Hugh Hewitt, still looking for dirt:
The statement from the president-elect’s office is, well, slippery. It does not detail what contacts occurred between Governor Blagojevich and Obama advisors and staff. Most of us had understood the president-elect to have committed to full disclosure of all the details.
The president-elect appears to be hiding the facts about contacts between his staff and advisors and Blagojevich, which leads to the conclusion that there is something to hide here. To end the speculation, the president-elect need only request that the United States Attorney release transcripts of all conversations taped between Blagojevich and and Obama staffer or advisor.
The facts, as usual, are not on Hugh’s side. Obama doesn’t need to simply ask Fitzgerald for permission to release the transcripts, as Fitzgerald has already asked Obama TO NOT RELEASE the internal report:
Patrick J. Fitzgerald, the United States attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, said in a statement on Monday that he had asked Mr. Obama to delay releasing the findings of the transition team’s legal review so investigators could conduct interviews in the corruption case involving Mr. Blagojevich.
It goes without saying that if Fitzgerald does not want the internal review released, he certainly does not want the transcripts out there until he can finish his interviews. The craziest thing about this is that if the Obama team did violate Fitzgerald’s request and released everything, and it somehow hampered the investigation, who do you think would be the first person out there suggesting the Obama administration did it to defend another crooked Democratic politician?
Flop sweat is so unappealing, Hugh. Just wait a couple days, and when Fitz gives the green light to the Obama team, if they do not release the report then, you can go to town. Until then, stop being so silly.
MattF
Ahhh… Hewitt is simply a hack. "How Sarah Palin Rescued the Republican Party"… yadda, yadda… no there there.
norbizness
I don’t even think Hewitt’s mom cares what he says anymore.
Comrade Stuck
If Obama were to disregard Fitzs request and release the campaign’s contacts with Blago, then Hewitt and fellow wingnuts would be crowing about how Obama cares more about clearing himself that the integrity of a DOJ investigation. It’s always one angle or another with these idjits.
Comrade Stuck
It would be nice if I actually read all of your post Cole, then I wouldn’t sound like a parrot.
Ash Can
Hewitt is an ass to begin with, and in this time of Democratic ascendency and Republican erosion, he’s desperate on top of it. The grand structure of neo-conservatism that has been the mansion in which he and his ilk have resided and from which they’ve emptied their chamberpots onto the peasantry for years is finally collapsing under its own weight, and they’re doing everything they can to deny that it’s happening. "Obama’s a criminal! Why? Because
we said soshut up, that’s why!"Ash Can
P.S. On the subject of Rod Blagojevich as a product of the Chicago Machine, and how that Machine operates, this GOS diary spells it all out better than anything I’ve seen on the ‘Net to date, and certainly better than any DC/NY gasbag (none of whom appear to know Chicago politics from their asses from a hole in the ground).
joe from Lowell
Yeah, why DOESN’T Obama release his birth certificate?
Desperate, flailing clowns who’ve run out of confetti to toss.
Zifnab
Republican Blogger Bashes Newly Elected Democratic President Over Middling Details That Will Be Resolved By The End Of The Week Anyway. News at eleven.
Really, why is this even a surprise? Hewitt gets paid to spout this tripe and the only people who swallow it are the goons still pounding the table demanding Barack’s real Kenyan birth certificate. I encourage this kind of brainless gripping in hopes that the wingnut brigades are kept on the sidelines sniffing panties and huffing paint while the rest of the country discusses real issues regarding tax rates, environmental protections, economics, and foreign affairs.
TheFountainHead
Shorter Hewitt: "I swear to god, if Obama doesn’t admit he’s a corrupt, America-hatin’ terrorist RIGHT NOW, I’m gonna hold my breathe and stomp my feet!!"
Apsaras
The pundits trying to turn this into "Blagogate" are starting to sound like the Birth Certificate clowns. There’s always something more Obama needs to do, and this time (we promise) we’ll believe him if he only produces the evidence we need. Like… like a super-duper gold embossed birth certificate co-signed by President Kennedy and John Wayne.
