Alexi Giannoulias: Union Enforcer in Chief

Illinois’ boy accountant in chief, and Obama but buddy Alexi Giannoulias has once again demonstrated his qualifications to be our next senator:

Angry over billions in bailout money for Wells Fargo & Co., workers at a suburban Chicago factory where suits for President Barack Obama are made decided Monday to stage a sit-in if the clothier's creditor liquidates the company.

Workers at Hartmarx Corp., which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January, stopped production inside a Des Plaines, Ill., plant for 15 minutes Monday. They voted unanimously to take over the factory if Wells Fargo and its subsidiary Wachovia Bank shut down the factory and sell all its assets.

The workers' demands, similar to another high-profile worker takeover at a Chicago factory last year, have drawn the support of state officials including Illinois Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias. He has threatened to pull state business from Wells Fargo

A double win for lil Alexi; some back scratching for the SEIU (sure to act as loyal political muscle in his upcoming bid for the US Senate) and another chance for the government to flex its muscle over the private sector with this bullshit pandering.

Both of which are prime reason why Illinois’ unemployment rate is nearly 2 points over the national average.

Alexi Giannoulias for Senate

Thats right, Alexi Giannoulias, that mobbed up little rat fuck is currently being groomed on a Greek Beach by Dick Durban for a senate run in 2010. Why else would he be accompanying Durbin on a security junket.

Aside from the mob ties Giannoulias and his family have been very close allies with the Jacksons both politically and through business dealings.

If he does run for senator, knocking out the increasingly disgraced Roland Burris, there will be more than enough fodder for any election challenge. That is if the Illinois republican party can pull its head out of its ass long enough to win this seat.

The perpetual campaign.

Strait from Chicago, where BHO cut his political teeth, this is what a perpetual campaign looks like:



Because after all, how would all that delicious government cheese taste if the unwed/unemployed mother of 6 who is feeding it to her child didn’t know who was paying for it?
BTW, my wife got this from when she was working at an inner city hospital.

A Little Bit of Africa Right Here in the USA

Caught this over at the LA Times (via Drudge) this morning:

In Africa, money, ethnicity and family connections still count more toward success than does hard work. Bribes usually trump talent; corruption tops integrity. Young Africans hoping to follow in Obama's footsteps -- even those with the same name -- may face disappointment and disillusionment.

And after reading it I really had to scratch my head trying to differentiate between this description of Kenya and a similar description of this country:

In America today, money (as seen in Obama's election and the kind of power people like George Soros can wield), ethnicity (Roland Burris) and family connections (Beau Biden, Caroline Kennedy, Jesse Jackson Jr, Todd Stroger Jr, Emil Jones III). Bribes usually trump talent (Rod Blagojevich); corruption tops integrity.

Play it!

Bobby Rush on Blagojevich's appointment of Roland Burris to the vacant senate seat.

A passionate Rush, appearing besides the former Illinois AG and the indicted governor, said he challenged any pol to try to block Burris who would become the only "black senator.

Rush -- who defeated Obama in a 1990s congressional race -- went on to implore reporters gathered in Chicago not to "hang or lynch" Burris, despite the bizarre circumstances of his appointment.

"This is a good decision," Rush told reporters. "Roland Burris is worthy. He has not, in 20 years of public service, had one iota of taint on his record as a public servant. He is an esteemed member of this state and this communnity."

When all else fails, don’t forget to play the race card.


Sometimes I am just so proud that people like this are part of my states congressional delegation.

What happens now with Blagojevich?

A lot of people are wondering what happens in Springfield now. Even as more and more pressure is put on Blagojevich to resign, he just retained Ed Genson and looks to be ready for a fight.

There are a lot of ways for this to end, a combination of events could either take down the Democratic Party in Illinois or let everyone, including Blagojevich skate free.

Option A: Impeachment

The Illinois Republicans have been pushing realty hard for impeachment, and have been getting no where. A real impeachment trial would be long, and would be very damaging to the Illinois Democratic Party. A long public impeachment trial combined with a scorched earth mentality for Blagojevich could wind up revealing many secrets about the political machine in Illinois, damaging not only the Illinois Democratic party, but our new Dear Leader himself. How good would the new administration look if everyone got to see the shit that the fertilized the fields his political carrier grew in.

