Getting Fitzgerald: Yeah, maybe he used the "N" word once.

"The Outfit"

Since its founding, the Chicago Outfit has been operating in order to keep and expand its status and profit throughout the Chicago area among others. During the Prohibition era, its leader at that time Al Capone competed with other gangsters like George "Bugs" Moran for the bootlegging business and as well as other rivalries. Because of this there appears to be a business and personal rivalry between the Northside (North Side Mob) and Southside Chicago gangs of which Al Capone was the southern and George Moran was the northern.

There also appears to be cultural differences between the two sides since the North-Sider was more Irish-American and the South-Sider was more Italian-American. This conflict lead to numerous crimes such as the St. Valentine's Day Massacre and numerous drive-by shootings resulting in the death of George Moran's associates and others on both sides. The Thompson machine gun played a significant role in these. In the early 1940s, a handful of top Outfit leaders went to prison because they were found to be extorting Hollywood by controlling the unions that comprise Hollywood's movie industry. There were also allegations that The Outfit was involved in strong-arm tactics and voter fraud at polling places, under Salvatore Giancana in the 1960 presidential election. Along with the voting allegations, The Outfit was involved in a CIA-Mafia collusion during Castro's overthrow of the Cuban government. In exchange for their help, the Outfit would be given access to their former casinos if they helped overthrow Fidel Castro (Operation Mongoose or (Operation Family Jewels)). Having failed in that endeavor, and facing increasing indictments under the administration of President John F. Kennedy (JFK), they are suspects in the JFK murder, as well as the murder of his brother Robert Kennedy. The Outfit controlled casinos in Las Vegas and "skimmed" millions of dollars over the course of several decades.

More here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Outfit

Helluva an Outfit! This would appear to be standard Chicago operating procedure if one were to cite historical precedent.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Rezko

Ties to Barack Obama

In 1990, after Barack Obama was elected president of the Harvard Law Review, Rezmar Corp. offered him a job, which Obama turned down. Obama did end up taking a job with law firm Davis, Miner, Barnhill & Galland,[30] which primarily worked civil rights cases, but also represented Rezmar and helped the company get more than $43 million in government funding and whose former senior partner, Allison S. Davis, later went into business with Rezko and, in 2003, was appointed to Illinois State Board of Investment by Governor Blagojevich at Rezko's request.[7][31] On July 31, 1995 the first ever political contributions to Obama were $300 from a lawyer, a $5,000 loan from a car dealer, and $2,000 from two food companies owned by Rezko.[32] Starting in 2003, Rezko was one of the people on Obama's U.S. Senate campaign finance committee, which raised more than $14 million.[7] Rezko threw an early fundraiser for Obama, which Chicago Tribune reporter David Mendelland claims was instrumental in providing Obama with seed money for his U.S. Senate race.[1] Obama has since identified over $250,000 in campaign contributions to various Obama campaigns as coming from Rezko or close associates, and has claimed to have donated almost two thirds of that amount to unspecified nonprofit groups.[33][34]

Also, in 2005 Obama purchased a new home in the Kenwood District of Chicago for $1.65 million (which was $300,000 below the asking price but represented the highest offer on the property) on the same day that Rezko's wife, Rita Rezko, purchased the adjoining empty lot from the same sellers for the full asking price.[35] Obama acknowledged bringing his interest in the property to Rezko's attention,[36] but denied any coordination of offers. According to Obama, while the properties had originally been a single property, the previous owners decided to sell the land as two separate lots, but made it a condition of the sales that they be closed on the same date. Obama also stated that the properties had been on the market for months, that his offer was the best of two bids, and that Ms. Rezko's bid was matched by another offer, also of $625,000, so that she could not have purchased the property for less.[37] Obama's description of the purchase was later confirmed by the previous owner of the house.[38]

After it had been reported in 2006 that Rezko was under federal investigation for influence-peddling, Obama purchased a 10 foot (3.0 m) wide strip of Ms. Rezko's property for $104,500, $60,000 above the assessed value.[35][7] According to Chicago Sun-Times columnist, Mark Brown, "Rezko definitely did Obama a favor by selling him the 10-foot strip of land, making his own parcel less attractive for development."[39] Obama acknowledges that the exchange may have created the appearance of impropriety, and stated "I consider this a mistake on my part and I regret it."[37]

On December 28, 2006, Ms. Rezko sold the property to a company owned by her husband's former business attorney. That sale of $575,000, combined with the earlier $104,500 sale to the Obamas, amounted to a net profit of $54,500 over her original purchase, less $14,000 for a fence along the property line and other expenses.[40][41] In October 2007, the new owners put the still vacant land up for sale again, this time for $1.5 million.[42]

In June 2007, the Sun-Times published a story about letters Obama had written in 1997 to city and state officials in support of a low-income senior citizen development project headed by Rezko and partner Allison Davis. The project received more than $14 million in taxpayer funds, including $885,000 in development fees for Rezko and Davis. Of Obama's letters in support of the Cottage View Terrace apartments development, Obama spokesman Bill Burton said, "This wasn't done as a favor for anyone, it was done in the interests of the people in the community who have benefited from the project. I don't know that anyone specifically asked him to write this letter nine years ago. There was a consensus in the community about the positive impact the project would make and Obama supported it because it was going to help people in his district." Rezko's attorney responded that "Mr. Rezko never spoke with, nor sought a letter from, Senator Obama in connection with that project.[43]

In the South Carolina Democratic Party presidential debate on January 21, 2008, Senator Hillary Clinton said that Obama had represented Rezko, who she referred to as a slum landlord.[44] Obama responded that he had never represented Rezko and had done only about five hours work, indirectly, for Rezko's firm.[citation needed] Within days of the debate, a photo of Rezko posing with Bill and Hillary Clinton surfaced. When asked about the photo Hillary Clinton commented "I probably have taken hundreds of thousands of pictures. I wouldn’t know him if he walked in the door."[45]

Draw your own conclusions.

