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I'm biased, so I'm not sure I could carefully report this without going over the top on NPOV. There've been other issues since Rod took office in '03: Changes that were forced in the Illinois' Teacher Retirement System, for one. Attempts at forcing the State Board of Education to report directly to the Governor, including the ouster of one State Superintendent of Schools. Attempts at reforming or eliminating the present Regional Offices of Education system. The anti-violent video game law that got pushed through the General Assembly despite warnings that such laws aren't held up by the courts - this one too, was defeated in court. Rod's threatened to pursue an appeal, at great cost to Illinois taxpayers. There's also been hints of scandals about hiring in state jobs that should not have been political appointments, which is in contrast to the 'house cleaning' promised during the 2002 campaign. Any of these things could be found in any online newspaper archive for the State of Illinois (Bloomington Pentagraph, Springfield Journal-Register, Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, etc etc). -- JohnDBuell 02:12, 28 December 2005 (UTC)
A typical nanny-state control freak, Blago will not rest until he turns Illinois into 'California with snow'. A Libertarian's worst nightmare. John, Any effort to show people what this man is doing to our state ( while obiding by NPOV) would be a great service to all of us. Rearden Metal 07:13, 28 December 2005 (UTC)
His other new pharmacy law is even worse: Bureaucratic hurdles for the purchase of any pseudo-ephedrine containing allergy medication. ...but it's For The Children. Rearden Metal 07:57, 28 December 2005 (UTC)
Just wondering: Has there ever been a case, where Blago fought to reduce governmental interference & regulation, in any field whatsoever? Keeping state prisoners under his direct control for life, instead of executing them doesn't count. I'm wondering if he even deserves the label 'progressive'. Pure authoritarian seems more fitting. Rearden Metal 23:48, 31 December 2005 (UTC)
An anon user (from the University of Chicago) started to get nasty about NOT having the Governor's full name listed, so I just wanted to state here what's in the edit history: You can find "Milorad 'Rod' Blagojevich" as his full name by entering "Milorad Blagojevich" (with quotation marks) into Google, A9, or another search engine. -- JohnDBuell 18:43, 22 February 2006 (UTC)
That is not his real name. His Father wanted to name him milorod but his mom Millie was against it from the start. They called him Milorod from time to time but his Birth name the one on his birth cert. is Rod Blagojevich. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.13.132.210 ( talk) 00:36, 6 October 2008 (UTC)
Should His appearance on the daily show where he didn't realize that it was fake news be included?-- 4.131.128.57 00:36, 27 February 2006 (UTC)
Oh, I think you'll like this!: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFdAcZeaAIE&search=blagojevich ;) Rearden Metal 04:25, 27 February 2006 (UTC)
The governor didn't say "are you teasing me" in reference to his name being mispronounced like the article says. He said that when the host says "I'll be in charge of what my listeners get to hear." —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.48.183.105 ( talk) 00:12, 10 December 2008 (UTC)
I have put in under ADMINISTRATION a short succinct paragraph on his gun control efforts.Oh,and for the record,I don't like Blagojevich.It sounds like an East European laxative company to me. Saltforkgunman 06:18, 8 March 2006 (UTC)
Why is there no mention of the current controversy Rod Blagojevich is in? He appointed a Nation of Islam woman to a Hate Crime panel and all the Jewish members of the panel resigned because of it. Rod Blagojevich also said he supported a black militant group which believes in the separation of whites and blacks.
I noticed somebody deleted my little tidbit about Blago saying that the Jimmy Neutron character was a mockery of him. I'm sure someone thought that was a joke or vandalism, but that really did happen. I swear. I'd like it to be back in there. Maybe I'll rewrite it to make it sound more serious... or maybe it is just unimportant. I'm sure that if I went to the Lovie Smith page and wrote that he sued the Walter E. Smithe furniture company for using his name (but then dropped the lawsuit realising it was stupid), that would be deleted too. But it happened. You should research an article before saying that something written is vandalism. Just 'cause you don't believe a fact, that doesn't make it not true. Is there no love for the quirky facts? - Rebelkass
Could someone find a couple of articles about the proposed leases of the Illinois Toll Highways and the Illinois Lottery, and the chorus of voices for and against such moves? -- JohnDBuell 03:18, 26 June 2006 (UTC)
This biography states that Mr. Blagojevich is a "moderate" Democrat. This term has not been defined so that it can be used as an enlightening adjective, so it should be removed. There are many of his policies which cannot be considered moderate, so this term should not be used in his biography.
Someone added Category:Same-sex marriage opposition to the article, and I cannot find anything *in* the article that states that Mr. Blagojevich is opposed to same-sex marriage. Considering the category says that it is for people who are strong opponents of same-sex marriage, I reverted it. On the contrary, the article seems to state a tolerant stance for gays. If sourced statements can be added to the article to support the opposition claim, I wouldn't be adverse to it being re-added. Syrthiss 23:22, 21 September 2006 (UTC)
This could be readded with more neutral language if a complete citation is provided (assuming its true). savidan (talk) (e@) 04:19, 7 November 2006 (UTC)
Has anyone noticed that Blago is a redirect to this page? Is this appropriate? Is this term commonly used to refer to this person? -- Dual Freq 01:45, 8 March 2007 (UTC)
Here are some news articles using 'Blago' http://cbs2chicago.com/local/local_story_285190803.html Feds Believe Blago Fundraiser Out Of Country http://cbs2chicago.com/politics/local_story_129192305.html Blago To Sign Nursing Home Background Checks Bill Kkemper 20:25, 3 August 2007 (UTC)
I don't really see why it should redirect here, although I guess it could be helpful for those who can't spell the name. Abbreviations are commonly used for politicians when they have long names, such as "Sarko" for Nicolas Sarkozy or "Sego" for Segolene Royal. I don't think any of these cases (including Blago) are used in a derogatory fashion.-- Gloriamarie 19:05, 14 August 2007 (UTC)
The state has at least 4 King Air's N991LL [1], N981LL [2], N971LL [3] and N961LL [4]. Some of them are used for " Air Illinois" (2003 article abstract) and daily Midway to Springfield flights. My question is: does the governor ride these planes alone or does he just fly on the regularly scheduled Springfield to Midway run? At least one of the aircraft makes 3 or 4 trips between Chicago and Springfield each day ferrying legislators, even flying empty sometimes. This was a big scandal a couple years back, but I think the flights were scaled back though the flights still occur. I'm not sure of the notability here since Chicago legislators are no doubt guilty of incurring similar expenses, and the aircraft would still fly even if empty. Additionally, they are all charged a nominal fee <$100 to fly on these aircraft. These used to be viewable via http://flightaware.com/live/flight/N991LL but they must be blocking the flights now for security reasons. -- Dual Freq 03:22, 17 July 2007 (UTC)
It's gotten a lot of press attention, to the extent that an out-of-state relative had even heard about it from the AP. From the impression I get, Blagojevich takes his own flights, and since his get there at 12pm and leave about 5, they wouldn't really be conducive to bringing lawmakers who (presumably) may have to work longer hours. According to the news reports, these flights would not be taken if Blagojevich stayed in Springfield, so I think it's safe to say he takes separate flights until news outlets report differently. -- Gloriamarie 16:11, 17 July 2007 (UTC)
In the Greenville Advocate from September 4, State Senator (and Minority Leader) Frank Watson says that the legislature has "trust" issues with the governor, saying that money allocated through the George Ryan-era Illinois First program was not spent on what the legislature allocated it for: "The problem is since the governor took office, the authorization we created when Ryan was in has all been used. The bonds have been sold. The governor froze all (legislative) member initiatives, but spent the authorization we permitted, for other uses." This is an interesting aspect of Blagojevich's governorship and perhaps should be added.-- Gloriamarie 14:41, 17 September 2007 (UTC)
The information about Hannah Montana seems rather trivial and probably shouldn't be included. Rather than revert, I'm open to a reason to leave it in. Shsilver ( talk) 01:14, 11 December 2007 (UTC)
On George Voinovich's page it states he is of croatian origin rather than serbian, please clarify. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 160.94.44.153 ( talk) 01:22, 6 February 2008 (UTC)
It now says his father was a Serb from Croatia.-- Gloriamarie ( talk) 06:54, 10 November 2008 (UTC)
http://www.clintondailyjournal.com/V2_news_articles.php?heading=0&page=72&story_id=2183
Not sure if this is worth adding in, yet. But it is new news and most of the town is already extremely upset 12.201.52.216 ( talk) 09:01, 30 August 2008 (UTC)
The "Legislator" and "Gubernatorial administration" sections of this article are loaded with weasel words and advertisements. It sounds like it came out of a campaign brochoure.
