Shoes, all of a sudden, have been a huge topic of conversation. Especially, size 10 shoes, worn briefly by Middle Eastern journalists at presidential press conferences. Shoes like that have gotten an extraordinary amount of news coverage lately.
In fact, peering out of a swollen right eye, bruised in the scuffling that took place immediately after the now – infamous shoe-throwing incident in Baghdad, White House press secretary Dana Perino even joked that, in the future, reporters invited to presidential press conferences would be made to check their shoes at the door.
As if that weren’t corny enough, Perino went on to refer to her “black eye” (as an African American, I’m still not entirely comfortable with that term. Or am I just being paranoid?) as a “shoe-venir.” I guess Perino was just trying to be as “funny” and “clever” as the New York Daily News, which, in a cover story headline two weeks ago, referred to the incident in Baghdad as a “shoe-icide attack.”
As much fun as this has all been, those aren’t the shoes I want to talk about. I’m more interested in the “other shoe,” the one that’s about to drop in the federal investigation of Illinois Governor Milorad “Rod” Blagojevich. And, like the footwear worn to the news conference in Iraq, and subsequently thrown by journalist Muntadhar Al-Zaidi, the impact from this shoe will be felt across the country and around the world.
Did you ever take a good, hard look at Rod Blagojevich? The overwhelming impression you get is that of a guy whose entire body language simply says: “Bring it!” I mean, he doesn’t really seem to care what anyone thinks about him, about his family, and even about his competence to represent the people of Illinois as their governor.
It would appear that his job is in jeopardy, that his reputation has been irreparably damaged, and that he may be facing up to 30 years in prison, based on the recent federal charges brought against him. His face has been on the cover of virtually every major newspaper across the country and the accusations against him and the calls for his resignation lead almost every broadcast news report.
Despite all that, Blagojevich simply gets up in the morning, puts on a black track suit, smiles at the media horde camped outside of his house, jumps into his chauffeur-driven SUV and goes to work – as governor of Illinois.
He’s been accused of trying to “sell” the former U.S. Senate seat of the president-elect, of boldly soliciting excessive campaign contributions for himself, and corporate board seats for his foul-mouthed wife, and of trying to get every single member of the editorial board of the Chicago Tribune fired, as a pre-condition for providing state financing the paper needed for its very survival.
Again, with all of those allegations and a no-nonsense U.S. attorney with an extraordinarily efficient and high-profile conviction rate hanging over his head, Blagojevich carries himself as if he almost dares his political adversaries, who also, curiously, happen to be his closest former political allies, to “make a move.” He looks like a guy who has absolutely no qualms about "dropping a dime" on a former political colleague.
You also get the feeling that the Chicago political establishment would like nothing more than to see their former friend removed – without any further public statements from him – from the premises. I believe that they understand that the stuff Blagojevich knows about each of them could very well be highly embarrassing for some, and perhaps, indictable and career-ending, for others.
You think I’m kidding? Take the case of the man referred to in the federal complaint against Blagojevich as Senate Candidate #5. That would be U.S. Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr., who, up until last week, seemed to be a young man with a bright political future. He enjoyed a highly recognizable family name and an inside track with the new administration, given the role he played as Obama’s national campaign co-chair. Now, Jackson’s future is a lot less bright.
It wasn’t so bad that Jesse Jr. was involved in the federal complaint as a person angling to move into Obama’s vacant Illinois senate seat. That could be excused. After all, who ever heard of a politician who didn’t want to move up to a bigger stage, a greater responsibility and a larger paycheck? That wasn’t a problem.
The problem was that somehow, in trying to wipe away the stink of the Blagojevich scandal, Jesse Jackson Jr., out of the clear blue sky, authorized one of his “official spokesmen” to announce to the world that he – Jesse Jackson Jr.- had been providing information to federal authorities about Blagojevich and other Illinois political players for about 10 years.
Right after that, you’ll recall, the young Mr. Jackson, went to great lengths to explain that he had certainly been an “informer” for the federal government, but never had he ever been an “informant;” as if, in his mind, there was a shred of difference between the two.
What was that about?
In any event, virtually over night, Jesse Jackson Jr., a former rising political star, seems to have lost even the remotest possibility of actually becoming the next U.S. senator from Illinois. He also, probably, at about the same time, had his name removed from party and reception invitation lists all over the state of Illinois and Washington DC. In fact, elected officials, lobbyists, civic leaders, community activists, and regular voters are now probably wondering how you can possibly have a casual, unrecorded conversation about anything, anymore, with Jesse Jackson Jr. in the room.
That was just the first shoe. Others back-tracking and running for cover in Illinois seem to include Obama confidante and new administration member Valerie Jarrett, who’s referred to in the federal complaint as Senate Candidate # 1, newly appointed White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel and Obama campaign consultant and new White House senior advisor David Axelrod. Also, busily covering its tracks is the Chicago Tribune Company, which owns the Chicago Tribune, the Los Angeles Times, The Baltimore Sun, several broadcasts outlets, and the Chicago Cubs baseball team, among other things, and which subsequently was forced to file for bankruptcy. The taint of Blagojevich may also extend to the president-elect, himself, whose spokespeople have publicly re-defined his relationship with the Illinois governor several times over the past few weeks, now claiming that the two barely know each other and almost “never” speak.
Because of Blagojevich, the president-elect was forced to launch an internal review of all contacts between his senior operatives and the Illinois Governor’s Office. Not surprisingly, that "review," issued a few days ago, found that no "inappropriate" contact had been made between Blagoevich's people and the president-elect's people. We all now await the details of the U.S. Attorney's investigation to be disclosed, and his perspective on what actually was, or was not, "appropriate." Chances are there may be just a few areas wherein the U.S. Attorney's report will differ from the "internal report" done by the Obama team.
Throughout the process, the generally media-accessible Obama spokespeople have been uncharacteristically tight-lipped, or just plain "unavailable." To further complicate effective communications in this matter, chief of staff Emanuel is on vacation in Africa and the president-elect, himself, is secluded, other than "photo-op" availability, in Hawaii. Making matters even worse, the entire scenario has been "shoe-horned" into the Christmas season, a time when most people are absorbed with holiday preparations and are not, generally, paying attention to news reports. With all of that as backdrop, the media, not surprisingly, are growing more surly every day, creating, arguably, the biggest press relations challenge Obama has ever had to face.
In any event, as you're winding down the last few days of the holiday season, kicking back with the relatives, checking out the bowl games and waiting to usher in the New Year, keep your ears wide open.
The next sound you hear may very well be that of a huge political shoe being dropped.
##############
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment