'Epstein didn't kill himself'

 Well I'm not very invested in this case, however, he still has family and while his brother chooses not to appear on camera with Tucker Carlson he does discuss his doubts about Jeffrey Epstein's suicide. Too many questions there.

Allow me to share with you the video from X/Twitter

Ep. 59 Most people understand that Jeffrey Epstein didn’t kill himself. But the attorney general of the United States helped cover up his murder? That’s a different thing entirely. Epstein’s brother Mark explains. pic.twitter.com/aP6EjURJmL

— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) January 4, 2024

As I said I'm not that invested in this case, however, there is some corruption here. Epstein seems to have connections with a number of powerful people which includes former presidents such as Bill Clinton and even royalty with English Prince Andrew - brother to King Charles III. I'm hearing about the late physicist Stephen Hawking even associated with him.

Donald Trump is mentioned but I'm seeing there's no allegation of wrongdoing. In fact it was on his watch that Jeffrey Epstein was killed in a federal holding cell in NYC. Allegedly the Attorney General of the United States was part of a coverup. That would probably be either Jeff Sessions or Bill Barr.

Anyway, let's be clear there are allegations of sex trafficking and paedophilia here. One prominent victim a Virginia Giuffre, I'd be concerned with how she wound up being trafficked to where she would allegedly have sexual encounters with a member of the British Royal Family (I already mentioned him).

For this to occur you would have to find someone who is in some ways vulnerable, a teenaged girl would foot that bill. Perhaps I don't know enough about her story to say how vulnerable she was aside from her age of course. However, this should be concerning that minor girls (that is those under the age of 18 at least) were being trafficked and traded.

Now that's the crime in and of itself, however, some powerful people are bound to be implicated and now the question becomes who wanted to take Jeff Epstein out? His brother wants to know also! 

Tim Pool: Time Magazine ADMITS There Was Election Conspiracy

 

[VIDEO] As you watch the discussion from Tim Pool's podcast I want to share this article with you from Time.

There was a conspiracy unfolding behind the scenes, one that both curtailed the protests and coordinated the resistance from CEOs. Both surprises were the result of an informal alliance between left-wing activists and business titans. The pact was formalized in a terse, little-noticed joint statement of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and AFL-CIO published on Election Day. Both sides would come to see it as a sort of implicit bargain–inspired by the summer’s massive, sometimes destructive racial-justice protests–in which the forces of labor came together with the forces of capital to keep the peace and oppose Trump’s assault on democracy.

The handshake between business and labor was just one component of a vast, cross-partisan campaign to protect the election–an extraordinary shadow effort dedicated not to winning the vote but to ensuring it would be free and fair, credible and uncorrupted. For more than a year, a loosely organized coalition of operatives scrambled to shore up America’s institutions as they came under simultaneous attack from a remorseless pandemic and an autocratically inclined President. Though much of this activity took place on the left, it was separate from the Biden campaign and crossed ideological lines, with crucial contributions by nonpartisan and conservative actors. The scenario the shadow campaigners were desperate to stop was not a Trump victory. It was an election so calamitous that no result could be discerned at all, a failure of the central act of democratic self-governance that has been a hallmark of America since its founding.

Their work touched every aspect of the election. They got states to change voting systems and laws and helped secure hundreds of millions in public and private funding. They fended off voter-suppression lawsuits, recruited armies of poll workers and got millions of people to vote by mail for the first time. They successfully pressured social media companies to take a harder line against disinformation and used data-driven strategies to fight viral smears. They executed national public-awareness campaigns that helped Americans understand how the vote count would unfold over days or weeks, preventing Trump’s conspiracy theories and false claims of victory from getting more traction. After Election Day, they monitored every pressure point to ensure that Trump could not overturn the result. “The untold story of the election is the thousands of people of both parties who accomplished the triumph of American democracy at its very foundation,” says Norm Eisen, a prominent lawyer and former Obama Administration official who recruited Republicans and Democrats to the board of the Voter Protection Program.

This likely prompts more questions than answers I'm sure.... 

Timcast: Trump campaign to file lawsuit in Wisconsin

 

[VIDEO] Trump may well lose in the electoral college as the odds are very much against him in challenging the results in Pennsylvania, Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Nevada. However, some questionable things are coming up and if you want a Trump victory at this point hard for me to see it. On the other hand, if it uncovers some real fraud or irregularities that really curbs this happening in the future then it's a good thing for this democracy and for our republic.

