Effin Retards Present Blackmail Demands To Obama

Now don't blame me for the headline, I am just quoting that great American and Democrat mayor of Chicago who besides blasting progressives has also taken the unprecedented step of laying off over 600 union employees this weekend.

Last August, Emanuel "showed up at a weekly strategy session featuring liberal groups and White House aides," the Journal's Peter Wallsten reported lastTuesday."Some attendees said they were planning to air ads attacking conservative Democrats who were balking at Mr. Obama's health-care overhaul. 'F—ing retarded,' Mr. Emanuel scolded the group, according to several participants. He warned them not to alienate lawmakers whose votes would be needed on health care and other top legislative items."

Does this qualify as calling PrezBo's bluff?

Pressuring President Obama from his left, activists showed up at his campaign headquarters in Chicago Friday with 200,000 signed pledges from volunteers and donors from his last campaign saying they will not volunteer or donate to his re-election campaign if he agrees to Republican demands for cuts to Medicare, Medicaid or social security.

Baby Barry doesn't have much to worry about however. These 'activists' pledge to still vote for him they just ain't gonna give him any money. These lefties really don't know how to play poker do they?

The Chicago Way: Emanuel Back on Ballot

Well, that didn't take long. Must have been a lot of dead fish showing up at judge's homes or something.

The Illinois Supreme Court has ordered the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners to put Rahm Emanuel’s name back on the mayoral ballot, attorneys for Emanuel said Tuesday.

The court has not decided whether to hear Emanuel’s appeal of Monday’s Illinois Appellate Court ruling that tossed him out of the race to replace Mayor Daley. The Supreme Court granted Emanuel’s motion for a stay of the ruling, Emanuel attorney Mike Kasper said Tuesday.

The state appellate court ruled Monday that Emanuel did not meet the one-year residency requirement to run for mayor of Chicago.

Emanuel’s attorneys, heavily citing the dissenting opinion in that case, are hoping to convince the seven justices of the Supreme Court to allow Emanuel to run.

Rahm Emanuel Booted Off Chicago Ballot

Tee-hee.

Rahm Emanuel was thrown off the ballot for mayor of Chicago today by an appellate court panel, a stunning blow to the fund-raising leader in the race.

An appellate panel ruled 2-1 that Emanuel did not meet the residency standard to run for mayor.

Appellate judges Thomas Hoffman and Shelvin Louise Marie Hall ruled against Emanuel. Justice Bertina Lampkin voted in favor of keeping President Obama’s former chief of staff on the Feb. 22 ballot.

“It’s a surprise, said Kevin Forde, the attorney who argued on Emanuel’s behalf.

Emanuel’s attorney’s are expected to use Lampkin’s dissenting opinion to appeal the case to the Illinois Supreme Court.

In today’s ruling, Hoffman wrote: “We ... order that the candidate’s name be excluded (or if, necessary, be removed) from the ballot from Chicago’s Feb. 22, 2011.”

Are you folks in Chicago ready for Mayor Moseley-Braun?

A recent poll showed Emanuel leading the pack of mayoral candidates with 44 percent support, compared with 21 percent for Carol Moseley Braun, 16 percent for Gery Chico, 7 percent for Miguel del Valle, and 9 percent are undecided.

Emanuel has also received the support of heavy-hitters such as former President Bill Clinton.

Attorneys for Emanuel are expected to take the case to the Illinois Supreme Court.

Lupica: Rahm Emanuel is the Smartest Guy Around or Something

Looks like Mikey Lilliputian is falling out of love with Barack Obama and is now pining for the oily Rahm Emanuel. Naturally, this "opinion" piece comes with the requisite cheap shots at Sarah Palin.

This time it was Rahm Emanuel in Chicago, making the speech that he hopes is the start of everything for him. This time it was Emanuel, a White House insider turned into a political outsider this fast, standing in the Coonley Elementary School, talking about a vision for the future for his city and really talking about himself.

"The question in this election is who has the experience, imagination and strength to see a better future," he said.

He is the tough guy from the Obama administration who now wants to be mayor of Chicago, then see where he can go from there. But you know he sees Chicago as just the beginning of something grander for him. This is American politics now, in the age of Barack Obama. The Obama who came from Chicago and really nowhere to become President.

They all think they can make it happen fast, as fast as the country turned around on Obama. The smart guys, and there is nobody around smarter than Emanuel, understand this has become Attention-Deficit America now, our society flattening out faster than it ever has in history, voters unable to distinguish between message and messengers in the age of Twitter and the Internet and the demagoguery, left and right, of cable TV.

