Early this morning at 6AM, the
FBI arrested Rod Blagojevich,
Governor of Illinois, as well as
his chief of staff, John Harris.
This is just the latest arrest as
a result of the Federal probe
known as "Operation Board
Games", which I have written
about before.  Since 2003,
U.S. Prosecuting Attorney,
Patrick Fitzgerald, has tried
and convicted 27 in the most
shameless example of wide
spread political corruption.
He has yet to lose a case.

In a 76 page complaint filed
today, Blagojevich and Harris
are charged with numerous
cases of bribery plus wire
and mail fraud.  These all
involve "Pay-to-Play" schemes
to get people to fork over
money and favors before get-
ting government contracts or
positions.

Several highlighted in today's
arrest include denying a
children's hospital $8 Million
dollars in state funding unless
the hospital's chief executive
donated $50,000 to the gover-
nor's campaign fund, holding
up stated assistance in a deal
for the Chicago Tribune to sell
Wrigley Field and the Chicago
Cubs baseball team until a
group of editors on the Tribune
were fired, and, most notably,
the auctioning of the U.S.
Senate seat vacated by the
President-Elect, Barack
Obama.

Wire-taps which Fitzgerald had
authorized by a Federal court
on Blagojevich's phones and
his conference room provided
shocking details.  The arrests
were conducted today as a
result of these wire-taps, which
indicated a frenzy of actions by
Blagojevich to accumulate as
much as he could before a new
ethics law comes into effect
next year.  In the particular
case of the Senate seat, which
under Illinois law, Blagojevich
has sole authority to appoint
a replacement, even from jail,
the clock was ticking.  Since
November 5th, the day after
Obama won the election, dis-
cussions on the replacement
were underway.

In edited transcripts of the
taped conversations released
by Fitzgerald, there is clear
evidence of Blagojevich's
attempts to secure bribes in
exchange for his appointing
a new U.S. Senator.  He was
unhappy with discussions he
and his staff had with Obama
and his staff, as they were not
going to give Blagojevich any-
thing of substance.  He had
wanted either a juicy position
as an ambassador or cabinet
member, or a cushy job for his
wife on the board of a corpora-
tion in exchange for appointing
Obama confidant, Valerie
Jarrett to the U.S. Senate.

Failing in this, Blagojevich then
sought bribes from others. One
potential replacement was
allegedly going to raise be-
tween $500,000 to $1 Million
dollars for Blagojevich's cam-
paign funds.  Knowing that he
was under investigation, he
also plotted to arrange a pre-
payment to lawyers to defend
him in the event of a Federal
indictment, under condition that
should there be none, he would
get the money back as a dona-
tion.

Already, calls for Blagojevich to
resign are being made, as well
as calls for a special election to
be held quickly to fill the Senate
seat.  Blagojevich had been
lying low since the conviction of
Antoin 'Tony' Rezko by Federal
Prosecutor, Fitzgerald, last
spring.  Rezko, who was to be
sentenced on October 23rd,
had his court appearance
delayed by Fitzgerald.  The
story was broke by the Tribune
that Rezko was singing to the
prosecutors.  Since July, the
rumor mill in Chicago was ripe
with stories that Blagojevich
would soon be indicted.

"Operation Board Games"
began in 2003 when the CEO
of another hospital went to the
FBI about being threatened by
Blagojevich-insider, Stuart
Levine.  Levine was putting
pressure on the CEO to hire
a particular construction com-
pany to carry out a major
expansion project for the
hospital.  Some $200 Million
dollars of state funds were
allocated for the project.
Levine was arrested and in
April of 2004, became the first
of many to be convicted by
the investigation into political
corruption.

While there is no direct allega-
tion against Obama, yet, when
asked by reporters, Fitzgerald
choose his words carefully,
saying that Obama was not
implicated in "the complaint
filed today".  However, if one
delves deeper into the whole
scandal, as Evelyn Pringle
does in her 5-part series on
www.opednews.com, one sees
many connections.  Most of
those already convicted, as
well as other minor players in
the 'Pa-to-Play' scheme, had
dealings with Obama and many
had made campaign contribu-
tions to his various office runs.

Obama is currently distancing
himself from Blagojevich, but
in the past, Obama served on
the governor's campaign com-
mittees and approved many
appointees to various state
offices that Blagojevich wanted.
Most notably was when Obama
acted as head of the state's
Health and Human Resource
Committee, where Obama
helped passed legislation
which restructured a panel
that was responsible for health
care projects, like building new
or expanding hospitals. Obama
then approved all of those who
Blagojevich submitted to sit on
the panel, including Stuart
Levine and Valerie Jarrett.

Some question why Fitzgerald
arrested Blagojevich now, be-
fore the actual appointment to
the Senate was made.  Some
believe he should have waited
until after wards, when an even
greater crime could be prose-
cuted.  My belief is that the
arrests were made now, before
Obama takes office and control
of the Federal government. I
have stated several times my
belief that the primary reason
Obama was prompted to run
for president in 2008 was solely
to shut down "Operation Board
Games".

In Pringle's articles, she details
how Blagojevich had intended
to run for president in 2008.
But, as he became under more
scrutiny as his inner circle were
arrested and convicted, a sub-
stitute was needed.  One who
was essentially clean of any
allegations of corruption.  Enter
Obama, who had the added
benefit of being free of any
paper-trail of controversial
legislation.  Or at least freer
than other Illinois Democrats.
LOL!!!

Thus, the die was cast and the
way paved for Obama to first
be elected to the U.S. Senate,
and then run for the White
House.  Already, there are calls
for an independent Federal
prosecutor to be appointed, as
many of the Obama inner-circle
will undoubtedly be questioned
as the Blagojevich case heads
to trial.  Time Magazine is al-
ready predicting that Obama's
administration may get bogged
down during it's first year due
to his staffers and advisers,
and perhaps himself, will be
deposed as the case against
Blagojevich is built.