Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Dan Seals Finally Comes Clean On Dirty Money Taken at Northwestern University (UPDATED)


Tony Rezko has certainly has problems (hmm, pay millions in fines and spend 300 years in prison, or talk to the feds… not a lot of options…) but 10th Congressional District Candidate Dan Seals isn’t having such a hot week, either.

Amid continued criticism of his ill-advised gas give-away, Seals finally came clean on what was in the ‘mystery’ envelope that convicted felon and former congressman Dan Rostenkowski slipped to Seals in full view of Seals’ night class held two weeks ago at Northwestern University. For the full background, see here. There was much speculation that the envelope contained a generous campaign contribution from Rosty, which is the most common sense conclusion when someone hands you an envelope (that’s the Chicago Way, after all) and tells you it will help you in your campaign. The IL GOP called Seals on it, and challenged him to fess up to what was in the envelope. Unsurprisingly, no answer from the Seals camp was forthcoming.

In the long days of silence that followed, the story was largely ignored by the MSM, but it was picked up by a few other bloggers and even inspired a stinging video that continues to get a load of hits on YouTube.

Eventually, Seals must have figured out that the GOP was not likely to let go of this little bit of scandal. It still took almost two weeks for Seals to decide what to do, however.

Seals’ explanation is as follows: Yes, the envelope contained money (TA’s note: shocker, turns out the IL GOP was right). No, the check didn’t come from Dan Rostenkowski… but it did come from his wife (TA’s note: that’s right, his wife). But, says Seals, it’s a non-issue because he gave the check back (TA’s note: sure, after you were exposed), and you can check my FEC filings if you don’t believe me (TA’s note: now, why would we ever doubt you, Dan?).

Here are the salient issues and questions raised by the Seals disclosure:

Point 1: Seals essentially admits that taking money in front of his night class at NU was wrong, otherwise, why return the money? Note, however, that there was no admission of wrongdoing, an apology to his students, or to Northwestern.

Point 2: Seals emphasizes that he returned the check and no money from Rostenkowski will show up on his FEC filings. Again, he appears to admit that taking the money was wrong, but why? Is it because Rostenkowski is a convicted felon? If he’s good enough to come lecture at your class, why isn’t his money good enough to take?

Point 3: The funniest part of this is that the check was from Mrs. Rostenkowsi (I’m assuming that’s the name she goes under). Whose asinine idea was this? Do you think that Dan Rostenkowski is used to politicians being reluctant to accept money under his name, so he thinks that by running it through his wife, that somehow sanitizes the connection? It’s a little hard to even think that it could, considering these days of easy access to campaign finance information (what, we would have noticed a check from Dan R., but not his wife???) Maybe this wouldn’t be so funny if it wasn’t Dan R., not his wife, who presented the check personally to Seals (and in class). Are we really supposed to believe that Dan R.'s wife is a big “Dan Fan” and wanted to donate to Seals, but it just happened to be convenient that her husband was stopping by the class, so she asked her husband to personally deliver the check to Seals? Gimme a break. I don’t know where the Rostenkowskis live, but I bet it’s not the 10th District (just like Seals). And if we are to believe this tall tale, why is Seals giving the check back? If you believe his story, doesn't it seem like he should have just explained this two weeks ago, kept the money, and let the story die? Something doesn't add up.

I could go on, but y’all get the idea. Does anyone really think that Seals would have come clean and returned that check without the scrutiny he received on this? If he wanted to admit he was wrong, why not refuse the check in class, rather than wait two weeks. And if he’s admitting it was wrong, shouldn’t he make an explanation and full apology to the NU administration and get their absolution before going to the press?

As this space has said for months, we simply can’t believe that NU continues to let itself be associated with this clown.

You, the 10th District voters will decide if we send this joker to Congress. Let’s make the right choice, everyone.

GAS FOR VOTES UPDATE: Yesterday, Dan Seals found it necessary to write in to the Daily Herald with a non-apology apology. When you have to write to the press and explain your own stunt, that's a sign of a real disaster. But, if you read the letter, you will notice a distinct absence of any apology to the people who waited in line for discounted gas and were turned away, or an apology to those who wanted nothing to do with Seals or his free gas but were caught up in the huge traffic jam, or an apology for damaging the environment by creating a sea of idling cars.