This is how guys like Lupica rationalize the daily hatefests on MSNBC, by weakly claiming folks on the left and right are demagogues. He can't offer any examples, of course. Then he goes on to call Palin the "drum majorette for the Tea Party" and says she has all the substance of "substance of a Hallmark card" and then makes a fat joke about Chris Christie.

But Rahm Emanuel, he's the smartest guy out there.

After Pathetic 'Listening Tour' Flop, Rahm Emanuel Announces...He's Running For Mayor Anyway!

Since launching his "Tell It Like It Is" listening tour back on October 3, creepy shower stalker and Chicago mayoral hopeful Rahm Emanuel has been heckled, given the cold shoulder by commuters, and had an egg thrown in his general direction.

I guess the man doesn't know how to take a hint.



Cross-posted here.

'Dangerous for the American People'

Considering his boss was the top recipient of BP donations in 2008, this is pretty much a tough sell. But whoever said Rahm Emanuel deals in the truth?

Sarah Palin unloads.

RahmEmanuel= as shallow/narrowminded/political/irresponsible as they come,to falsely claim Barton's BP comment is "GOP philosophy"Rahm,u lie

Looks like Obama plans to keep milking Barton's comments. Hey, when you have no plan, no clue and no way of cleaning up the mess, that's what you've got to do.

Holiday Weekend News Dump: White House Claims It Was Bill Clinton Who Talked to Sestak About a Job

It took them three months to come up with this tale? No doubt their lapdog media sycophants will now say they've been forthcoming and let's move on.

The White House asked former President Bill Clinton to talk to Rep. Joe Sestak about the possibility of obtaining a senior position in the Obama administration if he would drop out of the Democratic primary race against establishment-backed Sen. Arlen Specter, the Obama administration will say in a report to be released Friday morning, Fox News has confirmed.

The report, by the White House Counsel's office, will describe the Clinton conversations as informal and unhinged from any precise job offer since, as a former president, Clinton could not guarantee Sestak anything.

The conversations with Sestak were initiated by Clinton at the behest of White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. Emanuel was Clinton's political director when he was president. Clinton promoted Sestak to vice admiral and made his director of defense policy. Sestak was a loyal and tireless supporter of Hillary Clinton's run for the presidency in 2008.

The report will be released one day after President Obama said the White House would issue a formal explanation that should answer questions about Sestak's allegation and insisted "nothing improper" happened. On the same day, Clinton had lunch with Obama.

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs has also said nothing improper happened, but refused to elaborate when asked repeatedly about the charge at Thursday's briefing.

Let's see if Sestak parrots the party line now.

Even better, let's get everyone under oath on this and see they all have to say.

Hey, How About Rahm Emanuel For Senate in Illinois?

Not that far-fetched. The current Democrat candidate is damaged goods and it would be quite embarrassing to see Barack Obama's Senate seat fall into Republican hands after The Swimmer's seat went GOP in Massachusetts. I guess the current occupant of the seat isn't an option.

We're hearing that Team Obama is increasingly eager to throw the Democratic Senate candidate from Illinois, Alexi Giannoulias, under the bus and replace him with someone who can win. The news gets worse and worse for the former wonderboy of Illinois politics. Mr. Giannoulias's family bank, Broadway Bank, collapsed and was seized by federal regulators. Now there are allegations of bank fraud. No wonder Democrats in the state are hyperventilating.

Mr. Giannoulias lags behind Republican Mark Kirk in money and in the polls, though he still has the support of the senior senator from Illinois, Dick Durbin. But the White House wants the "Obama seat" to remain in Democratic hands. Mr. Giannoulias is unmistakably seen as damaged property.

One intriguing idea being considered: Force Mr. Giannoulias out of the race and replace him with . . . Rahm Emanuel. Mr. Emanuel is still popular in Illinois and there was a big push to get him handpicked as the Obama successor back in late 2008. Democrats have used the shaft-and-shift strategy before, as in New Jersey in 2002 when they dumped a walking wounded Bob Torricelli as their Senate candidate a few weeks before Election Day.

Republicans, of course, are perfectly happy with the current field. "We want Giannoulias to be the Democratic candidate," says Republican Illinois House member John Shimkus. "We hope he doesn't dive too much in the polls at this point." But he also adds: "Our biggest worry would be that they replace him with Lisa Madigan." Ms. Madigan, the state's attorney general and daughter of the long-time speaker of the Illinois House, has so far said "no" to constant entreaties to run for Senate. Mr. Kirk has told me: "Lisa is the one Democrat I would not want to run against."