To wit;
I could go on and on. I'm placing an advertisment box on the top until this is fixed. Thanks.-- thequackdaddy ( talk) 20:58, 4 October 2008 (UTC)
According to Wikipedia:IPA, the fourth symbol in the IPA pronunciation is the German short ü. Is this the right sound? Shouldn't it be a regular g? — JerryFriedman (Talk) 23:19, 6 November 2008 (UTC)
Rod Blagojevich is the first Serbian Governor elected. George Voinovich of Ohio is Slovenian. Serbians are mainly Orthodox Christian and Slovenians are mostly Roman Catholic. It would be correct to say Rod Blagojevich is the second govenor elected from the former Republic known as Yugoslavia, both Serbia and Slovenia wer part of the the former country of Yugoslavia. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 68.78.97.109 ( talk • contribs) 23:24, 9 June 2006 (UTC).
Governor Blagojevich's father, Radisav Blagojević (Радисав Благојевић), was born in Veliko Krčmare (Велико Крчмаре), which lies somewhat to the north of Kragujevac (Крагујевац). This information appears in the Serbian-language version of the Wikipedia article about the Governor. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.28.161.95 ( talk) 21:27, 19 December 2008 (UTC)
Voinovich is half Serbian, half Slovenian
And there were more than 2 Governors from former Yugoslav republics
George Voinoivich OHIO (Serbian/Slovenian) --- Frank Lausche OHIO (Slovenian) --- Rudy Perpich MINNESOTA (Croatian) --- Rose Perica Mofford ARIZONA (Croatian) --- Michael Stepovich ALASKA (Croatian) --- Rod Blagojevich ILLINOIS (Serbian)
{{
editsemiprotected}} How important and appropriate is it that Blagojevich's ethnic background be stated so prominently in the first paragraph, especially given the attention he's now receiving for his arrest? It would be better to move this to the "Personal information" section.
Dsndj (
talk)
06:51, 10 December 2008 (UTC)
Not done. As I see the mention in the lead, it is only one sentence - which doesn't seem excessive, considering the current size of the lead. --
Philosopher
Let us reason together.
14:16, 10 December 2008 (UTC)
"At one point in 2007, Blagojevich filed a lawsuit against Madigan after Madigan instructed lawmakers to not attend one of Blagojevich's scheduled special sessions on the budget." from Relationships with fellow lawmakers.
Wikipedians - we are getting link happy. You could link every word to a dictionary definition. I point out the above statement and link to "lawsuit" as an example. If the link does not go to an entry referring to the immediate statement, a footnote, then stop. I am tire'g of moving the mouse over the link to see what it reveals as a jump.
and why I'm interested in this section: "He is the second Serbian American to be elected ..." links to a Chicago Tribune article (Trib is embroiled in the Govenors troubles ie purchase'g Wrigley Field)(WField has crumbling concrete bleachers). I am taking time to investigate what Wikipedia journalist (bloggers) are presenting to the world on the Govenor. There is and has been an atmosphere here in Illinois that Gov Blagojevich is not a team player. There are many teams with agendas. Report don't Purport (and that's a fine line). Imo the current wiki presentation is blending into the dump him wagon. Greg0658 ( talk) 14:58, 17 December 2008 (UTC)
Yes. Very SAD. Especially since he is of serbian origin! Frankly, as an ethnik albanian originally from Kosova, I would not expect any better from a serbian politician, nor from a politician of serbian origin. One can try to be as civil as possible, but somehow in their case they never seem to be able to exceed what's expected of them: lies, lies and more lies. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.193.51.173 ( talk) 14:44, 11 December 2008 (UTC)
According to his biography on the National Governors Association website, Blagojevich's religious affiliation is Eastern Orthodox, not Serbian Orthodox. I have corrected the article, citing the NGA biography as a source. -- TommyBoy 07:25, 15 October 2006 (UTC)
You don't seem to realise that the two aren't mututally exclusive. One is a subset of the other - all Serb Orthodox are Eastern Othodox, but not all Eastern Orthodox are Serb Orthodox (some are Russian Orthodox, Greek Orthodox, Romanian Orthodox, Bulgarian Orthodox). So I'll change it back. -- estavisti 20:40, 19 October 2006 (UTC)
According to the Chicago Tribune, the Feds take Gov. Blagojevich into custody.
http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2008/12/source-feds-take-gov-blagojevich-into-custody.html —Preceding unsigned comment added by Mcneelymarketing ( talk • contribs) 14:40, 9 December 2008 (UTC)
Great paragraph so far. Considering the severity of the arrest and allegations, do you not think it would make sense to make this its own section? As of now it's somewhat buried in all the other fun stuff he's into. Joshdboz ( talk) 15:26, 9 December 2008 (UTC)
It seems that a good portion of the page is already related to his controversies. Maybe a Controversies of Rod Blagojavich? Livewireo ( talk) 16:38, 9 December 2008 (UTC)
{{ editprotected}} Please add this link, probably to External links but perhaps as a ref. It's a much better (as in official) source than the various media reports: http://chicago.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel08/dec09_08.htm Flatterworld ( talk) 16:24, 9 December 2008 (UTC)
-- 72.88.143.43 ( talk) 16:42, 9 December 2008 (UTC)
@Flatterworld, please note that this page is not fully protected, just semi-protected. Anyone with an auto-confirmed account may edit this page. Please consider becoming auto-confirmed and see if this enables you to make edits. Ronnotel ( talk) 17:09, 9 December 2008 (UTC)
Not done. The page is not fully protected; {{
editprotected}} is not needed.
Sandstein
18:12, 9 December 2008 (UTC)
Since I saw an IP wanted information added, IPs can use {{ editsemiprotected}} to request changes to semiprotected articles. -- Philosopher Let us reason together. 19:13, 9 December 2008 (UTC)
Has this entry been sanitized of any unfavorable references to Barack Obama? There's been so much recent activity that it's hard for me to ascertain from the page's history, but it really seems so. Blagojevich was a confidante of Obama, an early supporter, and connected to one of the bete noires in Obama's history, Tony Rezko. I'm not calling for any character assassination, but the absence of any connection to Obama (other than some favorable and largely irrelevant references to Obama's death penalty reform bill) seems really conspicuous. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.104.24.111 ( talk) 17:15, 9 December 2008 (UTC)
That is most likely why G-Rod was so mad, 'cause Obama or his people went and backed out. Look at all the stuff they had on G-Rod, why did they wait till AFTER the November elections. 'Cause our other Democratic Senator Dick Durbin would've been effected. They could've busted him in October. Why didn't they? Because Durbin and Obama most likely used their Senate influence to wait.
They claim the reason they busted G-Rod now is because he was gonna sell the Senate seat. So why not wait till the DID it. As long as two weeks G-Rod is on record as saying he knew the FBI was wiretapping him? So anything he said is suspect. G-Rod fed them what they wanted to hear.
