Blago Watch, Haiku Edition

2008_6_5.blago.jpgRod Blagojevich, the clock is ticking. The Trib says an "investigative arc" is now "pointed directly" at Blago, the Sun-Times wonders if he's "next," and even the AP says Rezko's conviction "intensifies the spotlight" on our governor. None if it's news exactly; if you've paid attention to the trial at all, it's clear that Rezko and Blagojevich had a substantial relationship, and Ali Ata's damning testimony alone should lead to a thorough investigation of the governor's patronage policies. But even if Blago never faces a formal charge—which...doubtful, but go with it—he's still deeply tied to and good friends with unsavory players. Rezko had a meaningful role in the Blagministration, which demonstrates that our governor either has terrible taste in associates or an absurdly high tolerance for law-breaking.

All this impending doom has us thinking one thing: Haikus.

Oh, gameshow-host hair
Please enjoy these parting gifts
Sad trombone, wah-wah

Alas, poor Blago
Have you heard from George Ryan?
Uh-oh, it's too late.

That's just to get the ball rolling. Best Blagojevich haiku wins some kind of prize. [AP, S-T, Trib, Trib, S-T, AP Photo/Paul Beaty]

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shaggy black-haired man
orange jumpers will suit you well
do not drop the soap

oh poofy hair'd guv
corrupter than a daley
you jog on lincoln

inspired by that mean faced picture.....

SloRodbodan
Blagojevich
Jailosevic

creepy corrupt guv
your unnerving pics must cease
never smile again.

Never mind Blagojevich. The arc points straight at OBAMA.

I thought you might like to read some more details about Obama's involvement with Rezko. You should write a VERY full report of this for your readers.

Now that Rezko has been convicted, both Obama and Blagojevich will VERY SOON be indicted under 18 USC 1346, which is the section under which Rezko was found guilty. In particular, Obama carried legislation to make sure board members continued to be appointed as part of an ongoing criminal enterprise--you should follow the details of this very closely. But that will be just one of MANY counts in Obama's indictment. He's as dirty as the bottom of your shoe, and he will be indicted quite soon.

Cordially yours,

John Ryskamp


Evelyn Pringle has just completed her series on Obama at opednews.com. You should review the articles, and then review the discussion of 18 USC 1346 provided, in order to see for what activities Obama will be indicted:

Final Chapter - Curtain Time for Barack Obama Evelyn Pringle 05/22/2008 2
Curtain Time for Barack Obama - Part V Evelyn Pringle 05/18/2008 9
Curtain Time for Barack Obama - Part IV Evelyn Pringle 05/16/2008 22
Curtain Time for Barack Obama - Part III Evelyn Pringle 05/15/2008 11
Curtain Time for Barack Obama - Part II Evelyn Pringle 05/13/2008 15
Curtain Time For Barack Obama - Part I Evelyn Pringle 05/12/2008 33

Here is an EXCELLENT discussion of 18 USC 1346 from:

http://www.groom.com/_library/downloads/NAPPAArticle-Feb2006.pdf.