And today, 11th Congressional GOP candidate Marty Ozinga shows Dan how it's done at the pump. Ozinga wanted to discuss the impact of gas prices with 11th District constituents, so he showed up to a local gas station and offered to pump their gas so he could chat while customers were filling up. Note that Ozinga didn't try to BUY gas for voters, nor did he try to blame any one congressman or anyone for high gas prices. He's apparently smart enough to know (or honest enough to admit) that high gas prices are the result of a lot of different factors, the most important of which is probably the law of good old supply and demand. Seals apparently slept through that course in undergrad, as well as any ethics classes that might have been offered.

Finally BackyardConservative has a great cartoon from the Lakeland Journals (scroll down the page) on the gas stunt, plus commentary on the NU-Rosty donation scandal.

33 comments:

Anonymous said...

BAGGAGE, TA, this guy's shoulders are getting mighty tired carrying around ever more BAGGAGE for the voters to examine in this election. Like his mentor, Barack, this guy waits until the story is out in the press before making necessary "adjustments" to his highly challenged ethical standards. Yuck. We don't need people like this trying to represent anyone in DC. We don't a guy like this at all. Period. End of the story.

Anonymous said...

TA, I read the Randy Blaser post on the Pioneer Press blog 3 times because I just couldn't believe it. This is supposed to be a journalist? Seals obviously called Blaser to bare his soul and make this announcement because he knew he'd get a sympathetic ear. Is this guy subject to any oversight or review by his fellow editors at Pioneer? I can't believe they would allow themselves to be associated with such crap. Where's the balance in the story? Where's the attempt to get a quote from Kirk on this? It's all one big attempt to misdirect us from the real issue, which is Seals and his improper acceptance of money on school property, to benefit his campaign, when NU is supposed to be a non-partisan school of higher education.

You are right that NU is crazy to maintain this guy as a teacher, even for night school. The people listed as being his guest lecturers are a Dem wet dream--where'e the non-partisan class most of the NU kids thought they signed up for? How about a Republican guest lecturer?

Finally, if this wasn;t wrong, why give the money back?

This sucks. NU alumni, call up and tell the school you want your integrity back.

Anonymous said...

What's that sound? Could it be the sound of you getting owned by the usually staid Pioneer Press.

"So why is the GOP focusing their attacks on a couple of non-issues, like Seals' causing a traffic jam with his gasoline purchase stunt, and this evil classroom envelope passing? I guess when you're responsible for a tanking economy and a war built on deceit, what else have you got?"

Anonymous said...

Seals's campaign is imploding and many ex-Seals people have come over to Kirk. This campaign is much worse than his 2006 effort. Seals has no idea that his press operation is a laughing stock.

Anonymous said...

why did it take weeks for seals to give the money back? it was obviously wrong becuase he returned the money. Why so long Dan?

Anonymous said...

Dan - did the Rostenkowski money come in a dirty sack?

Disgusting.

Anonymous said...

This is joke. Why on earth would any vote for this goof ball?

Publia said...

The longer this guy runs the worse he looks, and he's looking pretty bad. Every time he comes out of hiding to do something in public it's something worse. This running for Congress is just too hard for him; he is challenged by every measure that one would use to assess a serious candidate. What on earth is he doing with his time, anyway?

Anonymous said...

I wonder if Mark Kirk cringes with embarressment when he reads some of the comments of a few of his overzealous supporters.

My goodness, are you adults? How can you possibly call into question the ethics of Dan Seals when you yourselves talk like jealous teenagers?
"We don't need people like this"... 'He's loser with a capital L"... "A goofball"
And of course, you want him fired, all because he dares to run for Congress. Very mature of you.

Then you go and beat-up on Rostenkowski, who is what, an 80 year- old man? The fact that he was fully pardoned many years ago is ignored by our host.
Would anyone argue that he was one of the most effective elected officials of all time?
A man who has counseled Presidents, Mayors and CEO's should not get attacked for talking to students.
I think some of you folks need a hobby, one that does not involve attacking people from the shadows.

Anonymous said...

For TA and any other E-GOP Pioneers working hard to keep our communities safe from the NUTroots, this initiative comes courtesy of budding ILGOP star Shawn Healy and the local Mac Attack:



Also, get involved in out grass roots efforts to build our organization. We hope to have X,000 statewide volunteers by the start of the fall campaign, and you can help us with recruiting. IL YP for McCain member Mike Cino is orchestrating a plan to visit local street festivals to sign up new volunteers, register voters and recruit election judges. Please contact me (buckybacker97@gmail.com or 312.505.6579), or Mike directly (chilimanchester@ameritech.net or 773.732.1771), if interested.

