Meet The Press: A Hint Of 'Trouble' For Blagojevich

Of course, with all the attention being given to Rod Blagojevich today, my mind races back to President-Elect Barack Obama's interview with Tom Brokaw from this past weekend, and this exchange:

MR. BROKAW: You still have some appointments to make coming up, and there's also a good deal of consideration here in Illinois about who will replace you in the Senate. But in New York this weekend the big buzz is Caroline Kennedy in the United States Senate, perhaps as the appointment to fill the seat that Hillary Clinton is expected to vacate if she gets confirmed as secretary of state.

PRES.-ELECT OBAMA: And?

MR. BROKAW: Is that a good idea?

PRES.-ELECT OBAMA: Well, let me tell you this. Caroline Kennedy has become one of my dearest friends and is just a, a wonderful American, a wonderful person. But the last thing I want to do is get involved in New York politics. I've got enough trouble in terms of Illinois politics.

Now, if, say, the Obama camp was aware of the Fitzmas probe on Blago at the time of the interview, that forgotten moment takes on an added bit of frisson, doesn't it?

Anyway, It's funny to think about how the press woke up this morning prepared to obsess over Caroline Kennedy's tattoo. Yep! Some day we're having ourselves, right?

Comments

[Hank10303]

It was well known among Chicago Polls that Blagojevich was dirty. As Senator Obama he associated with him just enough to not have to take on the Chicago political machine that obviously helped or at least did not oppose Blagojevich being elected. The ehitcs reform bill that as candidate Obama he pushed for had and will have a broad effect and he fully understands that. Considering all these things President Elect Obama knew Blagojevich was dirty and in a passive agressive yet indirect way made it harder for him to raise campaign funds for another term and if he got caught in the net of corruption so be it. Obviously President Elect Obama knows more than he is telling us and so far his record on insight of events has been on point in ever area he has applied himself. I think the comment was criptic and this may not be the end for Chicago Polls but change starting in the middle of the country and rippling out to round up many more dems and republicans that are corrupt. Every AG now knows they will have a President that won't allow corruption and they will go after these polls in full force across the nation.

[GDedrick]

Gee, I don't think the headline is misleading at all. What Obama said did hint at trouble.

[suigeneris]

The misleading headlines here at Huffpost are really starting to change my opinion of the site as a whole, with all the crappy sensationalism going on. I hope slightly higher click-through rates in the short run are worth losing all your readers to a more ethical site in the long run.

[flyingmonkey]

Judging by the comments on some of these so called stories, I think they're appealing to the people who don't read the stories. More sound byte journalism (and I use the term journalism loosely). Isn't that what HP was supposed to be an alternative to?

[AnalyzeIT]

Please stop with Sensationalism.

TO THE WRITERS - We will "read it", then form our opinions and make comments accordingly.

[Brooklynindy]

Wow - everyone at HuffPost wants to produce a Blagojevich scoop that makes it to the mainstream media. First, Sam Stein, with "The Damage Blago..Cou­ld Do" and now this one. Very weak, guys.

[45245]

now just paint BO with this......­.....then job is done

[JJK]

I think he was just trying to be humorous. Sometimes a Cigar is just a Cigar.

[LAcarlito]

Anyone with a brain in Illinois has known that Gov Spellcheck has been a "toxic spill" of problems for many months. So for Obama to make that comment Sunday is no surprise. And it will come out eventually that it was the Obama campaign that turned the Governor in for trying to shake Obama's team down during this appointment (of his replacement) process.

So while Republicans will try to taint Obama during this process, I think it will be clear that their hands are clean. The fact that Gov Spellcheck kept dropping f-bombs in referring to Obama and his team in taped conversations is the best news that Obama could want out of this process. Why are the Rethugs ignoring that part of the news? Hmmmmm....

[baseballmom]

You know, I wondered why Obama named Eric Shinseki as Secretary of Veteran Affairs instead of Tammy Duckworth. Duckworth would have been a great choice and was reportedly being promoted by Emanuel and many others. (Shinseki is also a terrific choice.)

I wonder if Duckworth has been somehow tainted, since she was appointed to her current position (director of Illinois dept. of Veteran Affairs) by Blagojevich. I imagine that Obama became aware of Blagojevich's malfeasance during the cabinet vetting process (if not before).

[kelvinstinks]

Good point.

[395spoons]

This is a non-starter Jason!

[Shashi0224]

Horribly misleading headline.

[oscartucker]

STOP THESE KINDS OF HEADLINES WHICH ARE MISLEADING ! !

[simplify]

More garbage journalism from HP

[wagthedog1001]

It's been clear for a very long time that Rod Blagojevich is a crook. Obama and everyone close to Illinois politics knows this. I think you are looking for a boogey man under your bed on this one.

[sandals]

and this has to do with Obama, how?
Fitzgerald stated that the PE had no involvement in this, I really don't care about this story, it is just a distraction from the problems this country is facing.

[Eyewideopen]

It's ironic, with all the caucasians patting themselves on the back for Obama's Presidency, that a white pol may be responsible for tainting his administration. No one is talking about that, but imagine the reverse!