Hatch Act Violation

 

The Hatch Act of 1939, An Act to Prevent Pernicious Political Activities, is a United States federal law. Its main provision prohibits civil service employees in the executive branch of the federal government, except the president and vice president, from engaging in some forms of political activity.

Articles of Impeachment

If the House Democrats had used the USPS, it might have gotten there about a week earlier. Maybe. At least there would have been a tracking number.

Impeachment: The Next Chapter

Nancy's Trial Balloon

Impeachment Hearings, Day Two

Impeachment Day One

Rudy Waits For His Bus

Pelosi Takes Impeachment Off The Table

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said, "Impeachment is so divisive to the country that unless there's something so compelling and overwhelming and bipartisan, I don't think we should go down that path, because it divides the country. And he's just not worth it,” she told the Washington Post.

It looks like Mike Pence's order to Blindster.com will have to wait a little while longer.

Nancy Bandersnatch

Show us where the bad man hurt you.

The Big "I" Word?

Jim Inhofe Mulls 'I-Word' After Benghazi -- Politico

Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) said the fatal attacks on American diplomats in Benghazi could lead to President Barack Obama’s impeachment during a radio interview.

“People may be starting to use the I-word before too long,” Inhofe said during a discussion of Benghazi on “The Rusty Humphries Show.” 

“I-word meaning ‘impeachment?’” Humphries asked.

“Yeah,” Inhofe said.

Humphries pointed out it was unlikely the Senate would vote to convict Obama even if the GOP-controlled House voted to impeach. 
Read more ..

Oh, good. This is the GOP's solution to Obama's policies?

They're already breaking the Impeachment glass? How much willful lawbreaking really went down - and, more importantly, evidence to back that up, do they think they have to even CONSIDER such a bad idea?

The GOP was handed this durning a Presidential campaign, bungled it then, and now want the ref to review the play? If they're going to do anything, they should at least find out what really happened, what went wrong, and who, (if anyone) is responsible.

If they want to look at the smoldering ashes and kick around the dust, fine, focus on the false narrative that was handed out and eaten by the press. Who lied, and what gain did they achieve? If they do that part well enough, they might be able to use it against the Democrats in the next Congressional election. Doubtful it'll carry enough weight to hurt Hillary's chances in the next Presidential, given that it bounced right off of Obama in the last general election.

But, to talk about Impeachment - now? Now? Well, to do that you look like a 55 year old bald man trying to pick up chicks in your Rolls-Royce Phantom... Small, ineffectual, and extremely sad - to the point of self satire.

Not to be outdone, George Will thinks Obama should be impeached since the IRS went after TEA party groups. Must be the overactive pollen in the air after all those droughts last year?

Senate Begins Impeachment Trial

Senate Begins Impeachment Trial -- no, this isn't a repeat from the Clinton Era.

The first Senate impeachment trial in more than a decade begins today. Bet you hadn't heard about that one, right?

The House voted unanimously in March to impeach U.S. District Judge Thomas Porteous, the Washington Post notes, for "allegations that he lied during background investigations related to his 1994 nomination to the federal bench." Must have really pissed off the wrong Congressman.... or be super corrupt? He's charged with accepting cash, gifts, meals, lying, and an illegitimate bankruptcy claim -- oh come on, he's from Louisiana! That's all in a day's labor on the bench!

"The proceedings will be similar to a trial, with each side allotted up to 20 hours to call witnesses and present evidence, according to the committee. Senators are allowed to ask questions of the witnesses. The hearings will run from about 8 a.m. through 7 p.m. each day through Thursday and likely will continue next Tuesday."

He is the egg man...

Big Drama and Surprises on Illinois: Over By Dere

With the season finale of Illinois: Over By Dere just a few episodes away, there sure have been a slew of revelations, surprises and new adventures making this the best show on television!

Blagojevich attorneys want to subpoena Obama!

The old character who left the show for the spin-off of Illinois: Over By Dere for his own program, The Left Wing, the President is now the key to proving former governor’s innocence, lawyers suggest in court filing!

Just weeks before the start of his federal corruption trial, ousted Gov. Rod Blagojevich sought Thursday to tie his credibility to that of long departed lead character President Barack Obama by asking that the leader of the free world be compelled to testify for the defense.

The court filing by the ex-governor's attorneys attempted to protect sensitive details by blacking out references to sealed investigative records. But it became an instant Internet sensation thanks to a computer glitch that enabled people to view the entire document — a mix of new allegations and old details that combined to create fresh intrigue over charges Blagojevich sought to sell the Senate seat vacated by Obama when he was elected in 2008.

Stringing together tidbits from closely held FBI interviews and secretly taped phone conversations, Blagojevich's lawyers suggested there is more to the story of the Senate pick than either federal prosecutors or the White House have acknowledged. And they argued that only Blagojevich and Obama know the details that could prove the former governor's innocence.

Quoting from a sealed prosecution memo, the defense team aired a previously undisclosed allegation that convicted influence peddler and main story stooge Antoin "Tony" Rezko told investigators he tried to buy Obama's favor with illegal campaign contributions. Rezko, a top fundraiser for Obama and Blagojevich, is cooperating in the case against the former governor.

The defense filing seeks to have the president rebut Rezko's claims and in the process discredit him.

Obama has repeatedly said Rezko has never asked him to do anything improper and he has never done so. White House spokesman Bill Burton said Thursday: "We aren't going to comment on an ongoing criminal investigation."

Never camera-shy despite his legal peril, Blagojevich has frequently suggested to the media that he might seek testimony from Obama and top White House aides from Chicago! It'll be a cross over to rival Law and Order!

And, after Sun was reunited with Jin (finally) she was able to speak English again. Most likely because Jin was her constant in both the alternate and island timelines. It should be noted that the timelines are running parallel, with a four year gap.

Meanwhile, the defense filing represents a ratcheting up of the pretrial chess game just a day after U.S. District Judge James Zagel admonished Blagojevich to quit grandstanding and said he would not allow the defense to play all 500 hours of government wiretaps for jurors. Zagel summoned lawyers in the case to an unscheduled closed-door meeting after the full content of the defense filing hit the Internet.

Since Blagojevich's arrest in December 2008, Obama has insisted that he and top aides were never part of any deals for the Senate seat and were unaware that Blagojevich may have been scheming to use his appointment power to enrich himself.

There is nothing in the filing to indicate otherwise. But the cherry-picked nature of how the defense document was assembled and the suggestive nature of the allegations invited immediate claims from Obama critics that the filing raised doubts about the president's veracity. Looks like he's going to be coming back to the show that made him famous?

Blagojevich's attorneys said Rezko has informed federal authorities that he "engaged in election law violations by personally contributing a large sum of cash to the campaign of a public official" and used a lobbyist to offer to hold a fundraiser for the official in exchange for "favorable" action. The attorneys indicated the timing of these alleged actions was around 1999 when Obama was launching an eventually unsuccessful challenge to U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush. Or, for those of you new to the show - he was bought off.

"The defense has a good faith belief that this public official is Barack Obama," the filing declared, while also noting that Obama has denied any knowledge of or participation in such actions.

Sources have said Rezko has not been prepped by prosecutors to testify in the case, and that the government has not made a decision on calling him. The defense filing makes it clear that the Blagojevich camp is confident Rezko will take the stand as "one of the government's main witnesses."

Prosecutors have accused Blagojevich of working with Rezko and other associates to run the state as a criminal racket even before the ex-governor was sworn into office in 2003. In addition to the charges involving the Senate seat, Blagojevich has been accused of trading official actions for kickbacks that would benefit his campaign fund, his friends, his wife and himself, even going so far as to allegedly shake down a children's hospital. Which, fans will always remember as one of his greatest moments on the show... even better than his impeachment.

It is the charges swirling around the Senate pick that have led the defense team to attempt to draw Obama into the case. In December 2008, shortly after Blagojevich's arrest but prior to the presidential inauguration, Obama said he had "never spoken to the governor on this subject. I'm confident that no representatives of mine would have any part of any deals related to this seat."

But Blagojevich's defense team contends that Obama's public statements contradict those of other potential prosecution witnesses, including Valerie Jarrett, a White House official who briefly was considered the favored Senate replacement for her longtime friend Obama.

Oooops!

The filing cites FBI interviews with labor officials, including one who said he spoke to Obama on the eve of his Nov. 4, 2008, election and said the soon-to-be-president believed that Jarrett "would be a good senator for the people of Illinois." The union official said he told Obama he would convey that message to Blagojevich.

Obama ordered an internal investigation after the Blagojevich arrest, and Jarrett told the lawyer leading that probe that she met with Tom Balanoff, head of the powerful Service Employees International Union in Illinois, three days after the election. She said Balanoff told her he had spoken to Blagojevich about picking her as senator.

In the same conversation, Jarrett said, Balanoff also told her Blagojevich had raised the possibility of his being named as secretary of Health and Human Services in the new Obama Cabinet, a possibility that Balanoff and Jarrett agreed would never happen.

