burris may believe he has the legal right to this seat. But politically, it's another story. The voters of Illinois have no reason whatsoever to believe that he was chosen with their best interests in mind, because they have very good reason to believe Blago was only looking out for himself. They have no reason to believe otherwise now. This selection was Blago's, and because of that, it will always be about Blago.

Burris may force himself upon the Senate, but he may want to savor his two years while they last.

Somewhere, Rudyard Kipling is spinning in his grave.

Via my good friend J.C. "Fusco Brothers" Duffy, cartoonist extraordinaire:

Jed put together this most excellent mash-up of the media's frenzy to tie Rahm Emanuel to the Blagojevich scandal. Read his post at Daily KOS here.

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Blagojevich speaks:

"I will fight, I will fight, I will fight, until I take my last breath. I have done nothing wrong. And I'm not going to quit a job the people hired me to do because of false accusations and a political lynch mob.

"... I'm not going to do what my accusers and political enemies have been doing, and that is, talk about my case in thirty-second sound bites on Meet the Press or on the TV news.

"Now I am dying to answer these charges, I am dying to show you how innocent I am. And I want to assure you, everyone who is here and everyone who is listening that I intend to answer every allegation that comes my way. However, I intend to answer them in the appropriate forum -- in a court of law. And when I do, I am absolutely certain that I will be vindicated."

He goes on to cite Rudyard Kipling and then pleads for a presumption of innocence.

Some of the talking heads found it convincing, but I wasn't among them.

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Despite the fact that he completely contradicted himself from his statements last week, Karl Rove had the nerve go to on Hannity & Colmes and chastise the President-elect Obama for how he and his team are handling their response to the Fitzgerald investigation of Rod Blagojevich.

When Rove decides to explain his role in the outing of Valerie Plame, or his role in the prosecution of Don Siegelman (for which he has failed to appear before Congress despite a subpoena), then maybe anyone should care about his opinions and his regard for the rule of law. At least it earned him a spot on Keith Olbermann's Worst Person list.

Rove and the rest of the Villagers that cannot wait to see how all of this plays out. They're all too happy to pass judgment before they know what's going on with the Blagojevich scandal; perhaps they should just shut their yaps in the meantime.

If there were actually any respect for the rule of law left in this country, Rove would be sitting in a jail cell in the basement of the Congress if nowhere else instead of being allowed to spew propoganda on Fox News.

Digby has been following the Conservative Illuminati as they do their best to try and smear Obama with Blagojevich.

Today on MSNBC, Shuster had on Pat Buchanan who said that Obama reacted "abnormally" to the Blagojevich news and failed to disclose which of his aides may have spoken to the Governor about his seat. Harold Ford very ineffectually defended Obama.

Buchanan replied:

Let me tell you, the problem is not that Rahm Emmanuel or Axelrod are involved in some deal.It is that they may be "tainted" by the fact that they talked to a Governor who is trolling and selling his Senate seat. They may have talked to him and if they did, they are supposed to report that to the US Attorney. Let me tell you Harold, a lot of my friends in the Nixon white house didn't do a thing when some guy came running in saying our guys just got caught breaking in and they didn't do anything with it.

{snip}

It's politics as scandal theatre, where Obama is judged by his performance on opening night. You can see by the energy and excitement among the gasbags that they want nothing more than to wallow in this thing as long as they can.

The Media are doing their very best to smear Obama and make ridiculous accusations and conclusions when Fitzgerald did not.

The Politico's awkward attemp to hype the Blago/Obama drama

AP's Sidoti smears Obama

The WSJ's awkward attempt to hype the Blago/Obama "ties"

Bob Cesca has found the word of the day.

Obama Unfairly Tainted by Crimes He Didn't Commit

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President-elect Obama was succinct in shooting down speculation about his connections to Rod Blagejovich today:

"I'm also aware of your interest in the matter of the Illinois Senate appointment. I was as appalled and disappointed as anybody by the revelations earlier this week. I have never spoken to the Governor on this subject. I am confident that no representatives of mine would have any part of any deals related to this seat. I think the materials released by the US attorney reflect that fact. I have asked my team to gather the facts of any contacts with the governor's office related to this vacancy so that we can share them with you over the next few days. Finally on this matter, let me say that this Senate seat does not belong to any politician to trade. It belongs to the people of Illinois and they deserve the best possible representation and they deserve to know that any vacancy will be filled in an appropriate way so that whoever is sent to Washington is fighting for the people of Illinois. I hope and expect that the leaders of the legislature will take steps to make sure this is so."

I'm sure the flying monkeys will keep scouring the skies, but I think the rest of us are ready to get back to fixing the country.

From a Chicago Tribune poll (10/22/08). Blagojevich was polling lower than George Bush (18%) and former Republican Gov. George Ryan, now said to be seeking a pardon from Bush. Blagojevich succeeded Ryan as governor in 2003.

Only 8 percent of the state's voters believe Blagojevich has lived up to his promise to end corruption in government—the hallmark of his initial election as governor in 2002 after the tenure of scandal-tarred Republican Gov. George Ryan. Three out of four Illinois voters said Blagojevich failed to keep his promise to end corruption in state hiring, contracts and appointments to state boards and commissions.

The poll found voter disapproval of Blagojevich to be even deeper than what Ryan faced during his final weeks in office as investigations swirled around him. In October 2002, a Tribune poll found 23 percent of voters approved of the job Ryan was doing as governor, while 61 percent disapproved. Ryan was convicted on federal corruption charges and is in prison.