"Guilt by association" is a logical error, but the odor of corruption from the Chicago political machine does have a long standing history.

Cheers

Hans-Christian Georg Rupprecht, Commander in Chief

Frankenstein Battalion
2nd Squadron: Ulanen-(Lancers) Regiment Großherzog Friedrich von Baden(Rheinisches) Nr.7(Saarbrucken)
Knecht Rupprecht Division
Hans Corps
1st Saint Nicolaas Army
Army Group “True North

Well, fancy that ! How come I never saw that on The National !?

Lorrie Goldstein sheds some light;

[ Greetings, fellow journalists, and welcome to the founding meeting of the Canadian chapter of The Media of Obama. Or, as we like to call ourselves, THE MOB, Canada.

As you know, THE MOB, Canada, will be operating as a subsidiary of its American parent, The Media of Obama, USA, (THE MOB, USA) for the foreseeable future.

Our job, as a branch plant of our American head office, will be to provide Canadians with objective news analysis of the glorious presidency of Barack Obama, compared to the disappointing prime ministership of Stephen Harper.] LG

The ‘windy city’ certainly has a host of dangerously interesting characters, including a president elect. Hopefully no horses lose their head to keep everything running smoothly. If I was Fitzrgerald I would consider hiring a food taster.

"""" If I was Fitzrgerald I would consider hiring a food taster""""

that and a Hoover file!!!!!!

Hugh Hewitt has been talking about this for quite some time.

Should Obama fire him what will the MSM's reaction be? Anything like how they responded to the saturday night massacre?

BO will really be putting his presidency on the line if he does as there is no way the evidence gathered thusfar will not leak out and the watergate-cover-up overtones are obvious.

However the risk of doing nothing may even be as bad. If he lets Rezko swing there is no telling what Rezko will say has happened in the past - he certainly won't go to jail alone.

A presidency may be doomed before it even starts...

Leaving Joe Biden as POTUS and Pelosi as the nominal VP - Yikes!!

"...Obama purchased a 10 foot (3.0 m) wide strip of Ms. Rezko's property..."

I know that President-Elect Barry is not a portly guy, but how could he fit himself and family into land that narrow?

Assuming 12" clearance on either side of the boundaries for spread footings and 36" for a hallway, that leaves individual rooms in the house to be less than 5 feet wide.

"...Obama purchased a new home in the Kenwood District of Chicago for $1.65 million (which was $300,000 below the asking price but represented the highest offer on the property) on the same day that Rezko's wife, Rita Rezko, purchased the adjoining empty lot from the same sellers for the full asking price..."

PP:

I'm thinkling that the term "adjoining" might be a clue...he was interested in expanding his own lot.

The MSM is not interested. You can't get wall to wall coverage of anything if the MSM refuses to report it. Nixon was nailed because everyone piled on, and wouldn't let up until he was mauled beyond recognition & forced to quit.

Dems don't get that treatment. They are worshiped & idolized for everything they do, sometimes even for things they don't do.

Already, it's wall to wall O. The selection of the puppy was good for three solid days of "news".

Do Republicans even exist? The only time they're mentioned is when some Dem is offended by the clothes they wear or something they said that offended someone. G*d, those Reps are really awful people.

All those skeletons will be whisked out of the closet for quick burials, maybe with cement slippers just to make sure they are gone forever. Having experienced staff for this function will come in real handy.

The MSM is not interested. You can't get wall to wall coverage of anything if the MSM refuses to report it. Nixon was nailed because everyone piled on, and wouldn't let up until he was mauled beyond recognition & forced to quit.

Dems don't get that treatment. They are worshiped & idolized for everything they do, sometimes even for things they don't do.

Already, it's wall to wall O. The selection of the puppy was good for three solid days of "news".

Do Republicans even exist? The only time they're mentioned is when some Dem is offended by the clothes they wear or something they said that offended someone. G*d, those Reps are really awful people.

All those skeletons will be whisked out of the closet for quick burials, maybe with cement slippers just to make sure they are gone forever. Having experienced staff for this function will come in real handy.

Sorry for the double post. The MSM made me do it.

fitzgerald is as corrupt as those guys. he should be able to dance with them.

We are willing to accept corruption at the highest levels of government because we believe that all politicians are corrupt. We have created a moral equivalency between politicians in general and white collar criminals in particular. Political membership is now a free pass to engage in personal enrichment at the expense of the public. While corruption in politics is nothing new, the desire to win at all costs has outstripped our fundamental belief in law and order.

Obama has consistently claimed this exchange was a boneheaded move and the Rezko/Obama transactions were coincidentally close but not related. This is a lie.

Startling new evidence in this article documents the how corrupt the Rezko/Obama relationship is.

http://www.gopmom.com/2008/10/clever-real-estate-strategies-for-politicians/

Interesting. Wasn't Fitzgerald the guy who prosecuted Conrad Black? Perhaps the Kennedy/Daley cabal will pull him aside and explain how things work in America, and Fitzgerald will retire to raise cats.

Is Tony Rezco gonna roll over?

http://hillbuzz.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/giannoulias.jpg

Syncro