Illinois has a rich and infamous history of political corruption trials, but the trajectory of the case against Antoin “Tony” Rezko — a chief fundraiser for Gov. Rod Blagojevich — may be without parallel. According to the Chicago Trib:

“Boiled to its essence, the prosecution’s complex case against Rezko involves allegations that he and other insiders exploited their relationship with Blagojevich to seek millions of dollars in kickbacks from firms seeking state business or regulatory approval.

The case is attracting nationwide attention, in part because Rezko also befriended Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama on his way up the political ladder and prosecutors have signaled that the U.S. senator’s name is likely to come up. Some cash Rezko allegedly obtained through shakedowns of state contractors ended up in Obama’s campaign coffers.”

Our friend, blogger MARATHON PUNDIT (John Ruberry of Illinois) has been following the story since its inception, and he joins us tonight to fill us in about Obama’s connection in this legal tangle. We’ll be keeping an eye on the returns as they come in from the Super Tuesday primaries in Texas, Ohio, Vermont and Rhode Island.

Curtain rises as 9 p.m. Eastern. Chat room doors open right about then too. Thirdwavedave will be there to greet you.

*****

Tonight — Chuck Muth. Truth. From the man with incredible conservative credentials. And contacts.

Chuck heads up Citizen Outreach. He’s a professional political consultant. He’s also a former executive director of the American Conservative Union, a former National Chairman of the Republican Liberty Caucus, a former county GOP chairman, state party executive director, communications director, press secretary, direct mail fundraising consultant and legislative candidate.

Chuck is a professional campaign trainer and volunteers as a national field instructor for numerous groups and organizations. He is also the publisher of various online newsletters, an author and a featured columnist who regularly appears on political TV and radio programs.

He lives in Carson City, Nevada, and tonight he’ll be on the ray-dee-oh with me. The topic? Politics. Natch.

Tune in at 9 p.m. eastern. Blog. Talk. Radio.

Catch it on the stream.

*****

In the past few weeks, asking questions has caused quite a stir on the internet, especially when the questions were pointed in the direction of John McCain. Ever since Dr. Jack Wheeler posted “How the Clintons will Destroy John McCain”, bloggers on the right started wetting the bed. For some bloggers, asking any questions about McCain’s service in Viet Nam or his personal conduct since taking a seat in the senate was out of bounds, even shameful.

I don’t see a whole lot of difference between McCain and a democrat, and since our Nation’s stability is circling the drain, I think it’s our duty to ask a few pointed questions. However, the bed-wetters’ rationale is to shut up, get in line, and support the candidate the republican party has put before us, lest we derail his chances in November. Oh, really?

Recently, a new blogger has come forth and, he, too, has some questions. His name is Mark Vance and he blogs at The PatriotMan 1787. Being an expert on our Constitution makes Vance quite familiar with our quadrennial process. In his post, Vance notices one thing that was missed by all:

“The one question no one bothered to ask is: what is the possibility that there might be some truth to the information?”

To know that everything Wheeler mentioned in his article to be untrue would first require a question. And, being that the information proving Wheeler’s assertions one way or the other is under seal, I think, is cause for more than a few questions. But, instead of questions, we get bed-wetting.

In addition to what Vance pointed out, Wheeler predicted McCain would have problems in the area of lobbying, the female kind. And, if I remember correctly, the NYT did a little piece on this very subject last week, one that everyone’s still talking about it. Funny, though, I don’t remember any of the frenzied bloggers on the right making mention of Wheeler’s prediction coming true. Is that the faint scent of credibility I’m smelling here? It could be.

OK, KIDS, GRAB YOUR PLASTIC PANTIES because Dr. Jack Wheeler is coming on our show tonight–again. Andrea will be asking questions too. To sweeten the pot a little, Pam Geller of Atlas Shrugs will be dropping by to join Andrea. (I think she has questions of her own, but I could be wrong) The last time Pam stopped by the show, some listeners declared they would never listen again. Imagine that.

WHEN: Monday at 9 PM ET.

WHERE: The Andrea Shea-King Show on BlogTalkRadio.

WHY: Because some of us do have questions.

Allegedly Republican U.S. Representative Ron Paul has vacuumed up millions of dollars in contributions to his wacky, windmill-tilting, all-around malodorous gadflying presidential campaign, but meanwhile, back in his Texas district, he’s got a GOP challenger, and that challenger is leaving the elderly bizarro in the fundraising dust (via Newsmax):

Ron Paul has received massive financial support in his run for the presidency, but he’s also seeking re-election in his congressional district — and trailing his opponent in campaign financing.

As of December 31, Chris Peden, a city councilman in Friendswood, Texas, who is challenging Paul for the GOP nomination, had raised twice as much money as Paul for the congressional race.

Paul cannot use funds raised by his presidential campaign in his run for re-election to Congress.

Paul “has not represented this district for some time, in my opinion, as well as it deserves to be represented,” said Peden. “And I think this district has realized that with his campaign for president,” constituents are “looking for a change in leadership.”

I do not, of course, live in RP’s district, so I can’t say firsthand that he is, or has ever been, a, um, representative Representative.  But I find it more than a little hard to believe that his constituents really want to continue to be fronted by a kooky hybrid of Michael Moore,  Robert Taft, and George Lincoln Rockwell.  Maybe they’ve just tired of being embarrassed on a daily basis.  Or perhaps they don’t want all those “Ronulans” moving in down the block.  That’s what the money would appear to indicate.

But Ron Paul’s pointless, aggravating self-insertion into what’s supposed to be a serious process of determining national leadership costing him his congressional seat?  That’s priceless.

He won’t starve, though; there’s bound to be a cable news commentator slot opened up for him someplace.

Keith Olbermann could use a “bipartisan” sidekick.

