Blagojevich

Hey kids. Sorry I haven't been around so much--it's been finals week, and between writing papers about Sarah Palin and about arresting journalists at the RNC, and studying for my Law final (which is today) I've been tied up for a while.

I did manage to squeeze out a piece for GlobalComment on Blagojevich. Because he's hilarious, and it gave me an excuse to talk about Rahm Emanuel more.

“There were too many investigations and allegations to not believe that his time in office was not going to end badly,” Joe Wolfe, Chicago resident, said of Blagojevich. “I think I speak for most Chicago and Illinois residents who have followed the governor’s story when I say that I wasn’t so much shocked at the arrest as I was STUNNED by the charges.”

Wolfe, who twice voted for the Democratic governor, continued. “No one expected that the laundry list of charges brought against him December 9, 2008 were for actions committed just since Obama was elected president! The nature of Blagojevich’s alleged crimes border on pathological.”

...Rumor even had it that Rahm Emanuel was the one who tipped off the United States attorney to Blagojevich’s blatant scam, but a source close to Rahm has denied it. Perhaps he just sent a dead fish instead.

In addition to trying to auction off a Senate seat, Blagojevich is also accused of pressuring Chicago Tribune management to fire writers critical of him, and using the Tribune’s bankruptcy and a deal with the sale of the Chicago Cubs, owned by Tribune Co., as leverage.

And if all this wasn’t enough for you, December 9 was also International Anti-Corruption Day. And December 10 was Blagojevich’s birthday.

Read it.

Wish me (and Karthika!) luck on my final. I'll be back in action soon, I promise.

Also, everyone congratulate Karthika--she's about to be finished with yet another degree.

Rahm and Immigration

What on earth is Rahm Emanuel thinking? Why is he telling Democrats to run to the right of Republicans on immigration? Why is he supporting the Shuler/Tancredo bill that criminalizes illegal immigration? Does he not want the Democrats to win?

Seriously, Republican racism is sending hordes of Latino into the Democratic party for the next generation. Yet, Emanuel, concerned about looking soft on the issue for the 2008 elections wants the Democrats to throw immigrants under the bus.

Policies like this are the worst thing about the Clintonians, of whom Emanuel is a prime example. They seem to assume that minority groups are in the Democratic pocket and thus can be betrayed by policies without any damage. This is of course, absurd. Bush received significant percentages of the Latino vote in both 2000 and 2004. If Latino don't see the Democrats as significantly different than the Republicans on the issue most important to them, they will either not vote or will vote based on other issues such as ending abortion that do not necessarily favor the Democrats.

What is doubly shocking about this is that the Republicans just found out this week in Virginia and Kentucky that attacking immigrants does not lead to electoral victory. Is Rahm Emanuel the only person not to see this?

Terrible. Just terrible.