[Rhodes22-list] Politics: Upping the Ante

Wed Dec 24 09:22:01 EST 2008

Brad,

Did you see Buchanan's line:

"Why is America getting seamless continuity when it voted for 
significant change?"

In a way, most people are getting exactly what they want--all suit, no 
man--just like the last guy.

The New York Times, in the week before Christmas, had a paper on Monday 
that was only 48 pages--in years past it would have been 3 times that 
size. 

Trading volume yesterday on the NYSE was just over 800 million shares. A 
couple of years ago they were averaging around 2 billion shares a day.

The country is not going to get bailed out by Obama, a housing bubble, a 
stock market bubble, a dot-com bubble, a "service economy", outsourcing, 
tax cuts, low interest rates, foreign wars, infrastructure spending, 
foreign investment, or anything else.  Our kids are going to have to 
learn how to work, and we are going to have to figure out how to live to 
an old age on much less money than we thought we would have.

I'm not sure it will much matter how long the Obama farce plays out.  It 
will only be interesting to see if Emanuel can neutralize Fitzgerald.

To quote Fitzgerald in June, 2008:

"This indictment describes a frenzy of corrupt scheming, particularly in 
April and May 2004,
in which political insiders sought to manipulate the activities of two 
state boards to fleece
investment firms and individuals. The defendants and their associates 
put the word out loud and
clear: you have to pay to play in Illinois."

(Note to people not Brad who may be reading--Obama was running one of 
the 2 boards referenced above.)

Here is the Chicago Tribune lead in 2006 when the indictment was first 
made public:

"Federal prosecutors alleged Wednesday that Antoin "Tony" Rezko used his 
influence as one of Gov. Rod Blagojevich's closest advisers and 
fundraisers to seek millions of dollars in kickbacks and campaign 
donations from firms seeking state business.

"Rezko's indictment comes less than a month before voters must decide 
whether to re-elect Blagojevich, a Democrat who won four years ago on a 
platform of ethics reform in the aftermath of the scandal-tarred tenure 
of George Ryan.The governor is not accused of any wrongdoing and the 
indictment does not mention him by name."

It DOES have a familiar ring to it.

Bill Effros

Brad Haslett wrote:
> Bill,
>
> Ten bucks at WalMart solved the keyboard problem. I spent most of the
> day killing rats and taking care of minutia so I've been out of the
> news loop and am leaving 4AM (normal wake-up time) for home.  Here's
> my quick and dirty take on things - so The One was questioned by a
> Federal prosecutor and splits for Hawaii, Rahm leaves for Africa, and
> Jarrett, the object of all this, is silent. This is all very strange
> behavior for innocent people. Chicago politics as usual + sunshine +
> national stage = long national nightmare. This story won't go away
> because the crimes have already been committed.  Selling a Senate seat
> is not the issue, Fitz already has the crimes of record to prosecute.
> Blago will drag this out and so will Barry. The 38% of the nation that
> doesn't pay taxes will hang on to their fantasy just like the average
> eight-year old hangs on to believing in Santa Claus because the
> alternative is just too painful.  Most of the MSM is near bankruptcy,
> and soon enough they'll realize that short of a bailout, actually
> printing news and doing investigation sells. I'm trying to find the
> happy ending to this scenario but don't see it quite yet.  Barry is
> already severely crippled and folks are waking-up.  I'm betting this
> drags on until 2010 and so does the lackluster economy.  How's that
> for Christmas cheer?
>
> Brad
>
> On Tue, Dec 23, 2008 at 9:23 AM, Bill Effros <bill at effros.com> wrote:
>   
>> Brad-Iloveit!Weshouldsendallmessagesthisway--it'slikeusingthesecretdecoderringallthetime--onlyMJMwillbeabletounderstandwhatwehavetosay,andmaybeRummy.MerryChristmas.BillEffross/vLittleQueenie
>>
>> Brad Haslett wrote:
>>     
>>> Bill,stuckatcorporateheadquarterswithabadspacekeyonthekeyboard-maybespilledbeer-willgetnewkeyboardandrespondlater-blagotookplay-to-paytothenextlevel-thegreatOcan'thidepastdeeds-nowinsituationforeveryone-wegetBiden-countrycontinuestolisteconomically-gottogocollectsomemony-timesarehardandmoneytight-somyclientstellme-homeydon'tplaythatgame-customerwaiteduntilwemobilizedtotellushiscashflowproblems-itmaybeChristmasbutI'mnotinChristmasmood-lateifIdon'tgetshot!
>>>
>>> Brad
>>>
>>> On Tue, Dec 23, 2008 at 7:59 AM, Bill Effros <bill at effros.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>       
>>>> Brad,
>>>>
>>>> It just got a little tougher for Obama to fire Fitz.
>>>>
>>>> Fitz let Obama know who "in the administration" he taped, but he didn't
>>>> let Obama know what they said.
>>>>
>>>> So the whole country will learn some of the people Fitz is investigating
>>>> are part of "Team Obama".
>>>>
>>>> There is an obvious conflict of interest if you try to fire someone who
>>>> is investigating you.  Ask Nixon.
>>>>
>>>> Please note, Blagojevich was part of "Team Obama" until just a few weeks
>>>> ago.
>>>>
>>>> Let me ask the question again..."Why did Obama resign his Senate seat
>>>> early?"
>>>>
>>>> (Background: this is not "traditional" -- Hillary did not resign her
>>>> seat; Biden did not resign his seat; Rahm Emanuel did not resign his
>>>> seat; etc.  Their votes were needed for the "lame duck" session--in
>>>> fact, the automaker "bail out bill" might have passed if Obama hadn't
>>>> thrown away his vote.  The ONLY beneficiary of an early resignation was
>>>> Governor Rod Blogojevich, who could no longer barter the seat according
>>>> to Illinois law after 1/1/09.  So Obama threw him a bone.)
>>>>
>>>> Bill Effros
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
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