Chicago! Not the Musical, but the Action-Suspense Docudrama! by Sibel Edmonds

by Sibel Edmonds
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
originally published by Boiling Frogs Post
30 December 2009

The Star Power of Chicago: A President, a Chief of Staff, a Governor, a Mayor, a Criminal Convict Creamer, a Dumb or Charlatan Congresswoman, a Political Fundraiser, a Political System Termite…What a Play this would make!

Chicago’s governing style and practices have been consistently characterized as criminal and corrupt since the days of the prohibition-era gangster, Al Capone. Last year Daniel Elgber wrote an interesting piece on this same topic titled ‘Why is Chicago so Corrupt?’

Former Illinois Gov. George Ryan received a sentence of six and a half years in prison on Wednesday, after being convicted on charges of racketeering, mail fraud, filing false tax returns, and lying to investigators. The Chicago Sun-Times reports that in the last three decades, at least 79 local elected officials have been convicted of a crime, including three governors, one mayor, and a whopping 27 aldermen from the Windy City. What makes Chicago so corrupt?

Elgber then goes on to provide some context, historical background, and past parallels with other cities. He points to a few possible factors behind this windy city’s continuous struggle with chronic political corruption:

In Chicago, corruption persisted, to some degree because the city never had the benefit of a reformist mayor like New York City’s Fiorello LaGuardia, who had political ties to FDR. Instead, Chicago moved towards a one-party system that made it even more vulnerable to corruption: The city’s last Republican mayor left office in 1931. Today, not even the Democratic primaries are competitive—for the most part, once you’re in office, you stay there. The weak campaign finance laws in Illinois probably helped to stave off competition in recent years.

The star power of Chicago politicians may also contribute to the city’s continuing problems with corruption. Incumbents tend to be big personalities who get celebrity coverage in the local papers—which sometimes translates into ethical leeway from voters. (In cities like Los Angeles and New York, local politicians take a back seat to the media celebs.)

Lastly, Elgber talks about corruption measurement and relevant points. This is a very interesting and obviously still relevant and applicable piece, so I suggest you read it in its entirety here and check out the links provided.

The media has long been reporting on Chicago’s corruption related scandals, and the intensity and frequency of these stories have increased tremendously in the last few years. So why am I so interested in this windy city of Bears?

Those of you who know me and/or are familiar with my case know the answer: Could it be the Political System Termite Dennis Hastert? Could it be the case of still under question marks Jan Schakowsky and the clear-cut record of her convicted husband? Could it be the Turkish criminal operatives with their HQ in Chicago since the early 90s? Could it be that Chicago was one of the two centers of the FBI’s nearly decade-long espionage and criminal investigations?

Well, the answer to all those ‘could it be’s is a firm yes, with more answers still buried somewhere in Chicago…For now let’s look at a small gallery of a much bigger gallery on recent key political personalities who happen to be connected to each other in more than one way and with more than a tie or two. Treat it as you might an exhibition room in a museum showcasing a series of relevant portraits all set against the same windy city background. Or if you wish, which I hope you do, go even further and add your points and possible interpretations for each portrait.

White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel

I am starting with Rahm Emanuel since he prompted this piece on Chicago Politics’ Figureheads in Corruption. I know what you’re thinking, and no I am not going to walk down the same path and talk about the creepy odd personalities making even a creepier and odder couple. Catch my drift? While the outcome of that marriage may end up interestingly, the marriage is not as advertised. It is not far left with far right, but purely and simply a good example of in-breeding: when the byproducts of the same establishment couple with each other…In ordinary life the off-spring sum up the result. In the murky, smoke and mirrors, basically plain swampy and dirty world of partisan politics the outcome is what you watch on Fox TV, or the like.

Okay, so while the latest with Rahmie prompted this piece, the reasoning and the points herein have nothing to do with that. After all, Rahm Emanuel’s past record has always been out there for anyone who wanted to look, to see, to know about: his father’s Ziono-Terrorist background, his own active duty with Israel’s military, his dual citizenship, his highly questionable loyalties, his even more questionable financial gains from swampy financial institutions’ practices, his connections to the corrupt and criminals, his dirty mouth, his dirtier deeds in the campaign finance area…That’s right. All this has been known for quite a while. Somehow, the far left, while advertising for and promoting Obama, chose not to see their man’s choice of White House Chief of Staff, and worked very hard to hush anyone who did. Now that their con man of choice is secured in place, combined with only God knows what agenda, they choose to mumble about him.