The filing alleges that the day after the election, a supporter of Obama suggested to Jarrett she reach out to then-Illinois first lady Patti Blagojevich about the Senate vacancy, according to an interview Jarrett had with the FBI shortly after the former governor's arrest.

The Obama supporter, who is not identified in the filing, allegedly mentioned "fundraising" (hehee) help for Blagojevich in exchange for naming Jarrett to the Senate vacancy during a phone call to Blagojevich's home that was secretly recorded by government agents the day before the election.

Jarrett withdrew her name from consideration eight days after the election, and prosecutors contend that Blagojevich then went on to entertain an array of other possible Senate contenders he could name in return for financial gain. My guess is that Jarrett 'discovered' the wire tap once her benefactor did. And that man is the man with the submarine - Widmore.

One week before Blagojevich's arrest, Obama and the Illinois governor attended a national meeting of governors in Philadelphia. The filing notes that the two spoke there and that two top aides to Blagojevich later discussed that conversation in a wiretapped phone call. But there's no indication in the filing that the Senate vacancy was discussed by Obama and Blagojevich when they met.

The other major intersection between Obama and Blagojevich involves Rezko, who in 2008 was convicted of corruption for his role in rigging regulatory decisions in the Blagojevich administration.

At one point during that trial, Rezko complained that federal authorities were pressuring him to tell them "wrong" things about Blagojevich and Obama. "I have never been a party to any wrongdoing that involved the governor or the senator," Rezko wrote to a judge.

The defense contends that Rezko has told the government that in 1999, when Obama was an Illinois state senator, the two had "certain conversations about gaming legislation and administration" which Obama has publicly denied having. That was the year that the legislature passed a major expansion of casino gambling, and Rezko reportedly was angling for casino-related business.

Obama voted against the legislation and spoke against it during debates.

In its filing, the defense said it realized that asking a sitting president to testify would be difficult because of his demanding schedule and security concerns. To make it easier, Blagojevich's lawyers offered to question Obama on videotape and play the deposition in court.

To comply with a judicial order to protect sensitive information, Blagojevich's lawyers had blacked out references to confidential evidence handed over by the prosecution.... but then there was a computer glitch that allowed everyone to see it.

Oooops!

Fire up that pop corn, this show just went from great to legendary!

By Jeff Coen, Rick Pearson and Bob Secter, Tribune reporters John Chase, David Heinzmann, Stacy St. Clair and Serena Maria Daniels contributed to this report.

Blago gets some peaches

Blago got impeached.

Peaches

Blagojevich impeached by cancer-loving House for healing sick, helping poor

Blago might not be clear on why he's in trouble. Link

In the meantime, here's the guy who voted NOT to Im-Peach-en the Gov of IL.

Meet the man who voted not to impeach Blago: Rep. Milton Patterson

The Illinois House of Representatives has voted to impeach that wonderful gift from the comedy gods, Gov. Rod Blagojevich, setting the stage for his trial in the state Senate. The naughty governor was cited for abuse of office, scheming to get personal gain out of making a Senate appointment, and wearing a ceramic hairpiece apparently styled in the 1970s.

The vote to impeach was a decisive one: 114-1. Yep. One lone dissenter chose to bravely stand up for his governor. One man who had the courage to stand up to his fellow representatives, make the unpopular choice, and defend the man who called Barack Obama the M-effer. A veritable Jimmy Stewart-as-Mr. Smith among the deluded sheep of the Illinois House. More ...

Rod "Pay to Play" Blagojevich Arrested

Federal authorities in Chicago have arrested Rod Blagojevich, and they've accused him of attempting to benefit financially from his position to appoint a Barack Obama's Senate replacement... among a phone book of other charges from the ongoing investigation into his pay-for-play style of governing.

A 76-page FBI affidavit said Rod was intercepted on court-authorized wiretaps over the last month conspiring to sell or trade the vacant Senate seat for personal benefits for himself and his wife, Patti. (that's last month!! - he's been under the microscope since he took the office. What an idiot!)

The affidavit said Blagojevich discussed getting a substantial salary for himself at a nonprofit foundation or an organization affiliated with labor unions.

It said that Blagojevich also talked about getting his wife placed on corporate boards where she might get $150,000 a year in director's fees.

He also allegedly discussed getting campaign funds for himself or possibly a post in the president's cabinet or an ambassadorship once he left the governor's office.

"I want to make money," the affidavit quotes him as saying in one conversation.

U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald said in a statement that "the breadth of corruption laid out in these charges is staggering."