Finally, we are in the process of launching Operation McBlog, an effort to promote Sen. McCain's substantive message of principled reform on mainstream newspaper sites and blogs in key swing states. Please let me know if you'd like to be a member of this team in the ever critical netroots taking hold of the blogosphere.

Thanks again for all that you are doing to promote Sen. McCain's candidacy for president. We'll need your energy and enthusiasm even more as summer turns to fall and November 4 nears. Please spread the word, and do everything you can to deliver our candidate to the White House next January.

Onward to Victory,
Shawn Healy
Co-Chair, IL Young Professionals for McCain

PossibleFuture said...

I'm offering a discount on lifejackets for when the Obama tsunami hits this November. But women, children and seniors will be given preference.

Team America said...

Mildly funny, PossibleFuture, but you spent 1/2 hour trolling the blog tonight and that's the best you can do?

What do the Beltway folks really think about Seals, since you claim to be in that crowd? Do they really know what kind of a goof he is?

I have some news for you... I think Seals is going to suffer with Obama on the ticket. Seals is no Obama. And the Lake Forest people know it. That comparison is going to become more evident as the weeks go on. Watch them come out for Kirk no matter how pristine Obama is come fall, or how badly he's been beaten up.

Anonymous said...

Damn, I knew I shouldn't have trolled over to the catwoman's blog tonight. Yuck. She and her mom are at it again. Catwoman might be Jewish by birth but has no affiliation with the Jewish community, none with AIPAC, and belongs on that far leftie fringe side with her MoveOn.org nutjobs.

But back to the man running against Mark Kirk. That man is NOT Obama, it IS Dan Seals. And although one commenter thinks we're being childish and unkind towards old Dan I'd just say GET OVER IT. Your guy has more than earned our disdain. The voters in THIS DISTRICT will see the enormous difference between a leader like Mark Kirk who was recognized, applauded and appreciated by the pro-Israel community at the Aipac event, but also nation-wide by those who stand in strong support of his re-election, and a guy like Seals.

The contest IN THIS DISTRICT is between a proven leader with an outstanding record and a guy who offers absolutely nothing and the past three years as proof.

PossibleFuture said...

TA, not sure I'm comfortable with your watching my web behavior so closely. It's your blog but that's kind of creepy.

Team America said...

Don't worry, PossibleFuture, it just caught my eye because your computer is the only one that comes up from Herndon Virginia, so when I noticed it, I was waiting to see what you were going to say.

I just goes to prove, though, that people ought to be careful traveling through cyberspace, because sometimes those 'anonymous' posts can reveal a lot of information. We'd never use that here for nefarious purposes, but some people aren't so prinicipled.

PossibleFuture said...

That's odd, since I know several folks from the District here in our Dulles office who visit your blog regularly and sometimes post anonymously.

It's still creepy and makes me not want to play.

Team America said...

Well, I suppose you could always go over to Ellen's, but she does the same thing, and what's more, she'll simply delete you if she doesn't agree with you.

PossibleFuture said...

OK, so you're the "at least I'm not Ellen" blog?

Team America said...

If Barack Obama can campaign completely on the platform that he's not George Bush (but McCain is), I am comfortable with not being Ellen (on many, many levels).

PossibleFuture said...

And how is Barack campaigning that he is George Bush? I don't get it.

Team America said...

That he's NOT George Bush. Reread the comment, and then get some sleep.

Anonymous said...

Does anyone know the date that Obama was first elected to public office? The reason I ask is because I'd like to know how many years, months and days have elapsed during which he has personally introduced and passed absolutely no, none, zero, zip, substantive legislation at either the state or federal level.

Possiblefuture, I don't care where you are from, but before you play in the Illinois 10th District sandbox anymore, why don't you and your little DC friends put down your glasses of kool aid and see if you can find some bill numbers, passage dates and the subject of any substantive legislation the savior has ever passed.

While you're at it, let us poor uninformed souls out here in Illinois know what the bill numbers are of Obama's substantive legislation that he is currently the primarly sponsor of in the Senate.

He is Illinois' Senator right? I assume he's got pending legislation on the table that he's written, introduced and is pushing through, whcih is designed to help the people of Illinois. This should be an easy homework assignment for you.

