Rod Blagojevich is released from prison

When our former governor was impeached and removed from office I was all over this back then. So I hope you'll indulge this blast from the past.

As a result of his activities while governor which helped get him impeached he was sent to federal prison were he served close to 8 years until President Donald Trump granted Blagojevich a commutation of his federal sentence.

After more than one false alarm raised and dashed the hopes of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, President Donald Trump finally answered his pleas and commuted Blagojevich’s 14-year prison term Tuesday, springing the Chicago Democrat from prison more than four years early and writing a stunning new chapter to one of the state’s most notorious corruption cases.

The federal Bureau of Prisons released a statement after 7 p.m. saying that Blagojevich “is no longer in the custody” of the agency and was released from a prison in Colorado.

The controversial move came more than a year after Trump first revealed he was considering ending Blagojevich’s time behind bars, saying he believed Illinois’ 40th governor had been treated unfairly.

“Yes, we commuted the sentence of Rod Blagojevich,” Trump said in Maryland on Tuesday. "He served eight years in jail, a long time. He seems like a very nice person — don’t know him.”

As an aside, it was mentioned by many out there that after his removal from office Blagojevich was a participant on Celebrity Apprentice and certainly that occurred before he served his sentence for corruption in federal prison.

I wonder if his time in prison caused him to think about what got him there. I wonder if he plans a political comeback although in early 2009 the state Senate also voted to bar the former governor from running for any office in Illinois. I don't know if that includes running for a federal office such as a member of the US House of Representatives where he was a former member.

Either way I believe this AP video was circulated among Illinois bloggers when he was arrested by the FBI years ago. Blagojevich was still governor and was going to work as usual and we get a glimpse of his two young daughters. Surely this whole episode took its toll on his daughters and his wife Patti. [VIDEO]

Cap Fax: Mayor uses unpopular president to boost census participation

It's that time again for the US Census and the city is getting ready for outreach. Just read this report from Capitol Fax

Mayor uses unpopular president to boost census participation https://t.co/nGTbfdCzfo

— Rich Miller (@capitolfax) October 2, 2019

Capitol Fax: President Trump “I’m thinking about commuting [Rod Blagojevich’s] sentence very strongly”

While Rich Miller is actually on break right now he's been following the major news stories affecting Illinois. I felt the need to mention this since we did follow Blagojevich's impeachment and removal from the office of Governor.

Who knows how popular this might be for most of you, but would you be OK with President Trump possibly commuting Blagojevich's federal sentence for corruption?

President Trump “I’m thinking about commuting [Rod Blagojevich’s] sentence very strongly” https://t.co/kmGHKpMiSP

— Rich Miller (@capitolfax) August 8, 2019

Capitol Fax: Ed Burke round-up

Well we're still talking about the federal raid on Ald. Burke's offices and I read somewhere at his law firm also. The national media is following his work for the President on property tax matters until earlier this year, but now we hear the raid has little to do with that work.

Read more at Rich Miller's Capitol Fax blog.

Ed Burke round-up https://t.co/iAWGIe91yt

— Rich Miller (@capitolfax) November 30, 2018

BTW, this aired on CBS Chicago last night, almost reminds me of the Kavanaugh hearings. Very lawyerly response to the raid simply repeating the same statement to different questions. [VIDEO]

Capitol Fax: Troy LaRaviere drops out of mayor’s race as Rep. La Shawn Ford gets in

Via Mayor's Office Fellowship Program

Well we have at least 18 candidates in the race, but no clear front runner although there are a few known names in the race. We already have one withdrawal and one entered the race over the weekend.

Troy LaRaviere, former CPS Principal who was removed from his position because of his political activities against Mayor Rahm Emanuel. We're still in the petition signature period and LaRaviere realized he's come up a bit short.

However as Rich Miller notes on his blog Tuesday, as LaRaviere withdraws from the mayor's race, we have La Shawn Ford who's currently a state representative who's throwing his hat into the race.

Troy LaRaviere drops out of mayor’s race as Rep. La Shawn Ford gets in https://t.co/mt8BDMRrUX

— Rich Miller (@capitolfax) November 13, 2018

And I just want to contrast the difference of opinion between these two leaders as far as our disruptor President of the United States Donald J. Trump. You can look at Rich Miller's post to see what La Shawn Ford says about the relationship between outgoing Mayor Emanuel and the President. And You can watch this almost 9 min video state Rep. Ford says point blank that the Mayor should work with the President especially on the crime in the city. [VIDEO]

On the other hand we have LaRaviere who is quoted in the Sun-Times as saying about Trump and with a swipe at Kanye West

“I accepted the meeting so I could tell him face-to-face that I could not accept his support as long as he aligned himself with a singularly corrupt President who poisons our culture with divisive racist and sexist proclamations every other time he opens his mouth,” LaRaviere wrote.