This is a HUGE mess and if it doesn't involve Obama and Durbin, it surely was known to them and they kept the public from knowing it so there election chances weren't hurt. 63.26.76.32 ( talk) 23:39, 11 December 2008 (UTC)eric
Obama is important here. He is about to be the US President. Any connections that can be cited should be brought to the forefront whether they are positive, negative, or neutral. It must be addressed.— Who123 05:17, 10 December 2008 (UTC)
This so-called relationship between Obama and Blago extends only to the fact they are in the same party and hail from the same state. This is a classic guilt by association smear attempt by the right. It's patently obvious and does amount to trolling. From the criminal charges filed in order to obtain the arrest warrant: "ROD BLAGOJEVICH said that the consultants (Advisor B and another consultant are believed to be on the call at that time) are telling him that he has to “suck it up” for two years and do nothing and give this "motherfucker [the President-elect] his senator. Fuck him. For nothing? Fuck him."" ( p. 63). These guys are not friends, associates, cohorts or otherwise in cahoots. Just stop before my head explodes and my eyes ooze out all over the floor. -- IvoShandor ( talk) 05:56, 10 December 2008 (UTC)
Who123: The pseudo-reality you inhabit must be a fun place. Obviously, you have a political agenda. Obviously, you are upset that your Presidential candidate got his ass handed to him in a paper bag in the election. Let's face it: if Obama farted in the same room as Blago's cousin's housekeeper's son's school librarian, you'd consider that some sort of dark association that proves some kind of vast leftist conspiracy, and you'd insist on having it in this article. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.229.98.8 ( talk) 14:51, 10 December 2008 (UTC)
How fascinating. Before the allegations surfaced, this article was loaded with Obama mentions of support for Blagojevich. Now that Blgojevich is under one of the worst corruption scandals in the last 50 years, mysteriously, the Obama mentions are all vaporizing. I find it odd....why was mentioning Obama relevant and important last month...and now suddenly...magically...its not relevant anymore? If Obama's support and high praise of Balgojevich in 2002, 2006 was important enough to mention in this article last week, surely its still important enough today right? I mean...history is history. Facts are facts. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.18.108.5 ( talk) 00:05, 10 December 2008 (UTC)
I've worked on this article for a long time, and I've never seen any mention of Obama in the article. If it appeared last week, it was a new addition.-- Gloriamarie ( talk) 05:29, 10 December 2008 (UTC)
Who123. welcome to the we wrote history the way we see, wikipedia. I don't find it all that amazing that entries and article vanish when it suits this lot. These pages are nothing but POV...why would all entries on there relationship vanish just this week, Please this is the normal of wikipedia, do you expect an unbais historical correct page ...hahha. The timing is perfect, it was ok before he was arrested but now, get rid of it quick....under the wikipedia rug. You must really ask the question that, any out going Senater, where the power to replace his seat is in the govenors hand and they had no conversation on the matter, come on,
Do we know what the R. stands for? If so, we should add that to the article. -- Rajah ( talk) 00:24, 10 December 2008 (UTC)
Which is why I don't donate to Wikipedia anymore -- too many locked articles.—Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.31.50.64 ( talk • contribs)
I know it seems like a minor point, but Lt. Gov. Quinn has said that Gov. Blagojevich should "step aside" as per arrangements in the state constitution, specifically mentioning that this did not involve resigning. It's a temporary step aside. This is important, because, as other politicians have said, asking for Blagojevich to resign might be seen as a presumption of guilt, whereas stepping aside just allows for a smoother running government during personal turmoil for the Governor. Anyway, the long and short of what I'm saying is, can we change the sentence about Quinn asking Blagojevich to resign to asking him to step aside? Bunsky555 ( talk) 04:58, 10 December 2008 (UTC)
Done --
Gloriamarie (
talk)
05:27, 10 December 2008 (UTC)
Please verify the comments about the Governor's "...record increases in funding for education every year..." Increasing funding to elementary & secondary schools by pulling back 2-5 % of the approved funding for the state universities in the middle of their fiscal year really isn't increasing funding. It is just robbing Paul (higher education) to pay Peter (primary education). Illinois State University has repeatedly been 'robbed' to the point of hiring freezes, staff raises reduced to less then the inflation rate, reductions in supply budgets, and raises in employee co-pay & insurance deductibles rates. The percentage of the ISU budget that is funded by the State is less then 40% and declining. Ironically, ISU is the state's premier Teacher Education institution - graduating more teachers each year then virtually any other university in the country - yet it receives less & less monies to educate the educators. Redslippers ( talk) 06:00, 10 December 2008 (UTC)redslippers
Clearly some of the Governor's supporters came on here and removed almost all of the critical information, particularly the additions since the Governor's arrest Tuesday morning, which were quite neutral and thorough. Also removed were all but a passing reference to his Federal arrest for official corruption. These edits violate the WP:NPOV standards. Themoodyblue ( talk) 15:35, 10 December 2008 (UTC)
-Well in reviewing the history it is being done on bith side, please review, June 2006 and lasest, read 2002 election, it reads like Obama never knew him and it reads like distance is now a better version of history. All the citations dated Dec 10, 2008..what a shame, to write these pages to protect ones views, how sad.
read this, : By all accounts, Blagojevich and Barack Obama are not close.[14] During the primary, state Senator Barack Obama backed Attorney General Roland Burris, but backed Blagojevich after he won the primary, serving as a "top adviser" for the general election.[15] Future Obama senior adviser David Axelrod had previously worked with Blagojevich on Congressional campaigns, but did not consider Blagojevich ready to be governor and declined to work for him on this campaign.[15] According to Rahm Emanuel, Emanuel, Obama, Blagojevich's campaign co-chair David Wilhelm, and another Blagojevich staffer "were the top strategists of Blagojevich's 2002 gubernatorial victory," meeting weekly to outline campaign strategies.[15] Wilhelm has said that Emanuel overstated Obama's role in the sessions, and Emanuel said in December 2008 that Wilhelm was correct and he had been wrong in his earlier 2008 recollection to The New Yorker.[15]
This never existed until a week ago....
- Fair point - I am trying to keep something THIS hot from getting biased on either side, and those were the most recent, and obvious, changes. On the other hand, do you think Canada would take Illinois as a province? Juusssttt kidding.... Themoodyblue ( talk) 16:14, 10 December 2008 (UTC)
I read over the discussions regarding Blagojevich's relationship with Obama and am dissappointed at the bickering, politicizing, and personal attacks of some of the posts. As Wikipedia editors, we are supposed to assume good faith.
That said, I think we should have a section devoted to Blagojevich's relationship with Obama for the simple fact that many people who come to this page are coming here specifically because they want to know what that relationship is. 216.239.234.196 ( talk) 17:55, 10 December 2008 (UTC)
Mr. Obama has a relationship with Mr. Blagojevich, having not only endorsed Blagojevich in 2002 and 2006, but having served as a top adviser to the Illinois governor in his first 2002 run for the state house.
That 2002 endorsement came at the same time that Axelrod had such serious concerns about whether Blagojevich was ready for governing he refused to work for his one-time client.
According to Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill., Mr. Obama’s incoming White House chief of staff, Emanuel, then-state senator Obama, a third Blagojevich aide, and Blagojevich’s campaign co-chair, David Wilhelm, were the top strategists of Blagojevich’s 2002 gubernatorial victory.
Emanuel told the New Yorker earlier this year that he and Obama “participated in a small group that met weekly when Rod was running for governor. We basically laid out the general election, Barack and I and these two.”
Wilhelm said that Emanuel had overstated Obama’s role. “There was an advisory council that was inclusive of Rahm and Barack but not limited to them,” Wilhelm said, and he disputed the notion that Obama was “an architect or one of the principal strategists.”
(Emanuel later changed his recollection of this story to Rich Miller’s “CAPITOL FAX,” saying, “David [Wilhelm] and I have worked together on campaigns for decades. Like always, he’s right and I’m wrong.”)
Either way, others now around Obama were less enthusiastic about Blagojevich at the time, namely David Axelrod, Obama’s senior campaign adviser who will soon be a senior adviser at the White House.
Axelrod had worked for Blagojevich in his past races for the House, but he declined to work on his gubernatorial run.
“He had been my client and I had a very good relationship with him, but I didn’t sign on to the governor’s race,” Axelrod told the New Yorker. “Obviously he won, but I had concerns about it…I was concerned about whether he was ready for that. Not so much for the race but for governing. I was concerned about some of the folks — I was concerned about how the race was being approached.”
On the Chicago TV show “Public Affairs with Jeff Berkowitz” on June 27, 2002, state Sen. Obama said, “Right now, my main focus is to make sure that we elect Rod Blagojevich as Governor, we…”
“You working hard for Rod?” interrupted Berkowitz.
“You betcha,” said Obama.
“Hot Rod?” asked the host.
“That’s exactly right,” Obama said.
In 2004, then-Gov. Blagojevich enthusiastically endorsed Obama for the Senate seat after he won the nomination, and Obama endorsed Blagojevich for his 2006 re-election race in early 2005.
In the Summer of 2006, then-U.S. Sen. Obama backed Blagojevich even though there were serious questions at the time about Blago’s hiring practices.
At the time, numerous state agencies had had records subpoenaed, with U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald telling authorities he was looking into “very serious allegations of endemic hiring fraud” with a “number of credible witnesses.”
In an interview with the Chicago Daily Herald in July 2006, then-Sen. Obama said, “I have not followed closely enough what’s been taking place in these investigations to comment on them. Obviously I’m concerned about reports that hiring practices at the state weren’t, at times, following appropriate procedures. How high up that went, the degree at which the governor was involved, is not something I’m going to speculate on.
“If I received information that made me believe that any Democrat had not been acting in the public interest, I’d be concerned,” Obama said.
That said, Mr. Obama said, “If the governor asks me to work on his behalf, I’ll be happy to do it.”
Apparently the governor did. At the Illinois State Fair in August 2006, Obama spoke on Blagojevich’s behalf.
“We’ve got a governor in Rod Blagojevich who has delivered consistently on behalf of the people of Illinois,” Obama told the crowd.
In January 2007, Blagojevich’s office reserved the Old State Capitol for Mr. Obama’s presidential announcement at Obama’s request.
Blagojevich spokeswoman Rebecca Rausch told reporters that “Representatives for Sen. Obama contacted the governor’s office regarding use of the Old State Capitol. We contacted the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency and reserved the Old State Capitol for the Senator on February 10th.”
The Old State Capitol is where President Abraham Lincoln delivered his “House Divided” speech in 1858. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.64.176.178 ( talk) 07:16, 11 December 2008 (UTC)
Dated November 5 from a Chicago TV station about Obama and Blagojevich meeting later that day to discuss filling his Senate seat: Ill. governor meeting with Obama today, By Carol Sowers Wednesday, November 05, 2008 at 10:39 a.m.
CHICAGO, ILL. — Now that Barack Obama will be moving to the White House, his seat in the U.S. Senate representing Illinois will have to be filled.