If impeachment proceedings were to drag on and on look for Blagojevich to continually drive up the stakes. Remember, that his wife Patti, did work with Rezko, and even the threat that she could spill the beans (even if she knew nothing) on Obama would be a strong hand to play.

A good legal team could keep Blagojevich in trial and out of jail for years. He is going to be looking for a promise from the Obama administration for a pardon after Obama leaves office.

Option B: Removal, the Lisa Madigan Way

Lisa Madigan was all over the TV the other day. She was floating the idea of using Article V, Section 6 of the Illinois constitution to oust Blagojevich from office challenging his mental fitness. This is a bit of a long shot, and several legal scholars have taken Madigan to task for the weakness of the brief.

This is a long shot, but one worth trying. Mike Madigan, Speaker of the House and AG Madigan’s dad (cozy nepotism) would like to keep his skeletons clean in any impeachment trial

Option C: Resignation

Blagojevich quits, leaves office. I don’t think he will do this unless someone throws out some carrots, because there aren’t any sticks left to hit him with. As above, the longer he waits to do this, the more desperate the Illinois Democratic Party will be to cut a deal with him.

No one would accept the Senate seat if Blagojevich gave it to them, and the longer he is the governor, the more pressure there is going to be to hold a special election. A special election in this climate would mean that a guaranteed democratic seat in the Senate would be put in doubt (I don’t think they could win it, but the Republican party in Illinois sucks ass too, so who knows).

Also, the longer this goes on, the more pressure there is going to be for an impeachment, and the democrats don’t want that either .

My bet, resignation with a deal. Fight it out in federal court, do a few months in jail and have Obama pardon him.

If this doesn’t happen by Christmas though, it will be well into February before it does.

Let the Rewriting of This Chapter of Obama History Begin

And so it begins

At the NY Times:

In a sequence of events that neatly captures the contradictions of Barack Obama’s rise through Illinois politics, a phone call he made three months ago to urge passage of a state ethics bill indirectly contributed to the downfall of a fellow Democrat he twice supported, Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich.

Really? I though it was an ongoing investigation that began in 2003?

At the Washington Post:

By all accounts, Obama and Blagojevich are not close, though then-Sen. Obama endorsed his fellow Democrat's reelection bid in 2006.

This is just the beginning in of what is sure to be an exhaustive rewrote of the history of Obama (and by extension Axelrod and Emanuel) and Blagojevich.

If the Illinois GOP cant use this as an issue to beat their opponents to death with (much like Ryan was used as an issue) then to hell with them.

Governors 4 - Mayors 0

What do George Ryan, Daniel Walker, William Grant Stratton all have in common? They and the newest inductee of the club, Rod Blagojevich, are all members of the Illinois gubernatorial felon team.

The fact that four governors have gone to jail in the past 50 years and not even one Chicago mayor has been indicted demonstrates where the real power in Illinois resides. Governors are expendable in Illinois and mayors of Chicago are not. It also demonstrates the bullet proof nature of the Chicago political machine in that no matter how deep a nosey prosecutor or FBI task force digs they never quite get the goods on the real power brokers because so many of their underlings are willing to fall on their swords to protect them.

We all knew this was going to happen, and I am not surprised that Fitzgerald did this before the inauguration and his subsequent dismissal or reassignment at the DOJ. History being a roadmap of future events, I am sure that Fitzgerald took the lesson that his predecessor Jay Stephens learned back in 1993 to heart: if you want to indict a political crony of an incoming president, do so before he can fire you.

And let us all keep in mind that this would have never happened without former Senator Peter Fitzgerald.

How does the Dear Leader react to yet another political crony going to jail? No one knows. Considering that the investigation has now spread to the appointment of Obama’s replacement this could get very interesting.

On Kenya and Cook County.

From John Kass today.

Back in 2006, Obama visited Kenya and railed about wholesale political corruption there that robbed the people of their right to honest government.

Then, he was campaigning for president of the United States as a reformer, though he forgot to mention that if elected, he'd bring half of Chicago's Daley Machine to the White House.

Excellent observation! In my numerous travels, I am sometimes asked why Chicago has such a reputation for corruption, and why, if it is as bad as is claimed, who don’t the voters throw them out of office or why don’t the politicians go to jail.

Simple, Cook County has mastered the art of leveraging public services, patronage employment, and media collusion to make the most seamless and ruthless political machine this country has seen. Sure some people would argue that the machine style politics as practiced in Chicago is endemic to all large urban areas, but Chicago is quite unique in that it has lasted nearly unscathed to this day and shows little if any sign of going away.

