We keep hearing references to Mr. Rezko as being some sort

of racketeer. I was curious, because I keep reading he was indicted, but nothing about any trial. I did a little research. Did you know

- that Mr. Rezko is a prominant Arab-American businessman?

- that he was indicted as a friend of the Democratic governor of Illinois when said governor was involved in a a re-election campaign?

Of course, neither of these facts would cause a Bush appointee to attempt to get an indictment, would they?





"Years ago, a U.S. attorney said to me: ''We can indict anybody on La Salle Street we want. Maybe it would be more difficult to get a conviction, but we still have the power to ruin him.''

....

James R. Thompson became famous when he indicted former Illinois Gov. Otto Kerner on what some of his lawyers later admitted was only a technical offense. He used that fame to become governor of Illinois. Convict a governor so you can run for governor yourself.
That's what you call a political trial"

http://www.agreeley.com/articles/032307.html



It's possible that Mr. Rezko will go on trial next week and be convicted by Christmas. I don't know. I just think it's worthwhile noting that the circumstances might not be as simple as they seem to be on first hearing.

Jest sayin', is all.

Did you know that Mr. Rezko returned from Syria to face arrest after being indicted?

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chicago/chi-0610200242oct20,1,6068325.story

He entered an innocent plea, of course, but it was quite a risk to take, don't you think? The man has money in Lebanon, after all.

Just think, this indictment was a real trifecta for the Bush administration. WIth one indictment, they nailed an Arab-American businessman and smeared the good name of a Democratic governor and a rising star in the Democratic party. And for bonus points, the US Attorney gets to suggest that everyone in the Illinois Democratic Party is dirty. That's a good thought to plant when you're trying to convince people that it's the Democratic Party screwing around with the election counts.

Of course, Mr. Rezko may be as guilty of this crime, a smaller crime or a bigger crime. How the hell would I know? All I know is what I read in the funny papers. They got it right about Gore claiming to have invented the internet, right? And about John Kerry's service in Viet Nam?

Of course, the US Justice Department would never be used to attack political enemies of the BFEE, right? Just ask Don Siegelman, the Democratic former Governor of Alabama.

He gives money to whomever is in, whether Democrat or Republican, and collects favors from Springfield with either hand....

Here in my little rural town in Upstate New York, we just threw out the last town supervisor because she arranged fora friend to get a zoning exemption for an old buried gasoline tank at her convenience store.
Down the road in Syracuse , Mr. Congel is lining up all kinds of government money to turn his mall into something called Destiny, USA. His project has blocking any other development in Syracuse for years. The latest iteration would involve building the tallest building in New York State to house a convention center and hotel.

Anyways, when you're a real estate developer, you have to be in close contact with local and state governments. It's just the nature of the beast. Developers are concerned with where schools and roads are going in , what contracts are coming up, possible zoning changes, etc. Sometimes they have to sell government officials on zoning changes. Sometimes several developers are trying to get money for redeveloping brown fields or old housing, etc.

Just because a developer has a lot of political contacts doesn't mean that he or the politicians are dirty. What it does mean is that it is easy to make everyone involved look dirty. At the same time, a deal may be technically legal, but when you look at the money involved you realize that it's a sweetheart deal for someone.

Anyways, I would be very reluctant to decide Mr. Rezko is guilty of anything until he is convicted. Under the present regime, I'm not sure I would consider him guilty even then. A lot of the stories are sourced back to the Chicago Tribune which would be in a class with Drudge and the Washington Times except that the Trib has been playing the game since 1847.