Team America said...

I don't have all the details on Obama's state sentate legislative record handy, but I remember reading that his patron, Emil Jones, gave him a bunch of important bills to attach his name to so he could appear as if he'd done something. Betcha Emil will also be mentioned in the same breath as Wright and Pfelger soon, once the press starts looking into his record, especially on blocking ethics reform.

Anonymous said...

Hey TA, we do know that our esteemed junior senator had one hell of a record while in the IL State Senate. A record of voting present rather than stand to be counted on issues large or small. Perhaps we should take a look at the LONG list, well over 100 times, he just couldn't figure out how to vote yes or no. Perhaps it will give us a clue to what's ahead for us should he ever become president. YIKES

Team America said...

Anyone notice that Ellen has gone into full defense/apologist mode over the Seals-Rosty scandal? That pretty much means Seals is running scared, and with good reason.

Anonymous said...

TA, that bitter woman is so over the top in her continuing diatribe of hate against Mark that she is simply irrelevant. Nobody cares what she's spewing except her mom and a couple other of her nutjob cohorts. Because of her never ending rants, raves and rhetoric filled nonsense she has placed herself in the circular file. Everything on the planet that's wrong is tied to Mark Kirk. If she wasn't so pathetic she might actually be funny.

PossibleFuture said...

nobama: "I don't care where you are from, but before you play in the Illinois 10th District sandbox anymore..."

I only visit and comment on this blog because I respect Team America, who has always welcomed me.

I have lived in the 10th District all my life (still do) and I currently commute to work just outside of DC most of the time. I voted for Rumsfeld, Potter and Kirk in the past. I stopped voting for Kirk when he falsely claimed he had "secret intelligence" about Iraq weapons of mass destruction. And I'm proud I never voted for W.

But, hey, if you don't like Obama, don't vote for him. That's what elections are about.

Anonymous said...

possiblefuture.

You voted for Kirk before but didn't recently because he claimed he had secret intelligence about WMD in Iraq. So I guess you won't ever go to Great Britain now because they believed it as well. Intelligence can be faulty but you work with the best that you get from sources you trust.

Well, if you want to vote for someone who hasn't worked in three years, takes checks from and hangs around with convicted felons and hasn't proposed one substantive idea since the last election it is your right.

I plan on voting for our current Congressman who is one of the smartest and definitely the hardest working member in the House as well as working well with the other side. And these are comments relayed to me from a democratic Congressman from another state who has been around for more years then I can remember.

Baxter's Mom

Anonymous said...

Right on, Baxter's mom. We are lucky to have Mark Kirk represent us in Congress. Seals is a broken record, a guy who never-was. He can't even be called a has been. His total "occupation" for the past 3 years has been running for Congress. How productive. I've said it before and I'll say it again: once this campaign really gets rolling the glaring differences between a proven leader and a never-was will be very obvious to even the casual observer. Our Congressman's record, his substantive votes, his leadership, his accomplishments will stand the test and more.

Anonymous said...

We got "Possible Futures's" real identity.

We will use it later TA. Thanks to the team that worked onthis.

Team America said...

Well, don't use it on my Blog, Anon 11:22. It's gauche to out people who don't want to be outed. That's why we use nicknames. There's a lot more important things to do than trying to decipher the identity of anonymous commentors on a blog.

PossibleFuture said...

TA, "gauche"? It's terrifying. I hope your other bloggers are concerned as well.

Some of the people visiting your blog are just too evil for me. "Thanks to the team that worked on this"? What are these organized thugs so afraid of that they would want to track down my identity?

And I was really looking forward to participating in a rational discussion with you through the election, but I won't ever again visit an environment that doesn't minimally protect or respect peoples' privacy.

I'm disappointed and saddened that you wouldn't ban the low lifes who were involved in such behavior.

Goodbye.

Team America said...

PossibleFuture- sorry you feel that way, but I thought I made it fairly clear that I would not tolerate people trying to out each other on my blog. But, you know something, if you are concerned about protecting your identity, you ought not to draw a roadmap to yourself by including all these personal details of yourself in your comments.

I have no idea who you are or what company you work for, but appparently it was obvious enough to someone. Or maybe they were just trying to jerk you around. And as far as some "team" working on it, I thought that was just kind of silly. I never found any of your comments nearly incendiary enough to think anyone would want to bother trying to track you down. Peace.