Now on to Rep. Jesse Jackson (D-IL):

Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. said Wednesday he openly sought appointment to Barack Obama’s Senate seat but denied offering favors in return to Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and said he was not involved “whatsoever in any wrongdoing.”

A lawyer for Jackson acknowledged that the Illinois Democrat is “Senate Candidate 5” in the 76-page federal complaint filed against Blagojevich, who was arrested Tuesday. Wiretapped conversations suggest Blagojevich felt the candidate would raise campaign money for him in exchange for being appointed to the Senate seat vacated by the president-elect.

Jackson, a seven-term House member and son of civil rights activist Jesse Jackson, told reporters in Washington that he spoke with the U.S. attorney’s office Tuesday.

“They shared with me that I am not a target of the investigation and that I am not accused of any misconduct,” said Jackson, who left the crowded session without taking questions.

U.S. attorney’s spokesman Randall Samborn would not confirm or deny Jackson’s assertions.

One thing seems to be certain, this scandal will re-work Illinois politics – no one can possibly say how this will shake out, but it can be said with certainty that no one should think that anything is certain for Illinois over the next two to four years. Heck, if anyone wants to start a third party, Illinois is the place to be right now. With a Democratic governor set to join his GOP predecessor in jail, both parties are at a low ebb in the public estimation.

The MSM will continue to do all it can to spare Obama any trouble over this, but the house of cards is collapsing in Illinois and the thing no one yet knows is who will roll over on everyone else in order to get leniency. Obama is very connected to all of these Illinois pols caught in this web of corruption – he can stay out of it, but it will take a great deal of finesse and the absolute ability of Obama to not be directly connected to any shady dealings over the past three or four years (beyond that it can be classed as “old news” – still a problem, but not a deadly political problem).

For the nation as a whole, this is our chance to really go after corruption in politics – for too long, those who are in politics have forgotten who they work for, and with Democrats giving their own a pass on corruption, the Democratic party has especially become the home of “pay for play” of various stripes. We, the people, should insist on a full investigation of all government – regardless of cost and let the chips fall where they may, a team of prosecutors should be empowered to look into corruption right, left and center and bring to justice those who have betrayed the public trust.

And the question now is whether or not the GOP will muster the strength in the Senate to kill this horrific bill:

The House passed a stopgap $14 billion bailout to U.S. automakers Wednesday evening, but Republican opposition cast doubts about its fate as it moves on to the Senate.

The House vote came in the wake of an agreement on the measure earlier in the day between Democratic Congressional leaders and the Bush administration…

…The measure passed by a count of 237 to 170 thanks to overwhelming Democratic support. But only 32 Republicans joined Democrats in voting for the bill.

Eight of those Republicans are from Michigan, joining the six Democrats in the state’s delegation in voting for the measure.

A ninth Michigan Republican, Timothy Walberg, did not vote. Seven other Republicans that voted for the bill are from nearby Midwestern states that are also home to auto plants. But outside of the auto belt, the bailout had little Republican support.

Senate rules would allow the Republican minority to block or even kill the legislation. And even with the support from the White House, Republican anger seemed to grow throughout the day.

This is the GOP’s first test of the Obama era – our willingness to get down into the fight on principle and make a clear stand against using taxpayer money to benefit major Democrat donors. Standing tall, we still may lose but we’ll also free ourselves from the morass of corruption and spending which is Washington, DC. We’ll become, once again, the outsiders battling for the people against the entrenched special interests. As an aside, this now joins CFR and the prescription drug benefit as legislative efforts of President Bush which I oppose. For a Republican to be signed on to this dog of a bill is not just wrong, its a serious political blunder. Democrats are desperate for GOP cover on this and want nothing more than to lay this nauseating pile of political feces on the Republican party in the public mind. All Republicans should have nothing to do with it.

Our watchwords have to be honesty, restraint, solutions – if what someone wants to do can’t be classified as one of those three things, then we shouldn’t get within a country mile of it.

The Emperor gets more naked all the time:

The UN global warming conference currently underway in Poland is about to face a serious challenge from over 650 dissenting scientists from around the globe who are criticizing the climate claims made by the UN IPCC and former Vice President Al Gore. Set for release this week, a newly updated U.S. Senate Minority Report features the dissenting voices of over 650 international scientists, many current and former UN IPCC scientists, who have now turned against the UN. The report has added about 250 scientists (and growing) in 2008 to the over 400 scientists who spoke out in 2007. The over 650 dissenting scientists are more than 12 times the number of UN scientists (52) who authored the media hyped IPCC 2007 Summary for Policymakers.

