Blago and Obama

[bga1]

We know Rahm Emmanuel was representing Obama and it is now a matter of record that Emmanuel had 21 phone calls with Blago.
We know that Blago was mad that the Obama camp wasn't willing to offer any perks for Blago to name one of their preferred guys.
Thus we pretty much know that Blago was ASKING for things and very likely did so with Emmanuel. How else could he be mad about being rebuffed?

There is one question that now must be asked about this mess:

Did Emmanuel and Obama let the authorities know of the improprieties that they knew of?

If not, isn't this a cover up by the Obama team?

[ruppertflywheel]

Your already digging bga1. Obama hasn't even taken office yet and your looking for skeletons.

[bigtenchamps1899]

Your already digging bga1. Obama hasn't even taken office yet and your looking for skeletons.
without making any implications on obama (as that seems to distract people from the point), there was an article about this mess in the tribune by jonah goldberg that described the media's handling of palin as "CSI: Wasilla".
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MGQ5YjEwNjJkZDQ5MDRkZDVlNDI0ZTg0MjJiNDk0NDk=

it is a fun read, and as always with goldberg, it is incisive and proves that while liberals have the bumper sticker market cornered, it takes a greater attention span to pick up on true wit:D

[Gopher4Life]

ruppert,

One need not "dig" to know that Rahm Emmanuel is dirty and always has been. Smooth and sly, yes, but definitely dirty. Once again, Obama's associations are in question.

bga1,

While I don't think Obama was stupid enough to directly involve himself with Blago this time around, I do have this question:

How much did Obama pay for his own Illinois state rep seat years ago? Or his US Senate seat? Recall that his was hardly a typical above-board election. He won when his opponents were forced out of the race.

Chicago politics are in the gutter and none of this should surprise us. Obama is one of many products that have risen up out of that same gutter.

[jamiche]

Beej and G4 are all revved up. The words "gutter" and "W" or "gutter" and "Cheney" or "gutter" and "Rove" belong in the same sentence. The words "disaster", "recovery", "hope", "talent" and "Obama" belong in the same sentence.

[Gopher4Life]

I disowned Bush, Cheney, and Rove long ago and you know it, but they're not as filthy as Chicago-style politics.

Some deal with constant red flags; others ignore them and wishfully hope for the best. Perhpas Obama was the lamb among wolves...the saint among sinners. More likely, he played the games he needed to play in order to advance so rapidly.

[StPaulHawkeye]

bga1, you truly may be on to something. I bet Ken Starr could come up with something in about 6 or 7 years if he looked hard enough. Get him on the case...

[bga1]

I hope this is NOT a scandal involving Obama. This is the last thing we need right now. However, these questions must be asked and the sooner everyone comes clean the better off we will be. As I said- I am pretty confident that Obama himself had no interest in Blagos schemes. The question really is whether or not Emmanuel and he did the right thing and tell the Feds as soon as they got a whiff of it. If they did, then kudos to them.

As to Ken Starr, I can only imagine what an obstacle course he was put through in the Clinton case. People and files dissappeared during that one. Fitzgerald got the Plame case settled in about two years and found zippo- but that case was far less complicated than the Whitewater/Clinton escapades deal.

[StPaulHawkeye]

Lewis Scooter Libby might disagree with that. A quarter million dollar fine and months of community service later, but hey, he did get his sentence commuted. And, yes, I am aware that Presidents (Rep and Dem both) do that all the time.

[jamiche]

I disowned Bush, Cheney, and Rove long ago and you know it, but they're not as filthy as Chicago-style politics.

Some deal with constant red flags; others ignore them and wishfully hope for the best. Perhpas Obama was the lamb among wolves...the saint among sinners. More likely, he played the games he needed to play in order to advance so rapidly.

I know that you disowned that crew a while ago. However, taking the country to war under false pretenses and stripping the federal gov't of its oversight responsibilities is far, far filthier and deadly than anything that has ever happened in Chicago.

Is Obama squeaky clean? Of course not. Neither are you and neither am I. Is he a smart, shrewd tough guy who is our best shot at getting us out of a multi generational mess? I hope so. Can he do it? I don't know. However, having people like you and beej ready to jump his ass over anything that is two or three layers removed feels pretty unpatriotic. At least wait until he has actually screwed up before you pull out the script.

[Gopher4Life]

jamiche,

>>...taking the country to war under false pretenses and stripping the federal gov't of its oversight responsibilities is far, far filthier and deadly than anything that has ever happened in Chicago.<<

I disagree. First, I don't think you realize how dirty Chicago politics has been for decades. Second, Bush isn't bright enough to be corrupt. "Taking the country to war under false pretenses" wasn't filthy. It was a bonehead mistake by a guy who listened to the wrong advisors and probably had a pre-conceived Middle East agenda. Keeping us in that war for years after we all knew it had been a mistake...now that is why I fault the man.