Under Pressure From Palin, Rahm Emanuel Apologizes for Calling Liberals Retarded

That Rahm Emanuel is a real class act. His boss must be so proud.

White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel apologized to the head of the Special Olympics today after the Wall Street Journal reported the fiery Chicagoan privately called a group of liberal activists "f---ing retarded."

Last August, Emanuel "showed up at a weekly strategy session featuring liberal groups and White House aides," the Journal's Peter Wallsten reported. "Some attendees said they were planning to air ads attacking conservative Democrats who were balking at Mr. Obama's health-care overhaul. 'F—ing retarded,' Mr. Emanuel scolded the group, according to several participants. He warned them not to alienate lawmakers whose votes would be needed on health care and other top legislative items."

A White House official confirms that Emanuel made the remark and reports that Emanuel called Tim Shriver last week when the Journal story first appeared to apologize to the disabled community and the apology was accepted.

Of course Emanuel's mealy-mouthed apology never would haev happened unless Sarah Palin mentioned it.

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is calling on the White House to fire Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel for using the word "retarded" in a recent strategy session.

In a posting on her Facebook page Monday, Palin blasted Emanuel for calling an idea from some of President Obama's supporters "f---ing retarded" during an August meeting with liberal groups and White House aides.

The Wall Street Journal reported last week that Emanuel made the remarks after some participants said they planned to air ads attacking conservative Democrats who were critical of Obama's health care agenda.

Palin, whose youngest child, Trig, has Down Syndrome, wrote that Emanuel's expletive was "heartbreaking" and said his "degrading scolding" has been "completely ignored by the White House."

"Just as we'd be appalled if any public figure of Rahm’s stature ever used the "N-word" or other such inappropriate language, Rahm’s slur on all God's children with cognitive and developmental disabilities -- and the people who love them -- is unacceptable, and it’s heartbreaking," wrote Palin.

"Rahm is known for his caustic, crude references about those with whom he disagrees, but his recent tirade against participants in a strategy session was such a strong slap in many American faces that our president is doing himself a disservice by seeming to condone Rahm’s recent sick and offensive tactic," she continued.

Considering how Emanuel refers to those of his own party one can only wonder what he says about conservatives.

Welcome To Mao's, er, Obama's America

At this point in time posting this video about the attempted blackballing of Fox News from interviewing the administration's Pay Czar, Ken Feinberg, is obligatory, but deserves the widest dissemination. It isn't often we have much to say positive about the other networks news coverage, but at least in this case they told the White House there is a line that can't be crossed and they deserve credit for taking that stand, whatever their motivations are.

This entire attempt by those in the administration to try an marginalize Fox News has been a total disaster for them, and is only fueling the sentiment in large portions of the country that there has never been an administration so hell bent on ignoring and indeed destroying the Constitution in the history of this country. Instead of giving themselves some level of plausible deniability and at least the appearance of being a benign presence they are instead reinforcing the idea that those in power are no better then some South American banana republic.

It is not in the nature of either Rahm Emanuel or David Axelrod to apologize for anything they have done, and I do think they are playing a big part in the attempt to isolate Fox News, so I wouldn't expect anything in that regard. This White House will just move on and try to minimize any mention of this incident and instead count on the short attention span of the average American and move on to their next target, whether it be the financial community, health insurance companies or any other non union business in the country.

And we have 3 more years of the Campaigner in Chief.

H/T to Hot Air for the video

Surprise! Michelle 'Guns' Obama Joins People 'Most Beautiful' List

As they say, beauty is in the eye of the beholder and apparently these judges are blind.

Michelle Obama, who has achieved celebrity status and has wowed the world as a fashion icon, made the list for the first time.
...
Also included in a "Barack's Beauties" section were White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and others.

They truly are the beautiful people.

Even the White House chef made the list.

Led by first lady Michelle Obama, with an assist from her guns, a group of Washington power players made up People's list of "Barack's Beauties." She was joined by White House Social Secretary Desiree Rogers, Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and White House Chef Sam Kass.

Somehow Carrie Prejean didn't make the list. Sarah Palin was overlooked but her impersonator is on the list and, most egregiously, one of our favorite babes isn't mentioned in any news stories, rendering this list meaningless.