That’s one of Obama’s first priorities today. He’s meeting with Governor Rod Blagojevich this afternoon in Chicago to discuss it.
Illinois law states that the governor chooses that replacement.
There’s already been speculation about his selection…from Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr. of Chicago’s south side who co-chaired Obama’s presidential campaign, to recently-retired state senate president Emil Jones, to the governor himself.
It’s likely the governor will make his decision quickly so the new senator will get some seniority before newly-elected senators take office in January.
Part of the timing depends on when Obama officially vacates his senate seat.
KHQA’s Alexis Hunt is speaking with Illinois Senator John Sullivan today about his thoughts on that replacement process, his time working with Obama in the state senate, and if there’s a chance Sullivan might play a role in the Obama administration. Watch KHQA News at 5:00, 6:00 and 10:00 p.m. tonight to hear what he has to say. http://www.connecttristates.com/news/news_story.aspx?id=217582
A few weeks ago, I checked Blago's page and it said he was Croatian. Now it says he is a Serb. It doesn't really matter which one is correct, but I just have this image of someone being so embarassed by Blago's scandal that they decided it was time to disown him by changing this tidbit of info on his Wikipage. Rain City Blues ( talk) 19:19, 10 December 2008 (UTC)
You cannot say this didn't happen???? [13] —Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.64.176.190 ( talk) 17:12, 14 December 2008 (UTC)
Here is more news, cheif of staff met with the govenor and discussed the vactant seat. He now wants to say nothing, we have all heard of the DC two step, this is a new version called the Chicago tap dance. [14] it notes no wrong doing, but were are not saying that, We are saying there was contact between the two offices about the vacant seat. i would like a response from Baseball bugs on this as he seemed sure that this didn't take place.
How is Obama's marginal involvement notable now, but wasn't four days ago? I'm not sure how that one works... Grsz 11 17:34, 11 December 2008 (UTC)
Was Blagojevich involved in organised crime? The accusations he is under are enough to warrant impeachment if they move fast enough. To what degree is Blagojevich now or has been involved in organised crime. Also there is a problem he is still a state governor and he doesn't seem to be under that much stress about his recent arrest. How much of a risk to world security is Blagovich? What is this person involved in which otherwise than the obvious corruption is a threat to world security? To what extent is the world liberal media ignoring this issue? As was reported and I would suggest this article be promoted "Lincoln would be rolling in his grave".
can someone add this in? blago worked as an elvis impersonator!! danke+
"Blagojevich’s spirited wife Patti, herself worth a full episode in the upcoming tv series as the Lady MacBeth of the whole affair. Overshadowed by her dad, Dick Mell (invariably described as the powerful alderman), and her politically ambitious sister, Patti was swept off her feet by Blago’s talents as an Elvis impersonator." from http://www.counterpunch.org/ 64.53.177.172 ( talk) 21:04, 12 December 2008 (UTC)
My first thought on seeing Blago news footage was his resemblance to a young Stephen King. R.B. would be well cast in any dramatization of King's life. Tony ( talk) 21:05, 14 December 2008 (UTC)
In early 2006, after the appointment of Claudette Marie Muhammad, chief of protocol of the Nation of Islam,[107] to the Illinois Commission on Discrimination and Hate Crimes, five Jewish members of this commission resigned. Muhammad distanced herself from statements subsequently made by Louis Farrakhan about "false Jews, wicked Jews,"[107] and Blagojevich has promised to "oversee meaningful dialogue with leaders of the Jewish, black and gay communities." Despite this, the Anti-Defamation League and anti-discrimination groups called for her removal from the state panel.[107][108] The resignation or removal of fellow commission member Rick Garcia has also been called for by the Illinois Family Institute, over statements made by Garcia about Francis Cardinal George.[109] Republican candidate for Governor Jim Oberweis echoed the call for Garcia's removal or resignation in an e-mail release as part of his campaign for the Illinois Republican gubernatorial nomination.[110]
I'm looking for information on Blagojevich having money swept from appx. 600 earmarked program-specific accounts into what I understand to be the State's general fund. This information was provided to me by a State employee responsible for disbursing monies from one of these funds to qualified recipients. This employee also told me that all State employees are under a gag order prohibiting them from discussing the issue. I am looking for detailed information on this matter, haven't found it online and was surprised there's nothing under this RB entry in WP detailing this. I would like to see an exact listing of all (I think the number was 638) programs from which RB is sweeping money and a breakdown of how/where those programs get their funding. My understanding is that *NONE* of the money comes from Illinois income, property or sales tax revenues but, rather, from direct fees or taxes on the specific activities their corresponding programs benefit; e.g., the IL DNR charges hunters and fishermen to hunt/fish and then puts that money back into programs, such as breeding pheasants and stocking lakes, that perpetuate the State's ability to levy those same fees/taxes the following season. (Also, some of the impacted programs receive money from the Federal gov't.) The State employee told me that none of this is illegal, but that RB did it unilaterally w/o the Legislature's approval; however, s/he said that in the case of her/his State agency, the corresponding Federal agency has refused to provide next year's funding to the State agency until it can show where last year's money went (which is a problem apparently, because none of it went to the intended uses, but rather into the State's general account). Regardless of whether this is illegal, it isn't right and I'm dumbfounded that I'm having such a hard time verifying what exactly is going on and with what funds/programs as it would seem to me that this is a major ethical issue irrespective of whether it was accomplished through some legal technicality. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.194.222.230 ( talk) 23:18, 15 December 2008 (UTC)
Thanks, Bigturtle. While I still haven't found the specifics I was looking for, I found enough to confirm what the aforementioned State employee told me...I just still can't believe it...doesn't seem right at all and I can't believe this hasn't been a major news story...from what the employee told me, our governor has been doing these wholesale sweeps for a couple of years now. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.194.222.230 ( talk) 05:00, 16 December 2008 (UTC)
Why is blame being placed at RB's doorstep when the 2008 swept funds initiative was sponsored by State Sen. Jeffrey Schoenberg (Dem - Evanston)? Also, everything I've found online contradicts what I said above that I was told by a State employee insofar as RB doing this w/o the Legislature's approval; they apparently sponsored it, approved it and sent it to RB to sign. (Additionally, on the "gag order" this article makes it sound like (a) it is specific to the IL DNR and (b) issued by an executive in that agency rather than a judge: http://www.sj-r.com/news/x810461523/-1-million-federal-grant-withheld). Bottom line, I would like to know if this is, indeed, a Rod Blagojevich issue (in which case maybe it should be included in this article) or if it is definitely not an RB issue (in which case maybe it should be part of another article or its own article?) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.194.222.230 ( talk) 16:05, 16 December 2008 (UTC)
This is included in the article in the section on the 2006 election... Judy Baar Topinka accused him of the same thing: "A three-term state treasurer, Topinka said that she had attempted to block Blagojevich from using money from special funds for general expenditures without approval of the legislature; she said Blagojevich used the funds for projects meant to distract voters from his associates' corruption trials: “This constant giving away of money … a million here, a million there, it raids our already hamstrung government and deadbeat state.” [33] -- Gloriamarie ( talk) 01:43, 17 December 2008 (UTC)
So...previously, RB *did* sweep funds w/o the Leg's appv'l...and NOW the Leg just did the same thing itself?!? Wow! This is messed-up. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.194.222.230 ( talk) 13:05, 17 December 2008 (UTC)
Many governor pages (e.g. Jon Corzine and David Paterson) have Cabinet templates. I can not find a website with the info to create one for his current Cabinet.-- TonyTheTiger ( t/ c/ bio/ WP:CHICAGO/ WP:LOTM) 03:50, 16 December 2008 (UTC)
What is the deal with the comment about voting for Reagan under "Legislator". What does this have to do with him as a legislator? Was this legislation that he voted pro-Reagan on? This comment should be removed. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.119.131.7 ( talk) 04:56, 16 December 2008 (UTC)
I just thought it was interesting that he had voted for Reagan in the '80s. It's the only section it logically fit into, chronologically, at the time but it could be better in the Early Life part.-- Gloriamarie ( talk) 01:37, 17 December 2008 (UTC)
Yeah a random "He voted for Reagean in 1980 for President" does not belong. It is out of place and very random. Idiot remarks like that one should not be randomly put in there. You may as well tell us who he voted for every term for President. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 129.238.237.96 ( talk) 21:15, 19 December 2008 (UTC)
Shouldn't it be Radislav, with an L? I've never heard Radilsav, but Radislav is a rather common male Yugoslav first name. LarRan ( talk) 15:06, 16 December 2008 (UTC)
The spelling Radisav (no L} is quite common in Serbia, while in other Slavic countries the L-spelling is more common. Check it out on the Serbian language Wikipedia versions of persons with this forename.
