This is unbelievable. Maybe I am connecting the pieces wrong. Maybe the order of causation is not quite what it seems.
Monday night before I went to bed, the main sensationalist news headline was that Illinois Governer Rod Blagojevich suspends all state business with Bank of America. "Blagojevich contended that Bank Of America received a multi-billion dollar bailout from the government and should accordingly restore credit to the Republic Windows & Doors company in Chicago" - who recently laid of 350 Illinois workers without severance pay. Blagojevich contended that Bank of America is responsible for guaranteeing support to the bankrupt company so severance pay can be given to the laid-off employees. BofA refused, so the Governor decided to retaliate. The bank was set to lose out on hundreds of millions of dollars in fees and commission.
Details:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/12/08/illinois-governer-suspend_n_149272.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7772823.stm
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Ill._Governor_suspends_business_with_Bank_1208.html
In my mind the significance of this event is huge!! A whole state suspends business with the biggest bank in America. This is nothing less than a declaration of war on our financial elite! There were interviews of people saying he was a hero, a brave warrior who was willing to fight for the people.
The next morning, interested in how the situation was unfolding I was surprised to see there was not one mention of the event.
It was not on any cable news station. It was nowhere visible on any mainstream news website. I was baffled that such a significant event was not given more attention. Until this morning...
It seems now that Governor Blagojevich was taken into federal custody today for, among other things, trying to sell President-Elect Barack Obama's former Senate seat.
indictment here:
http://www.buckeyestateblog.com/illinois_governor_rod_blagojevich_indicted
details:
http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/blagojevich/1321300,rod-blagojevich-illinois-governor-custody-120908.article
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/12/us/politics/12illinois.html?_r=1
Doing a bit more research I have found that there have been federal indictments in 2006 against Blogojevich' staff, drawing accusation of political corruption closer to him...
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/12/us/politics/12illinois.html?_r=1
A few days ago Blagojevich also threatened to suspend money to the Chicago Tribune and fire its editorial staff. Essentially declaring war on the states main media outlet...
http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/blagojevich/1321365,Blagojevich-Chicago-Tribune-corruption-120908.article
The more I dig, the deeper the rabbit hole becomes. However valid the connections with the past corruption charges are, the fact that the indictments were just issued today, goes to show that if you declare war on the media and financial powers, you will be taken down. I would bet there won't be one mention in cable news anymore of the state's suspension in dealing with Bank of America, nor of the Blagojevich's dealing with the Chicago Times.
What would happen if some other Governor's got some bright ideas & decided to follow suit when even more companies go bankrupt in the coming financial storm?
Blagojevich will now be known as just another corrupt politician instead of the Robin Hood of Illinois...
Long live the banks!
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only thing to comment on - "I would bet there won't be one mention in cable news anymore of the state's suspension in dealing with Bank of America, nor of the Blagojevich's dealing with the Chicago Times." - There will probably be one or two mentions, but probably not much because no one cares. The L.A. Times would print it, but they are about to go out of business so they don't want to bore their audience further. It's another good example of the way our country is headed, but 20 years from now this will just be another Jeopordy question, not exactly the event they look back to as a turning point in our country or even that important of an event.
ReplyDeleteI would normally be more sympathetic to the conspiracy train of thought you set up. But I have followed the corrupt dealings of Gov. Blago. I heard a report (most likely NPR) about the irony of a Gov under investigation and with a 13% approval rating picking Obama's successor. And at his press conference at the factory he even mentioned that the Feds can listen to his calls anytime. Not to mention that the Obama camp (most likely Rahm) spilled the beans so Blago would be caught before appointing the replacement. BTW BofA extended the line of credit back to the factory. But the news was overshadowed by the political scandal. I also heard that on NPR which is one of the few outlets which still reports the news (cable is aimed a those with attention defict disorder).
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