This article provides brief guidance as to the manner in which courts have interpreted 18 U.S.C. § 1346, which generally provides that for purposes of federal mail and wire fraud statutes (18 U.S.C. §§ 1341 and 1343, respectively), a “scheme or artifice to defraud” includes a “scheme or artifice to deprive another of the intangible right to honest services.” Specifically, this article examines the manner in which courts have interpreted the broad language of § 1346 in circumstances that do not involve the explicit bribery of public officials.
I.
Background
18 U.S.C. § 1346 was enacted in 1988, for purposes of reversing the Supreme Court’s decision in McNally v. U.S.,483 U.S. 350 (1987). In McNally, the Supreme Court overruled a long line of lower court decisions by holding that the federal mail and wire fraud statutes did not encompass schemes to defraud citizens of an intangible right to honest government service from pubic officers. Id. at 355. By enacting 18 U.S.C. § 1346, Congress restored “honest services” within the ambit of the federal mail and wire fraud statutes, meaning that a scheme to deprive the public of “honest services” by a public official could be punished as mail or wire fraud (assuming, of course, that such an instrumentality was used as part of the scheme or artifice).
II.
Judicial Interpretations of the “Honest Services” Fraud
A.
General Parameters of the Statute
Not surprisingly, the majority of cases that have analyzed the “honest services” fraud set forth in 18 U.S.C. § 1346 have involved the bribery of public officials, where the charge under § 1346 is in addition to other charges. However, there have been numerous prosecutions under § 1346 against public officials (and those who have corrupted public officials) for transactions that do not involve outright bribery, but which nonetheless involve the provision of cash or gifts to a public official in exchange for the public official’s exercise of power on behalf of the individual or entity providing the gratuity.
Courts have recognized that the term “honest services,” as used in § 1346, is incredibly broad, but the statute has survived repeated challenges asserting that it is unconstitutionally vague, with courts resorting to a “common sense” usage of the phrase “honest services.” In rejecting a constitutional void-for-vagueness challenge to the statute’s wording, one court opined that “[c]oncrete parameters outlining the duty of honest services should not be necessary. . . . The concept of the duty of honest services sufficiently conveys warning of the proscribed conduct when measured in terms of common understanding and practice.” U.S. v. ReBrook, 837 F. Supp. 162, 171 (S.D. W. Va. 1993), aff’d. 58 F.3d 961 (4 th Cir. 1995). Another court demonstrated little patience for the defendant’s void-for-vagueness challenge in the context of a kickback scheme, holding that “[i]t should be plain to ordinary people that offering and accepting large sums of money in exchange for a city councilman’s vote is a type of conduct proscribed by the language of § 1346.” U.S. v. Paradies, 98 F.3d 1266, 1283 (11 th Cir. 1996). Nonetheless, courts have refused to allow § 1346 to be used as a “catch-all” that subjects every unethical or illegal act to federal mail and wire fraud prosecution. See, e.g., U.S. v. Bloom, 149 F.3d 649, 654-56 (7 th
Cir. 1998) (noting, inter alia, that “not every breach of fiduciary duty works a criminal fraud”); U.S. v. Welch, 327 F.3d 1081, 1107 (10 th Cir. 2003) (”the right to honest services is not violated by every breach of contract, breach of duty, conflict of interest, or misstatement made in the course of dealing”). Recognizing the difficulty of interpreting the undefined phrase “honest services,” courts have attempted to establish general criteria that must be satisfied to successfully assert an “honest services” fraud claim. One of the leading circuits interpreting the scope of the honest services fraud is the First Circuit Court of Appeals, which held that: First, . . . honest services convictions of public officials typically involve serious corruption, such as embezzlement of public funds, bribery of public officials, or the failure of public decision-makers to disclose conflicts of interest. Second, . . . the broad scope of the mail fraud statute . . . does not encompass every instance of official misconduct that results in the official’s personal gain. Third, and most importantly, . . . the government must not merely indicate wrongdoing by a public official, but must also demonstrate that the wrongdoing at issue is intended to prevent or call into question the proper or impartial performance of the public servant’s official duties. U.S. v. Czubinski, 106 F.3d 1069, 1076 (1 st Cir. 1997) (emphasis added) (internal citations and quotations omitted), (discussing the First Circuit’s prior decision in U.S. v. Sawyer, 85 F.3d 713, 724 (1996). The Seventh Circuit has held that “[m]isuse of office (more broadly, misuse of position) for private gain is the line that separates run of the mill violations of state law fiduciary duty . . . from federal crime.” U.S. v. Bloom, 149 F.3d 649, 655 (7 th Cir. 1998). The court went on to note that “in almost all of the intangible rights cases decided . . . (before McNally or since § 1346), the defendant used his office for private gain, as by accepting a bribe in exchange for official action[,]” but also noted that “[s]ecret conversion of information received in a fiduciary capacity is a form of fraud against the owner of that information.” Id. Accordingly, the Seventh Circuit summarized its test for an honest services fraud as follows: “[a]n employee deprives his employer of his honest services only if he misuses his position (or the information he obtained in it) for personal gain” (emphasis added). Id. at 656-57.


My virility's
Quite testicular, and my
Dad-in-law's Dick Mell

Dumb masses picked me
over valliant Paul Vallas
Now this state's in hell

Wow!
Sooooooo ahhhhh Mr. Jefferson!

Now that you out classed us in the haiku dept.,
why don't you bedazzel us with a tanka?

gee, jefferson, thanks for ruining something fun. douche.

rod blagojevich:
if you cost barack the vote,
i hope jail is fun.

blago better than
judy baar topinka? yeah
but only kinda

Married Mell's daughter
Rode his coattails to Springfield
Next stop: Joliet?

Man on tollway sign
You drive down evil path
Jail has no parking

Madigan dances.
Blago has left the building.
Back in five-to-ten.

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Jefferson that was
The worst damn haiku poem
I have ever read

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Okay, now my real one:

Soon we'll say "bye Rod"
Hope they get the Blackhawks games
In your concrete home

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Don't worry blago
jail won't be a lonely place
we'll send stroger too

Bah, you guys are really good at this. Keep 'em coming!

"Fad of devils hash"
(David Hasselhoff jumbled)
Rod's "brag clod jive ho"

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say it ain't so, Rod
public official a, wow
I promise I'll write

Blago sins
brings cleanest
Governor Quinn

A Rezko in hand
is worth five-to-ten in the
cell next to G. Ryan

Rod Blagojevich
Todd Stroger writ-large-o-vich
Prison-bound-o-vich

Rezko fallen low
lonely in his prison cell
waiting for Blago

We are really dumb
I can't believe Illinois
Elected you twice

All the corruption
We are all wondering now:
What were we thinking?

If the Democrats
were not bunches of chickens
you would be impeached

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Rezko convicted,
no where to run now blago,
is daniel webb free?

There needs to be a separate haiku comments for all stories or at least once a week. Chicagoist, keep up the haiku.

Hey Rod, when released
You'll ride the Blue Line for free.
Senior Citizen.

my favorite, it's been;
haiku, so noble and grand.
fun with poems and math.

rod! don't go so fast.
still plenty to say to you.
you are a disgrace.

the sucky thing is --
watch george ryan get pardoned.
you're a donkey? oops.

Virility shrinks
faced with justice's swift sword
guard thy testicles


out-of-style mop safe
club fed cells have outlets for
plugging in blow dryers

"Stick with us and you'll
make lots of money". Wish you
didn't say that, huh?

Blagojevich rhymes
with the word "son-of-a-bitch".
It is fitting, non?

Why did the chicken
cross the road? To make money
off Rod and Tony.

Mister Governor
You better get a haircut
Your days are numbered.

Virile testicles
Have no place in a concrete
Shoebox full of men.

Dear G-Rod, please quit
soon: At least Elvis knew when
to leave the building.

Who's the biggest crook?
Is it Stroger or Daley?
It's Blagojevich!

Fitz bags another
Rod behind on legal bills
Jim, pro bono, please?

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