Now for some quotes:

“I am a skeptic…Global warming has become a new religion.” – Nobel Prize Winner for Physics, Ivar Giaever.

“Since I am no longer affiliated with any organization nor receiving any funding, I can speak quite frankly….As a scientist I remain skeptical.” – Atmospheric Scientist Dr. Joanne Simpson, the first woman in the world to receive a PhD in meteorology and formerly of NASA who has authored more than 190 studies and has been called “among the most preeminent scientists of the last 100 years.”

Warming fears are the “worst scientific scandal in the history…When people come to know what the truth is, they will feel deceived by science and scientists.” – UN IPCC Japanese Scientist Dr. Kiminori Itoh, an award-winning PhD environmental physical chemist.

“The IPCC has actually become a closed circuit; it doesn’t listen to others. It doesn’t have open minds… I am really amazed that the Nobel Peace Prize has been given on scientifically incorrect conclusions by people who are not geologists,” – Indian geologist Dr. Arun D. Ahluwalia at Punjab University and a board member of the UN-supported International Year of the Planet.

“The models and forecasts of the UN IPCC “are incorrect because they only are based on mathematical models and presented results at scenarios that do not include, for example, solar activity.” – Victor Manuel Velasco Herrera, a researcher at the Institute of Geophysics of the National Autonomous University of Mexico

“It is a blatant lie put forth in the media that makes it seem there is only a fringe of scientists who don’t buy into anthropogenic global warming.” – U.S Government Atmospheric Scientist Stanley B. Goldenberg of the Hurricane Research Division of NOAA.

“Even doubling or tripling the amount of carbon dioxide will virtually have little impact, as water vapour and water condensed on particles as clouds dominate the worldwide scene and always will.” – . Geoffrey G. Duffy, a professor in the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering of the University of Auckland, NZ.

“After reading [UN IPCC chairman] Pachauri’s asinine comment [comparing skeptics to] Flat Earthers, it’s hard to remain quiet.” – Climate statistician Dr. William M. Briggs, who specializes in the statistics of forecast evaluation, serves on the American Meteorological Society’s Probability and Statistics Committee and is an Associate Editor of Monthly Weather Review.

“For how many years must the planet cool before we begin to understand that the planet is not warming? For how many years must cooling go on?” – Geologist Dr. David Gee the chairman of the science committee of the 2008 International Geological Congress who has authored 130 plus peer reviewed papers, and is currently at Uppsala University in Sweden.

“Gore prompted me to start delving into the science again and I quickly found myself solidly in the skeptic camp…Climate models can at best be useful for explaining climate changes after the fact.” – Meteorologist Hajo Smit of Holland, who reversed his belief in man-made warming to become a skeptic, is a former member of the Dutch UN IPCC committee.

“Many [scientists] are now searching for a way to back out quietly (from promoting warming fears), without having their professional careers ruined.” – Atmospheric physicist James A. Peden, formerly of the Space Research and Coordination Center in Pittsburgh.

“Creating an ideology pegged to carbon dioxide is a dangerous nonsense…The present alarm on climate change is an instrument of social control, a pretext for major businesses and political battle. It became an ideology, which is concerning.” – Environmental Scientist Professor Delgado Domingos of Portugal, the founder of the Numerical Weather Forecast group, has more than 150 published articles.

“CO2 emissions make absolutely no difference one way or another….Every scientist knows this, but it doesn’t pay to say so…Global warming, as a political vehicle, keeps Europeans in the driver’s seat and developing nations walking barefoot.” – Dr. Takeda Kunihiko, vice-chancellor of the Institute of Science and Technology Research at Chubu University in Japan.

One can dismiss all this as the ravings of paid shills for the energy industry – but the fact that global temperatures have been stable for the past 10 years is a strong indicator that the theory of anthropogenic global warming is nonsense. CO2 has flooded into the atmosphere in increasing quantities over the past 10 years and according to the climate models we should see increasing global temperatures. This will, I think, prove to be the biggest hoax in human history.

From Jake Tapper:

…it should be pointed out, Mr. Obama has a relationship with Mr. Blagojevich, having not only endorsed Blagojevich in 2002 and 2006, but having served as a top adviser to the Illinois governor in his first 2002 run for the state house.

In the Democratic gubernatorial primary that year, then-state sen. Obama endorsed former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris. But after Blagojevich won, Obama came around enthusiastically. At the same time, meanwhile, Axelrod had such serious concerns about whether Blagojevich was ready for governing he refused to work for his one-time client.