LaRaviere said he told West’s staffers that, if West wanted to meet, he “needed to come to my space . . . Symbolically I could not move toward a Trump supporter; if he wanted to talk, he needed to move toward me.”

West’s camp, “must have sensed my reluctance because they eventually stopped reaching out for the meeting,” LaRaviere wrote.
...
“I could not associate my campaign or my name with a man who had aligned himself with a president as racist, as corrupt, and as dangerous as Donald Trump. To paraphrase Omar Little, a man has to have a code,” he wrote.

Well LaRaviere probably wouldn't have worked well with the President at all! We just won't know how that will work out now. 

McCarthy for Mayor. What do you think?

I wanted to write about this last week. It was already in the news that former police chief Garry McCarthy is running for mayor of Chicago. He was looking at it and now he dropped his hat in the ring? Can he get signatures on his petitions? Does he have good lawyers on hand to defend against challenges? Most important when he does get on the ballot, does he have support?

Well one problem with support, Rich Miller opined on this. Can McCarthy raise the money necessary to take on Mayor Emanuel?

Does McCarthy even have a path to victory? https://t.co/VDj2e2v77d

— Rich Miller (@capitolfax) March 22, 2018

A conservative Democrat in Chicago who “loathes” raising money? He’s gonna run to the right of campaign cash-loving neo-liberal Rahm Emanuel in that liberal city without loads of dough? Good luck with that, dude. Two Chicago-based members of the Cook County Board lost their re-elections Tuesday after fighting hard against the pop tax. And he wants to run as a law and order guy, but a legalizing marijuana referendum just got 73 percent in the city.

Also last week Lynn Sweet speaks with McCarthy about his bid. A series of videos shown on the Chicago Sun-Times' YouTube channel. Let's start with why McCarthy who began his police career in New York City, then moved on to Newark, New Jersey, and then was appointed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel in Chicago by 2011. [VIDEO]

And this is probably why many Blacks may be hesitant to support McCarthy and the reason is Laquan McDonald. He attempts to answer this with Lynn Sweet [VIDEO]

Trump and county sending help for violence in Chicago

President Trump

Lost in all the tweets of personal attacks on cable network media personalities and a video which portrays the President at a past WWF Wrestlemania attacking someone who represents CNN (whose logo you see in place of their face - probably WWF owner Vince McMahon) was a mention of federal help being sent to Chicago.

Crime and killings in Chicago have reached such epidemic proportions that I am sending in Federal help. 1714 shootings in Chicago this year!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 30, 2017

Bear in mind earlier this year he wrote this tweet

If Chicago doesn't fix the horrible "carnage" going on, 228 shootings in 2017 with 42 killings (up 24% from 2016), I will send in the Feds!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 25, 2017

It appears the President of the United States is actually fulfilling that initial promise:

Twenty federal gun agents have been assigned to Chicago to join a newly formed task force aimed at cutting the flow of illegal guns into the city and cracking down on people repeatedly arrested on gun charges.

Hours after the Chicago police department sent out a news release about the task force, President Donald Trump claimed credit for sending in the agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
...
The roughly 40-person strike force, which consists of Chicago police officers, ATF agents and Illinois State Police, will be working on unsolved shootings and gun-related homicides and combating illegal gun trafficking, officials said Friday.

In addition to the federal angle help from the Cook County Sheriff is coming to the south side also announced late last month:

The sheriff's office announced Wednesday that 55 to 60 sheriff's police and staff members would "supplement" the work already done by Chicago police in the Calumet and Gresham police districts.

Sheriff's officers and staff will help with patrol units, special operations, crime suppression tactical teams, evictions and other services.

Ald. Anthony Beale (9th) asked the sheriff's police to help "to create a safer, healthier environment," according to a news release.

Will additional law enforcement help from the federal government or the sheriff be enough to curb violent crime in the many low-income neighborhoods of Chicago?

BTW, yes the WWF is actually WWE now, however, as a wrestling fan old habits die hard. WWE will always be WWF or World Wrestling Federation to me. The usage of WWF was intentional.

Curbed Chi: Proposed Trump budget could threaten Chicago’s mass transit network

A variety of transit projects in our fair city could be on the gun but I want to emphasize one project that could be derailed - no pun intended - by the priority on people who drive their own vehicles:

Amtrak isn’t the only transportation network expected to feel the squeeze from Washington. While CTA’s $2.1 billion Red-Purple Line modernization program managed to secure $1.1 billion in matching federal funds during the waning days of the Obama Administration, Trump’s proposed budget could cast serious doubts on a plan to extend the Red Line beyond 95th Street to Chicago’s Far South Side.

If there was a time for Chicago's south side leaders to make sure we get that extension funded now, this is the time. And yes I realize Trump doesn't have many friends or allies here in Chicago.