This is what I am talking about:

Before its portfolio of bad loans helped trigger the current housing crisis, mortgage giant Freddie Mac was the focus of a major accounting scandal that led to a management shake-up, huge fines and scalding condemnation of passive directors by a top federal regulator. One of those allegedly asleep-at-the-switch board members was Chicago’s Rahm Emanuel–now chief of staff to President Barack Obama–who made at least $320,000 for a 14-month stint at Freddie Mac that required little effort.

Emanuel’s Freddie Mac involvement has been a prominent point on his political résumé, and his healthy payday from the firm has been no secret either. What is less known, however, is how little he apparently did for his money and how he benefited from the kind of cozy ties between Washington and Wall Street that have fueled the nation’s current economic mess.

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The above information has been readily available to all for almost a decade. It’s been a part of Emanuel’s resume for Pete’s Sake. Somehow, during all the false advertising during the presidential candidacy and then the elections, the left chose to look the other way and simply ignored and hushed. Now the dumb and dirty are playing dumber for even dirtier reasons, and want him investigated for his past questionable ties and later questionable stonewalling of investigations into the financial disasters of late.

I mentioned Rahm Emanuel’s connections to and cozy relationships with Chicago’s known corrupt criminals. Here is one:

The bullish, foul-mouthed but effective Chicago arm-twister Rahm Emanuel has come under pressure to resign as Barack Obama’s chief of staff after it was revealed that he had been captured on court-approved wire-taps discussing the names of candidates for Obama’s Senate seat.

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Blagojevich has been accused of plotting to sell Obama’s Senate seat – which is in the governor’s gift – in return for financial and political favors. Emanuel ducked out of view last week, avoiding reporters’ questions and complaining of harassment and “death threats” as the news spread that he was the likely unnamed adviser cited by the FBI with whom the tainted Blagojevich hoped to bargain over the appointment.

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Here is Emanuel’s connection to Turkish Operative, Mehmet Celebi:

Celebi was a fundraiser for another Chicago politician, Rahm Emanuel. Later, Celebi became a bundler for Hillary Clinton, raising $100,000 for her presidential campaign. She finally had to dump Celebi because of his role as producer of the Turkish film “Kurtlar Vadisi Irak“.

His list of connections include the infamous Mayor of Chicago, Richard Daley, whom he worked for as a fundraiser, and his old boss, Robert Creamer, Representative Jan Schakowsky’s convicted felon husband.

Sometimes one wonders about nature v nurture when it comes to more or less ‘pure corrupt’ breeds. So what made Emanuel who he is today, who he’s been for many years, since his early adulthood? I don’t know. As for family history, here is what you’ll find:

This impression is reinforced by the fact that Emanuel – an American citizen by birth – joined the Israeli army as a volunteer during the 1991 Gulf war between the United States and Iraq. By joining the Israeli army, Emanuel violated a US law which prohibits American citizens from joining the armed forces of another country. Americans who do so can be stripped of their citizenship.

Emanuel’s father, Benjamin M. Emanuel, is a pediatrician who was born in Jerusalem. He was a member of the Irgun, a Zionist terrorist group that operated in Palestine from 1931 to 1948 during the British Mandate.

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Irgun was described as a terrorist organisation by the New York Times and by the Anglo-American Committee of Enquiry. All told, Irgun attacks against Arab targets resulted in at least 250 Arab deaths during this period.

In many respects Rahm Emanuel wears the old and tried Chicago Politician cloak perfectly. No wonder his name keeps surfacing in relation to other scandalous Chicago figures: Daley, Blagojevich, Creamer …His Freddie Mac connections and deals only add a bit more spice to this already well-seasoned Chicago man…

Ex Governor Rod Blagojevich

Let’s talk briefly about the infamous governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich, who was arrested on federal corruption charges in 2008. I say briefly because there’s tons and tons of information and headlines involving this guy, so let’s not bother going through all the details. The charges against him involved conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, and solicitation of bribery.

Last January the Illinois House of Representatives voted to impeach him by a 114-1 vote for corruption and misconduct in office. Wikipedia has a condensed version of this once-upon-a-time popular governor’s so very typically Chicago-Politic dirt file:

During the course of his political career, Blagojevich was involved in a number of controversies including at least a dozen separate federal investigations; the Tony Rezko indictment and trial; feuds with his father-in-law; contested state appointments; his residency, commute, and work hours; and allegedly withholding state funds from the Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago. In 2008, Blagojevich was investigated for and charged with crimes resulting from his role in the sale of the Chicago Cubs and Wrigley Field.

