Next up,

rahmboy emanuel and eric "smash in the door and take the kid, yes you can have a pardon, pay $200K" holder.

If obama's crooks resign before he takes office, can he still claim to have high ethical standards?

It coulda' been four, but I'm guessing billary gets a pass over their illegal campaign fund raising, and selling of advanced technology to the chicoms.

Baby Fatt lives in New Mexico, and on behalf of all New Mexicans, let me say: please, please someone take this man in. Give him a good home, far away from us. Please.

I know a lot of NM state employees who will be very disappointed by this. They were really looking forward to Richardson leaving the state.

Will be found in all the upper levels of govt and business ....

Better to choose a working man for govt positions ...

No Blago, you can not take his place!

he's a politician.

but it's no use complaining about politicians doing what they do, the problem is you doing what you do: sit on your ass and complain.

get democracy, and start training politicians to work for a living.

...clearing the way for Monica Lewinsky to get a gubernatorial appointment in New Mexico, to keep her away from the State Department...

http://www.aim.org/media-monitor/bill-richardson-caught-in-clinton-undertow/

there's fire. Rich must have been a bad bad boy! Oops!

You know, I'm glad that it's still (somewhere) considered something to investigate when a company gets a big government contract that might be linked to too close a connection (or bribery) to the government.

After no one bothered to make a fuss about Halliburton benefitting so mightily from that war that has cost taxpayers and Iraqis so much, I was wondering if it was just legal to bestow billions on your buddies.

Then again, this is still Bush's Justice Department, and it would be just like them to derail a Democrat's career by selective prosecution... well, not even prosecution at this point. We shouldn't forget Don Siegelman (former gov of Alabama, prosecuted by some Bush crony, and convicted-- and now released as the appeals court considers his appeal). That ruined his up-and-coming career, not to mention his life.

Richardson had the grace (and the nads) to spare us all the "I want to spend more time with my family" routine. Here's hoping this is all smoke and no fire.

I'm happy to see Bill "Judas" Richardson go. He wouldn't have contributed anything to this administration anyway!

I'm guessing all of them...

For all of us who were hoping that Richardson rather than Hillary would get the nod for Secretary of State, it looks like Obama may have been the wiser because it is much easier and less embarrassing to replace Richardson as the Secretary of Commerce then it would be to replace Richardson as Secretary of State. Also, for those who were concerned that Obama might lose support with the HIspanic community for bypassing Richardson for Secretary of State, certainly this will not have that worry now..

You just have to accept that your savior is surrounded by crooks and thieves and decide for yourself whether his thieves are better than the last crop. It used to be not paying your social security tax on the salary you paid your illegal alien nanny was enough to get you booted. Now you have to out and out steal millions of dollars.

New Mexico’s politics are small a sister to those in Illinois -- this is only because we have such a small population. In September the former State Senate President Pro Tem Manny Aragon pleaded guilty to three felony counts of conspiracy and mail fraud. He had been an important and powerful politician in New Mexico. He also had been the former president of Highlands University and had been removed due to charges of racism. (His brother is in jail having been found guilty of drug dealing.)

Also in this year, former New Mexico treasurer, Michael Montoya was found guilty in a state court and sentenced to four years in prison for racketeering. The sentence will run concurrently with a 40-month federal sentence for extortion.

Robert Vigil, a deputy treasurer during part of Montoya's tenure, is serving a 37 month prison sentence for extortion. Robert Vigil is also a former New Mexico treasurer.

These criminals were prominent politicians. Almost daily one reads of lesser New Mexico authorities, such as judges and mayors being arrested for some offense of moral turpitude. Corrupt politicians seem to be somewhat accepted in New Mexico. It appears to be a way of life here, and so it is easy to see how politicians come to use their position intoxicated by the power and money.

It would be easy to claim that Governor Richardson is also a part of such politics. He has become a multi-millionaire which is somewhat difficult to do on a governor's salary. But perhaps, he is simply guilty of misjudgments, such as recently claimed for the Clintons and Congressman Rangel where they too received contributions after certain laws were passed. It is unlikely that criminal charges will be made in any of these cases. Nevertheless it is clear that such people cannot to be trusted. We do not need such people in power. So, I truly do not understand how they can be elected over and over again. I even suspect that New Mexico’s Manny Aragon could be elected to some position if he were not going to jail. Other than small/libertarian government, with little opportunity for criminal politicians to flourish, is there another answer to this dilemma.

Bill Richardson has business association with Henry Kissinger, the firm of Kissinger, McLarty & Richardson.

Author Christoper Hitchens says Kissingers firm is linked to Red China's rulers "and the oil oligarchies of the Gulf."

Judicial Watch Chairman Larry Klayman put it more baldly, saying, "The firm of Kissinger, McLarty & Richardson epitomizes Washington, D.C. at its worst--- sleazy ex-administration officials, feeding off special influence and power and then pretending, with the help of their enablers, to be fine, upstanding and respected gentlemen.

Richardson's ties to Henry Kissinger are troubling, President Nixon's accomplice in overthrowing the democratically-elected government of Chile, the slaughter in Viet Nam, and the secret bombing of Cambodia, alleged to have killed 600,000 peasants, etc, etc,

Also Greg Palast says in his book "Armed Madhouse" (Richardson stopped a recount of the 2004 presidential vote in New Mexico where fraud may have twisted the tally giving Bush his narrow 5,988-vote victory over Kerry?

Palast asked "Why didn't this Mexican-American Democrat ask for a recount? "He (Richardson) actively did everything in his power to stop a recount." And there was every reason to make one. Palast reported that 4,217 absentee ballots were not counted, 6,593 provisional ballots were not counted, and 21,084 votes were marked "spoiled" and not counted, among others

Palast writes. That's 18,765 missing minority votes not counted-three times Bush's "victory" margin. How does Richardson explain stopping a recount? How does he explain forging a business partnership with the notorious Bilderberg Kissinger?

Nagging questions with no answers.