From Madison.com

President Donald Trump is looking to invalidate swaths of absentee ballots cast in Wisconsin's two biggest and most liberal counties under a lawsuit filed Tuesday with the state Supreme Court seeking to reverse the results in a state he lost by less than 1 percentage point.

The expected legal action was filed in the days after Wisconsin completed its partial presidential recount and officials certified the state's presidential results, a move that kicked off a countdown to head to the courts.

Filed directly with the state's highest court, the lawsuit targets some 220,000 ballots, accounting for many of the same absentee votes the Trump campaign homed in on during the recount in Dane and Milwaukee counties over the last week-and-a-half.

Like I've been saying, time is running out and we may be heading for a future Joe Biden/Kamala Harris administration. This pandemic allowed election authorities the ability to change the rules. 

Police chief fired for prosecuting mob violence

 I heard about this on TV this week and this is a shame. How can we expect the nation to settle down if you don't want police to do their jobs? And at least the Police Chief of Portsmouth, Virginia was doing her job and enforcing the law sadly the city's leaders took her job away for doing so:

The chief of Portsmouth, Virginia, was fired Monday in what she suggested was a politically motivated move moments before criminal charges were dropped against a prominent state senator and several local Black leaders accused of conspiring to damage a Confederate statue during a protest this year.

The latest twist in the case involving state Sen. Louise Lucas, a high-ranking Democrat who is Virginia's most senior Black legislator, drew praise from members of her own party who condemned the charges. police.

Former Gov. Terry McAuliffe tweeted: "Our hero Louise Lucas and her fellow proud Portsmouth citizens deserve our admiration. Grateful this despicable political persecution is over."

Portsmouth police in August charged Lucas and 18 other plaintiffs, including a school board member and members of the local NAACP chapter and the public defender's office, with conspiracy to commit a felony and injury to a monument in excess of $1,000.

Lucas said in a statement Tuesday that the Portsmouth Police Department "made a mockery of the criminal justice system" by filing "obscure felony charges against me and other Portsmouth citizens and in so doing, they created a scandalous national embarrassment for our city."

So Chief Angela Green does her job in arresting a state senator for breaking the law and they fire her. And the Democrats seen to back the state senator who broke the law. Weird.

h/t Instapundit 

Capitol Fax: Rod 101

I did say that hopefully my last post on convicted felon and former IL governor Rod Blagojevich would be my final post on the subject. Well, spoke too soon.

Rich Miller shared on Capitol Fax his syndicated column discussing the past few days since Blagojevich received his commutation and returned home to the state he formerly ran. I agree with a lot that was said in this. A basic run down of his time as governor or otherwise a political figure in Illinois (remember he served as a member of IL House of Representatives, a US Congressman, and finally governor). Perhaps his response to his charges and ultimately his conviction. And then his response to his release.

Rod 101 https://t.co/dmInTW6pMi

— Rich Miller (@capitolfax) February 24, 2020

A friend of mine had a bit of a hoot when we got to talking about Blagojevich's appearance on Anderson Cooper's CNN program. I was not impressed because in reality Blagojevich is irrelevant. He's not running for anything and he's not said anything different as Miller stated. [VIDEO]

At the same time this friend typed LMAO when I wrote this. He asked why the media tour: "Because he wants to fight the racist and unfair criminal justice system that railroaded him"

That's the message I heard on his appearances on FOX News, especially. He's been calling himself a political prisoner comparing himself to of all people Nelson Mandela.

Got news for you Blago. I'm actually glad you're out of prison, but you can't hold a candle to the former President of South Africa. You're irrelevant and I know you're going to keep talking until something eventually sticks. I think you're really fake when you want to talk about the unfair and racist criminal justice system.

I look forward to the day the media is finally over your hot air. Nationally and locally...

Blagojevich is free!

A few days ago I noted that the late Judy Baar Topinka was a one-time opponent to former IL Governor Rod Blagojevich in 2006. While Blagojevich would go down in flames in early 2009 due to his lame attempts at wheeling and dealing over federal wiretaps, we also learn on the flip side that over the years Topinka was a long-time federal informant on corruption in the western Chicago suburbs.

Well I'm noting all this to say, that Blagojevich who was sent to prison eight years ago for his corruption was released from prison yesterday. Released from federal custody by a commutation from President Donald Trump (and lets not forget Blagojevich was a contestant on Celebrity Apprentice) he came home to Chicago the same day.

