He was found guilty of racketeering, extortion, soliciting a bribe and conspiracy. Some of those charges included shakedowns of a children's hospital and a horse racing executive. He was acquitted on one count of shaking down a construction executive and a verdict was not reached on two other counts, the Chicago Tribune reported. The newspaper reported he faces a significant prison sentence.
Leaving the Chicago courtroom, Blagojevich said he was 'very disappointed' by the verdicts. 'I, frankly, am stunned,' said Blagojevich, who has professed his innocence.
Blagojevich, 54, had been accused of trying to sell Obama's seat after he was caught on wiretap by federal investigators during a previous investigation. As governor, he had the power to appoint Obama's successor in the Senate until an election could be held be held.
Blagojevich, a Democrat, was arrested in December 2008 - weeks after Obama won the presidential election - after being recorded in a profanity-laced conversation describing the Senate vacancy as a 'golden' asset for which he was seeking political or financial returns. The Illinois General Assembly impeached Blagojevich the following January and removed him from office.
olbermann: white house owes apology to 9/11 victims for 'lie' from raw replay: White House spokesperson Tony Fratto told Fox News that the events of 9/11 were unforeseeable and not President Bush’s responsibility. Countdown’s Keith Olbermann points out the numerous times the White House was briefed on suspicious activity and chose to do nothing about it. This video is from MSNBC’s Countdown, broadcast Dec. 18, 2008.
fdny lieutenant said wtc7 'would be taken down' from 9/11 blogger: MSNBC live video during building 7's collapse. Note FDNY lieutenant David Rastuccio's comment at 1:20 that the building had been allowed to fall on it's own but also mentioning a plan that, "it would be taken down".
additions to the 9/11 timeline as of dec22: day of 9/11 & united 23 from history commons: Most of this week’s new entries in the 9/11 Timeline again deal with the day of 9/11, shortly before which NORAD was preparing a major war game. On the day itself, the Northeast Air Defense Sector (NEADS) called an air defence unit in Atlantic City, just before the first plane hit the World Trade Center, but the phone was not answered. FAA manager Ben Sliney began responding to the crisis around the same time and the air space over New York was closed after the second plane hit. There are also new entries about another phone call from Flight 93, by passenger Andrew Garcia, a suspected hijack in the afternoon that delayed travel by President George Bush, and the lobby of World Trade Center 7, which was ruined by midday.
Another additional entry covers United 23, which was thought to be a potential hijack target on 9/11. The alleged potential hijackers were arrested when they returned to the airport a few days after the attacks, but soon released. Finally, the air force also started using a better radar system in Washington the day after the attacks and the governor of Kentucky was nearly shot down over Washington in 2004.
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There have also been some interesting additions to one of the other projects hosted by the History Commons, Neoconservative Influence.
families ask bush to seize land for 9/11 memorial from washington post: It has been more than seven years since 20-year-old Deora Bodley and 39 other passengers and crew died in the fiery crash of United Airlines Flight 93, their hijacked plane disintegrating in a grove of hemlock trees outside Shanksville, Pa. Most of the remains from the tragedy on Sept. 11, 2001, were never recovered, making the bowl-shaped crash site in the western Pennsylvania countryside an unofficial cemetery and, for surviving relatives, sacred ground. But efforts to buy property for a national Flight 93 memorial have bogged down in federal red tape and a protracted land dispute, angering family members and risking plans to hold a dedication ceremony on the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. The delays have prompted an advocacy group, Families of Flight 93, to ask President Bush to personally intervene during his final weeks in office to allow the federal government to seize the land needed for the memorial and to allocate part of the money for the project. "He signed the memorial act. He wanted something to be there and to be in place for years and years to come," said Bodley's mother, Deborah Borza, of San Diego. "We have waited so long already. I hold on to being hopeful that between now and January 20, something will happen, something will break free." Landowner Mike Svonavec of Svonavec Inc. of Somerset, Pa., said the National Park Service and Flight 93 groups are "trying to make my company and myself look like the bad guy in this."
conservative prof: 'saddest part' of 9/11 attacks was impact on bush from raw story: "For me, the saddest part about the terrorist attacks of 9/11 is the long-term impact on the presidency of George W. Bush," wrote Tony Campbell, an adjunct professor of political science with Maryland-based Towson University, on The Moderate Voice Monday. Nevermind the 3,000+ Americans who died on Sept. 11, 2001. Or the resulting wars. Or that one of the countries Bush chose to invade had nothing to do with the attacks. Or even the lingering, unanswered questions as to just how exactly the 9/11 attacks were pulled off.