Many of you already know all about Blagojevich, and those of you who don’t can look it up, or just ask around; there’s plenty. On the other hand I am not sure if many know how he ties in with the rest of our latest well-known Chicago political machine’s corrupt participants. For instance, how many people know about Sister-Teresa impersonator, Jan Schakowsky, and her convicted felon husband’s close connections to this disgraced ex-governor? Here are a few excerpts:

Jan Schakowsky contributed $28,000 to Blagojevich, endorsed him in 2002 and 2006, and raised money for his campaign through 2008. Her convicted felon husband Robert Creamer worked for Rod Blagojevich before pleading guilty to tax and bank fraud.

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In April 2008, Schakowsky told the Sun-Times that she and Blagojevich “have a working relationship, and we have a long-standing friendship.” In the weeks leading up to Blagojevich’s arrest for attempting to sell Illinois’ U.S. Senate seat, Schakowsky confirmed that she spoke with the governor about the appointment and was under consideration.

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And a few more details on Schakowsky’s convicted felon husband’s ties to Blagojevich:

From 2001-2002, Friends of Blagojevich paid more than $541,000 to a political consulting firm run by Schakowsky’s husband, Robert Creamer, according to state records. The firm, Strategic Consulting Group, reportedly provided “consulting,” “field consulting” and “predictive dialer” services to the Blagojevich campaign.

During the same election cycle, Creamer and his firm were linked to fraudulent voter activities in the Illinois’ 17th Congressional District – and a slush fund he helped create called the “17th District Victory Fund” was later fined by the Federal Election Commission.

In 2004, Creamer was indicted on 16 counts of bank fraud and 18 counts of tax fraud after failing to pay more than $300,000 in income taxes and pulling a $1 million overdraft in a check kiting scheme. In 2005, Creamer pleaded guilty to two felonies, bank fraud and failure to pay federal taxes. In 2006, Creamer was sentenced to five months in prison and 11 months home confinement.

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And don’t forget Rahm Emanuel’s cozy relationship and past business dealings with Blagojevich. A simple Google search will bring up loads of data on that, like this.

You see, these are the ties that make the picture clear, and again, these are the ties the current odd-duos would rather leave out and cover up. When it came to their chosen man, Obama, and the mission to put him in the White House, they went out of their way to hush crusty Rahm Emanuel. Now, when Rahmie gets to be a bit too big of a pill to have people swallow, they want to pre-empt outing him. Meanwhile, this same crowd are the loudest cheerleaders for phonies like Representative Schakowsky and her criminal husband, and God forbid if you dare bring up the connections: Schakowsky-Creamer-Emanuel, Schakowsky-Creamer-.Blagojevich… We’ll have more on this later….

Mayor Richard M. Daley

Here’s a brief snapshot of Chicago’s beloved Mayor, Richard M. Daley, who was elected mayor in 1989 and reelected in 1991, 1995, 1999, 2003, and then again in 2007, and became the longest serving mayor in Chicago’s history! There have been many whispers and speculations on Daley’s long-running practices, his family lineage in practicing corrupt politics, his own personal baggage, and such. However, let’s stick with well-publicized and confirmed scandals and deeds, and wait until others surface with accompanying witnesses and documents, since eventually they all do.

Here is one scandal referred to as the Hired Truck Program. It involved hiring private trucks to do city work. In 2004, after six months of investigation, the Chicago Sun published a series of articles that revealed how certain participating companies were being paid for doing little or no work and had mob connections or were tied to city employees. Truck owners also paid bribes in order to get into the program. Here are a few highlights on this particular scandal:

While the Sun-Times watched this hired truck in West Humboldt Park, it went to McDonald’s and Jewel, and eventually hauled a small load. Many do nothing but work for the city’s Hired Truck Program, and often their operations are run out of the owners’ homes. Six of every 10 aren’t listed in the phone book.

But many are listed on campaign reports showing they contribute money to the mayor and other politicians — in all more than $800,000 since 1996.

According to one of the drivers this is how it works a la Chicago:

Getting paid to do little or nothing comes with a price, says another trucking firm owner, a 20-year veteran of the program who requested anonymity. It costs him about $1,500 a year in bribes to several city employees to keep his trucks active in the no-bid program, the owner said.