UPDATE: The man who threw a conniption fit the one time he was excluded from a GOP presidential debate is refusing to debate his own U.S. House challenger?  Does it get any more entertaining than this?

MITT ROMNEY’s announcement that he was suspending his campaign for the presidency showed passion, eloquence, and a love for country.

Truly a statesman. Truly a gentleman. Truly the best man to have led our country in a time of war. A sad day for the Romney family and campaign. An even sadder day for America.

TONIGHT — Pam Meister of Family Security Matters.com is attending CPAC and promises to reveal all that happened on this historic day, tonight on my radio program.

Join us at 9 PM EST.

http://blogtalkradio.com/ASKshow

call in number is 646-478-4604

SPOOKS FROM THE PAST
*** UPDATE ***

Dr. Jack Wheeler’s piece about John McCain has stirred up quite a bit of controversy. Wheeler will join us MONDAY night (2/4) at 9 p.m. EST to talk about his claim that the CIA is holding information that could sink McCain’s bid for the presidency.

“The Andrea Shea King Show - A Conversation with Andrea and…”
I subscribe to Jack Wheeler’s “To The Point News”. Jack is a Washington insider — deep inside. I’ve interviewed him on my radio programs several times and posted about him at The Radio Patriot as well.

In his most recent post, Jack reveals some extraordinary, never before published and shocking information about Sen. John McCain the War Hero and President Bill Clinton. I’ve reprinted it for you here (2nd post from top).

How in the world can the Republican Party get saddled with a nutcase whack-job who knows nothing about economics, is so anti-capitalist he uses “profit” as a term of derision, has never run a business or had any job outside of government, will raise taxes, is so stupid that he believes “stopping global warming” is worth destroying the American economy, won’t drill ANWR, won’t appoint strict constructionist justices, won’t protect marriage, will give amnesty to 20 million illegal aliens, is beloved by the New York Times, and lives in a delusionary world of vanity and rage?

I don’t know about the rest of Jack Wheeler’s disclosures about Darth Queeg, although they all sound well within the bounds of plausibility.  The worst part is McCain’s liberal issue stances and pro-Donk attitude alone are more than sufficient to bring into question the mental acuity of the portion of the GOP electorate that is about to nominate him.  If “Sailor” is crazy, perhaps the party has finally caught up to him.

Or maybe it’s just “the perfect storm,” and the GOP is New Orleans.

I subscribe to Jack Wheeler’s “To The Point News”. Jack is a Washington insider — deep inside. I’ve interviewed him on my radio programs several times and posted about him here as well.

In his most recent post, Jack reveals some extraordinary, never before published and shocking information about Sen. John McCain the War Hero and President Bill Clinton. I’ve reprinted an excerpt of it for you here. to read the entire piece, head to The Radio Patriot:

HOW THE CLINTONS WILL DESTROY JOHN MCCAIN
Written by Dr. Jack Wheeler
Thursday, 31 January 2008

The number of fellow Senators who think John McCain is psychologically unstable is large. Some will admit it publicly, like Thad Cochran who says, “The thought of his being president sends a cold chill down my spine.”

Others relate times when McCain screamed four-letter obscenities right in their faces in the Senate cloak room, like Dick Shelby, Rick Santorum, or Jim Inhofe. “The man is unhinged,” one Senator told me. “He is frighteningly unfit to be Commander-in-Chief.”

That John McCain is clinically nuts is scary enough. What worries a small group of GOP Senators and Congressmen even more is a deep and dark skeletal secret in McCain’s glorified past to which they are privy, and which the Clintons will use to blackmail him.

[Read the entire piece at The Radio Patriot]

Writing in The American Spectator, tonight’s radio program guest W. JAMES ANTLE III, makes the case that in 2008, nothing from nothing still leaves nothing:

“In the 2008 field, who were the broadly consistent conservatives? There were two former governors from the 1990s. There was a boring senator from Kansas who never seemed able to elevate his own issues at debates. There was a former senator from Tennessee who had sensible opinions and a commanding presence but didn’t really have a standout record of accomplishment in government. And there were three members of the House, a body that hasn’t sent someone directly to the presidency since James Garfield.

Well, Jim Gilmore, Tommy Thompson, and Sam Brownback ran horrible campaigns and had to drop out before the first votes were cast. Fred Thompson blew it. Neither Duncan Hunter nor Tom Tancredo ran particularly serious campaigns. And Ron Paul’s foreign-policy views diverge radically from those of the Republican base. So conservatives could complain about the tax-hiker from Arkansas, the pro-choice supporter of gay rights and gun control, and the senator behind McCain-Feingold, McCain-Kennedy, and McCain-Lieberman, but they had no alternative of their own.

That is the longer-term political problem for conservatives beyond this election. Where is the conservative bench? You can’t beat somebody with nobody, no matter how many bloggers and talk show hosts you have on your side.”

We’ll talk about the state of the Republican Party, the political landscape, talk radio and blogging influence, and how McCain’s win in Florida could catapault him through Super Tuesday into the GOP convention nomination this summer.

CALL IN NUMBER IS 646-478-4604.

BlogTalkRadio

Click the above button at 9 pm EST to hear us live.
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*****

“What would Ronald Reagan do?”, or how many times did they say “Ronald Reagan”?

Romney: 15 “Ronald Reagan”

McCain: 4

Ron Paul:  3

Huckabee:  4

Your fans demand it!

spoke well of business.  Last Saturday Larry Kuldow was talking in his radio show about how none of the Republicans have come in defense of business when 130 million Americans work for private businesses.

Don’t leave - are you still here?

The man lost me with the first “guns and butter”!

again, and now on guns and butter.

In 1952 I wasn’t even a glint in my parents’ eyes…