Ka-Ching! Rahm Emanuel Raked in Big Bucks at Freddie Mac

I wonder if he'll be retroactively taxed at 100% for the money he made?

Before its portfolio of bad loans helped trigger the housing crisis, mortgage giant Freddie Mac was the focus of a major accounting scandal that led to a management shake-up, huge fines and scalding condemnation of passive directors.

One of those board members was Rahm Emanuel, now chief of staff to President Obama. Emanuel earned at least $320,000 for his 14-month stint at Freddie Mac.

Emanuel plays a critical role in addressing the nation's mortgage woes and fulfilling the administration's pledge to impose responsibility on the financial world -- the type of responsibility that appeared to be absent at Freddie Mac.

Emanuel, 49, is a veteran Democratic strategist and fundraiser who served three terms in the U.S. House after helping elect President Clinton and serving as his White House political director. The Freddie Mac money was part of $16 million that Emanuel earned in three years as an investment banker a decade ago.

Clinton appointed him to the Freddie Mac board in February 2000.

The board met no more than six times a year. Unlike most directors, Emanuel was not assigned to any of the board's working committees, according to company proxy statements. A spokeswoman for Emanuel disputed that.

Emanuel and other new directors qualified for more than $300,000 in stock and options plus a $20,000 annual fee, records indicate.

Hillary Clinton: 'Never Waste a Good Crisis'

Who knew we could have a good crisis? Apparently Mrs. Clinton enjoys people suffering, losing their jobs or seeing their life savings disappear, so long as the Democrats can capitalize on it.

Just remember this folks: These people do not care about you. As long as they can gain more power, they'll be happy to see you penniless.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told an audience on Friday "never waste a good crisis," as she highlighted the opportunity of rebuilding economies in a greener, less energy intensive model.

Highlighting Europe's unease the day after Russia warned that gas exports to the EU via Ukraine might be halted, she also condemned the use of energy as a political lever.

Clinton told young Europeans at the European Parliament global economic turmoil provided a fresh opening: "Never waste a good crisis ... Don't waste it when it can have a very positive impact on climate change and energy security."

This seems to be a recurring theme with the Obama administration, as former ballerina turned White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel uttered virtually the same thing a few months ago.

This opportunity isn't lost on the new president and his team. "You never want a serious crisis to go to waste," Rahm Emanuel, Mr. Obama's new chief of staff, told a Wall Street Journal conference of top corporate chief executives this week.

He elaborated: "Things that we had postponed for too long, that were long-term, are now immediate and must be dealt with. This crisis provides the opportunity for us to do things that you could not do before."

These people want you in crisis. The more control over your life, the more power they can gain.

Here's the ballerina discussing how to take advantage of a crisis:

'Carville and Begala are Just Trying to Ride My Fame Into Their Fortune and Become Relevant Again'

Bring it on, bitches

Fighting back against the coordinated and unprecedented White House smears of a radio host, Rush Limbaugh fired back today and left nothing in doubt. He'll take Obama on if the president is man enough.

I doubt he is.

RUSH: That's the union bunch. Can you just see...? (laughing) "Call the Republican leadership and say no to Limbaugh." (laughing) Now, ladies and gentlemen, the Politico story today. I got an e-mail last night from the writer of the story, Jonathan Martin, who did not tell me the full details of what the story they were working on was. He did not tell me that they have discovered that there is a team inside the White House targeting me and that they've been doing this since last fall, when they went out and did some polling data and found out I've got very high negatives among certain groups. So they thought, "Well, this is the guy to demonize! Since Bush is leaving, we need somebody," and so this is being led from the White House. There is an orchestrated attack, daily drumbeat on me from the White House. The participants here are James Carville, Paul Begala, and Rahm Emanuel.

But make no mistake about it. Emanuel is the leader of all of this. Carville and Begala are just trying to ride my fame into their fortune and become relevant again. Begala and Carville, don't confuse them with the powerbrokers that are managing this. It all Emanuel. Begala and Carville are second-rate talking heads on CNN. CNN has no audience. Rahm Emanuel is the power behind the throne -- and don't let his effeminate nature and his ballerina past mislead you on this. He may look effeminate (he was a ballerina at one time) but he has the feral instincts of a female rat defending its young. Well, take a look. When Emanuel and Carville and Begala are together (and I've seen pictures) it looks like a reunion of the Village People. (singing) Y! M! C! A! They are really the official greeters in Roswell, New Mexico in Area 51 where Carville was born.