“You know, just right after Christmas, I lost one truck” from the program, he said. “I only made that mistake once.”

“You put it in the Christmas cards,” he said, referring to cash bribes. “Don’t let anybody see it. You gotta do what you gotta do.”

Once, the owner said, he decided to cut one city employee off his Christmas list. The response was swift.

The Hired Truck Scandal led to another exposé:

The hired truck scandal eventually sparked a Federal investigation into hiring practices at Chicago City Hall, with Robert Sorich, Mayor Daley’s former patronage chief, facing mail fraud charges for allegedly rigging city hiring to favor people with political connections. On July 5, 2006, Sorich was convicted on two counts of mail fraud for rigging city jobs and promotions.

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And here are a few corruption points from Mayor Daley’s Millennium Park Project:

…But although Millennium Park may well be remembered as one of Mr. Daley’s great achievements, this is not a moment of unalloyed pride for the mayor, who is under intensifying criticism for what some say is a pattern of corruption in and around his administration.

Last week, The Chicago Tribune ran a front-page article reporting that the company chosen to clean up after a recent city-sponsored food festival had submitted an inflated bid, but appeared to have won the contract because it donated tens of thousands of dollars to a political committee that supports Mr. Daley.

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For a list containing information and links to several articles on Mayor Daley’s background and scandals click here. As I’ve said, I’m not going to rehash all the details of these scandals since they are widely available to all. Instead I’ll bring in our other showcased Chicago political faces and their connections to the Daley machine:

Our White House man, Rahm Emanuel, started his career with Mayor Daley. Here are some details:

For his part, Emanuel hooked up with Daley just about as soon as he could — back in the late 1980s, when he was barely 30 years old. He signed on with Daley. By all accounts, he made himself indispensable to the boss as a fundraiser, badgering, bullying, or guilt-tripping the locals into giving money to Daley’s campaign. It was then that Emanuel established his reputation as Rahmbo — the brash, arrogant, and tempestuous assistant that political bosses use to get things done.

After helping Daley win, Emanuel made himself just as indispensable to Bill Clinton, first as a fundraiser and later as a key White House aide. Emanuel managed to piss off nearly everyone in Washington, but when Clinton’s term was up, Daley, apparently still grateful for the money raised, welcomed him back to Chicago with open arms. In 2002, Daley endorsed Emanuel to fill the congressional seat left vacant when Rod Blagojevich ran for governor.

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Let’s see who else happens to be very closely connected to Mayor Daley? There he is, again, Rep. Schakowsky’s convicted husband Mr. Creamer himself. As one of Chicago’s best-known political consultants, he worked for the campaigns of both Mayor Daley and Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich.

We’ll have more ties later in the article. Let’s move on and have a brief re-introduction to another relevant Chicago character.

Touch All Tony Rezko

We’ve had the pleasure of reading and hearing about Tony Rezko starting in 2005-2006. He is the political fundraiser and real estate developer in Chicago who was convicted on several accounts of fraud and bribery in 2008. He had been involved in fundraising for local Illinois politicians, Republican and Democrats alike, since the 1980s. He helped Blagojevich set up the state’s first Democratic administration in twenty years, and of course because of that he was able to have business associates appointed onto several state boards. In 2006 Rezko and several others were indicted on federal charges for using their connections to the state boards to demand kickbacks from businesses that wanted to do business with the state. While the others pleaded guilty to the charges, Rezko pleaded not guilty and was found guilty of 16 of the 24 charges filed against him.

Rezko was found guilty of six counts of wire fraud, six counts of mail fraud, two counts of corrupt solicitation, and two counts of money laundering, but was found not guilty on three counts of wire and mail fraud, one count of attempted extortion, and four counts of corrupt solicitation. He has been held at Chicago’s Metropolitan Correctional Center since his conviction.

The case is much deeper and more interesting than my brief snapshot above, but you can easily access and read about it in many places, including here at Wikipedia. Now, let’s take a look at relevant ties and connections, starting with Rod Blagojevich:

Rezko’s relationship with Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich and his family were at the root of the federal corruption case which led to Rezko’s conviction. Rezko donated $117,652 to Blagojevich’s campaigns, and is credited by the prosecutor in his trial with having delivered bundled contributions totaling almost $1.44 million.