![]() | This is an archive of past discussions. Do not edit the contents of this page. If you wish to start a new discussion or revive an old one, please do so on the current talk page. |
Archive 1 | Archive 2 |
I'm biased, so I'm not sure I could carefully report this without going over the top on NPOV. There've been other issues since Rod took office in '03: Changes that were forced in the Illinois' Teacher Retirement System, for one. Attempts at forcing the State Board of Education to report directly to the Governor, including the ouster of one State Superintendent of Schools. Attempts at reforming or eliminating the present Regional Offices of Education system. The anti-violent video game law that got pushed through the General Assembly despite warnings that such laws aren't held up by the courts - this one too, was defeated in court. Rod's threatened to pursue an appeal, at great cost to Illinois taxpayers. There's also been hints of scandals about hiring in state jobs that should not have been political appointments, which is in contrast to the 'house cleaning' promised during the 2002 campaign. Any of these things could be found in any online newspaper archive for the State of Illinois (Bloomington Pentagraph, Springfield Journal-Register, Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, etc etc). -- JohnDBuell 02:12, 28 December 2005 (UTC)
A typical nanny-state control freak, Blago will not rest until he turns Illinois into 'California with snow'. A Libertarian's worst nightmare. John, Any effort to show people what this man is doing to our state ( while obiding by NPOV) would be a great service to all of us. Rearden Metal 07:13, 28 December 2005 (UTC)
His other new pharmacy law is even worse: Bureaucratic hurdles for the purchase of any pseudo-ephedrine containing allergy medication. ...but it's For The Children. Rearden Metal 07:57, 28 December 2005 (UTC)
Just wondering: Has there ever been a case, where Blago fought to reduce governmental interference & regulation, in any field whatsoever? Keeping state prisoners under his direct control for life, instead of executing them doesn't count. I'm wondering if he even deserves the label 'progressive'. Pure authoritarian seems more fitting. Rearden Metal 23:48, 31 December 2005 (UTC)
An anon user (from the University of Chicago) started to get nasty about NOT having the Governor's full name listed, so I just wanted to state here what's in the edit history: You can find "Milorad 'Rod' Blagojevich" as his full name by entering "Milorad Blagojevich" (with quotation marks) into Google, A9, or another search engine. -- JohnDBuell 18:43, 22 February 2006 (UTC)
That is not his real name. His Father wanted to name him milorod but his mom Millie was against it from the start. They called him Milorod from time to time but his Birth name the one on his birth cert. is Rod Blagojevich. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.13.132.210 ( talk) 00:36, 6 October 2008 (UTC)
Should His appearance on the daily show where he didn't realize that it was fake news be included?-- 4.131.128.57 00:36, 27 February 2006 (UTC)
Oh, I think you'll like this!: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFdAcZeaAIE&search=blagojevich ;) Rearden Metal 04:25, 27 February 2006 (UTC)
The governor didn't say "are you teasing me" in reference to his name being mispronounced like the article says. He said that when the host says "I'll be in charge of what my listeners get to hear." —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.48.183.105 ( talk) 00:12, 10 December 2008 (UTC)
I have put in under ADMINISTRATION a short succinct paragraph on his gun control efforts.Oh,and for the record,I don't like Blagojevich.It sounds like an East European laxative company to me. Saltforkgunman 06:18, 8 March 2006 (UTC)
Why is there no mention of the current controversy Rod Blagojevich is in? He appointed a Nation of Islam woman to a Hate Crime panel and all the Jewish members of the panel resigned because of it. Rod Blagojevich also said he supported a black militant group which believes in the separation of whites and blacks.
I noticed somebody deleted my little tidbit about Blago saying that the Jimmy Neutron character was a mockery of him. I'm sure someone thought that was a joke or vandalism, but that really did happen. I swear. I'd like it to be back in there. Maybe I'll rewrite it to make it sound more serious... or maybe it is just unimportant. I'm sure that if I went to the Lovie Smith page and wrote that he sued the Walter E. Smithe furniture company for using his name (but then dropped the lawsuit realising it was stupid), that would be deleted too. But it happened. You should research an article before saying that something written is vandalism. Just 'cause you don't believe a fact, that doesn't make it not true. Is there no love for the quirky facts? - Rebelkass
Could someone find a couple of articles about the proposed leases of the Illinois Toll Highways and the Illinois Lottery, and the chorus of voices for and against such moves? -- JohnDBuell 03:18, 26 June 2006 (UTC)
This biography states that Mr. Blagojevich is a "moderate" Democrat. This term has not been defined so that it can be used as an enlightening adjective, so it should be removed. There are many of his policies which cannot be considered moderate, so this term should not be used in his biography.
Someone added Category:Same-sex marriage opposition to the article, and I cannot find anything *in* the article that states that Mr. Blagojevich is opposed to same-sex marriage. Considering the category says that it is for people who are strong opponents of same-sex marriage, I reverted it. On the contrary, the article seems to state a tolerant stance for gays. If sourced statements can be added to the article to support the opposition claim, I wouldn't be adverse to it being re-added. Syrthiss 23:22, 21 September 2006 (UTC)
This could be readded with more neutral language if a complete citation is provided (assuming its true). savidan (talk) (e@) 04:19, 7 November 2006 (UTC)
Has anyone noticed that Blago is a redirect to this page? Is this appropriate? Is this term commonly used to refer to this person? -- Dual Freq 01:45, 8 March 2007 (UTC)
Here are some news articles using 'Blago' http://cbs2chicago.com/local/local_story_285190803.html Feds Believe Blago Fundraiser Out Of Country http://cbs2chicago.com/politics/local_story_129192305.html Blago To Sign Nursing Home Background Checks Bill Kkemper 20:25, 3 August 2007 (UTC)
I don't really see why it should redirect here, although I guess it could be helpful for those who can't spell the name. Abbreviations are commonly used for politicians when they have long names, such as "Sarko" for Nicolas Sarkozy or "Sego" for Segolene Royal. I don't think any of these cases (including Blago) are used in a derogatory fashion.-- Gloriamarie 19:05, 14 August 2007 (UTC)
The state has at least 4 King Air's N991LL [1], N981LL [2], N971LL [3] and N961LL [4]. Some of them are used for " Air Illinois" (2003 article abstract) and daily Midway to Springfield flights. My question is: does the governor ride these planes alone or does he just fly on the regularly scheduled Springfield to Midway run? At least one of the aircraft makes 3 or 4 trips between Chicago and Springfield each day ferrying legislators, even flying empty sometimes. This was a big scandal a couple years back, but I think the flights were scaled back though the flights still occur. I'm not sure of the notability here since Chicago legislators are no doubt guilty of incurring similar expenses, and the aircraft would still fly even if empty. Additionally, they are all charged a nominal fee <$100 to fly on these aircraft. These used to be viewable via http://flightaware.com/live/flight/N991LL but they must be blocking the flights now for security reasons. -- Dual Freq 03:22, 17 July 2007 (UTC)
It's gotten a lot of press attention, to the extent that an out-of-state relative had even heard about it from the AP. From the impression I get, Blagojevich takes his own flights, and since his get there at 12pm and leave about 5, they wouldn't really be conducive to bringing lawmakers who (presumably) may have to work longer hours. According to the news reports, these flights would not be taken if Blagojevich stayed in Springfield, so I think it's safe to say he takes separate flights until news outlets report differently. -- Gloriamarie 16:11, 17 July 2007 (UTC)
In the Greenville Advocate from September 4, State Senator (and Minority Leader) Frank Watson says that the legislature has "trust" issues with the governor, saying that money allocated through the George Ryan-era Illinois First program was not spent on what the legislature allocated it for: "The problem is since the governor took office, the authorization we created when Ryan was in has all been used. The bonds have been sold. The governor froze all (legislative) member initiatives, but spent the authorization we permitted, for other uses." This is an interesting aspect of Blagojevich's governorship and perhaps should be added.-- Gloriamarie 14:41, 17 September 2007 (UTC)
The information about Hannah Montana seems rather trivial and probably shouldn't be included. Rather than revert, I'm open to a reason to leave it in. Shsilver ( talk) 01:14, 11 December 2007 (UTC)
On George Voinovich's page it states he is of croatian origin rather than serbian, please clarify. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 160.94.44.153 ( talk) 01:22, 6 February 2008 (UTC)
It now says his father was a Serb from Croatia.-- Gloriamarie ( talk) 06:54, 10 November 2008 (UTC)
http://www.clintondailyjournal.com/V2_news_articles.php?heading=0&page=72&story_id=2183
Not sure if this is worth adding in, yet. But it is new news and most of the town is already extremely upset 12.201.52.216 ( talk) 09:01, 30 August 2008 (UTC)
The "Legislator" and "Gubernatorial administration" sections of this article are loaded with weasel words and advertisements. It sounds like it came out of a campaign brochoure.
