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Thursday, Jul 19, 2012 - Posted by Rich Miller

* I have a long-scheduled previous engagement for Friday, so I don’t think I’ll be able to blog.

* I always post a video at the end of the week, but there really isn’t a good version of this song on YouTube, so I’m posting the audio version instead. Andy Roose is a singer-songwriter from the St. Louis area. I heard one of his tunes while listening to that city’s fantastic community radio station KDHX not long ago and was knocked out. Have a listen…

Click to download

The harder you live, the better the song.

…Adding… If you’re in Chicago Saturday night, you ought to go to the third annual “Concert for Carlos.” This is a benefit in honor of our great friend Carlos Hernandez Gomez, who died way too young. More info here. The event will be held at Uncle Fatty’s Rum Resort (2833 N Sheffield Ave) and the doors open at 7 o’clock. Here’s the poster with the lineup…

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*** UPDATED x1 *** Unsolicited advice

Thursday, Jul 19, 2012 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Dear City of Joliet,

I saw that you posted this on your city’s official Facebook page today…

State’s Attorney Jim Glasgow, will be at Stefanich Restaurant on Scott St. in Joliet tonight night for a campaign reception and fundraiser. Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White will be there too to greet guests. Come by between 5-7 p.m. To say hello to the State’s Attorney and the Secretary of State!

You post campaign fundraiser announcements on the city FB page? On city time?

Are y’all insane?

…Adding… From Ben Benson, the Joliet Assistant City Manager…

Yes it was on the City page briefly, it was posted by mistake, however, not done by the City officially nor on City time,

We actually use a sub-contractor that supports us in marketing & social media matters

Well, the subcontractor is still paid with city funds, no?

* Dear Congressman Joe Walsh,

I saw your press release today about you not attending the Republican National Convention later this month…

“My opponent, Tammy Duckworth, has always been the preferred pick of Democrat Party insiders from Blagojevich to Emmanuel. Despite that, I hope she will join me in skipping the conventions to tour the district to discuss the real issues that matter to real people. The conventions are nothing more than an excuse to mingle with insiders and party with the elite. This district does not want just another insider to represent them; they want an independent who will fight for real solutions to the issues.”

Emmanuel is a college. Emanuel is the mayor.

And just in case your proofreader needs more help, Emmanuelle is a series of films not suitable for children.

* Dear Cub President Theo Epstein,

Your quote made me spit out my iced tea…

With the Rickettses striking out, the Cubs could call on President Theo Epstein to lobby Emanuel. They met earlier this season, and Epstein said Wednesday Emanuel seemed like a “nice guy.”

Have you thought about counseling?

* Dear Republican Party of Illinois Chairman Pat Brady,

From your press release…

Team Madigan continued to support Derrick Smith AFTER he was arrested

House expulsion process is just political cover for Democrats in the fall elections

Illinois Republican Party Chairman Pat Brady released the following statement regarding this week’s House panel deliberation that State Rep. Derrick Smith be expelled from the Illinois House of Representatives:

“Team Madigan continued to campaign for Derrick Smith during the Democratic primary AFTER Smith was caught red-handed with $7,000 in bribe money in his pocket simply because Mike Madigan feared someone outside of his political control might win the seat. This week’s expulsion hearing is nothing more than giving Madigan political cover for his members in the November election. As usual with Madigan and his cronies, party loyalty trumps principled leadership.”

So, you’re saying that the House Republicans who filed the original charges, the House Republicans who sat on the Special Investigating Committee and the House Republicans on the Select Committee on Discipline are all taking part in an elaborate ruse to cover Mike Madigan’s behind?

Seriously, man, could you be more obtuse?

…Adding… I think Brady was referring to this Sun-Times article, which pretty much debunks the chairman’s claim about the post-arrest help. Also, there were originally no MJM campaign contributions listed after Smith’s March 13 arrest.

*** UPDATE *** Apparently, House Republican Leader Tom Cross totally disagrees with his state party chairman. From a press release…

“Ever since our members filed a petition to begin a House investigation into the very serious allegations against Rep. Derrick Smith, the Special Investigating Committee and Select Committee on Discipline members, the House Managers and staff have taken their responsibility very seriously and reached the conclusion that Rep. Smith should be expelled from the Illinois House of Representatives. If the full House takes the committee’s recommendation, this will be only the second time since 1900 that a member has been expelled from the Illinois House. This has been a truly historic, but necessary investigation and recommendation. All of the legislators who have been participating in this process should be commended.”

* Your turn…

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*** UPDATED x1 - Levine gets 67 months *** Stones, glass houses, etc.

Thursday, Jul 19, 2012 - Posted by Rich Miller

*** UPDATE *** Levine gets 67 months…

Stuart Levine — who admitted his role in the corruption scandal that sent former Gov. Rod Blagojevich to prison and provided key testimony against Blagojevich and others — was sentenced Thursday to 67 months in prison. […]

In sentencing Levine, U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve called him one of the “most corrupt politicians” in northern Illinois.

“The havoc that you wrecked is certainly substantial,” she told him.