Rezko recommended many of his business associates and their relatives for positions within state government, three of whom were appointed to the state board that oversees hospital projects. the state’s development board was run by another former Rezko business associate. Rezko and Republican fundraiser Stuart Levine were charged in a 24-count federal indictment for allegedly using Rezko’s influence with public officials to demand millions of dollars in kickbacks from companies that wanted to do business with the state. Levine pled guilty and served as the chief witness against Rezko at trial. Levine and several other witnesses implicated Blagojevich in the schemes.

Since 1997, Blagojevich’s wife, Patricia, has made at least $38,000 acting as Rezko’s real-estate agent on several of his company’s property acquisitions. When Blagojevich won the Illinois gubernatorial election in 2002, Rezko assisted Blagojevich in setting up the state’s first Democratic administration in twenty years.

As you may have expected, Mr. Rezko was also tightly connected to our Mayor Richard Daley. I suggest you read the following piece published by the Chicago Sun Times: ‘Showdown at Clout Corner’.

Since we’ve already covered the roles of Robert Creamer and Rahm Emanuel in both Blagojevich and Daley’s fundraising and election campaigns, I will leave their connections to Rezko NOT to your imagination but simple logical deduction and reasoning skills.

Instead, I’ll concentrate on the mother-load connections to our current president, Mr. Obama.

Salon had a so so article on this relationship and here are a few excerpts:

Obama’s dealings with his hinky friend have never led him afoul of the law, but they show that, despite his high-minded politics, he was no purer — or no savvier — than Illinois’ biggest hacks in his weakness for a generous contributor. He wouldn’t even say no when Rezko cooked up a deal to help the newly elected senator buy a gracious Georgian-revival home.

Rezko, after all, built part of his fortune by exploiting the black community that Obama had served in the state Senate, and by milking government programs meant to benefit black-owned businesses. But Obama took Rezko’s money even after the businessman was sued by the city of Chicago for failing to heat his low-income apartments, and even after Rezko was caught using a black business partner to obtain a minority set-aside for a fast-food franchise at O’Hare Airport.

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After law school, Obama went to work for the firm of Davis Miner Barnhill & Galland. During Rezko’s stint in ghetto rehab, Davis Miner represented three community groups in partnership with Rezmar. Through them, the law firm helped Rezko obtain $43 million in government funds.

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Obama didn’t really become tight with Rezko until he ran for the state Senate, in 1995. Rezko, who can spot a comer, was first in line with a check. The day the campaign started, Obama received $2,000 from two of Rezko’s fast-food businesses. Eight years later, when Obama was campaigning for the U.S. Senate, Rezko hosted a fundraiser at his suburban mansion.

Obama, on the other hand, seems to have derived some material benefit from his friendship with Rezko. During his first year in the Senate, flush with the book advance for “The Audacity of Hope,” Obama and his wife decided to trade up from a condo to a bigger, more secure home in Kenwood, a South Side neighborhood of turreted, balconied piles popular with University of Chicago econ professors looking to blow their Nobel Prize loot. They found a $1.65 million house with four fireplaces, a wine cellar and a black wrought-iron fence. The doctor who lived there also owned the vacant lot next door and, although the properties were listed separately, wanted to sell both at the same time. Despite their new income, the Obamas could not have afforded both parcels. The Obamas closed on their house in June 2005. On the same day, Rezko’s wife, Rita, purchased the vacant lot for $625,000. They later sold a portion of the lot to the Obamas, for $104,500, so the family could expand its yard. The Rezkos then paid $14,000 to build a fence along the property line.

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Okay, please don’t make me break the ‘using excerpts’ ethic code any further, and read the piece here. If you find that not as objective and maybe leaning leftwards, here is another piece on the same subject: click here.

Chicago Duo Schakowsky-Creamer

A few months ago we went through a rather interesting Schakowsky episode. Again, those of you who know me or my case, and those of you who were following my old blog site know all about it. If you are among those who don’t know about the semi exposé on Representative Schakowsky’s relationship with Turkish operatives who were under FBI investigations read ‘who’s afraid of Sibel Edmonds?’ here. For the purpose of this piece I am going to mainly focus on Schakowsky’s husband, Robert Creamer.