Then I find this article from Natasha Korecki who follwed the trial and she had this to say:

I’ve written hundreds of stories, blog posts, magazine articles and, finally, a book on Blagojevich’s case. There was one sentiment I heard over and over again, which went something like, “I know Blagojevich was guilty as hell, but 14 years is insane.”

That’s why President Donald Trump likely risks little political blowback by commuting the sentence of his onetime Apprentice contestant, even in the state that Blagojevich disgraced.
...
The prosecution long battled public perception of the charges against Blagojevich as overkill — despite a stockpile of secret recordings in which Blagojevich famously said of the Senate seat Obama vacated, “I’ve got this thing and it’s f---ing golden.” Questions always swirled around the criminal case: Wasn’t this just a ham-handed governor, emasculated and rejected by the political establishment, a politically isolated boor, who was talking big on the phone?

Yes, attempting but failing to commit a crime is still a crime, but it’s another thing to convince an average person it’s illegal and punishable, especially in city where standing on someone’s neck for a payoff is a way of life.

This undercurrent of government overreach long bubbled beneath the surface of the Blagojevich case, even though this was a much different era from the one we’re in today. Then, U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald (who happens to be the personal attorney to his longtime friend James Comey and the special prosecutor in the case against I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, whom Trump pardoned) had ascended into an almost God-like figure; at long last, an incorruptible force who had spawned a golden era of public corruption cases.

But even Fitzgerald was second-guessed when, in 2008 — the day the sitting governor was arrested in his jogging suit — Fitzgerald declared “the conduct would make Lincoln roll over in his grave.” The defense accused him of breaking Justice Department ethics guidelines forbidding extrajudicial comments and possibly tainting a jury pool.

The Blagojevich case provided additional ammunition to critics of law enforcement already screaming about government overreach. The most severe example was Blagojevich’s longtime friend, Chris Kelly. Prosecutors, attempting to turn Kelly into a government witness, brought three separate indictments against him. After prosecutors filed a motion to revoke his bond, Kelly, who battled depression, took his own life. With his dying breath he told his girlfriend: “Tell them they won.”
...
All this isn’t to say Illinois loved Blagojevich. Far from it. And the feeling was mutual, as one Blagojevich statement on a recorded phone call illustrated: “I f----ing busted my ass. ... I gave your f---ing baby health care. ... What do I get for that? Only 13 percent of you think I'm doing a good job, so f--- all of you.”
...
Even with Trump’s commutation, Blagojevich will have served eight years, a longer term than Ryan’s. (And yes, I’ve long gauged Blagojevich’s time in prison by my son’s age.) It will surprise no one here if Blagojevich almost immediately appears on TV, resuming the role of antihero that he began before he was sent to a federal penal institution.

But now Blago, rejected by the Springfield insiders who left him powerless in the final months of his governorship, has a new political ally, the president of the United States.

Perhaps for the last time on this blog - and I was all over this back then when he got arrested and impeached and removed from IL's governorship - Blagojevich after he leaves federal custody. I'm sorry to say or perhaps not that sorry to say now his cause is our broken criminal justice system which is unfair and racist. I want him to be remorseful as far as what led to his 8 years in custody at least. [VIDEO]

Wait! There's more! George Ryan was the 39th Governor of Illinois and Blagojevich's immediate predecessor who also went to prison for corruption. WGN spoke to Ryan to hear his thoughts on his successors commutation:

“He cut me up pretty good,” former Gov. George Ryan recalled in a phone interview Wednesday with WGN. “That’s okay, it’s over. It’s past and it’s a new chapter in both of our lives and we ought to just move ahead with it.”

Ryan called President Trump’s decision to commute Blagojevich’s sentence after serving a little under 8 years “probably the fair thing to do” and added: “I don’t know that another 5 or 6 years would have made any kind of difference in what he is going to do or isn’t going to do… so it relieves the taxpayers of taking care of him for another 5 or 6 years.”

Yeah, I think I agree with Ryan. Meanwhile now that Blagojevich is home from his sentence, we're going to hear more from him. 

Parents bribing their children into elite schools

[VIDEO] This news broke yesterday and it's quite shocking:

Hollywood actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin and a slew of chief executives are among 50 wealthy people charged in the largest college cheating scam ever prosecuted by the U.S. Department of Justice, federal officials said Tuesday.

Those indicted in the investigation, dubbed "Operation Varsity Blues," allegedly paid bribes of up to $6.5 million to get their children into elite colleges, including Yale, Stanford, Georgetown and the University of Southern California, federal prosecutors said.