To wit;
I could go on and on. I'm placing an advertisment box on the top until this is fixed. Thanks.-- thequackdaddy ( talk) 20:58, 4 October 2008 (UTC)
According to Wikipedia:IPA, the fourth symbol in the IPA pronunciation is the German short ü. Is this the right sound? Shouldn't it be a regular g? — JerryFriedman (Talk) 23:19, 6 November 2008 (UTC)
Rod Blagojevich is the first Serbian Governor elected. George Voinovich of Ohio is Slovenian. Serbians are mainly Orthodox Christian and Slovenians are mostly Roman Catholic. It would be correct to say Rod Blagojevich is the second govenor elected from the former Republic known as Yugoslavia, both Serbia and Slovenia wer part of the the former country of Yugoslavia. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 68.78.97.109 ( talk • contribs) 23:24, 9 June 2006 (UTC).
Governor Blagojevich's father, Radisav Blagojević (Радисав Благојевић), was born in Veliko Krčmare (Велико Крчмаре), which lies somewhat to the north of Kragujevac (Крагујевац). This information appears in the Serbian-language version of the Wikipedia article about the Governor. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.28.161.95 ( talk) 21:27, 19 December 2008 (UTC)
Voinovich is half Serbian, half Slovenian
And there were more than 2 Governors from former Yugoslav republics
George Voinoivich OHIO (Serbian/Slovenian) --- Frank Lausche OHIO (Slovenian) --- Rudy Perpich MINNESOTA (Croatian) --- Rose Perica Mofford ARIZONA (Croatian) --- Michael Stepovich ALASKA (Croatian) --- Rod Blagojevich ILLINOIS (Serbian)
{{
editsemiprotected}} How important and appropriate is it that Blagojevich's ethnic background be stated so prominently in the first paragraph, especially given the attention he's now receiving for his arrest? It would be better to move this to the "Personal information" section.
Dsndj (
talk)
06:51, 10 December 2008 (UTC)
Not done. As I see the mention in the lead, it is only one sentence - which doesn't seem excessive, considering the current size of the lead. --
Philosopher
Let us reason together.
14:16, 10 December 2008 (UTC)
"At one point in 2007, Blagojevich filed a lawsuit against Madigan after Madigan instructed lawmakers to not attend one of Blagojevich's scheduled special sessions on the budget." from Relationships with fellow lawmakers.
Wikipedians - we are getting link happy. You could link every word to a dictionary definition. I point out the above statement and link to "lawsuit" as an example. If the link does not go to an entry referring to the immediate statement, a footnote, then stop. I am tire'g of moving the mouse over the link to see what it reveals as a jump.
and why I'm interested in this section: "He is the second Serbian American to be elected ..." links to a Chicago Tribune article (Trib is embroiled in the Govenors troubles ie purchase'g Wrigley Field)(WField has crumbling concrete bleachers). I am taking time to investigate what Wikipedia journalist (bloggers) are presenting to the world on the Govenor. There is and has been an atmosphere here in Illinois that Gov Blagojevich is not a team player. There are many teams with agendas. Report don't Purport (and that's a fine line). Imo the current wiki presentation is blending into the dump him wagon. Greg0658 ( talk) 14:58, 17 December 2008 (UTC)
Yes. Very SAD. Especially since he is of serbian origin! Frankly, as an ethnik albanian originally from Kosova, I would not expect any better from a serbian politician, nor from a politician of serbian origin. One can try to be as civil as possible, but somehow in their case they never seem to be able to exceed what's expected of them: lies, lies and more lies. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.193.51.173 ( talk) 14:44, 11 December 2008 (UTC)
According to his biography on the National Governors Association website, Blagojevich's religious affiliation is Eastern Orthodox, not Serbian Orthodox. I have corrected the article, citing the NGA biography as a source. -- TommyBoy 07:25, 15 October 2006 (UTC)
You don't seem to realise that the two aren't mututally exclusive. One is a subset of the other - all Serb Orthodox are Eastern Othodox, but not all Eastern Orthodox are Serb Orthodox (some are Russian Orthodox, Greek Orthodox, Romanian Orthodox, Bulgarian Orthodox). So I'll change it back. -- estavisti 20:40, 19 October 2006 (UTC)
According to the Chicago Tribune, the Feds take Gov. Blagojevich into custody.
http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2008/12/source-feds-take-gov-blagojevich-into-custody.html —Preceding unsigned comment added by Mcneelymarketing ( talk • contribs) 14:40, 9 December 2008 (UTC)
Great paragraph so far. Considering the severity of the arrest and allegations, do you not think it would make sense to make this its own section? As of now it's somewhat buried in all the other fun stuff he's into. Joshdboz ( talk) 15:26, 9 December 2008 (UTC)
It seems that a good portion of the page is already related to his controversies. Maybe a Controversies of Rod Blagojavich? Livewireo ( talk) 16:38, 9 December 2008 (UTC)
{{ editprotected}} Please add this link, probably to External links but perhaps as a ref. It's a much better (as in official) source than the various media reports: http://chicago.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel08/dec09_08.htm Flatterworld ( talk) 16:24, 9 December 2008 (UTC)
-- 72.88.143.43 ( talk) 16:42, 9 December 2008 (UTC)
@Flatterworld, please note that this page is not fully protected, just semi-protected. Anyone with an auto-confirmed account may edit this page. Please consider becoming auto-confirmed and see if this enables you to make edits. Ronnotel ( talk) 17:09, 9 December 2008 (UTC)
Not done. The page is not fully protected; {{
editprotected}} is not needed.
Sandstein
18:12, 9 December 2008 (UTC)
Since I saw an IP wanted information added, IPs can use {{ editsemiprotected}} to request changes to semiprotected articles. -- Philosopher Let us reason together. 19:13, 9 December 2008 (UTC)
Has this entry been sanitized of any unfavorable references to Barack Obama? There's been so much recent activity that it's hard for me to ascertain from the page's history, but it really seems so. Blagojevich was a confidante of Obama, an early supporter, and connected to one of the bete noires in Obama's history, Tony Rezko. I'm not calling for any character assassination, but the absence of any connection to Obama (other than some favorable and largely irrelevant references to Obama's death penalty reform bill) seems really conspicuous. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.104.24.111 ( talk) 17:15, 9 December 2008 (UTC)
That is most likely why G-Rod was so mad, 'cause Obama or his people went and backed out. Look at all the stuff they had on G-Rod, why did they wait till AFTER the November elections. 'Cause our other Democratic Senator Dick Durbin would've been effected. They could've busted him in October. Why didn't they? Because Durbin and Obama most likely used their Senate influence to wait.
They claim the reason they busted G-Rod now is because he was gonna sell the Senate seat. So why not wait till the DID it. As long as two weeks G-Rod is on record as saying he knew the FBI was wiretapping him? So anything he said is suspect. G-Rod fed them what they wanted to hear.