In March 2004 Schakowsky’s husband, lobbyist Robert Creamer, who was also executive director of the Illinois Public Action Fund, was indicted in federal court on 16 counts of bank fraud involving three alleged check-kitting schemes in the mid-1990s, leading several banks to experience shortfalls of at least $2.3 million. Later he pleaded guilty to tax violations and bank fraud for writing rubber checks and failing to collect withholding tax from an employee. Here is a report in USA Today:

Creamer, 58, a prominent Chicago political consultant, was accused of swindling nine financial institutions of at least $2.3 million while he ran a public interest group in the 1990s.Creamer told reporters Wednesday there was “no doubt that my actions a decade ago were very foolish and placed myself, my family, the organization and many of those who worked with me at considerable risk.”The indictment alleged Creamer caused a series of insufficiently funded checks and wire transfers to be drawn on accounts he controlled as executive director of the Illinois Public Action Fund. According to the indictment, he allegedly then used the inflated balances to pay the group’s expenses and own salary.

And here is more:

The husband of U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) will spend five months in prison for committing bank fraud as part of his efforts to keep afloat a nonprofit group that he ran. U.S. Senior District Judge James Moran handed down the punishment on Wednesday to Robert Creamer, who also will serve 11 months under house arrest.

The sentence fell far short of the three-year prison term that prosecutors were seeking for Creamer, who pleaded guilty last year to writing a series of bad checks worth millions of dollars to numerous banks to generate cash — a scheme known as check-kiting.

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Now, Rep. Schakowsky served on the organization’s board during the time the crimes occurred. She happened to sign all the IRS filings along with her husband during this almost decade long of … basically embezzlements. She was fully aware of her husband’s additional income of $100,000 from these fraudulent funds. Yet, this woman, who happens to be a Representative, claimed she had no idea, that she had not noticed, that she had not known or suspected.

I don’t know about you but no matter under which one of the two scenarios – she didn’t know or she knew and went along – this woman should have been kicked out of her congressional seat. Let’s take the first scenario:

If she is so dumb and stupid as to sign all these joint IRS documents and it doesn’t register that there are unaccounted for millions of dollars, she is not competent to be a congresswoman. PERIOD! If she is so irresponsible and intelligence-wise challenged to serve on this organization’s board, sign all the minutes and papers and bank dealings, and yet doesn’t realize millions of dollars are coming out of nowhere, then she is not capable and mentally unfit to occupy her current congressional seat, and should be removed. PERIOD! So here is the question for Schakowsky’s constituents: If she is telling the truth shouldn’t they be voting this uber gullible, stupid woman out of office?

Under the second scenario that we assume she knew: she is a criminal, and she should have joined her husband in jail. She was an accomplice in swindling nine financial institutions of at least $2.3 million.

As for Robert Creamer’s connections, we’ve already established his connection to Blagojevich :

Jan Schakowsky contributed $28,000 to Blagojevich, endorsed him in 2002 and 2006, and raised money for his campaign through 2008. Her convicted felon husband Robert Creamer worked for Rod Blagojevich before pleading guilty to tax and bank fraud.

From 2001-2002, Friends of Blagojevich paid more than $541,000 to a political consulting firm run by Schakowsky’s husband, Robert Creamer, according to state records. The firm, Strategic Consulting Group, reportedly provided “consulting,” “field consulting” and “predictive dialer” services to the Blagojevich campaign.

Mr. Creamer has been a close associate and supporter of Mayor Daley, and worked for almost all Daley’s campaigns. Additionally:

Illinois Public Action, the state’s largest public interest group, has joined organized labor in endorsing Mayor Daley’s proposed casino complex. Earlier this month, the Illinois State AFL-CIO endorsed the $2 billion gambling and theme park. About 20 of Public Action’s 100 board members are labor leaders, said Executive Director Robert Creamer.

Public Action also has ties to Daley. Daley’s chief fund-raiser, Paul Stepan, is chairman of Public Action’s fund-raising board.

Oh, and guess who gave Rahm Emanuel his start as a fundraiser and trained him as a political dirt ball player? That’s right, Robert Creamer:

I have known Bob for over twenty years, around the same time he hired Rahm Emanuel as a fundraiser (sorry Bob – no one is perfect) and when he met Barack Obama as an organizer in Chicago.

This brings us to another interesting direct connection: Obama-Creamer.