My point here is that these are really odious, empty, nasty people who are feasting on their own arrogance. They are power hungry. But, you know what? They've never had a serious debate over ideas. Their goal is to destroy opponents, which is what they're trying to do now. They don't want to engage opponents. Their idea of victory is the destruction of the opponent. They're not for a level playing field. They want to clear the playing field so that their ideas do not have to undergo any scrutiny. So what do they do? They leak stories to the Politico intended to create impressions about their own importance and their brilliance, when in fact they aren't even bit players on the nation's stage. This is Emanuel, and this is Obama.

But I have an idea. If these guys are so impressed with themselves, and if they are so sure of their correctness, why doesn't President Obama come on my show? We will do a one-on-one debate of ideas and policies. Now, his people in this Politico story, it's on the record. They're claiming they wanted me all along. They wanted me to be the focus of attention. So let's have the debate! I am offering President Obama to come on this program -- without staffers, without a TelePrompTer, without note cards -- to debate me on the issues. Let's talk about free markets versus government control. Let's talk about nationalizing health care and raising taxes on small business.

Let's talk about the New Deal versus Reaganomics. Let's talk about closing Guantanamo Bay, and let's talk about sending $900 million to Hamas. Let's talk about illegal immigration and the lawlessness on the borders. Let's talk about massive deficits and the destroying of opportunities of future generations. Let's talk about ACORN, community agitators, and the unions that represent the government employees which pour millions of dollars into your campaign, President Obama. Let's talk about your elimination of school choice for minority students in the District of Columbia. Let's talk about your efforts to further reduce domestic drilling and refining of oil. Let's talk about your stock market. By the way, Mr. President, I want to help. Yesterday you said you looked at the stock market as no different than a tracking poll that goes up and down.

There's no "up and down" here. We have a plunge. The president yesterday suggested "we're getting to the point where profits and earnings ratios are approaching that point where you want to invest." Uh, Mr. President? There is no "profits and earnings" ratio. It's "price and earnings" ratio. He's the president of the United States. He doesn't know anything about the stock market. He's admitted it before. Let's talk about it anyway. You want to maintain it's a tracking poll? I'd love to talk to you about that. Let's talk about all of these things, Mr. President. Let's go ahead and have a debate on this show. No limits. Now that your handlers are praising themselves for promoting me as the head of a political party -- they think that's a great thing -- then it should be a no-brainer for you to further advance this strategy by debating me on the issues and on the merits, and wipe me out once and for all!

But Obama never will, because he's a punk who has to have henchmen and his media buttboys fight his battles for him.

Coward.

Obama should take a page from George W. Bush, who behaved like a grown up in the White House and never whined like a little bitch about criticism.

Racist Dingy Harry to Blago: Don't Appoint Any Black People

Racist

Apparently Harry Reid has had enough of those uppity black folk from Chicago. It's bad enough he has to take marching orders from King Obama the next two years before Nevada voters toss him out in 2010. But he wanted no part of the Reverend Jackson Junior in the Senate. And the best part? He's caught on tape!

Days before Gov. Blagojevich was charged with trying to sell President-elect Barack Obama's U.S. Senate seat to the highest bidder, top Senate Democrat Harry Reid made it clear who he didn’t want in the post: Jesse Jackson, Jr., Danny Davis or Emil Jones.

Rather, Reid called Blagojevich to argue he appoint either state Veterans Affairs chief Tammy Duckworth or Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, sources told the Chicago Sun-Times.

Sources say the Senate majority leader pushed against Jackson and Davis — both democratic congressmen from Illinois — and against Jones — the Illinois Senate president who is the political godfather of President-elect Barack Obama — because he did not believe the three men were electable. He feared losing the seat to a Republican in a future election.

Blagojevich spokesman Lucio Guerrero confirmed that Reid (D-Nev.) and U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) — the new chief of the Senate Democratic political operation — each called Blagojevich’s campaign office separately Dec. 3. Sources believe that at least portions of the phone conversations are on tape.

Before their contacts, Obama’s chief of staff Rahm Emanuel called Blagojevich to tell him to expect to hear from Senate leadership because they were pushing against Jackson and others, according to statements the governor made to others.

But ... but ... I thought Rahm Emanuel didn't have any contact with Blago about the Senate seat? Whoops.

Now, since Davis, Jones and Jackson are all black and Madigan and Duckworth are white, one can only assume Harry Reid is a racist. How can I leap to such a conclusion? I'm just using Democrat standards here. Therefore, it's affirmed: Dingy Harry is a racist.

