I Love Fitzgerald And I'm Not Alone

[Annie]

Just like the people of Iraq, many here do not want what is or has gone before, but in order to get change, many must go down.

It's not always the top, but is most often, as with a fish, the rot starts at the head:

City Room™ - Metro - What Will Obama Do With Fitzgerald?

What Will Obama Do With Fitzgerald?
Produced by Rob Wildeboer on Friday, November 21, 2008


Barack Obama's election has kicked off a flurry of political speculation in Illinois. Who will fill his vacated senate seat? And how many Chicagoan's will he bring with him to Washington? But local political observers are particularly interested in what will happen to U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald.

When it comes to the history of U.S. Attorneys in Chicago, Patrick Fitzgerald is already a bit unusual. Most U.S. Attorneys here have served 3 to five years and then gone on to run for governor or take high paying jobs in large law firms. Fitzgerald has already served seven years and President-elect Barack Obama is on the record saying he would keep Fitzgerald right where he is. That would make Fitzgerald even a little more unusual and put him in a league with people like H.M. Ray.

RAY: I'm kind of an aberration. There's only a few of us in this situation.

Ray is a former U.S. Attorney from the Northern District of Mississippi. He was appointed by President John F. Kennedy, a Democrat and kept on by Lyndon Johnson. Ray figured he'd get the boot when Republican Richard Nixon took over, and here's what's so unusual, he didn't.

RAY: I was floored by it. I didn't expect to be re-appointed.

Ray became one of the few U.S. Attorneys to serve under both Republican and Democratic Presidents, 6 different presidents in all. Sid Lezak was another. He died two years ago but he served as U.S. Attorney in Oregon for more than 20 years from Kennedy through to Reagan. His wife Muriel Lezak says her husband had some powerful backers.

LEZAK: We had two Republican senators, Hatfield and Packwood and they supported my husband completely.

While the president appoints U.S. Attorneys tradition dictates that the Senior Senator of the President's party actually gets to choose the person for the job, a nice plum to dole out to a political supporter. But that's not how Patrick Fitzgerald was hired. He's a career prosecutor who was chosen by a former Republican Senator because he didn't have ties to the Illinois political establishment. If Fitzgerald stays on under Obama he's well on his way, well maybe not well on his way, but he's on his way to putting in as much time as Ray and Lezak did.

VALUKAS: Is it unusual that someone like Pat would be asked to stay for an extended period of time? The answer is, it is not common for that to happen.

Tony Valukas was the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois from 1986 to 1990.

VALUKAS: I would be surprised, frankly shocked, if the United State's Attorney isn't stay in office as long as he wants to.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys working under Fitzgerald successfully prosecuted former Illinois Governor George Ryan, they prosecuted cases involving corrupt hiring practices in Chicago's city hall, and bribery and kickback schemes in Illinois state government under Governor Rod Blagojevich. Lots of people in Chicago -- editorial writers, columnists, politicians, lawyers, -- they've all expressed concern that Obama might appoint someone else and that would bring an end to those investigations. But even if Fitzgerald were to be replaced, those investigations wouldn't end.

BURNS: The nice thing about that office is when you come in the cupboard is never bare, and when you leave the cupboard is never bare.

Jim Burns was the U.S. Attorney in Northern Illinois from 1993 to 97. He says when he came into office there were investigations underway, and he couldn't have shut them down even if he had wanted to.

BURNS: As U.S. Attorney, you can not dictate to the federal investigative agencies, you can't dictate to the FBI shut it down. Remember you've got a lot of career agents, and a lot of career prosecutors. Very good people. And if you go in and start playing politics, you think they would leak to the media? Somehow they would lea... It would be a fire hose.

So even if Fitzgerald goes, there are lots of career prosecutors and investigators that have spent years working on public corruption cases that they'll see through to the end. But Burns says Fitzgerald does deserve credit for increasing the heat on local politicians. Fitzgerald's successful prosecutions have attracted attention and dollars from Washington. Burns points out that in the last few years, the Chicago FBI office has gone from having only one public corruption squad to having three.

I'm Robert Wildeboer, Chicago Public Radio.

Right now it's difficult to find all the Illinois prosecutions he's been successful at, they are many. He's made it very clear, he doesn't want a promotion, he wants to remain here and continue the investigations. We need him.

 

[WillowTree]

I don't even know the bastard and I wuv him!

 

[tigerbob]

Just like the people of Iraq, many here do not want what is or has gone before, but in order to get change, many must go down.

It's not always the top, but is most often, as with a fish, the rot starts at the head:

City Room™ - Metro - What Will Obama Do With Fitzgerald?



Right now it's difficult to find all the Illinois prosecutions he's been successful at, they are many. He's made it very clear, he doesn't want a promotion, he wants to remain here and continue the investigations. We need him.

If he gets a promotion, something's up or someone is being paid back.

Best thing that happened to Chi-town in years.

 

[Care4all]

so, fitzgerald is now appreciated for his good work?

when he prosecuted scooter libby, most of ya'll leaning right, thought he was scum, out with an agenda to screw bush/cheney/libby/rove?

i have always respected him....

 

[tigerbob]

so, fitzgerald is now appreciated for his good work?

when he prosecuted scooter libby, most of ya'll leaning right, thought he was scum, out with an agenda to screw bush/cheney/libby/rove?

i have always respected him....

Ever since he prosecuted Libby?