This is a HUGE mess and if it doesn't involve Obama and Durbin, it surely was known to them and they kept the public from knowing it so there election chances weren't hurt. 63.26.76.32 ( talk) 23:39, 11 December 2008 (UTC)eric
Obama is important here. He is about to be the US President. Any connections that can be cited should be brought to the forefront whether they are positive, negative, or neutral. It must be addressed.— Who123 05:17, 10 December 2008 (UTC)
This so-called relationship between Obama and Blago extends only to the fact they are in the same party and hail from the same state. This is a classic guilt by association smear attempt by the right. It's patently obvious and does amount to trolling. From the criminal charges filed in order to obtain the arrest warrant: "ROD BLAGOJEVICH said that the consultants (Advisor B and another consultant are believed to be on the call at that time) are telling him that he has to “suck it up” for two years and do nothing and give this "motherfucker [the President-elect] his senator. Fuck him. For nothing? Fuck him."" ( p. 63). These guys are not friends, associates, cohorts or otherwise in cahoots. Just stop before my head explodes and my eyes ooze out all over the floor. -- IvoShandor ( talk) 05:56, 10 December 2008 (UTC)
Who123: The pseudo-reality you inhabit must be a fun place. Obviously, you have a political agenda. Obviously, you are upset that your Presidential candidate got his ass handed to him in a paper bag in the election. Let's face it: if Obama farted in the same room as Blago's cousin's housekeeper's son's school librarian, you'd consider that some sort of dark association that proves some kind of vast leftist conspiracy, and you'd insist on having it in this article. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.229.98.8 ( talk) 14:51, 10 December 2008 (UTC)
How fascinating. Before the allegations surfaced, this article was loaded with Obama mentions of support for Blagojevich. Now that Blgojevich is under one of the worst corruption scandals in the last 50 years, mysteriously, the Obama mentions are all vaporizing. I find it odd....why was mentioning Obama relevant and important last month...and now suddenly...magically...its not relevant anymore? If Obama's support and high praise of Balgojevich in 2002, 2006 was important enough to mention in this article last week, surely its still important enough today right? I mean...history is history. Facts are facts. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.18.108.5 ( talk) 00:05, 10 December 2008 (UTC)
I've worked on this article for a long time, and I've never seen any mention of Obama in the article. If it appeared last week, it was a new addition.-- Gloriamarie ( talk) 05:29, 10 December 2008 (UTC)
Who123. welcome to the we wrote history the way we see, wikipedia. I don't find it all that amazing that entries and article vanish when it suits this lot. These pages are nothing but POV...why would all entries on there relationship vanish just this week, Please this is the normal of wikipedia, do you expect an unbais historical correct page ...hahha. The timing is perfect, it was ok before he was arrested but now, get rid of it quick....under the wikipedia rug. You must really ask the question that, any out going Senater, where the power to replace his seat is in the govenors hand and they had no conversation on the matter, come on,
Do we know what the R. stands for? If so, we should add that to the article. -- Rajah ( talk) 00:24, 10 December 2008 (UTC)
Which is why I don't donate to Wikipedia anymore -- too many locked articles.—Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.31.50.64 ( talk • contribs)
I know it seems like a minor point, but Lt. Gov. Quinn has said that Gov. Blagojevich should "step aside" as per arrangements in the state constitution, specifically mentioning that this did not involve resigning. It's a temporary step aside. This is important, because, as other politicians have said, asking for Blagojevich to resign might be seen as a presumption of guilt, whereas stepping aside just allows for a smoother running government during personal turmoil for the Governor. Anyway, the long and short of what I'm saying is, can we change the sentence about Quinn asking Blagojevich to resign to asking him to step aside? Bunsky555 ( talk) 04:58, 10 December 2008 (UTC)
Done --
Gloriamarie (
talk)
05:27, 10 December 2008 (UTC)
Please verify the comments about the Governor's "...record increases in funding for education every year..." Increasing funding to elementary & secondary schools by pulling back 2-5 % of the approved funding for the state universities in the middle of their fiscal year really isn't increasing funding. It is just robbing Paul (higher education) to pay Peter (primary education). Illinois State University has repeatedly been 'robbed' to the point of hiring freezes, staff raises reduced to less then the inflation rate, reductions in supply budgets, and raises in employee co-pay & insurance deductibles rates. The percentage of the ISU budget that is funded by the State is less then 40% and declining. Ironically, ISU is the state's premier Teacher Education institution - graduating more teachers each year then virtually any other university in the country - yet it receives less & less monies to educate the educators. Redslippers ( talk) 06:00, 10 December 2008 (UTC)redslippers
Clearly some of the Governor's supporters came on here and removed almost all of the critical information, particularly the additions since the Governor's arrest Tuesday morning, which were quite neutral and thorough. Also removed were all but a passing reference to his Federal arrest for official corruption. These edits violate the WP:NPOV standards. Themoodyblue ( talk) 15:35, 10 December 2008 (UTC)
-Well in reviewing the history it is being done on bith side, please review, June 2006 and lasest, read 2002 election, it reads like Obama never knew him and it reads like distance is now a better version of history. All the citations dated Dec 10, 2008..what a shame, to write these pages to protect ones views, how sad.
read this, : By all accounts, Blagojevich and Barack Obama are not close.[14] During the primary, state Senator Barack Obama backed Attorney General Roland Burris, but backed Blagojevich after he won the primary, serving as a "top adviser" for the general election.[15] Future Obama senior adviser David Axelrod had previously worked with Blagojevich on Congressional campaigns, but did not consider Blagojevich ready to be governor and declined to work for him on this campaign.[15] According to Rahm Emanuel, Emanuel, Obama, Blagojevich's campaign co-chair David Wilhelm, and another Blagojevich staffer "were the top strategists of Blagojevich's 2002 gubernatorial victory," meeting weekly to outline campaign strategies.[15] Wilhelm has said that Emanuel overstated Obama's role in the sessions, and Emanuel said in December 2008 that Wilhelm was correct and he had been wrong in his earlier 2008 recollection to The New Yorker.[15]
This never existed until a week ago....
- Fair point - I am trying to keep something THIS hot from getting biased on either side, and those were the most recent, and obvious, changes. On the other hand, do you think Canada would take Illinois as a province? Juusssttt kidding.... Themoodyblue ( talk) 16:14, 10 December 2008 (UTC)
I read over the discussions regarding Blagojevich's relationship with Obama and am dissappointed at the bickering, politicizing, and personal attacks of some of the posts. As Wikipedia editors, we are supposed to assume good faith.
That said, I think we should have a section devoted to Blagojevich's relationship with Obama for the simple fact that many people who come to this page are coming here specifically because they want to know what that relationship is. 216.239.234.196 ( talk) 17:55, 10 December 2008 (UTC)
Mr. Obama has a relationship with Mr. Blagojevich, having not only endorsed Blagojevich in 2002 and 2006, but having served as a top adviser to the Illinois governor in his first 2002 run for the state house.
That 2002 endorsement came at the same time that Axelrod had such serious concerns about whether Blagojevich was ready for governing he refused to work for his one-time client.
According to Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill., Mr. Obama’s incoming White House chief of staff, Emanuel, then-state senator Obama, a third Blagojevich aide, and Blagojevich’s campaign co-chair, David Wilhelm, were the top strategists of Blagojevich’s 2002 gubernatorial victory.
Emanuel told the New Yorker earlier this year that he and Obama “participated in a small group that met weekly when Rod was running for governor. We basically laid out the general election, Barack and I and these two.”
Wilhelm said that Emanuel had overstated Obama’s role. “There was an advisory council that was inclusive of Rahm and Barack but not limited to them,” Wilhelm said, and he disputed the notion that Obama was “an architect or one of the principal strategists.”
(Emanuel later changed his recollection of this story to Rich Miller’s “CAPITOL FAX,” saying, “David [Wilhelm] and I have worked together on campaigns for decades. Like always, he’s right and I’m wrong.”)
Either way, others now around Obama were less enthusiastic about Blagojevich at the time, namely David Axelrod, Obama’s senior campaign adviser who will soon be a senior adviser at the White House.
Axelrod had worked for Blagojevich in his past races for the House, but he declined to work on his gubernatorial run.
“He had been my client and I had a very good relationship with him, but I didn’t sign on to the governor’s race,” Axelrod told the New Yorker. “Obviously he won, but I had concerns about it…I was concerned about whether he was ready for that. Not so much for the race but for governing. I was concerned about some of the folks — I was concerned about how the race was being approached.”
On the Chicago TV show “Public Affairs with Jeff Berkowitz” on June 27, 2002, state Sen. Obama said, “Right now, my main focus is to make sure that we elect Rod Blagojevich as Governor, we…”
“You working hard for Rod?” interrupted Berkowitz.
“You betcha,” said Obama.
“Hot Rod?” asked the host.
“That’s exactly right,” Obama said.
In 2004, then-Gov. Blagojevich enthusiastically endorsed Obama for the Senate seat after he won the nomination, and Obama endorsed Blagojevich for his 2006 re-election race in early 2005.
In the Summer of 2006, then-U.S. Sen. Obama backed Blagojevich even though there were serious questions at the time about Blago’s hiring practices.
At the time, numerous state agencies had had records subpoenaed, with U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald telling authorities he was looking into “very serious allegations of endemic hiring fraud” with a “number of credible witnesses.”
In an interview with the Chicago Daily Herald in July 2006, then-Sen. Obama said, “I have not followed closely enough what’s been taking place in these investigations to comment on them. Obviously I’m concerned about reports that hiring practices at the state weren’t, at times, following appropriate procedures. How high up that went, the degree at which the governor was involved, is not something I’m going to speculate on.
“If I received information that made me believe that any Democrat had not been acting in the public interest, I’d be concerned,” Obama said.
That said, Mr. Obama said, “If the governor asks me to work on his behalf, I’ll be happy to do it.”
Apparently the governor did. At the Illinois State Fair in August 2006, Obama spoke on Blagojevich’s behalf.
“We’ve got a governor in Rod Blagojevich who has delivered consistently on behalf of the people of Illinois,” Obama told the crowd.
In January 2007, Blagojevich’s office reserved the Old State Capitol for Mr. Obama’s presidential announcement at Obama’s request.
Blagojevich spokeswoman Rebecca Rausch told reporters that “Representatives for Sen. Obama contacted the governor’s office regarding use of the Old State Capitol. We contacted the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency and reserved the Old State Capitol for the Senator on February 10th.”
The Old State Capitol is where President Abraham Lincoln delivered his “House Divided” speech in 1858. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.64.176.178 ( talk) 07:16, 11 December 2008 (UTC)
Dated November 5 from a Chicago TV station about Obama and Blagojevich meeting later that day to discuss filling his Senate seat: Ill. governor meeting with Obama today, By Carol Sowers Wednesday, November 05, 2008 at 10:39 a.m.
