Maybe it's the sheer joy of celebrating recovery summer along with The Anointed One and Plugs Biden. Perhaps they're just Blagoed out. Whatever the reason, most of the mainstream media failed to report something intriguing said by the usually most quotable former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich. From an FBI tape recorded last November and appearing on Fox Chicago News's Web site, Blagojevich spoke of president-elect Barack Obama:
BLAGOJEVICH I thin-, you know, it's really, I get that I'm a big boy and I can handle that, but it's really f***ing galling, this guy is more Tony'd up than I am. And it's almost like they f***ing conspi-, made a concerted effort and they got the Chicago media to f***ing make me wear Rezko more. To f***ing dilute it from him.
Blago's disillusionment with Obama stemmed from a rebuff conveyed by a Service Employees International Union (SEIU) official used by the president-elect to let the Gov know of Obama's interest in Valerie Jarrett filling his Senate seat.
Blago makes for good copy and the mainstream media have rarely missed a chance to quote him. Yet in this instance, they took a powder. It's not as though they're unaware of the Obama-Rezko connection.
In 2006, Obama told the Chicago Sun-Times he'd known Tony Rezko for years, having lunch with him probably once or twice a year. When Obama decided to buy a $1.65 million mansion in Chicago, he approached Rezko who "developed an interest" and purchased adjoining land.
The closing on the properties took place the same day. The Obamas paid $300,000 less than the asking price; the Rezkos paid the full price. A few months later, Obama, wanting to increase the size of his backyard, bought a strip of Rezko's property for $104,500.
As the Sun-Times story noted: "The transaction occurred at a time when it was widely known Tony Rezko was under investigation by U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald and as other Illinois politicians befriended by Rezko distanced themselves from him."
Possibly Obama was indeed "more Tony'd up" than Blagojevich. Yet almost no news outlets found Blagojevich's description, made when he was unaware of being recorded, newsworthy. Just a coincidence no doubt.