Obama 'Report' by Obama Lawyer Clears Obama Chief of Staff

We can all go back to sleep now. Rahm Emanuel is in the clear. Expect the full report to be released somewhere around 11:55 pm on Christmas Eve, while everyone is snug in the beds with happy dreams of hope and change dancing in their heads.

George Stephanopoulos broke some news today when he reported that his former fellow Clinton White House colleague Rahm Emanuel was cleared by an investigation by Greg Craig, the former Clinton White House lawyer, into contacts the Obama transition team had with Gov. Rod Blagojevich's office (so far as we know Blago had no role in the Clinton Administration even though the former president and Blago both have a thing for Elvis, thank you very much.)

As Stephanopoulos reports in his blog (he also said this on "This Week" this morning:

Sources tell me that the Obama team's review of contacts with Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich will show that Rahm Emanuel had only one phone conversation with Blagojevich.

The contact, described as a "pro-forma" courtesy call, came as Emanuel was named Chief of Staff for Obama. Most of the discussion concerned Emanuel's Congressional seat (which had previously been held by Blagojevich), with only a "passing reference" to the Senate vacancy, according to these sources. No deal for the Senate vacancy was discussed.

Speculation in Washington and Chicago has been swirling for a week now over what the Obama team's report would find. Until now, the contents of that report have been kept sealed, at the request of the U.S. Attorney's office. Last Wednesday, Obama said he found it "a little bit frustrating" that the report had not yet been released.

In the meantime, let's all go back to pretending Obama has nothing to do with the corrupt Chicago machine that got him where he is today.

Why Hasn't Rahm Emanuel Resigned From His Congressional Seat?

Since Barack Obama's Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel is smack dab in the middle of the Rod Blagojevich scandal, it got me wondering why he hasn't resigned from his Congressional seat yet? Before we get to that, however, we have news this morning that Emanuel indeed spoke directly with Blagojevich about who might replace Obama.

President-elect Barack Obama's incoming chief of staff Rahm Emanuel had a deeper involvement in pressing for a U.S. Senate seat appointment than previously reported, the Sun-Times has learned. Emanuel had direct discussions about the seat with Gov. Blagojevich, who is is accused of trying to auction it to the highest bidder.

Emanuel talked with the governor in the days following the Nov. 4 election and pressed early on for the appointment of Valerie Jarrett to the post, sources with knowledge of the conversations told the Sun-Times. There was no indication from sources that Emanuel brokered a deal, however.

A source with the Obama camp strongly denied Emanuel spoke with the governor directly about the seat, saying Emanuel only spoke with Blagojevich once recently to say he was taking the chief of staff post.

But sources with knowledge of the investigation said Blagojevich told his aides about the calls with Emanuel and sometimes gave them directions afterward. Sources said that early on, Emanuel pushed for the appointment of Jarrett to the governor and his staff and asked that it be done by a certain date.

At least some of the conversations between Emanuel and Blagojevich were likely caught on tape, sources said.

Oops. Now those are tapes I'd really like to hear.

So we now have both Obama and Emanuel caught in a lie.

Change!

Anyway, since the media hasn't paid it much attention, we're wondering why Emanuel hasn't resigned from his seat yet. I cannot locate any stories saying he's already done so, but according to his Wikipedia page, there's probably a good reason why he hasn't yet done so.

After Emanuel submits his resignation of his congressional seat, the Governor of Illinois must set the date for a special election within five days, and the election must take place within 115 days.

Maybe Emanuel hasn't resigned yet because it's possible he'll be jettisoned from Obama's administration and he can just go back to Congress? It's almost a shame Blagojevich can't appoint someone in his place. Now that would really be amusing.

Cowardly Emanuel Claims He's Getting Death Threats

Big tough guy, the gutter-fighting Chicago pol. Now when the heat's on and he's watching the feds close in, Rahm Emanuel cries and whines like the little bitch he is.

The President-elect's chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, said today he won't go to the Chicago Presidential transition offices in order to avoid reporters seeking to ask him whether he had contact with Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich about the Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama's election.

Emanuel appeared "beet-red," according to an ABC News cameraman who was invited inside by Emmanuel [sic] to use his bathroom this morning.

"I'm getting regular death threats. You've put my home address on national television. I'm pissed at the networks. You've intruded too much, " Emanuel said, according to the cameraman.