In Hersh’s most recent article, he reports that this meeting occurred in the wake of the overblown incident in the Strait of Hormuz, when a U.S. carrier almost shot at a few small Iranian speedboats. The “meeting took place in the Vice-President’s office. ‘The subject was how to create a casus belli between Tehran and Washington,’” according to one of Hersh’s sources.
update1: media blackout on cheney/iran false flag story from steve watson: The mainstream American corporate press has once again proven itself to be no better than the state controlled media in places like Communist China or Zimbabwe, by steadfastly refusing to print even a mention of the huge story concerning veteran journalist Seymour Hersh’s recent comments that the vice president wanted to carry out a false flag operation to provoke a war with Iran...
Given that only a few weeks ago Hersh’s exclusive story concerning the vamping up of covert U.S. military activity inside Iran made headlines everywhere, in every major publication and outlet, it begs the question where are they now for an even bigger story? The Financial Times even carries a story today about how Hersh is “The Last Great American Reporter”, yet the lengthy piece contains no mention of his latest revelations...
We will not cease in our efforts to turn this into a massive story but we need your support. Get the storyand e mail it out to every newspaper, newswire and TV news station in existence.
update2: olbermann the only member of the msm that covered the huge cheney false flag op story
from youtube: Ron Paul fielding questions at the MSNBC Debate in Boca Raton, Florida at Florida Atlantic University on January 24, 2008.
ron paul shunned in blatantly unfair msnbc debate from paul joseph watson: According to those that recorded the time afforded to each Republican candidate during last night's MSNBC debate in Florida, Congressman Ron Paul was again given the least coverage, being allowed to talk for less than a third of the time and receiving less than half the questions compared with Mitt Romney.
video: romney being fed answers during debate! from researchris2: About 10 seconds in while Russert was asking Romney a question about taxes... Who's voice was whispering?
ron paul unveils economic stimulus plan from ronpaul2008.com: Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul has unveiled a comprehensive economic revitalization package. The four-pronged plan is designed to stem the current economic slide and address the unsound governmental policies that are harming Americans’ pocketbooks. “Real economic reform must address the underlying reasons for the current economic malaise,” said Ron Paul. “This plan is more than just a band-aid for our economy; it fundamentally reforms four areas where government policies are damaging our national economy. When enacted, my plan will provide both short-term stimulus, and lay the groundwork for long-term prosperity.” The comprehensive economic revitalization plan is available online at: http://www.RonPaul2008.com/Prosperity.
ron paul's 2nd place showing in louisiana a big boost from presstv: The Louisiana Republican Party says the state's preliminary results indicate that presidential hopeful Ron Paul has come in second. Louisiana Republican Party Chairman Roger Villere said Wednesday in a statement that Senator John McCain had won and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney finished third.
abortion opponent 'roe' from roe v. wade endorses paul from abc: It's not as well-known as his anti-war stance, but Ron Paul - an OB-GYN by trade - is also pro-life. This is a fact he has highlighted in Republican early primaries as he has tried to sell his libertarian, anti-establishment ethos to the Republican rank and file. He will get a boost at an event in Washington tomorrow when the "Roe" in the Roe v. Wade 1973 court case, Norma McCorvey, endorses his bid for the presidency.
for ron paul, illinois holds key to his electoral fortunes from medill reports: Pundits, politicos and other candidates alike think Paul, a self-described libertarian, is a long shot for president and a kook to boot... Paul’s loyal supporters have overlooked the bad press and are working to capitalize on the “change” groundswell in Illinois and other Feb. 5 states. And Cesarone is counting on undecided Illinois Republicans to give Paul a real chance. “Most Illinois Republicans are still undecided, and we think we are still viable here,” Cesarone said, “We think we’ve still got a chance.”
consider ron paul from chattanoogan: I do not write this by candlelight to pretend the year is 1776, but rather as an attempt to draw on the mood of our founding fathers as I consider the current state of affairs. This letter goes out to each person who is greatly concerned with the direction our great country is going.
false gods create false hope from people's voice: When people rally behind false change agents something worse than being disappointed and having their hopes killed happens: the national energy for real change is wasted. In the end, false change agents protect the status quo political establishment. Hope is replaced by despair for disaffected anti-establishment masses. The worst false change agent is Ron Paul.
from raw story: MSNBC reports that Rudy Giuliani's claim that he's the only candidate who foresaw the danger posed by al Qaeda before 9/11 has now been refuted by a leaked document. In Giuliani's 9/11 Commission testimony, Giuliani admits he didn't comprehend the threat. The core of Giuliani's candidacy is his 9/11 experience, but that is now called into question.
from raw story: A 2006 poll about the causes the causes of 9/11 - which indicated that more than a third of Americans suspect government involvement in the tragedies - is too "frightening" for MSNBC's Tucker Carlson to even think about.