"They allege that Blagojevich put a for sale sign on the naming of a United States senator," Fitzgerald said."

Blagojevich took the chief executive's office in 2003 as a reformer promising to clean up former Gov. George "Evil Santa Claus" Ryan's mess. Ryan, a Republican, is serving a 6-year prison sentence after being convicted on racketeering and fraud charges.

Maybe Rod will be George's new cell mate?

UPDATE: Below are excerpts of the complaint:
They're in picture format for those of you behind firewalls. Here at Blasphemes we are always looking out for our readers! Why are they in photo versions? (click on them to make 'em bigger) So that your work filters won't catch you reading the Gov's dirty potty mouth as he tries to sell Obama's Senate Seat.

Then it gets even better.

If you think our President-Elect has popped his scandal cherry, don't count on it. No listened to us when we told the Nation he was going to bring the Chicago Machine politics to Washington. So no one will listen tomorrow either.

Impeachment Update

The House of Representatives votes to send articles of impeachment against President Bush to the Judiciary Committee for review...

....where it'll probably fall down and die a quiet death....

The motion passed 251-166.

“It is imperative that Members of Congress have a thorough opportunity to read the Articles of Impeachment and study the documentation,” Kucinich said in a news release Tuesday. “When they do, I am confident that they will agree that it is both appropriate and necessary for the Judiciary Committee to begin hearings on the Resolution.”

I find it interesting that old rusty news isn't even touching this thing... hardly at all. And Keith Olberman doesn't count as part of the media. Steven Colbert has more viewers than Olberman on any given day... even a re-run.

But the internet is abuzz. Blogs are going nuts, message boards are three times as long...
Made me think of this:


It's the one and only chance that the Democrats have a chance to stop flapping their mouths and finally drop a pair. I'm not holding my breath, Mrs. Pelosi.

You do realize that this is the one and only discussion about the war that is being conducted in this country, right? And this discussion is the only chance to change the status quo.

Impeachment

You might not have noticed - as no one in the Media seems to give a rip or take seriously - but a 35 article Impeachment Resolution was read into the Congressional record by Democratic Presidential Candidate Dennis Kucinich (and punchline, punching bag). Question - is anyone going to take this seriously?

Here's an exchange I caught online:

Guidomyte: IMPEACHMENT IS NOT WHAT IS NEEDED RIGHT NOW

Shouldn't congress be preparing to take all three branches of gov't in November's election (office in January) as they keep predicting? Instead of chasing down this wild goose, why don't you start doing something productive to convince me to vote you into power? Impeaching Bush with 7 months left in the presidency would accomplish nada except bolster some pride in some an alienate others, you aren't going to reverse anything within that amount of time, even if you impeach him TOMORROW. This is a prime example of blinded bipartisan hatred, nothing more/less, both parties to blame.

Did Bush do some bad things? Hell yes, obviously. No doubt. Consequence for his actions? Fine, just do it outside of the Presidency, lest you WANT to make the USA look even weaker in the eyes of the world. Impeachment or not, DK just made us look like the biggest group of colossal pussies to the rest of the globe.

mizchief: WTF is this really needed? Dude is going to be gone in a couple of months anyway. Is it really worth how bad this makes the country look? Impeaching two presidents in a row; and you wonder why no one good wants to run for president. Our economy is already going to shiat do we really need to add this to the pile?

FightDirector:Why is this needed? Why is this needed?!

Are you serious?! Are you high? It's needed because we need to make a statement to America, to future presidents, and to the rest of the world that the conduct shown by this administration is NOT OK. We need to own up to and correct as best we can our missteps...and the first step along that trail is to impeach the bastard and hold him PERSONALLY accountable, along with every member of the administration we can get our hands upon before they fly to Argentina with the rest of fascists.

THAT'S why it's fugging needed.

I have to say that I'm happy these things were read into the Congressional record - as a legal note for future Americans (what, for the next Administration??)

I started to read the Impeachment Resolution - I have a link to the PDF of it... click there...

It'll take me a week to get through it. Breakfast nook, toilet time, in traffic, and night-night time -- I think a week is kind of lowballing it too.

Dennis is blaming Bush personally for EVERYTHING that has happened including no body armor and covering up the Pat Tillman friendly fire incident.

-- It's either the ultimate act of futility, or it's a roadmap for Obama to actually pursue a course of change. If it's laughed off - which would be my first assumption of what's going to happen - there will BE NO CHANGE.... 

Wondering what you think of it all. I'm also waiting for Dennis fanboy OneF to chime in...