 

[Red Dawn]

so, fitzgerald is now appreciated for his good work?

when he prosecuted scooter libby, most of ya'll leaning right, thought he was scum, out with an agenda to screw bush/cheney/libby/rove?

i have always respected him....

LOL, just what I was thinking.

Personally, I'm into it when any corrupt government official gets prosecuted. I doubt you'll find many liberals defending Blagovich.

Which is in stark contrast to the days when republicans were defending Scooter Libby to the hilt, and calling Fitzgerald a partisan hack.

I wonder if the "sudden" appreciation republicans have for Fitzgerald has more to do with extreme partisan hackery, than it does for actual respect for the rule of law?

 

[Old Rocks]

Fitzgerald is the one that got Libby. He doesn't seem to care a whit as to what a man's politics are, if he is breaking the law, he goes after him. A good man, wish we had more like him.

 

[Annie]

Fitzgerald is the one that got Libby. He doesn't seem to care a whit as to what a man's politics are, if he is breaking the law, he goes after him. A good man, wish we had more like him.

Another member of the bandwagon.

 

[Annie]

so, fitzgerald is now appreciated for his good work?

when he prosecuted scooter libby, most of ya'll leaning right, thought he was scum, out with an agenda to screw bush/cheney/libby/rove?

i have always respected him....

Not me. I thought the case on Libby was overblown, but not his take. Search, the posts are there.

 

[Old Rocks]

No, the Libby case was not overblown. In the outing of Plame, the business front that she, and several other agents used, was also outed, effectively outing the other agents, and their contacts in other nations. That really screwed us over in trying to recruit more contacts. This is a case of clear Treason. Treason for political spite. Heads should have rolled right up to the top, so no matter how partisan the person, they would not even consider doing such a thing again.

 

[Annie]

No, the Libby case was not overblown. In the outing of Plame, the business front that she, and several other agents used, was also outed, effectively outing the other agents, and their contacts in other nations. That really screwed us over in trying to recruit more contacts. This is a case of clear Treason. Treason for political spite. Heads should have rolled right up to the top, so no matter how partisan the person, they would not even consider doing such a thing again.

In your opinion. What is your opinion regarding Plame/yellow cake? Hmm?

 

[Old Rocks]

t r u t h o u t | Larry C. Johnson | The Betrayal of Valerie Plame

Larry Johnson - SourceWatch

 

[Red Dawn]

Oh, God...just like I predicted.

Cons are still defending Libby and minimizing the libby case.

LOL.

Extreme partisan hackery at its worst. Cons love the Fitzgerald indictment of blagovich, but they're still defending libby or downplaying the case.

Fiztgerald said the libby case was extremely serious and violated national security. But, that's not good enough for Cons, because evidently Libby was a republican. Cons are still suggesting it was "no big deal". I guess lying about a blow job is more important than lying about outing a CIA agent, in Con world.

All this partisanship is in extreme contrast to liberals, none of which to my knowlege is defending or downplaying this Blagovich crap.

This is great. Cons love it when Fitzgerals nails a corrupt Dem, but they back track and down play when he nails a republican. How much more of a partisan can one be!


This was more fun that a jumpsuit full of weasels. G'nite all!

 

[Care4all]

Not me. I thought the case on Libby was overblown, but not his take. Search, the posts are there.

believe you annie...i take your word for it.

I was not even really posting on this site that much at the time, and for the life of me, i can't remember which of the four boards i frequent, i was on most at that time, but what i do remember is for the most part, people coming down on fitzgerald for his handling of the Libby/plame outing case...

He just seems to be an honest ace to me...and takes his job pretty seriously!

care

 

[Annie]

believe you annie...i take your word for it.

I was not even really posting on this site that much at the time, and for the life of me, i can't remember which of the four boards i frequent, i was on most at that time, but what i do remember is for the most part, people coming down on fitzpatrick for his handling of the Libby/plame outing case...

He just seems to be an honest ace to me...and takes his job pretty seriously!

care

Thanks. It's Fitzgerald btw, not Fitzpatrick. I've made that mistake like 5 times and I really admire him for biases reasons, being from IL.

 

[Care4all]

Thanks. It's Fitzgerald btw, not Fitzpatrick. I've made that mistake like 5 times and I really admire him for biases reasons, being from IL.

i know, i know, i know! cuz his first name is patrick i keep putting the two, together and coming up with my OWN NAME for him....fitz patrick

I KNOW it is fitzgerald!!!! lollollol.....it's just that my fingers won't listen to me!!

care

 

[Ravi]

I wonder if the "sudden" appreciation republicans have for Fitzgerald has more to do with extreme partisan hackery, than it does for actual respect for the rule of law?

Do you even need to ask?

 

[Annie]

Perhaps there are times to not be quite so partisan?

Never a question about IL, from moi:

http://www.usmessageboard.com/polit...kly-standard-analyzes-jack-ryans-scandal.html

http://www.usmessageboard.com/curre...itzgerald-should-be-on-the-supreme-court.html

 

[Old Rocks]

Right now the nation needs Fitzgerald exactly where he is. Later, maybe in a position to have a look at finishing some unfinished business on the Federal level.

 

[Annie]

Right now the nation needs Fitzgerald exactly where he is. Later, maybe in a position to have a look at finishing some unfinished business on the Federal level.

My guess is he couldn't finish with Illinois in his lifetime. It's so depressing.