Someone handed over to journalist Carmen Aristegui a conversation that Luis Téllez accidentally left recorded in a cell phone mailbox. In the conversation, Tellez, who is the secretary of communication and transportation under Calderón but was a longtime PRI heavyweight, refers to Carlos Salinas stealing half of the partida secreta, a discretionary slush fund that used to be at the disposal of the president, until it was eliminated under Ernesto Zedillo.
This is an insane sequence of events. First, we have Téllez calling the owner of the cell phone (a woman named Diana Pando), not realizing that the call hadn't ended and that the mailbox was recording everything, and proceeding to make the most inflammatory remarks possible at that precise moment. Assuming that Téllez doesn't walk around accusing his old boss (he was secretary of agriculture under Salinas) of chicanery all day long, that in and of itself is quite remarkable. Then, we have Pando, about whom I know nothing, telling Aristegui that she didn't erase the conversation "for personal reasons." (In the process, she takes the prize for the worst euphamism of 2009. Even though there are 11 months left, no one's topping that.)
Plus, we have the romantic scandal: Pando says that she and Téllez were close friends in constant contact, while Téllez says that he doesn't know her personally. She is quoted as saying, "He used me and threw me away. He insults me by accusing me of trying to extort him and by denying our relationship of two years. I never wanted money, I only wanted his affection." Plus we have a representative of Salinas, whom Pando informed of the conversation (she's also looking at the worst show of judgment in 2009 award, depending on what happens at the NBA trade deadline) essentially threatening the life of Pando.
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This is indeed pretty incredible, but the record must show that Blago has the "worst judgment of the decade" award pretty much sewn up tight. I know he was found out before the end of 2008, but his defense reached sublime heights this year. Jim Henley (if you don't read his blog you should, though he doesn't post often enough anymore) astutely labeled him (Blago) "America's greatest living performance artist."
It all depends on the year for Blago. He's like one of those Oscar picks that gets released in 4 theaters on December 28th. But he's taking the cake wherever you stick him.
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