George Ryan clemency -is the fix already in?

Push is on for George Ryan clemency - Chicago Breaking News

One opinion: George Ryan has lots of dirt on various Illinois officials and other movers and shakers -Repubs and Dems alike. Perhaps he has put the word out that he'll keep mum provided his pardon comes through by the end of Bush's term. If he doesn't get sprung, expect him to start making embarrassing leaking sounds from prison... until something is done to rectify the situation.

At some point during his trial, perhaps George Ryan calculated that he would not avoid conviction and prison. It's likely that Ryan has information that could badly damage the careers of certain powerful individuals, and consequently they regard him as a dangerous, unexploded munition which has not been defused. But to spill his guts prematurely would risk squandering his poker chips, and he would go to prison with his best political capital wasted. In this case his best shot at a Get Out Of Jail Early card was to take his incriminating memories to prison and use them to pressure his cohorts to win a pardon or commutation of sentence. Now in the presidential pardon season, George must be pulling out all the stops to get his friends to prove their loyalty with results. We can assume that George wants to be home by Christmas. If he's not, I wouldn't be surprised that ugly revelations will soon begin to appear which implicate state officials, contractors, and other other hangers-on in Illinois' network of ne'er-do-wells. But perhaps a commutation already is on the way, and we won't be treated to the display of fireworks.

I'd like to know who's really pressuring Senator Durbin to be the new public spearhead of the sordid cause to release Ryan.

For some very interesting insights on this topic check out Thomas Roeser's article, "But What Will The Democrats Do About Patrick Fitzgerald?", in the November 13 issue of The Wanderer. Its account of Big Jim Thompson's role in defending George Ryan is most interesting.