CHICAGO, ILL. — Now that Barack Obama will be moving to the White House, his seat in the U.S. Senate representing Illinois will have to be filled.
That’s one of Obama’s first priorities today. He’s meeting with Governor Rod Blagojevich this afternoon in Chicago to discuss it.
Illinois law states that the governor chooses that replacement.
There’s already been speculation about his selection…from Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr. of Chicago’s south side who co-chaired Obama’s presidential campaign, to recently-retired state senate president Emil Jones, to the governor himself.
It’s likely the governor will make his decision quickly so the new senator will get some seniority before newly-elected senators take office in January.
Part of the timing depends on when Obama officially vacates his senate seat.
KHQA’s Alexis Hunt is speaking with Illinois Senator John Sullivan today about his thoughts on that replacement process, his time working with Obama in the state senate, and if there’s a chance Sullivan might play a role in the Obama administration. Watch KHQA News at 5:00, 6:00 and 10:00 p.m. tonight to hear what he has to say. http://www.connecttristates.com/news/news_story.aspx?id=217582
A few weeks ago, I checked Blago's page and it said he was Croatian. Now it says he is a Serb. It doesn't really matter which one is correct, but I just have this image of someone being so embarassed by Blago's scandal that they decided it was time to disown him by changing this tidbit of info on his Wikipage. Rain City Blues ( talk) 19:19, 10 December 2008 (UTC)
You cannot say this didn't happen???? [13] —Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.64.176.190 ( talk) 17:12, 14 December 2008 (UTC)
Here is more news, cheif of staff met with the govenor and discussed the vactant seat. He now wants to say nothing, we have all heard of the DC two step, this is a new version called the Chicago tap dance. [14] it notes no wrong doing, but were are not saying that, We are saying there was contact between the two offices about the vacant seat. i would like a response from Baseball bugs on this as he seemed sure that this didn't take place.
How is Obama's marginal involvement notable now, but wasn't four days ago? I'm not sure how that one works... Grsz 11 17:34, 11 December 2008 (UTC)
Was Blagojevich involved in organised crime? The accusations he is under are enough to warrant impeachment if they move fast enough. To what degree is Blagojevich now or has been involved in organised crime. Also there is a problem he is still a state governor and he doesn't seem to be under that much stress about his recent arrest. How much of a risk to world security is Blagovich? What is this person involved in which otherwise than the obvious corruption is a threat to world security? To what extent is the world liberal media ignoring this issue? As was reported and I would suggest this article be promoted "Lincoln would be rolling in his grave".
can someone add this in? blago worked as an elvis impersonator!! danke+
"Blagojevich’s spirited wife Patti, herself worth a full episode in the upcoming tv series as the Lady MacBeth of the whole affair. Overshadowed by her dad, Dick Mell (invariably described as the powerful alderman), and her politically ambitious sister, Patti was swept off her feet by Blago’s talents as an Elvis impersonator." from http://www.counterpunch.org/ 64.53.177.172 ( talk) 21:04, 12 December 2008 (UTC)
My first thought on seeing Blago news footage was his resemblance to a young Stephen King. R.B. would be well cast in any dramatization of King's life. Tony ( talk) 21:05, 14 December 2008 (UTC)
In early 2006, after the appointment of Claudette Marie Muhammad, chief of protocol of the Nation of Islam,[107] to the Illinois Commission on Discrimination and Hate Crimes, five Jewish members of this commission resigned. Muhammad distanced herself from statements subsequently made by Louis Farrakhan about "false Jews, wicked Jews,"[107] and Blagojevich has promised to "oversee meaningful dialogue with leaders of the Jewish, black and gay communities." Despite this, the Anti-Defamation League and anti-discrimination groups called for her removal from the state panel.[107][108] The resignation or removal of fellow commission member Rick Garcia has also been called for by the Illinois Family Institute, over statements made by Garcia about Francis Cardinal George.[109] Republican candidate for Governor Jim Oberweis echoed the call for Garcia's removal or resignation in an e-mail release as part of his campaign for the Illinois Republican gubernatorial nomination.[110]
I'm looking for information on Blagojevich having money swept from appx. 600 earmarked program-specific accounts into what I understand to be the State's general fund. This information was provided to me by a State employee responsible for disbursing monies from one of these funds to qualified recipients. This employee also told me that all State employees are under a gag order prohibiting them from discussing the issue. I am looking for detailed information on this matter, haven't found it online and was surprised there's nothing under this RB entry in WP detailing this. I would like to see an exact listing of all (I think the number was 638) programs from which RB is sweeping money and a breakdown of how/where those programs get their funding. My understanding is that *NONE* of the money comes from Illinois income, property or sales tax revenues but, rather, from direct fees or taxes on the specific activities their corresponding programs benefit; e.g., the IL DNR charges hunters and fishermen to hunt/fish and then puts that money back into programs, such as breeding pheasants and stocking lakes, that perpetuate the State's ability to levy those same fees/taxes the following season. (Also, some of the impacted programs receive money from the Federal gov't.) The State employee told me that none of this is illegal, but that RB did it unilaterally w/o the Legislature's approval; however, s/he said that in the case of her/his State agency, the corresponding Federal agency has refused to provide next year's funding to the State agency until it can show where last year's money went (which is a problem apparently, because none of it went to the intended uses, but rather into the State's general account). Regardless of whether this is illegal, it isn't right and I'm dumbfounded that I'm having such a hard time verifying what exactly is going on and with what funds/programs as it would seem to me that this is a major ethical issue irrespective of whether it was accomplished through some legal technicality. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.194.222.230 ( talk) 23:18, 15 December 2008 (UTC)
Thanks, Bigturtle. While I still haven't found the specifics I was looking for, I found enough to confirm what the aforementioned State employee told me...I just still can't believe it...doesn't seem right at all and I can't believe this hasn't been a major news story...from what the employee told me, our governor has been doing these wholesale sweeps for a couple of years now. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.194.222.230 ( talk) 05:00, 16 December 2008 (UTC)
Why is blame being placed at RB's doorstep when the 2008 swept funds initiative was sponsored by State Sen. Jeffrey Schoenberg (Dem - Evanston)? Also, everything I've found online contradicts what I said above that I was told by a State employee insofar as RB doing this w/o the Legislature's approval; they apparently sponsored it, approved it and sent it to RB to sign. (Additionally, on the "gag order" this article makes it sound like (a) it is specific to the IL DNR and (b) issued by an executive in that agency rather than a judge: http://www.sj-r.com/news/x810461523/-1-million-federal-grant-withheld). Bottom line, I would like to know if this is, indeed, a Rod Blagojevich issue (in which case maybe it should be included in this article) or if it is definitely not an RB issue (in which case maybe it should be part of another article or its own article?) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.194.222.230 ( talk) 16:05, 16 December 2008 (UTC)
This is included in the article in the section on the 2006 election... Judy Baar Topinka accused him of the same thing: "A three-term state treasurer, Topinka said that she had attempted to block Blagojevich from using money from special funds for general expenditures without approval of the legislature; she said Blagojevich used the funds for projects meant to distract voters from his associates' corruption trials: “This constant giving away of money … a million here, a million there, it raids our already hamstrung government and deadbeat state.” [33] -- Gloriamarie ( talk) 01:43, 17 December 2008 (UTC)
So...previously, RB *did* sweep funds w/o the Leg's appv'l...and NOW the Leg just did the same thing itself?!? Wow! This is messed-up. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.194.222.230 ( talk) 13:05, 17 December 2008 (UTC)
Many governor pages (e.g. Jon Corzine and David Paterson) have Cabinet templates. I can not find a website with the info to create one for his current Cabinet.-- TonyTheTiger ( t/ c/ bio/ WP:CHICAGO/ WP:LOTM) 03:50, 16 December 2008 (UTC)
What is the deal with the comment about voting for Reagan under "Legislator". What does this have to do with him as a legislator? Was this legislation that he voted pro-Reagan on? This comment should be removed. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.119.131.7 ( talk) 04:56, 16 December 2008 (UTC)
I just thought it was interesting that he had voted for Reagan in the '80s. It's the only section it logically fit into, chronologically, at the time but it could be better in the Early Life part.-- Gloriamarie ( talk) 01:37, 17 December 2008 (UTC)
Yeah a random "He voted for Reagean in 1980 for President" does not belong. It is out of place and very random. Idiot remarks like that one should not be randomly put in there. You may as well tell us who he voted for every term for President. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 129.238.237.96 ( talk) 21:15, 19 December 2008 (UTC)
Shouldn't it be Radislav, with an L? I've never heard Radilsav, but Radislav is a rather common male Yugoslav first name. LarRan ( talk) 15:06, 16 December 2008 (UTC)
The spelling Radisav (no L} is quite common in Serbia, while in other Slavic countries the L-spelling is more common. Check it out on the Serbian language Wikipedia versions of persons with this forename.