According to Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill., Mr. Obama’s incoming White House chief of staff, Emanuel, then-state senator Obama, a third Blagojevich aide, and Blagojevich’s campaign co-chair, David Wilhelm, were the top strategists of Blagojevich’s 2002 gubernatorial victory.

Emanuel told the New Yorker earlier this year that he and Obama “participated in a small group that met weekly when Rod was running for governor. We basically laid out the general election, Barack and I and these two.”

Naturally, Emanuel is backing away from this as fast as he can – amazing how many people will claim they are actually idiots in order to get out of a tight spot. But whatever else Emanuel might be, he’s not an idiot – in fact, he’s probably one of the smartest men in politics today. Point blank, I’m not buying Emanuel’s new story that he was entirely wrong back when but now has been reminded of what it was really like. Like Obama’s statement he hadn’t spoken with Blagojevich about his replacement, Emanuel’s statement that he’s only now correctly remembering what happened is not just a likely falsehood, but is a very stupid likely falsehood, into the bargain. These sorts of statements can only be made by people 100% certain that, in the end, the MSM will cover for them.

This is the biggest corruption scandal in many a year, and the mud will splash on to everyone involved in Illinois politics, especially its Chicago division. Obama is hip deep in Chicago politics, and the dumbest thing he can do is try to pretend he wasn’t around. The smart move is to embrace the muck, express sadness that former colleagues are caught up in this and insist that his only purpose is to see that justice is done. Of course, Obama can only do this if he’s certain that there’s no direct dirt on himself. If Obama has dirt to worry about, then dodging and weaving is all he can do – and hope that other matters quickly trump the public’s attention.

As an aside, anyone who read Caucus of Corruption is entirely unsurprised at this turn of events. Of, if surprised, only by the fact that it took this long for all of it to come out. The book is still for sale – and Blagojevich, Obama and Emanuel are not the only Democrats mentioned in it, nor have even a tithe of the skeletons come out of the Democrat closet at this point.

Keeping in mind our great love for our fellow free people of India, we still must be concerned about this, and work to assist the Indians in paying more than lip service to religious pluralism:

Citing concerns about Hindu extremists, Bishop Gerald Mathias of Lucknow, India has canceled many of the Christmas festivities in his north Indian diocese.

One of the canceled festivities is the annual Christmas ‘Dance Drama,’ whose celebration on the steps of the cathedral of Lucknow City is typically attended by more than 50,000 people, Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) reports.

The dance’s performers include seminarians and novice religious sisters and brothers. Drawing heavily on local culture, the dance drama reenacts Scriptural texts from throughout the Bible with a concentration upon the Nativity.

The two open-air performances of the dance attract a mostly non-Christian audience to St. Joseph’s Cathedral in Lucknow, a majority Hindu city with a 20 percent Muslim population. The event is a key means of outreach in the city of three million, of whom only 4,000 are Catholics.

In further changes to Christmas plans, Bishop Mathias decided not invite the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh state, the Governor of Lucknow, the chief justice and other dignitaries to an event of carols, brief speeches, and a meal.

The bishop has also called off a Christmas Day gathering for around 15 priests from Lucknow and another celebration involving clergy and religious from throughout the diocese that was planned for December 30.

Father Ignatius D’Souza, the Diocese of Lucknow’s vicar general, acknowledged that people would be disappointed by the cancelations. However, he reported that an ordinary exhibition of the Christmas story will continue in the cathedral compound and said people were welcome to enter and light a candle according to the local custom.

Father D’Souza explained the decision to cancel the events, saying:

“We are concerned about fundamentalist activity. The extremists’ strategy is very long term and they might see our diocesan Christmas activities as an opportunity to take action.”

From what I can tell, there is an element of Hindu extremists who see the growing Christian Church in India as a threat to India’s social structure, especially the reliance some in India place on a class of “untouchables” to provide cheap labor. People only remain “untouchable” as long as they subscribe to the Hindu theology – once converted to Christianity, the former untouchable might still be despised, but he’ll no longer be servile.

Along with the vital message of Christ, Christians are bringing to the poor of India something they’ve always lacked – education, health care and hope for a better life. The Indian government, to its credit, has done much to alleviate the grinding poverty so many Indians live in, as well as accord genuine political rights to the lower classes – but India is a large country with a huge population and not a lot of monetary resources. There’s only so much a government can do. And so in has stepped Christianity – and to the good. But along with change, comes fear amongst those who benefit from the current social structure. Its an age-old story, and we here in America experienced it as recently as the Civil Rights movement of the 1960’s.