[ *** End Of Update *** ]

* John Kass makes the case that the national GOP ought to think twice about using Chicago corruption against President Obama this week because this week also just happens to be loaded with Republican court hearings…

Former Gov. George Ryan is still in federal prison. His lawyers are scheduled to appear in court for him Friday, to argue that his jury was given improper instructions.

On Thursday in federal court comes Stuart Levine, the financier who used his political influence on state boards and commissions to squeeze profits and is now up for sentencing. […]

The third Republican, and most powerful of all, is William Cellini, the de facto Republican boss who stayed hidden in the shadows for decades and who used his contacts to deal with Ryan’s now-imprisoned successor, Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich, and — wait for it — Obama’s very own personal real estate fairy, the imprisoned influence peddler Tony Rezko.

It was Cellini and Levine and Rezko and their wives who went to the White House for a Christmas party. And it wasn’t the Obama White House. It was the Bush White House.

Cellini’s hearing was yesterday. His sentencing was delayed until October.

* Steve Chapman also makes some good points about the hard-right myth that Obama wasn’t properly “vetted” last time around…

If I were conspiracy-minded, I’d suspect Barack Obama has deployed several moles to sabotage his opponent. Take John Sununu, who yesterday attacked the president for having used drugs, spent time abroad and lived in Chicago. Or Phoenix Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who now claims to have proof Obama’s birth certificate is a fraud. Mitt Romney’s aides are vowing to expose Obama’s past, insisting he wasn’t “vetted” the last time around. If I were David Axelrod, I’d be smiling.

Why? Because we’ve heard it all before. It didn’t keep Americans from electing Obama in 2008 and it won’t stop them this time. These claims do resonate with some voters — but only those who wouldn’t vote for Obama if he were running against Vladimir Putin.

Most Americans just won’t buy it. The president’s personal approval ratings have consistently held up even amid our economic mess. A recent poll found that by a more than 2-to-1 margin, they find him more likable than Romney. Americans know Obama well by now, and they aren’t going to change their minds about him as a person in the absence of powerful new information, which Republicans don’t seem to have.

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*** UPDATED x4 - Riley was only “no” vote - Committee votes to expel - Managers recommend expulsion *** The wild, wild West Side

Thursday, Jul 19, 2012 - Posted by Rich Miller

*** UPDATE 1 *** That live video link of the Smith hearing is here.

*** UPDATE 2 *** The House managers have recommended expulsion for Rep. Smith.

*** UPDATE 3 *** The House Select Committee on Discipline voted 11-1 to expel Rep. Smith.

*** UPDATE 3 *** Rep. Al Riley (D-Olympia Fields) was the only “no” vote on the expulsion roll call.

…Adding… Here’s a ScribbleLive feed…

[ *** End Of Update *** ]

* The Sun-Times matches up dates in West Side Democratic Rep. Derrick Smith’s indictment with session days and finds that Smith could’ve been plotting to accept a bribe while he was on duty in Springfield…

A Chicago Sun-Times review of phone calls between Smith and the mole that federal investigators identified in their criminal complaint and the House journal turned up numerous, unreported occasions when Smith actually was in Springfield, allegedly conversing over the phone with the informant.

That detail could surface Thursday during a key hearing when a legislative panel weighing Smith’s political future hears arguments to punish him with sanctions as severe as expulsion.

“That building is so impressive. You can’t walk in there without thinking it’s the people’s business,” David Morrison, deputy director of the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform, said of the statehouse. “If he’s going to be at the Capitol, the notion he was engaging in allegedly corrupt activities is all the more egregious.”

In their criminal complaint against Smith, federal prosecutors outlined 17 secretly recorded telephone conversations between Smith and the mole offering the bribe. Seven of those calls fell on days the House was in session and Smith was on the job. On six of those days, it was Smith doing the calling, according to the complaint.

There’s no way to tell on those seven days what exactly Smith was doing in Springfield when the calls were made because investigators don’t allude to times for the calls in the complaint.

Smith’s lawyer, Victor Henderson, declined comment Wednesday when asked about whether his client had those conversations with the government informant on days the Legislature was in session and Smith was in Springfield.

Henderson is fighting to keep the criminal complaint that refers to all of the calls and tells the narrative of Smith’s alleged crime out of the committee’s record, but the two House managers believe it should be included as a piece of evidence against Smith.

Today’s hearing of the House Select Committee on Discipline will be broadcast live starting at 9:30 this morning, and I should have either the embed or a link to the video. So, make sure to check back.

* Meanwhile, there’s a link between former West Side Democratic state Sen. Rickey Hendon and the two Board of Review employees who were indicted yesterday, according to Mark Brown…

In the latest case, federal agents arrested two employees of Cook County Board of Review Commissioner Larry Rogers Jr. for taking bribes to fix property tax appeals. […]

The new arrests came on the heels of Tuesday’s roundup of seven individuals accused of paying kickbacks in exchange for government grants — most of them connected in some way to former state Sen. Rickey Hendon of Chicago.

The latest case also has Hendon connections. Former Hendon campaign treasurer Dean Nichols, an Oak Park accountant who was charged in the grant kickback scheme, is also alleged to have served as the go-between for the dirty cop and the bribe-taking tax appeals analysts. In addition, Hendon formerly worked at the Board of Review under Rogers. Neither of them could be reached for comment.

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