Also, to clear himself in Blagogate, Obama should produce the videotaped archives of all of his activities since Rod Blagojevich was elected Governor of Illinois. What? You say they don’t exist? *snort* A likely story!
I’m JUST asking QUESTIONS here!!1!
AhabTRuler, V
I think that Hewitt has lost track of the more important issues, like the state of the economy.
jake 4 that 1
The details of Hewitt’s interactions with goats are, well, they’re slippery. Mr. Hewitt seems to be hiding the truth about how many goats he has violated.
The Truffle
John:
Why do you still have those Pajamas Media sidebar ads? I don’t wanna see Stalkin’ Malkin or Glenn "Faux Libertarian" Reynolds’ mugs when I come here! Wah!
Gold Star for Robot Boy
Hewitt reached the top of the wing-nut mountain in the days before the ’06 election, when he predicted the Repubs would GAIN 30-plus House seats.
No, really.
bago
No bill, you’re just wrong.
When a bottle blonde named Megyn owns you, it’s time to hang up the hat. (No disrespect for the woman, she is clearly sane and cogent. The angst is more directed at the idiot producers that believe you need a blonde with a badly spelled name to even be considered worthy of fox airtime.)
bootlegger
I’ll see your poopie peasantry and raise you one resistance .
Stevan
I must have missed Hewitt’s indignation when the parade of Bush administration officials were ignoring Congressional subpoenas and claiming executive privilege in a far more obvious effort to avoid a "full disclosure of all the details".
Church Lady
Just a little OT, but I am feeling somewhat vindicated today. Yesterday, on John’s Blago post, I questioned whether or not what Blago had done, as revealed to date, actually constituted a crime. I was attacked, particularly harshly by a few, for failing to see the obviousness of the crime.
Today’s online NYT contains a news analysis by David Johnson, entitled "In Blagojevich Case, Is It a Crime, or Just Talk?". It seems others, much more knowledgeable of the applicable laws, are asking the same question. I guess they, too, just fail to see the obviousness of the crime.
bago
We all need to become educated on the particulars of the law, so that whenever anyone gets their druthers up about the "rule of law" we can beat them soundly about the head and neck with Bush. (Kinky.)
bootlegger
Whether or not he broke any laws, I got to say that I’m pleased to see the collective outrage over even the appearance of impropriety by an elected official. In other "young democracies" pay-for-play and outright bribery are the norm and any indignation is simply laughed at. I suppose this is one bright spot in our matured democracy.
TheHatOnMyCat
Im not sure the media or even the blagojesphere have figured out that nobody, and I mean nobody, is caring about this Obama-Blago stuff right now. There are serious problems in the world and this is not one of them.
I am not sure that the cable whores have figured out that people are tuning this shit out completely. People are worried about their jobs, and the weather, and not about whether some goofball pundit thinks that Obama said "I" when he should have said "we" in some statement.
Why anyone is paying attention to this crap even at this (this thread’s) level is beyond me.
The Moar You Know
Please. This is a feature, not a bug, as far as the wingnuts are concerned. They win either way.
Zifnab
Well, maybe not "win" in the electoral sense…
David Hunt
Last week, I listened to an interview on NPR with the Attorney General of Illinois. She said that what Blagojovich was accused of was most definitely a crime.
Josh E.
Romney Rising!
Reverend Dennis
I don’t think that they have, most of them don’t seem to be too bright. Look at all the mileage they got out of the trumped up Left-wing angst over Obama’s Cabinet nominations. The cable whores now take something insignificant or something they made up and repeat it endlessly to each other while nodding sagely and congratulating themselves on their keen insight.
The Grand Panjandrum
Hewitt disingenuous? Bring me smelling salts I think I shall faint from the utter shock, sir.
Mike in NC
Hugh Hugeshit must be terrified of what the next eight years will do to his insane worldview.
mellowjohn
maybe the wingnuts are just so used to the bush administration running roughshod over proper legal procedure they can’t understand it when someone else doesn’t do it.
bobbo
Oh, poor, naive Stevan, how little you understand. As long as you don’t explicitly promote accountability, it is perfectly acceptable – nay, necessary, to practice secrecy, obfuscation, and outright lying. Anything less would be hypocritical.