Creamer, the convicted felon who kited checks, happens to be the guy who was in charge of lecturing the Obama campaign on how to raise money and get elected!! Is this some irony or what?! A few excerpts from a commentary on this irony:

Creamer taught at “Camp Obama,” a week-long summer camp last month held at the presidential candidate’s office in Chicago for campaign interns and volunteers-just a few blocks away from the federal court where on August 31, 2005 he pleaded guilty to charges of bank fraud and failure to pay federal taxes…on charges brought by U. S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald…

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Creamer’s retention to instruct the Obama for President campaign is probably the most revelatory hint that the hopeful, idealistic, whimsical message floated by the candidate is mere vapor obscuring a cynical operation…unless, of course, the Obama people had no idea of Creamer or what his past represents. Creamer’s being hired by the Obama campaign to instruct interns and volunteers in political organizing, abuses of which sent him to jail is ironic. Sen. Obama has been notable among the presidential candidates for crusading in an effort to “bring hope to our people.” He has been chairman of the Senate Ethics committee. How Creamer ended up instructing the Obama workers when his notoriety has been so prominent in Illinois is anyone’s guess.

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The typical bold and daring characteristic of Political System Termites manifests again in relation to the strong Obama-Creamer bond, past ties and dealings. The cozy relationship between the Con President and the Convicted Creamer still continues openly and daringly. In fact the Schakowsky-Creamer duo’s recent dining with Obama in the White House was publicized heavily…reminding me of PST Hastert…

Before I move to the next in line: All those $$$ given by Schakowsky and her convicted felon husband to Blagojevich and the like, and yet I haven’t seen any articles questioning the sources of these contributions. We know Creamer was convicted and jailed for embezzling millions of dollars; we know that he withdrew six figure salaries for himself from embezzled funds; we know these funds were shared by the duo Schakowsky-Creamer; and we also know they contributed generously to these Chicago politicians’ campaigns. You know, what’s referred to as ‘black money.’

Political System Termite Denny Hastert

My list of Chicago Political Machine’s figures will not be complete without our Former Speaker of the House, good ole dirty Dennis Hastert. However, my previous article was solely on this Political System Termite, where I covered his portrait as a PST fairly thoroughly. That piece provides you with facts, links, and excerpts related to this Chicago man’s long and thick record of scandals, corruption, and never-followed-up-on criminal deeds. You can read about this corrupt political wrestler from Chicago, his involvements in the Jack Abramoff scandal, his role in the Mark Foley disaster, his services to foreign governments while in office, his corrupt land-deals turning him into a millionaire…all here.

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Just take a look at the length of this piece, and of course consider how long it took me to write it, and still, I haven’t even begun to scratch the surface! This is what happens when you try to cover the Chicago Political Machine’s byproduct(s). You may wonder why I would bother with Chicago Style Politics and Politicians. I partially answered that at the beginning of this piece, which had to do with my own knowledge and experience as a result of being privy to the FBI’s espionage-criminal-counterintelligence investigations. There are two more reasons:

Obviously the results of Chicago politics are not contained within or limited by Illinois’ borders. Obviously the infestation has gone national. We had a bit of that with Dennis Hastert, but now the size of this cabal seems to be significantly expanded:

Our President from Chicago is tied to Chicago’s Emanuel, Creamer, Daley, Blagojevich, and Rezko; with multiple ties and multi-layer deep bonds and shared history.

Our White House Chief of Staff from Chicago, Rahm Emanuel, has multiple ties to Blagojevich, Daley, convicted felon Creamer, and questionable connections to Israel, and fundraising stints involving Turkish operatives in Chicago.

Our Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky from Chicago, serves on the House Select Committee on Intelligence, is married to convicted felon Robert Creamer, was targeted by the Shady Turkish Operatives in Chicago, has close friendships and partnerships with Blagojevich and Daley…

……

You see what I mean? What a system! Whose hand is in whose pocket? How deep and how far do these ties really go? Is this a new era of politics in our nation a la Chicago? Or, has it always been this, a la USA, and has nothing to do with Chicago? Then, what’s the deal with all these Chicago Politico men?… I’ll let you all answer these questions.

As for my final reason: time to make a new musical called ‘Chicago!’ The old one is just that; old and outdated; totally meek, mild, lame, and boring compared to what Chicago has to offer when it comes to the political-action-drama-crime-suspense genre.  We need one based on the real Chicago and their immensely talented and breathtakingly crafty political players/actors. Don’t you agree?

see

Dennis Hastert: A Portrait of a Political System Termite by Sibel Edmonds

Sibel Edmonds (archive of posts)