Everyone gets a piece of the action, and in turn they are all taken care of with jobs, earmarks, scholarships, perks for friends and families and most importantly big county and city contracts.

The unions support the machine because although Cook County has been hemorrhaging industrial union jobs due largely to burdensome tax policies and gentrification of formerly industrial areas (see Vienna Beef), the city has expanded its own workforce, all union naturally, and more importantly, has unanimously sided with the unions during contract negotiations that between union contractors and the respective union. The unions play ball with the machine, and they have a powerful ally when it comes time to negotiate pay and benefits with the non governmental employers.

You do campaign work for a politician, and are now qualified for a cushy municipal job. Are you an engineer? Campaign for me and I will get you a job at the Metropolitan Sanitary District (personal note here, I applied and tested for a spot at the MSD and out of 900 candidates, I was one of only 6 who scored a 100% on the exam, and the only one who had greater than 100% after my professional certifications were taken into account and DID NOT get the job. The job was relisted due to lack of qualified applicants, and was given to an alderman’s son in law). Is your son in school and needs some summer work? Campaign for me and he can work for streets and sanitation during the summer.

Support me and convince your congregation to support me, and I will make sure that the legislature allocates money for your congregations. Much like the $200,000 Michael Pfleger received from The Dear Leader.

Finance my campaign, and I will make sure that the neighborhood you want to redevelop is reassessed by the county every year until the holdouts can no longer afford the increase in property taxes and you can buy them out for a song.

And the gangs! Most people are not aware that street gangs in Chicago play a very active roll in politics. Although they cannot vote because most of them are felons, they can intimidate rival politicians and act as political muscle for politicians who court them. The Black Stone Rangers (now known as the El Rukins) and the Gangster Disciples received boatloads of federal state and local money under the guise of reaching out to local community anti-poverty groups in the 1960. Jesse Jackson used El Rukin muscle to man many of his protests (did you know that Jesse’s half brother is an El Rukin, and is jail). Former Gangster Disciples bossman Larry Hoover founded 21st Century V.O.T.E and had the support of former Cook county Commissioner, and Obama crony, John Stroger. A survey by researcher Andrew Papachristos found that 4,500 Chicago gang members claimed to have received monetary compensation for campaign work for politicians.

Basically, everyone gets a piece of the action, and consequentially everyone helps the machine propagate itself. The part about all this is that it’s all quietly understood so no one has to talk about it. My cousin worked for the CHA back in 2000. When Al Gore came to town for a rally in Daley Plaza, everyone in his department was given a ½ day off for an administrator in-service. The half day would provide anyone who wanted with ample opportunity to go to the Gore rally, which my cousin blew off to go fishing with me instead. He was not approved for overtime for the next 6 months, despite the fact that everyone else in his department was putting in between 5-10 hours a week. The understanding was that by being an employee of the city, you read between the lines and do what’s good for the continued survival of the machine and having Daley’s brother in the White House (he was Gore’s chief of staff) .

Young voters and self styled “progressives” support the machine …. Do I really have to elaborate here?

What about the legal system stepping in? Fat chance as the county prosecutor is just another machine hack, this time in the incarnation of Anita Alvarez. The feds do come in about every 15-20 years, Operation Silver Shovel, and clean house, but even when a Cook County machine politician is convicted and sent to jail they still try to pick up right where they left off after their release.

Real reform will come when a prosecutor has the enough time and resources to spend a decade dealing with the corruption, much like Patrick Fitzgerald is doing now. I think it’s a safe bet that The Dear Leader will either fire him, or promote him out of the trenches where he is tearing Obama’s political allies to pieces and give him a do nothing job at the Department of Justice.

And while the machine manages to dole out enough goodies to its supporters to keep getting itself elected, it does that off the backs of people like me who eventually get fed up and move the fuck out. Lower taxes, cheaper homes and better schools beat out any back scratching that the Democratic Machine could dole out.

And the media? The press here in Chicago may make a wave now and again, but a target rich environment like Chicago could be Pulitzer material for a decade; problem is no one has the balls to do as often as it needs to be done.

Remember this the next time Obama talks about cleaning up Washington and his political roots in Chicago. He swam in a cesspool of corruption with lifeguards like Richard Daley, Emil Jones, and Todd Stroger