"This case is about the widening corruption of elite college admissions through the steady application of wealth combined with fraud," Andrew Lelling, the U.S. attorney for the District of Massachusetts, said at a news conference.

"There can be no separate college admissions system for the wealthy and, I'll add, there will not be a separate criminal justice system either," Lelling said.  

No there should not. Let's continue.

Patti Blagojevich makes her plea to the President #twill

[VIDEO] I caught the tail end of this segment on Tuesday night. Illinois' former first lady Patti Blagojevich was on Tucker Carlson Tonight to essentially plead of her case to President Trump. On Tuesday her husband former Illinois governor Rod Blavojevich had his appeal denied by the US Supreme Court which all but assures that he will complete his sentence in federal custody.

Marathon Pundit wrote about this Tuesday night:

Blago's judge got it right, in my opinion. Even in graft-infested ILL-inois, public officials should be held to a hire standard. Besides, Blagojevich should know the law, after all, he's a former assistant Cook County state's attorney.

My opinion is that this sentence was harsh, but then I look at it as a function of Blago's need for attention. I can believe that Blago ticked off his judge and the prosecution. He probably did this long before his two trials in federal court especially with then US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald and then at trial with federal judge Zagel.

Sometimes personal dislike drives a lot of these things, and I don't always like it. On the other hand if you don't want to be anyone's target always do right. In the case of Blago, don't think I want to know what he was thinking. He was who he was he proved it after almost six years as governor, he didn't change when he was facing time in federal prison. Perhaps right wasn't on his mind.

Although I do understand what Mrs. Blagojevich is doing for her husband. It's rough being married to a public figure and having children with him. It's especially rough if the kids are young when he first got arrested by the FBI and going through his trial. Also because of his penchant for publicity the spotlight at times was also on them. I'm sure Mrs. Blagojevich views Blago's long federal sentence as time away from his family.

As for Donald Trump who knows what he'll elect to do. Will Trump parole Blago because of his own connection to the TV show The Apprentice? Or will he use that TV connection to also deny Blago? We'll see if Mrs. Blagojevich's appeal is effective.

BTW, we know Trump often watches FOX News though most sources I've seen on this subject points to the fact that he watches Tucker Carlson.

Blago denied again...

The former Governor of Illinois, the first to be impeached and removed from office back in January 2009, is rejected again by the US Supreme Court. I know this is old news, however, worth recording on this blog at this hour! Read a round-up via CapFax

Blagojevich loses again https://t.co/EEGHhRXO6M

— Rich Miller (@capitolfax) April 16, 2018

The above pic, I had to look for that through my archives and it's still out there. It was appropriate about 10 years ago now not so that much. There are other things that probably could use that "shame" descriptor!

Capitol Fax: “La-La Land”

Been a while since Rod Blagojevich aka Blago has been mentioned on this blog. Would you be curious what his brother Robert thinks of his brother?

Robert is doing his own book on his experiences with his brother. Since Rod went to prison the relationship has been described as "completely broken".

If you recall Robert was on trial along with Rod for his part in the former Illinois governor's political schemes which ultimately blew up in his face. Ultimately any charges against Robert was dismissed but even he admits now that Rod is in "la-la land".

Would you want to read this book? Rich Miller would like to read that book.

A case of corruption in Mississippi...

I've talked about Mound Bayou - a small town in Mississippi founded by Black settlers in the late 19th century. Located in the Mississippi Delta region it recently made the news down there for a case of political corruption.

An ex-mayor of Mound Bayou embezzled some municipal owned property and money for a restaurant he opened in a nearby city. Down there it seems the local authorities mainly a state agency and Bolivar county took an interest in this crime.

The former Mayor Kennedy Johnson could fave up to 20 years in jail and $5000 fine per count.

Sun-Times: State Rep. admits to FBI he screwed up over bribe

Here's the sad thing about this story. In 2012, not long after his arrest the Illinois House of Representatives voted to expell Derrick Smith from that chamber. Unfortunately even after recruiting a Democrat - and having him run as a member of a new party - the voters of Smith's district sent him right back to the seat he had been expelled from.

In this year's primary he was supported by his party leaders. While it seems quite counterintuitive, it may well make sense if you want to protect the overall numbers of your caucus and without causing a circus of finding someone to replace one of your members. So it is now, while he's waiting to stand trial Rep. Smith remains a member of the Illinois General Assembly!