If he's allegedly getting death threats, then shame on the idiots pestering him. But I see no reports of Secret Service or police being stationed outside his home.

He just wants to play the victim.

Break Out the Popcorn: Rendell Hammers Obama, Emanuel Runs for Cover

This is getting interesting now. You had to figure a loose cannon like Ed Rendell would be chiming in over the Rod Blagojevich scandal, and sure enough, he unleashes on Barack Obama.

Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell today criticized Barack Obama for not being more upfront about the Illinois corruption scandal.

Now, he said, the story will continue to dominate the media’s attention.

“They have never been in an executive position before,” Rendell said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” “The rule of thumb is whatever you did, say it and get it over with and make it a one-day story as opposed to a three-day story. Politicians are always misjudging the intelligence of the American people.”

Known for his blunt critiques of fellow Democrats, Rendell did not hold back during the interview.

The criminal complaint essentially exonerates Obama and his staff, Rendell said, because it quotes Blagojevich as saying the president-elect would offer him nothing but appreciation for appointing Obama confidant Valerie Jarrett to the position.

“Did Rahm Emanuel who took Rod Blagojevich’s seat in Congress have contact with Rod Blagojevich? Of course he did,” Rendell said. “They may have thought he was the craziest S.O.B. in the world. But you still have to have contact with him.”

The criminal complaint exonerates Obama and his staff because it quotes Blagojevich as saying the president-elect would offer him nothing but appreciation for appointing Obama confidant Valerie Jarrett to the position, Rendell said.

“Blagojevich curses them out,” Rendell said. “It is easy [for Obama to] just say, ‘Hey folks here it is, of course we had contact.'

"But they made the mistake of making it a four or five or six day story.”

Meanwhile, the heat is now squarely on Emanuel, who's ducking reporters and scurrying for cover. Emanuel loves the media when it portrays him as a tough guy, but now he looks like he's got something to hide and doesn't look like such a tough guy any more.

President-elect Barack Obama's chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, refused to take questions from reporters this morning about whether he was the Obama "advisor" named in the criminal complaint against Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

The complaint states Blagojevich wanted a promise of a high-level appointment or some other reward for Blagojevich in exchange for Blagojevich naming Obama's friend Valerie Jarrett to replace him in the U.S. Senate.

Emanuel was uncharacteristically absent from Obama's news conference this morning. He was spotted two hours later in the lobby of Chicago's City Hall. He was there to listen to his two children performing in a concert with their school, Anshe Emet.

A Sun-Times reporter pressed him to comment about whether he was the emissary named in the criminal complaint.

"You're wasting your time," Emanuel said. "I'm not going to say a word to you. I'm going to do this with my children. Dont do that. I'm a father. I have two kids. I'm not going to do it."

When in doubt, invoke the children.

What a worm.

Also revealed now is the fact some businessmen with ties to Jesse Jackson Jr. and Blagojevich planned a fundraiser to gather $1 million for Blagoejevich, which ostensibly would have been the payoff to the governor so he could appoint Jackson to Obama's seat.

According to a published report, businessmen with ties to both Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson discussed raising $1 million for Blagojevich as a way of persuading him to appoint Jackson to President-elect Barack Obama's vacant Senate seat.

Citing unnamed sources, the Chicago Tribune reports in a story for Friday's editions that businessman Raghuveer Nayak and Blagojevich aide Rajinder Bedi told attendees at an Oct. 31 meeting that they needed to raise $1 million for the governor to make sure Jackson was appointed to the Senate.

Nayak is a Blagojevich supporter who is also close to the Jackson family. Bedi has also been a Blagojevich fundraiser.

What we're witnessing this week is just the tip of the iceberg, folks. The entrenched corrupt Chicago machine is showing cracks and I suspect we're going to see corruption revealed beyyong our wildest imagination once the feds beging digging a bit deeper.

Obama can pretend he's above all of this and his media handlers will move mountains to carry water for him. But it's just not credible to believe he's clean in all this. He's the face of the Chicago machine and denying any involvement in the organization that put him where he is just isn't going to fly.

Thanks to Gateway Pundit for the link.

Blagojevich: 'I Want to Make Money'

Maybe you should have made up some mushy memoirs of your father. Oh, and a better haircut would have worked wonders.

Now you're just a punchline on the road to oblivion.

Rod Blagojevich is the third-highest-paid governor in the country, but you wouldn't know it from conversations recorded by federal authorities.

