I spent a few hours re-reading the federal criminal
complaint against Gov. Rod Blagojevich and chief of staff John Harris late last
week. As I did, one image kept coming to mind over and over again: Howard
Hughes.
Hughes, of course, was the kabillionaire whose aides
allowed him to die an emaciated, bedsore-ridden mess. Instead of really taking
care of him, they indulged his insanity, mainly for fear of losing their jobs.
The federal complaint is far from a complete
document, but it paints a picture of a bunch of enabling hangers-on too timid
to tell the man "No." I always knew they were sycophants, I just
never realized that they went to such extremes.
For instance, one of the governor's DC consultants,
whom Blagojevich has paid millions over the years, is caught on tape actively
indulging the governor's mad fantasy of a deal that involved appointing
President-Elect Obama's preferred Senate replacement in exchange for a job
heading up the Change to Win organization, a splinter group of the AFL-CIO. The
consultant apparently didn't discourage Blagojevich's bizarre plan to have
Obama-connected billionaires fund a 501(c)(4) organization that Blagojevich
could eventually run.
Blagojevich and Harris are on tape discussing the
idea of appointing the estimable Deputy Governor Louanner Peters to the Senate
seat. Blagojevich said that if it looked like he was going to be impeached he
could count on Peters to give up the seat "and let me parachute over
there." Replied Harris: "You can count on [Peters] to do that."
Almost the entire complaint reads like that. It was
"Yes, governor. Yessir. Okeedokee," to the goofiest schemes
imaginable. "Deputy Governor A stated that it is hard not to give the
Secretary of Energy position to a Texan, but with Rod Blagojevich’s coal
background it might be a possibility." Like Barack Obama would ever make
Rod Blagojevich his Energy Secretary.
Instead of telling the governor that his plots were
not just silly, but flat-out crazy and maybe even illegal, they humored him
right until the end.
There are a couple of mild push-backs. "Advisor
A," a former deputy governor who is now a lobbyist (and I'm pretty sure I
know who he is) suggested that appointing a certain controversial wealthy
person to the Senate in order to help Blagojevich raise money might not be a
fantastic idea. "Advisor A responded that it would be hard to put Senate
Candidate 6 in the Senate seat."
But by the end of their discussion, Advisor A and
the governor were allegedly talking about finding somebody close to this
possible appointee. "Advisor A agreed to find out who is close to Senate
Candidate 6." (Just to be clear here, there is no indication whatsoever
that "Senate Candidate 6" was ever informed of this conversation.)
Their guy, the man who made them what they are
today, was falling off the deep end and endangering them all, yet they allowed
him to carry on. Gov. Blagojevich is to blame, of course, but his so-called
friends ought to be absolutely ashamed of themselves.
* There are some other interesting little tidbits in
the complaint that haven't come to light. For instance, the governor and his DC
consultant discussed appointing Attorney General Lisa Madigan to the US Senate
as a way of "getting more done as Governor." Independent sources say
the governor was convinced that he could cut a deal with Speaker Madigan on the
appointment that would allow him to pass a capital bill, enact grand new
healthcare programs and do all sorts of other wonderful, pie in the sky things.
One very well-placed source claims the governor even settled on the Lisa Madigan
appointment idea the day before he was arrested.
Speaker Madigan hasn't returned the governor's phone
calls in years, and Lisa Madigan did not enjoy life as a legislator. How the
governor could even imagine that such a scheme could succeed is beyond all
reason.
And John Wyma, who made millions lobbying the
governor, is seeking immunity, according to the complaint, "in exchange
for [Wyma's] truthful information." The footnote claims that Wyma
(identified as "Individual A") is a "subject, but not a target,
of the criminal investigation concerning activities at the Illinois Health
Facilities Planning Board." That gives you some idea of what might
possibly have brought Wyma into the fold.
Rich Miller also publishes Capitol Fax, a daily political newsletter,
and thecapitolfaxblog.com.