>>...having people like you and beej ready to jump his ass over anything that is two or three layers removed feels pretty unpatriotic.<<

They are all crooked politicians to one extent or another. Give them a chance to do the wrong thing and very few of them will turn it down. Citizens who don't jump their asses are the unpatriotic ones.

>>At least wait until he has actually screwed up before you pull out the script.<<

What are you talking about? His adult life is littered with screw ups. Many have chosen to look the other way. That's the problem.

[jamiche]

It amazes me that you think that Chicago politics is more nefarious than the war in Iraq. Bush is not a dumbass, he just plays one on TV. Cheney is certainly not a dumbass. Many companies that made large campaign contributions received defense related contracts in Iraq and billions still remain untracked and unaccounted.

Cronyism has been one of the many hallmarks of the Bush admn and Chicago corruption is penny ante compared to what has taken place in the last eight years.

Your problems with Obama have nothing to do with Chicago and everything to do with the way he worships and that he is pro choice. Like him or not, he's our best and only shot at getting out of this mess, so you might as well give him a chance.

[diehard]

Just watch.

1. Blago gets off with little or nothing. Please, name the crime he has committed based on the information to date. Dare you. He shopped, not sold. BTW, he is still Governor.

2. Someone else gets convicted of something done during the investigation not related to the "crime" to keep it all from being a total waste. Modern American Justice. Gotcha!

[Gopher4Life]

1. You're assuming that we know everything the feds know about this investigation.

2. The real story is going to be when Blago tries to takes other scoundrels down with him and blabs names to authorities.

[diehard]

I'm also realizing Fitzpatrick chased skeletons all over the place on the Plame case and was only able to manufacture a conviction. What did Blago sell? Nothing. Would he have? Probably, but he didn't recieve any quid pro quo as far as anyone seems to know. Fitzpatrick had him arrested to generate pressure to make someone talk. Blago is going to be a tough nut to crack. Time will tell.

FWIW, I believe that Joe and Valerie were more guilty than innocent in the Plame incident. Lefty trash, lies mean nothing. Even the lefty lean of the current writer's of history can't cover up their dirty politics because everything gets declassified someday, someway. Bush has eaten a lot of garbage to protect methods and sources. Besides Faith, that is another source of his peace of mind. Most of you don't understand, and that's a good thing.

[Gopher4Life]

>>What did Blago sell? Nothing<<

He didn't have to close a deal. That's what "conspired to" means.

Blago is a national laughing stock with no credibility in Illinois. He's going down, but he won't go down alone. He'll talk like a lonely grandpa.

[diehard]

"conspired to" Convicted of talking? I was on a drive the other day and Sean Hannity was interviewing Victoria Toensing (who I very much respect, along with her husband, Joe diGenova) and she frustrated the heck out of Hannity by refusing to preconvict that shunk named Blago. She said she thought the case was very very hard to make against Blago. She doesn't believe Fitzpatrick has the goods to get a real conviction of a real crime. She is concerned for the innocent bystanders however. Maybe she is still Plamed out.

[Gopher4Life]

I think a conviction is imminent and I have enough faith in Fitzpatrick to think he's a bit better than a complete idiot who would make these charges without holding some evidence that he is not ready to make public at this time.

However, when I said Blago is a national laughing stock, I don't think that status is contingent on a conviction or that it is reversible. I think Blago's credibility is beyond repair based on the phnoe taps alone and his departure from office is merely a matter of time. He was part of a machine, but even the machine finds him sickening now. I believe he'll eventually blab a lot of names, dates, and misdeeds. Slime balls always want company when they go down.

[hyaluronic]

My father lived in Chicago for several years, and I have heard countless stories of corruption. There is little doubt in my mind that at some point Obama had to play the game. However, I cannot hold it against Obama if he only played the game enough to win, which is what I suspect. If he has become some sort of ring leader in the game, which I doubt, we should have serious questions.

[Gopher4Life]

I don't think Obama is above lying his rear off in order to accomplish his objective, and I think we have plenty of evidence of that whether his supporters want to acknowledge it or not. However, I also think he's smart enough to avoid getting his own hands very dirty. First, he looked us in the eye and said he had never talked with Blago about filling the senate seat. Now we've learned that Obama's chief-of-staff has had six discussions with Blago about that very topic. I guess they figure we're dumb enough to believe that Emmanuel wasn't conversing with Obama between those discussions with Blago. Once again, we see how sneaky Obama can be.