He is heard on six weeks of recordings saying he is "struggling" financially, even though he makes $177,412 a year and his household income has averaged $344,000 annually for the past five years. He allegedly says he feels he is "stuck" as governor and imagines making as much as $300,000 as the head of a group pushing organized labor's agenda or a not-for-profit organization.

If he could land his wife a seat on one or more corporate boards and she "picks up another $150 grand or whatever," according to the recordings, it would help him "get through" his remaining two years as governor.

Federal authorities arrested Blagojevich on Tuesday on charges that include allegedly scheming to sell an appointment to the U.S. Senate for anything from an ambassadorship to a corporate-board post for his wife.

"I want to make money," Blagojevich is quoted by authorities as saying on a federal wiretap recording, discussing whether President-elect Barack Obama would name him to a Cabinet post in exchange for who he thought was Obama's choice to take his Senate seat.

He also allegedly considered taking the Senate job himself because he would "be able to obtain greater resources if he is indicted as a sitting senator as opposed to a sitting governor," according to the government's complaint.

The comments depart from the happy-go-lucky image Blagojevich cultivated, of the fun-loving Elvis maniac who quotes obscure literary and historical figures and could often be seen jogging during the workday in his Chicago neighborhood or downtown Springfield.

Except for the fact by most accounts he was rarely seen in Springfield.

After Tuesday's court proceedings, Blagojevich returned to his modest brown house on Chicago's North Side. For much of his tenure as governor, he has spent more time in Chicago than in Springfield, the state capital. Blagojevich has thus far refused to resign, and he still holds the power to fill Obama's vacant U.S. Senate seat. But it's doubtful any credible candidate would accept a nomination that came from his hand. To try to circumvent the scandal, there is some talk of the lieutenant governor, Pat Quinn, appointing Obama's successor.

Despite the calls for his resignation — from Obama, among others — and a move in the state legislature to start impeachment proceedings, observers don't expect a quick resolution to the scandal. "These calls for Blagojevich to resign, they're very sensible, but you can't force someone to do so," says Dick Simpson, a former Chicago alderman who now heads the political-science department at the University of Illinois at Chicago. "Impeachment hearings would take a long time — months — and the call for a special election needs his signature, which the legislature would then have to override his veto. It's not a quick process." And given his pugnacious history, the governor could fight until the bitter end.

Obama, meanwhile, still pretends he had no knowledge what his good friend was up to.

President-elect Barack Obama sought on Thursday to separate himself from the political scandal swirling around Governor Rod R. Blagojevich of Illinois, saying he never talked to the governor about who would replace Mr. Obama in the United States Senate.

Sure.

Barack Obama insists that he and his staff were not involved in the alleged schemes Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich cooked up to sell off the president-elect's vacant Senate seat.

But the timeline of activity outlined in the FBI's 76-page complaint against Blagojevich suggests Obama's team was aware that his home-state governor was playing political hardball in the weeks before his arrest.

That's because shortly after Blagojevich allegedly told his advisers, in an expletive-laced conference call, that he would not appoint Obama's pick to the Senate absent huge favors in return, Obama's apparent pick promptly dropped out of the running for the Senate and joined the new White House staff.

"Reading between the lines ... clearly somebody from (Obama's) operation did have a conversation with Blagojevich," Democratic strategist Bob Beckel told FOX News. He added that Obama's representative evidently wasn't trying to cut a deal since Blagojevich indicated he was "getting nothing out of the Obama people."

FOX News has confirmed that Valerie Jarrett, a senior Obama adviser, is the individual identified in the Blagojevich affidavit as Senate Candidate 1.

Maybe everyone ought to start lawyering up here. The people deserve to know the truth. Nobody has yet to explain why we have four separate accounts of Obama meeting with Blagojevich in the past month. Countless numbers of reporters covering politics in Washington and Chicago and nobody is curious why reported accounts of these meetings just disappear.

Meanwhile, chief-of-staff Rahm Emanuel uses his children as a shield to avoid answering questions. Classy.

A Sun-Times reporter pressed him to comment about whether he was the emissary named in the criminal complaint.

“You’re wasting your time,” Emanuel said. “I’m not going to say a word to you. I’m going to do this with my children. Dont do that. I’m a father. I have two kids. I’m not going to do it.”

Asked, “Can’t you do both?” Emanuel replied, “I’m not as capable as you. I’m going to be a father. I’m allowed to be a father,” and he pushed the reporter’s digital recorder away.

What a coward.