Discussing the booting of a 9/11 Truth heckler from the audience of last week's edition of Real Time with Bill Maher, Carlson brought up the year-old Scripps Howard/Ohio University survey to underscore how "almost unbelievable" it was that so many people bought into conspiracy theories.
When the Washington Post's Eugene Robinson, a guest on the show, mentioned that he received frequent emails from individuals accusing the mainstream media of hiding the truth about Sept. 11...
"That's so evil," he continued, "how could you still live in this country if you believe that?"
Responding to a suggestion that cynical Americans were "ready to believe just about anything negative" about their government, Carlson proposed that those individuals might want to skip the country.
"If you have a population that stupid and reckless and they're in charge of the government, maybe it is time to leave the country," he said. "I don't even want to think it through it any more. This is why we never do this topic on the show. It just upsets me too much. I don't want to know these kind of facts about America."
The following video is from MSNBC's TUCKER, broadcast on October 22, 2007
from raw story: MSNBC's David Shuster marvelled on Tuesday that anti-war libertarian Rep. Ron Paul "has managed to develop a huge fan base online ... especially among college students" in his bid for the GOP presidential nomination.
"I can't explain it," Paul told Shuster. "I'm bewildered but surprised and pleased as anybody else. But all I can say is maybe the message of liberty is very popular with young people."
from npr: Lawyers for CIA operative Valerie Plame say they plan to appeal a judge's decision dismissing Plame's lawsuit against Vice President Cheney and other current and former Bush administration officials.
Plame claimed they leaked her covert CIA status in retribution for her husband's public criticism of the administration.
In 2003, Plame's husband, former ambassador Joseph Wilson, accused the administration of manipulating intelligence to justify the Iraq war. His detailed critique in The New York Times forced the White House to recant a key piece of evidence the president cited in his State of the Union justification for the war.
Thursday, Judge John Bates, a Bush appointee, acknowledged that the Plame lawsuit raised questions as to the propriety of actions taken by government officials at the highest level. But the judge dismissed the case, saying it was outside the court's jurisdiction as authorized by Congress.
from you tube: CREW's Melanie Sloan responds to the dismissal of Valerie Plame Wilson and Joe Wilson's civil suit against administration officials...
from raw story: Supporters of the war in Iraq - including President George W. Bush - claim that a withdrawal of US forces would lead to an al Qaeda takeover of Iraq. Yet according to Pentagon war games, this scenario is highly unlikely.
On Wednesday's Countdown Keith Olbermann interviewed Washington Post correspondent Thomas Ricks who discussed his article on Pentagon war gaming for a post-US Iraq.
Pentagon simulations on US withdrawal find the most likely scenario would be a three-way split of the country between Kurds, Shias, and Sunnis. Ricks warns while the breakup would be "very ugly," with possibly "tens of thousands of people dying," an al Qaeda takeover of Iraq would not be possible by "any stretch of the imagination."
In addition, the war games also found Iran would not benefit from US withdrawal, and in fact would be sucked in to the same kind of destabilizing sectarian conflict the US finds itself embroiled in.
Olbermann asked Ricks whether it is fair to draw the conclusion that the best way to stop Iran from interfering in Iraq is to leave, to which Ricks responded, that while there are no "good answers" left in Iraq, leaving would make it significantly easier to deal with Iran.
Ricks noted that while these lessons appear to be taken to heart by members of the military, it is ultimately up to them to convince the White House come September, when this war will become "General Petraeus' war" just as much as it is Bush's.
The following video is from MSNBC's Countdown, broadcast on July 18.
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from dpa: Former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich was on Monday found guilty on 17 of 20 corruption charges in connection with trying to sell the Senate seat held by US President Barack Obama before he took office. Blagojevich was found guilty last year of making false statements to federal investigators, but the jury was unable to reach a verdict on the other counts, setting the stage for a second trial.
