Family, The Chicago Way

UPDATES below (Rahmbo spoke to Blago?)***Yesterday it was potty-mouth First Lady Patti Blagojevich's family who rallied to her defense, citing her making peanut butter sandwiches as a child. And what about Patti's family friends who happened to be involved in the bank loan for the Rezko/Obama house?

Then it was Rahmbo ducking the Obamafest press conference yesterday morning, later spotted in the lobby of City Hall viewing his children's school choir performance, fending off Sun Times reporters.

Oh, and Jesse Jr. citing his "little" sister, 33 years old, who sent him a message of support even as he was shocked shocked there was pay to play going on in Chicago. The Rev. Jesse spoke up last night, it's not me who offered Blago megabucks for a Senate seat for my son, but today he's talking about the hardship to his family as the front page of the Tribune splashes the Jackson/Blago allies held a fundraiser for Jesse Jr. this last Saturday, discussing raising $1 million even after the Friday story of Governor Taped.

Oh and Tony Rezko is talking again, maybe he'll elaborate on his wife Rita Rezko's serendipitous purchase of the lot next door to Barack and Michelle.

Michael Barone with background on Chicago's hereditary tribal fiefdoms. I would just say The One is part and parcel of it, arising from the Harold Washington Hyde Park leftist axis, which has largely been coopted by the Chicago Machine. John Kass figures Barack's chief of staff Rahmbo is up to his neck, but may have implausible deniability, (the tapes will tell, and he's been a little touchy) and in D.C. a fervent Obama supporter at the WaPo is pressing The One to come clean up front--this is not change we can believe in:

Obama has denied speaking to Blagojevich about the Senate seat. But Obama's initial statement seemed crafted to avoid the question of whether his aides had been in touch with the governor's office. He said at a news conference yesterday that he was certain his people "had no involvement with any dealmaking," and he added that his staff was still "gathering facts" about possible contacts.

But all this seems awfully coy. It's obvious that the president-elect would have an interest in who was appointed to the Senate from his home state -- for good reason. For that matter, it would be unusual if the president-elect didn't have a preferred candidate. The normal thing would be for Obama's staff to talk to Blagojevich's staff -- and, unless prosecutors have asked him not to, I don't understand why Obama hasn't stated this simple fact.

Democrat Gov. Ed Rendell, Pennsylvania, in an interview with Morning Joe, blasts Obama for his tepid and less than upfront handling of the scandal. The Politico: “

They have never been in an executive position before,” Rendell said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” “The rule of thumb is whatever you did, say it and get it over with and make it a one-day story as opposed to a three-day story. Politicians are always misjudging the intelligence of the American people.”

Yeah, well, they hail from Illinois.

Patrick Fitgerald took down a crime family and some terrorists in NY before he came to Chicago. Now it's his job to tackle this one big happy mostly all Democrat crooked family business. Let him get on with the job. This may be the true lasting legacy of Barack Obama, cleaning up the sewer that is Illinois--if he survives the investigation.

P.S. Get your scandal mementos! Sun Times story, 'Fitzie is my Homeboy' and other hits.

UPDATE: WLS Chicago commentator Dan Proft on Jesse Jr's "loss of innocence". Blago tells ministers he's innocent, meeting with them at his home this morning. (Was the Rev. Wright there, or the Rev. Jesse? How about the Rev. Pfleger?) The Politico, "Obama Damage Control":

In trying to meet the first rule of Washington scandal-management – get the facts out on your own terms, and fast – Obama may have promised something he’ll later regret, one expert warned.

“What they’re doing is either setting themselves up for inconsistencies, or creating a cache of evidence that otherwise wouldn’t exist. It never helps when you dig up the dirt in your own yard and you find stuff,” said Stan Brand, a top Washington defense lawyer.

Presumably, the internal probe is focusing predominantly on advisers with Chicago roots or prior relationships to Blagojevich. That would include some of the very closest advisers to Obama personally – all people who will have top White House jobs. [snip]

“I think he is going to be given the benefit of the doubt in the short term,” Dezenhall said. “In crises management you really have to exploit your assets and Obama has a tremendous amount of moral authority and people really don’t want him to be linked to anything like this.”

Brand disagreed. He said Obama should have deflected questions about contacts between his team and Blagojevich’s by saying he didn’t want to interfere with U.S. attorney Patrick Fitzgerald’s investigation, Brand said. “Whatever evidence is there is there, believe me, Fitzgerald will find it,” said Brand, who represented then-White House aide George Stephanopolous in the Whitewater investigation.

UPDATE: Fox Chicago, Rahmbo talked to Blago and his chief of staff Harris multiple times: So why did you say no one talked to Blago, Barack? Maybe Rahm misspoke on the tapes the Feds have.HT Gateway Pundit.