It's interesting that he knew he was wrong and said as much to the FBI agents who interviewed him. Now this is certainly one of those times where instead of running your mouth you may need to talk to an attorney.

Capitol Fax: The Chicago way

Well in this case the Chicago way involved enriching yourself and your campaign contributors by blocking a plan for business expansion for the sole purpose of benefiting yourself and your campaign contributors. And of course as an example of how this doesn't just happen in my fair "Windy City" it also happens in Illinois' state capital of Springfield. Although in Springfield it doesn't appear as naked it still involves a politician attempting to block a business from opening for one purpose or another!

Ouch!!!

Well before I tell a long story let me set this post up. A long time Alderman - Richard Mell - will be retiring from his seat on the Chicago City Council. He was not only an Alderman but a ward boss as he was a Democratic Committeeman for his 33rd Ward. In that capacity he helped his son-in-law one Rod Blagojevich move up in the world of Chicago politics.

For his part Mell regrets that noting:

With the benefit of hindsight, "I think that he would have probably stayed a state representative," Mell said of his son-in-law.

Rich Miller went further, as a state political blogger he's had many dealings with the Blagojevich administration. It's obvious although he's free to correct me that he doesn't care for Blago at all:

Why even go that far? In hindsight, he should’ve been kept out of politics altogether.

Ouch indeed!

Needless to say I'm sure the history justifies that assessment. From Illinois House of Representatives to the US Congress to Illinois' Governor's mansion and now in federal prison for corruption. Could anyone have seen that coming?

So we have another trial involving a corrupt former Alderman coming up

The Capitol Fax has a round-up of stories about the trial of former 7th Ward Alderman Bill Beavers. He's being tried for tax evasion in federal court. This report was about a gag and the usage of the "race card" by Bill Beaver's defense team. They're upset that while some Black women were appointed to this jury there are no Black men.

Beavers has established himself as a colorful character. He's old school having been in politics for better than 40 years. He's opening his big mouth in ways the colorful politicians of years ago are doing it.

Well in any case, in addition to being a former Alderman he also is currently a Cook County Commissioner. That's when I really got to know him as he got himself involved after the incapacity of the late Cook County Board President John Stroger. Beavers took his seat on the county board and Stroger's son Todd was installed as County Board President himself for one-term!

I usually don't follow these trials but it shall prove to be interesting.

Ward Room: What $750,000 Can Buy

$750,000 is the amount of money former Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. took from his campaign funds. A crime that he recently pleaded guilty for with his wife former Alderman Sandi Jackson who also pleaded guilty for filing a false income tax return in federal court last week.

This Ward Room posting by Ed McClelland discusses what Jackson could've done with all that money for his constituents. Starting off mentioning free breakfasts struck a nerve because Jackson had robocalls in the past advertising free turkeys at an event he hosted. With the cash he was spending on personal items he probably could have spent them on food for the neediest constituents.

Still I have to admit what a sad end to a potential dynasty. And all it all started when he got caught up in the scandal involving Rod Blagojevich. Last year I attended a fundraiser held in Hyde Park - President Obama's neighborhood - by Sandi Jackson ward organization although no funds came from me for her it was nice to be at a venue for a fancy restaurant.

In any event there was a lot of press there. Mrs. Jackson was being interviewed by a local news anchor and there were news vans outside of this particular establishment. You would've thought she would've been in office for years to come and as it turns out she didn't have long before her career as Alderman was over. Not only that, the feds would have their eye on her as well.

Very sad.

Chicago corruption 1894 edition

Imagine this, Chicago Alderman on the take accepting their bribes by picking up their loot in a city hall bathroom. And the only reason we now know that no Alderman had since accepted a bribe in a public bathroom because an innocent bystander found a bribe and gave it to an Alderman who carelessly left it in the bathroom. Somehow it became an expose in a long gone Chicago newspaper

According to John Schmidt, this expose was published back on February 19, 1894!

What's the deal with Jesse Jr?

Since it came out in the news this past summer, I followed as closely as I could the medical leave of Jesse Jackson Jr. Jackson was my congressman for the past decade until the recent redistricting placed me in Bobby Rush's congressional district. That story seemed to have some weaves and turns it was unbelievable.

It was a while before the public found out that Jesse Jr. had been on medical leave. It was a while still until we found out that he had been out of Congress due to exhaustion. Then still a while until we found out that he had been diagnosed with bipolar depression.