A 13% approval rate is not so good.

Overall, the survey of 500 registered likely voters conducted at the end of last week showed a mere 10 percent said they wanted Blagojevich re-elected in 2010, while three-fourths said they didn't want him back for a third term.

The survey also showed only 13 percent approved of Blagojevich's job performance, while 71 percent disapproved.

Add to the fact that Blagojevich is a former prosecutor himself for Cook County, and that today is his birthday (born December 10, 1956) and this is reduced to utter and complete farce.

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I think it's now safe to say that Illinois has stolen from Alaska the title of Nation's Dumbest Governor.

Beyond that, it's hard to conclude much of anything about about the stench of corruption emanating from Rod Blagejovich's quarter of the Illinois Democratic Party, and especially to suggest that it extends much beyond that realm. Yes, there's a long history of corruption in Chicago politics (we all remember too well Dan Rostenkowski). But there's simply no evidence that Barack Obama or for that matter progressive Democrats from Illinois generally have had much of anything to do with these folks at all.

Case in point: Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-9th, who many of us have been hoping would get the job. She was interviewed by Andrea Mitchell today on MSNBC, and got off a deft one-liner about her role in the mess:

I thought at the time that I was a serious contender, but I realize now I probably wasn't, because he never asked me for anything. So I must have been out of the running.

Like Obama, Schakowsky has called for Blago to step down.

But of course, none of this has kept the Malkinite flying monkeys from fanning out across the skies. They're busy shouting "culture of corruption" at the Democrats now.

Please. Can we be spared the lectures about corruption from the people who brought us Jack Abramoff and the K Street Gang (where every Republican in sight was busy bellying up to the trough), Enron, and Cheney/Halliburton?

Ben Smith and Jonathan Martin at Politico have one of the only rational assessments of the risks Obama faces. The key point they raise is that the situation warrants keeping U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald in his seat for the time being -- and we strongly agree.

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President elect-Barack Obama responded today about the scandal that is swirling around Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich.

Obama: Like the rest of the people of Illinois, I am saddened and sobered by the news that came out of the US attorney's office today, but as this is a on going investigation involving the Governor I don't' think it's appropriate for me to comment on the issue at this time.

{snip}

I'll answer this one question. I had no contact with the governor or his office and so I we were not aware of what was happening. As I said it is a sad day for Illinois. Beyond that I don’t think it’s appropriate for me to comment.

It wouldn't be a surprise to find out that a member of Obama's team had met with Blags anyway. That's normal politics, but Obama does have to get ahead of the story or the traditional media will try to tear him apart. Aided of course by the right wing lunatic fringe. We just witnessed eight years of the culture of corruption with Bush, but the right wingers will hijack our terminology and the media will be willing allies. What we have seen so far is that Blags even cursed out Obama.

Ben Smith reports:

He also appears to think little of the president-elect, whom he calls a "motherf***er" at one point.

"F**k him," Blagjoveich says of Obama during a lengthy call with top aides and his wife recorded on November 10th, "For nothing? F**k him."

Digby says:

It's natural that Obama and many of his staff have crossed paths with the players in this scandal. But according to Lynn Sweet of the Tribune, who has followed Obama for some time and is not a sycophant, says the campaign put a mile between itself and Blagojevich, not even allowing him to speak at the Democratic convention. They are not close.

Get ready for the right wing freak show that is about to begin. They are going to go hog-wild.

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Boy, this is just the kind of mess Obama doesn't need:

Gov. Rod Blagojevich and his chief of staff, John Harris, were arrested today by FBI agents for what U.S. Atty. Patrick Fitzgerald called a "staggering" level of corruption involving pay-to-play politics in Illinois' top office.

Blagojevich is accused of a wide-ranging criminal conspiracy, including alleged attempts by the governor to try to sell or trade the U.S. Senate seat left vacant by President-elect Barack Obama in exchange for financial benefits for the governor and his wife. Blagojevich also is accused of obtaining campaign contributions in exchange for other official actions.

Blagojevich was taken into federal custody at his North Side home this morning--one day shy of his 52nd birthday.

At today's press conference, U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald observed:

The conduct would make Lincoln roll over in his grave.

When it came time to consider what Obama might want, apparently he couldn't be bothered. Fitzgerald quotes Blagejovich:

"They're not willing to give me anything but appreciation. [Bleep] them."

\
Details of the criminal complaint.

Bet this puts a crimp in Danny Davis' hopes.

Crooks and Liars has two bloggers from Illinois on staff, who weigh in:

Driftglass [Chicago]:

So, after 30 years of Republican rule, Democrat Blagojevich slid into the office, where he immediately made clear the disdain for the actual business of state government which would mark his tenure as governor by rarely visiting the state capital in Springfield, and never even pretending to set up housekeeping in the Governor's official residence.

Understand that, in Illinois, Democrats now control the state House, state Senate, every state-wide constitutional office, the Mayoralty of Chicago, the city council of Chicago, the board controlling the second most populous county in the country (Cook), and almost the entire federal congressional delegation at a time when the DNC has been moved to Chicago, and an Illinois Senator is about to be sworn in as President.

So you'd think, hey, maybe now would not be the very best time to piss away a once-in-a-lifetime historic opportunity to consolidate Democratic gains by f-ing up the state budget and generally carrying on like poo-flinging howler monkeys.

But you would be wrong.

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