AhabTRuler, V
Now we can declare the Obama presidency a failure: Cheney has endorsed Clinton, other Obama Cabinet picks
Comrade Dread
"Pay no heed to the bipartisan Senate report detailing the rot of torture policy goes all the way to the top… no… look a corrupt Democrat from Illinois! Obama Bad too!
By the way, I think there should be a law in place that the next media douchebag who labels a scandal with a -gate suffix will be summarily fed to sharks.
gnomedad
Hear, hear! And we’ll call the whole thing "Gate-gate".
D.N. Nation
So, when exactly did Hewitt reach Peak Wingnut? Was it…
1) Romney Rising!
2) Harriet Miers isn’t bad!
3) I’m in NYC, so that means I’m a terror warrior!
4) The GOP will gain seats in 2006, because Karl Rove thinks so!
5) PALIN PALIN PALIN PALIN PALIN
6) Romney is brilliant for staying in the race! (one day later) Romney is brilliant for leaving the race!
7) Hillary could have been lying about having a backpack when she was a student, because we don’t know if students used backpacks then!
8) McCain will win! x10^10^10^10^10
9) Ashley Todd is prove that Obama is a thug!
Sheesh, I can’t even remember all of them.
Nellcote
Did I miss the report where Cheney released the names of the participants in his energy policy meetings?
passerby
@Ash Can:
Lots of detail in that GOS diary link Ash Can. Here’s a snippet about how useless Blagojevich is as a politician:
Blagojevich’s tenure in the U.S. Congress was underwhelming. He was the quintessential back-bencher. One local pol even said of his accomplishments as a Congressman, "I think he got a post office named after a fallen police officer," http://www.chicagomag.com/… About the only significant vote he made was, of course as it turns out, the wrong one. He was the only Democratic in the House from the Illinois delegation to vote for the authorization for war in Iraq.
Meanwhile, Newt Gingrich is being very scary by calling for the RNC to cease and desist with the bogus Obama smearing:
"I was saddened to learn that at a time of national trial, when a president-elect is preparing to take office in the midst of the worst financial crisis in over seventy years, that the Republican National Committee is engaged in the sort of negative, attack politics that the voters rejected in the 2006 and 2008 election cycles."
Scary…surely he must have something up his sleeve…
Would it have killed Pelosi or Reid to make a similar remark?
passerby
@gnomedad:
too funny
Goseph Gerbils
Huge Halfwitt will continue to prostitute himself until he can afford that moob-reduction surgery.
Church Lady
@David Hunt- Of course Ms. Madigan is absolutely sure it’s a crime. She’s doing her level best to make sure he is booted out of office (not a bad thing), with a big assist from her father, the speaker of the Illinois legislature. She and her daddy want her to be governor.
r€nato
why is it necessary to wait for that? I say we go straight to feeding media douchebags to the sharks.
Jrod
If Obama would just release his really real birth certificate, and not the obviously fake one provided by the so-called "state" of "Hawaii," whatever the hell that is, we could put this citizenship thing thing to rest! Why won’t Obama do this? what is he hiding?
If Obama would just come clean about friendship with Bill Ayers, we could put this terrorism-supporting thing to rest! Obama claims to have simply served on some boards with Ayers, but Obama’s provided no evidence that he’s not infact a member of Ayers’ revolutionary cell. Why won’t Obama do this? Is he really an America-hating member of al-Qaeda?
If Obama would just come clean about his relationship with Blagojevich… … …
bcinaz
It’s really hard to prove something didn’t happen when nothing happened. Hugh et al wingnuts employing the Bill Ayers reasoning; chiding Obama to "explain" something where there is nothing.
And how weird, a Constitutional Law scholar opts to not fuck up an investigation at the request of the US Attorney who a member of the Justice Department – go figure.
Wingers are so used to the extra-legal crapola they do not recognize when a govenment official is behaving within a legal, ethical framework.