India has about 24 million Christians – about 2.3% of India’s population, making it India’s third largest religious denomination (though vastly smaller than the Hindu and Moslem religions). The fright among some in India is caused by the rapid growth of Christianity (in this 2005 article, the growth is called “alarmingly high”). Exact figures are hard to come by, but it would appear that a 20% annual growth rate for Christianity is plausible, with conversions making up a large proportion of that growth. You just have to do the math – 24 million this year, 28 million next year, 33 million the year after. Not too long before Christians will make up 10% or more of the Indian population…and that is the level where you no longer remain a supplicant for toleration, but a group demanding equality. Given that Indian Christians still have large families, don’t engage in abortion (especially the horrific sex-selection abortions ever more common amongst Hindu families) and generally tend to that social stability which leads to population growth, one can see where Hindus who like the social dispensation they’ve lived under for a thousand years or more might get disturbed.

But toleration and equality there must be, if India is to take its rightful place in the world. Any actions we take must be taken with care – we don’t want to inflame anti-Christian sentiment, but we must work steadily and persistently with the Indian government to improve the lot of Christians in India.

Moving aside for a moment from Blago, Obama and sundry Illinois issues, we still have Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-Tax Evasion) to concern ourselves with:

The House ethics committee is expanding an investigation of Rep. Charles Rangel, chairman of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee. The ethics panel issued a statement Tuesday saying it had voted to expand an already far-ranging probe into the New York Democrat to examine whether he protected an oil drilling company from a big tax bill when the head of that company pledged a $1 million donation to a college center named after the congressman.

The move means the Rangel inquiry will likely stretch well past early January, when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., had previously said she expected the matter to be resolved.

Republicans have called for Rangel to step down from his chairmanship of the powerful Ways and Means panel during the investigation. The expanding investigation means the ethics cloud hanging over Rangel is likely to follow him and Democratic leaders into the next Congress as they seek to pass major stimulus legislation and buoy the sinking economy.

Naturally, Rangel should step down – and just as naturally, he won’t. Not unless his fellow Democrats start to feel that his continuing as Chairman harms their chances in 2010. And given how convinced the Democrats are that they’ve won a new 60-year stretch of power, my guess is that the reality of the situation will escape the Democrats for a while, and perhaps right on in to the 2010 mid-terms.

Remember, Democrats, the ball is entirely in your court – we’ve got a semi-ability to filibuster a bit in the Senate, but for at least the next two years, America will dance to your tune. Now, you have a chance to really cement your victory and do some good things for America…but you’re first going to have to ditch your corrupt members. Your problem is that your corrupt members are at or near the top – its not like Pelosi is pure as wind-driven snow here, ya know? I know, its rather hard – some of the most corrupt members (Rangel, eg) have been your most reliably liberal votes…but honesty is the best policy. On the other hand, the best thing for the GOP is for you Democrats to just keep being Democrats – the people were mighty turned off by us, and we deserved our defeat…but unless you’ve got a radical makeover in your plans, the people will swiftly get even more turned off by you.

First, IL Governor Rod Blagojevich has been arrested on corruption charges.

Gov. Rod Blagojevich and his chief of staff, John Harris, were arrested by FBI agents on federal corruption charges Tuesday morning.

Blagojevich and Harris were arrested simultaneously at their homes at about 6:15 a.m., according to Frank Bochte of the FBI. Both were transported to FBI headquarters in Chicago.

In one charge related to the appointment of a senator to replace Barack Obama, prosecutors allege that Blagojevich sought appointment for himseld as Secretary of Health and Human Services in the new Obama administration, or a lucrative job with a union, in exchange for appointing a union-preferred candidate.

Another charge alleges Blagojevich and Harris conspired to demand the firing of Chicago Tribune editorial board members responsible for editorials critical of him in exchange for state help with the sale of Wrigley Field, the Chicago Cubs baseball stadium owned by Tribune Co.

The indictment.

And, back in October, a grand jury issued subpoenas on the Obama/Rezko land deal.

A former Illinois bank official, now claiming whistleblower status, says bank officials replaced a loan reappraisal that he prepared for a Chicago property that was purchased by the wife of now-convicted felon Tony Rezko, part of which was later sold to next-door neighbor Barack Obama.

In a complaint filed Thursday in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Kenneth J. Connor said that his reappraisal of Rita Rezko’s property was replaced with a higher one and that he was fired when he questioned the document.

