Rules Are Rules

Rules are rules, unless you’re George W. Bush or Dick Cheney, of course.

I agree with Josh Marshall about the Blagojevich/Burris matter. You can’t blame Burris for accepting the appointment, however. It has given him much publicity. I wonder if it will come back in the future and bite him on the ass; say, the next time he runs for office.

I don’t understand why the media is giving this topic so much exposure.

From Alas, I Think She's Right by Josh Marshall:

But Blagojevich is the governor of the Illinois. And the Governor appoints senators to vacant seats. He hasn't been convicted of anything, which is no mere technicality. And I don't think anyone has seriously claimed that this appointment is tainted by corruption.

If there was a real belief that Burris's appointment had been bought, then I think more aggressive and expansive refusal would be justified. But as I said, I don't think anyone is really suggesting that. So as awkward and untoward as the whole thing may be, I really question the wisdom and possibly also the legality of not swearing him in. Rules are rules.

I could be persuaded otherwise. And I'm not losing much sleep over Burris's plight. But rules are rules. And I'm not sure what's being accomplished with this spectacle.

Why go after Blagojevich and Burris with such intensity while omitting Bush and Cheney from accountability? Why go after Thomas Tamm with such intensity while omitting Bush and Cheney from accountability?

From The DOJ puruses the "real criminal" in the NSA spying scandal by Glenn Greenwald:

That's America's justice system in a nutshell: the President who deliberately and knowingly violated our 30-year-old law making it a felony offense to eavesdrop on Americans without warrants has the entire political and media class eagerly defend him against prosecution. Those who enabled him -- in both parties -- block investigations into what was done. Ruth Marcus and Cass Sunstein and friends offer one excuse after the next to justify this immunity. But the powerless and defenseless -- though definitively courageous -- public servant who blew the whistle on this lawbreaking is harassed, investigated, and pursued by the DOJ's Criminal Division to the point of bankruptcy and depression, while the lawbreakers and their enablers stand by mute and satisfied.

We desperately need to hold the most powerful among us accountable for what they do. We will only be screwed over and over again until we do. Pardon me from the sins of the rich and powerful.

Here is the address of the Thomas Tamm Legal Defense Fund:

Thomas Tamm Legal Defense Fund
Bank of Georgetown
5236 44th Street
Washington, DC 20015.

The Era Of “personal responsibility”

From Two Cheers for Rod Blagojevich by Frank Rich:

Blagojevich’s alleged crimes pale next to the larger scandals of Washington and Wall Street. Yet those who promoted and condoned the twin national catastrophes of reckless war in Iraq and reckless gambling in our markets have largely escaped the accountability that now seems to await the Chicago punk nabbed by the United States attorney, Patrick Fitzgerald.

Bush had arrived in Washington vowing to inaugurate a new, post-Clinton era of “personal responsibility” in which “people are accountable for their actions.” Eight years later he holds himself accountable for nothing. In his recent exit interview with Charles Gibson, he presented himself as a passive witness to disastrous events, the Forrest Gump of his own White House.

The Times calls its chilling investigative series on the financial failures “The Reckoning,” but the reckoning is largely for the rest of us — taxpayers, shareholders, the countless laid-off employees — not the corporate and political leaders who led us into the quagmire. It’s a replay of the Iraq equation: the troops, the Iraqi people and American taxpayers have borne the harshest costs while Bush and company retire to their McMansions.

Governor Blagojevich

Here is more information concerning my previous post about Governor Blagojevich and the Pilgrim Baptist Church in Chicago.

From Lawsuit Lesson: Illinois Atheist Teaches Baptists About Their Heritage by Joseph L. Conn:

Does it take an atheist to teach Baptists about their own heritage?

Apparently so.

Atheist activist Rob Sherman has filed a lawsuit in Illinois state court seeking to block a $1 million government grant to Pilgrim Baptist Church. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Gov. Rod Blagojevich promised the money to the Chicago congregation after a fire damaged the church building.

But why is a church getting government money? What about the separation of church and state? Shouldn’t houses of worship be built and maintained with the voluntary donations of the faithful, not the hard-earned dollars of the taxpayers?

Well, yeah. But Blogojevich, a Democrat, was running for re-election at the time, and the promise seemed like a good idea - a little walking-around money for members of a prominent religious community.

“We all know Rod did this two months before his primary election victory over Edwin Eisendrath,” Sherman told the newspaper. “January 2006, when the fire happens, and he’s in the March primary against Eisendrath, Rod was pandering for black votes. I understand that. But you can’t have the state donating $1 million to a church. You can’t do that with tax dollars.”

Read the rest here.

Such A Deal

Tax-exempt status and money from taxes all at the same time? Where do I sign up?

From Just Another Day In Illinois Politics: Governor, Atheist, School, and Church Spar Over $1 Million by Marcus Gilmer:

Governor Blagojevich is in hot water over what he deems a "bureaucratic" mistake which gave a school $1 million dollars intended for a historic, burned-down church. In the midst of his re-election campaign, Blago pledged to give $1 million to Pilgrim Baptist Church, which was destroyed by a January 2006 fire. At the time, the Loop Lab School was renting space in the church and now, Elmira Mayes, leader of the school, is contradicting Blago's claim of a mistake, saying he personally promised her money for the school.

Read the rest here.

Since when did socialist welfare for a religious building become OK?

By the way Governor Blagojevich is a Democrat.