There had been a lot of speculation as to the nature of his disorder such as his gastric bypass. Then eventually it turned to the Blago scandal as Jesse Jr. had found himself embroiled in that corruption. The feds even after they got Blago didn't stop digging and there had been an associate who continued to be questioned about it. The associate being a banker who helped the former Congressman fund raise.

And now what should've been a promising career had been clipped. Before the Thanksgiving holiday Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. had resigned his Congressional seat. Jackson himself had won the seat in a special election against Mel Reynolds in 1995 after Reynolds himself was forced to resign after becoming embroiled in a sex scandal. Now there will be a special election to follow Jackson.

It's interesting that after a whole lot of secrecy he's out and it appears his staff were even left in the cold. It's unfortunate that both he and his wife - Sandi - who is a Chicago Alderman are under the federal radar mainly for misusing campaign funds.

All the same, who knows what would've happened if he had stayed away from Blago's senate seat sale. Would he still have a congressional seat had he not aspired to the US Senate in the wake of Obama ascension to the Presidency?

Also, in his resignation letter he's indicated that he's continuing to cooperate with the feds so who knows how long it will take to get him into court. One part of that process appears complete. Why resign from Congress if you're not concerned that the feds have very little on you in the first place?

Capitol Fax: Managers recommend expulsion for Derrick Smith

This current corruption drama, I've chronicled over time on this blog. Especially chronicled was the general response by state pols. Basically the Democrats rallied to Derrick Smith in order to maintain the seat and mainly in ensure that he won the March primary when he was running against a Republican turned Democrat back then.

Then there were nothing but hearings although I will admit I didn't follow them very closely. The clock ticked as concerned pols mulled over the Smith situation. Besides does it really look good to allow a man who was arrested on suspicion of bribery to remain in office and on the ballot?

Add to that Smith wasn't about to resign or give up his spot on the ballot. Those same concerned pols helps but another candidate on the ballt against Smith in the November General Election and all the while Smith colleagues were still deciding how best to go forward. Today it looks like they have.

A Illinois state house committee recommends explusion for Rep. Smith today. A long time coming but hey while this drama isn't as big as what happened to Rod Blagojevich - well in that case it was just plain spectacular - this still doesn't look very good. Now that we know that he's definitely subject to expulsion from the Illinois House of Representatives, how soon will they vote on it. It sure took them quite a while to come to this conclusion anyway!

Also in that Capitol Fax post is stories about more pols well actually aides to pols who had been indicted by the feds here in Chicago. Oh and while this happened a while ago well earlier this month, our longtime US Attorney - Patrick Fitzgerald - is retired. Looks like his office is still busy however!

U.S. Attorney Pat Fitzgerald stepping down

Greg Hinz got the story:

U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald is leaving his post effective June 30, his office has just announced.

Mr. Fitzgerald, the man responsible for convicting and imprisoning former Govs. George Ryan and Rod Blagojevich and numerous other top pols, has no immediate employment plans and will take the summer off, his statement said.

The departure is not unexpected after more than a decade in office. The top federal prosecutor, 51, is to hold a press conference tomorrow to elaborate on the statement.

What he is well known for!

Mr. Fitzgerald came here from New York. A Brooklyn native who prosecuted top terrorists, including Osama Bin Laden, while in the U.S. attorney's office there, he caught the eye of Illinois' then-U.S. Sen. Peter Fitzgerald (no relation), who was looking for an outsider to clean up the politically corrupt state.

On that score, Mr. Fitzgerald succeeded brilliantly, steadily whacking away at criminal politicians through Operation Safe Road, Operation Board Games and other corruption probes.

In between, the somewhat reclusive Mr. Fitzgerald found time to get married and served a stint as special prosecutor in the conviction of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, then chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney.

As best as I can tell, Mr. Fitzgerald never played political favorites, going after Republican Mr. Ryan and Democrat Mr. Blagojevich with equal vigor. Some defense attorneys said he was too tough — on occasion, they may have been right — but stopping corruption in Chicago is not work for a weakling.

I'm sure there are those who hopes he would consider running for office in the near future. If he does, there will be enemies out there gunning for him. Either way Hinz being the political commentator for Crain's Chicago Business says this:

Illinois Republicans would give their eye, teeth and then some to recruit Mr. Fitzgerald to run for governor or anything else his heart desires. But I don't expect it to happen. He's a prosecutor, not a pol.

There is plenty of time to get him in the running, the next gubernatorial election is under two years away! Though to be sure, I don't think of him as a rock star and nor should anyone else look for that!