Mr. Connor, a real estate and commercial credit analyst at the Mutual Bank Corp. in Chicago, also noted in the complaint that the bank received a grand jury subpoena in October 2006 requiring it to produce information concerning Mrs. Rezko’s purchase, including the bank’s files on the property.

The complaint also said that the grand jury wanted information on Mrs. Rezko’s checking account and loan file and that the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) had audited the Rezko file – although Mr. Connor’s lower reappraisal had been replaced with a higher amount.

South Carolina Republican Party Chairman Katon Dawson has called on Barack Obama to “uphold his pledge of expanded transparency and release any records of discussions between the Obama-Biden transition office and Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich regarding the appointment of Obama’s successor to the United States Senate.”

UPDATE: Obama talked to Blagojevich about Senate replacement

UPDATE, by Mark Noonan: Democrats go into full damage control mode.

Tonight We’ll be talking about to Top Conservatives on Twitter, IL Governor Rod Blagojevich, and more!

The news story:

As gun sales shoot up around the country, President-elect Barack Obama said Sunday that gun-owning Americans do not need to rush out and stock up before he is sworn in next month.

“I believe in common-sense gun safety laws, and I believe in the second amendment,” Obama said at a news conference. “Lawful gun owners have nothing to fear. I said that throughout the campaign. I haven’t indicated anything different during the transition. I think people can take me at my word.”

But National Rifle Association spokesman Andrew Arulanandam said it’s not Obama’s words — but his legislative track record — that has gun-buyers flocking to the stores.

“Prior to his campaign for president, his record as a state legislator and as a U.S. Senator shows he voted for the most stringent forms of gun control, the most Draconian legislation, gun bans, ammunition bans and even an increase in federal excise taxes up to 500 percent for every gun and firearm sold,” Arulanandam said.

Obama answered “yes” in 1996 to a questionnaire from an Illinois group on whether he supported a handgun ban. But he later said a staffer filled out that answer and he did not support a ban.

I’ve never owned a gun, but there still is that nagging feeling that I should have a closet full of guns by January 20th, just in case. I won’t, of course – but I’m not exactly prepared to take Obama at his word. This doesn’t mean I don’t think he’s telling the truth – could be that Obama realizes that the issue is a loser and that the only people who ever cared strongly about gun control laws were rich, white liberals who could usually obtain concealed carry permits if they felt the need. On the other hand, when Obama says “lawful”, you want clarification – realizing that he’s a lawyer who has had some difficulty with the truth (such as his claim that an aide incorrectly filled out the gun control question).

There is really nothing Obama can say which will make gun owners feel confident that there isn’t a gun control ordinance up his sleeve somewhere, just waiting for the exploitable tragedy in order for it to be rammed home in a fit of national emotion. The proof, here, really will be in the pudding – if Obama refrains from trying to push gun control, then at the end of his four or eight years, we’ll be able to assert stoutly that he can be taken at his word on gun control, but until such time eternal vigilance will the price of liberty, and the right to bear arms.

And the really sad thing is that while she helps kill babies – including disproportionate numbers of female babies – she’ll think she’s advancing human rights:

President-elect Barack Obama’s selection of Sen. Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State has caused concern among pro-life leaders due to her past international advocacy for permissive abortion laws. Her appointment could foreshadow changes in U.S. policy at the U.N. concerning the rights of the unborn.

According to the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute (C-FAM), Critics claim that Sen. Clinton, who was First Lady during her husband Bill Clinton’s presidency, had a major voice in the U.N. social policy of the Clinton administration. Her influence, encompassing several major U.N. conferences, included her participation at the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995.

There, Sen. Clinton coined the phrase “women’s rights are human rights and human rights are women’s rights.” The slogan became a rallying cry for a right to abortion.

Sen. Clinton’s work with former U.S. Sen. Tim Wirth, the Undersecretary for Global Affairs in the Clinton State Department, sought to broaden access to abortion.

It does still flabbergast – the knowledge that some people think that death is a rational answer to a pregnancy. I mean, think about it – Hillary Clinton (and Barack Obama, for that matter) are decent people; wouldn’t harm a fly, either of them. But in service of leftwing political goals they likely only dimly understand, they’ll push hard – in the aggregate – for abortion around the globe. Birth rates are falling around the world, there is a huge imbalance between men and women in China and India due to sex-selection abortion, Europe’s population is dying out…and still we kill our unborn children.

This is the sad result of the GOP not getting solidly behind John McCain – sure, he wasn’t the perfect candidate, but he wouldn’t advance the culture of death as Obama will. Elections do have consequences, and one of the consequences of this election is that the United States will assist in procuring abortions.