Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Let's make a deal

Tony Rezko has been convicted on 16 counts. "Tony Rezko — the high-flying developer and fast-food magnate who was once a major campaign fund-raiser for Gov. Blagojevich and Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama and one of the governor’s closest advisers — is now a convicted felon."

The verdict, reached after deliberations that spanned 12 days, could give federal authorities new ammunition in their probe of the governor’s campaign and his administration. They already have subpoenaed Blagojevich’s campaign fund, scrutinized his donors, looked into his wife’s real estate dealings and questioned potential witnesses about whether they were promised anything in return for campaign contributions, sources told the Sun-Times.

Now, facing the prospect of prison time in the corruption case, as well as two additional criminal trials on unrelated charges, Rezko is under pressure to cooperate with the continuing investigations.

In other news, the Hillary-Barack Reality Show goes on. Barack Obama has promised to negotiate a nonconfrontation with the world's worst terrorists. So it should be easy for him to cut a deal with Hillary Clinton. Let's make a deal?





The video is captioned, "Clinton supporter Harriet Christian angry after Rules & Bylaws committee meeting on Florida and Michigan." Do you laugh or do you cry?





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15 Comments:

Blogger steve w said...

This may be the real reason Hillary has chosen not to withdraw from the race even though she knows she has "lost".
She must realize that Rezko will likely flip and Barack is in the crosshairs.
It will be interesting to see if the Democrats who insisted so loudly about the integrity of Fitzgerald during his prosecution of Scooter Libby will now claim he is a Bush hack.

For a very illuminating investigative report of how deep Obama was in the "board games" illegality in Illinois try googling "Curtain Time for Obama.

Not exactly a "new politics" to say the least.

6/04/2008 03:22:00 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

I doubt that the media will dig into this treasure trove with any ernest. They have their champion, so now get out of the way.

I foresee a REPEAT of the media treatment of the looming Clinton scandals circa '92

6/04/2008 03:23:00 PM  
Blogger Zenster said...

If McCain doesn't milk this like the last cow on the farm, he doesn't deserve to win in November.

6/04/2008 06:12:00 PM  
Blogger wretchardthecat said...

I overheard somebody say "isn't it exciting that black man is going to be President". And I thought to myself, 'will any black man do? because there must be lots of black men better suited for the job than Barack Obama'.

But there's no doubt that Obama's candidacy touches an historical chord, one that he will play to the hilt. There's just too much history behind race relations for it not to have resonance.

Yet all of this obscures Obama the man, as opposed to Obama the symbol. Obama the man is a Chicago politician hiding behind Obama the symbol. But that fact can be taken too far.

I think there's a dangerous tendency to think that something very derogatory about Obama is out there. But each passing endorsement by Democrat bigwigs records their vote -- and belief -- that there's either nothing there or it's safely buried. Watching the Dem bigwigs endorse him is like watching institutional investors buying shares. You can infer due diligence.

That doesn't mean there isn't a big honking skeleton in the closet. But any candidate up against Obama should welcome the skeleton as a walk-on extra; not something he can count on. Because waiting for the skeleton to show up may mean passing up on all the little things Obama gets away with.

There are two ways in which the general campaign can go. Either it will remain alive with surprises or it will settle down into a slugest. Right now the only sure target is what Obama has already shown himself to be.

6/04/2008 06:34:00 PM  
Blogger Doug said...

Eric Holder on Obama's Veep Search Committee [Andy McCarthy]

So Sen. Obama, who is trying to distance himself from the Weather Underground terrorists Bill Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn, has named to his Vice Presidential Search Committee Eric Holder ... the top Clinton Justice Department official who was deeply enmeshed in the disgraceful pardons granted by President Clinton on his way out the door — pardons which included two Weather Underground terrorists, whose lengthy terrorism sentences were commuted. (And that is to say nothing of Holder's involvement in the infamous pardon of the international fraudster, Marc Rich.)
---

Obama's Veep Search Committee [Byron York]

Andy — You think Eric Holder is an interesting choice for the Obama veep search. But just take a look at Jim Johnson, the former Fannie Mae chief Obama has also chosen for the job. More specifically, look at the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight's May 2006 report on mismanagement and corruption inside Fannie Mae, and you'll see some interesting things about Johnson. Investigators found that Fannie Mae had hidden a substantial amount of Johnson's 1998 compensation from the public, reporting that it was between $6 million and $7 million when it fact it was $21 million. From the report:

6/04/2008 06:48:00 PM  
Blogger Doug said...

"You can infer due diligence"
---
Due diligence had to be tossed under the bus in order not to lose the black vote forever.

They can always pick it back up off the asphalt again like Barry did last nite with his typical white (racist) grandma.

6/04/2008 06:53:00 PM  
Blogger 49erDweet said...

His next best bet is to await the - you know it's coming - presidential pardons at the end of OB's first term.

6/04/2008 07:48:00 PM  
Blogger Doug said...

This comment has been removed by the author.

6/04/2008 08:03:00 PM  
Blogger Doug said...

RE: Questions Obama Needs to Be Asked this YouTube video of Obama endorsing Alexi Giannoulias in no uncertain terms.
Obama calls him "outstanding" and lauds his ability to make "sound investments."
[Mark Hemingway]

OBAMA'S 'MOB-TIE' $IDEKICK

Follow The Money GIANNOULIAS, ALEXANDER

6/04/2008 08:07:00 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

I don't think anything will stop Obama. He has the media behind him and he is far more charismatic than McCain. I don't think substance, resume, or background will matter. People want a "good" story to tell. They want to make history. Furthermore, we live in a society where Obama's strengths and packaging are perfectly matched with the casual consumer's preferences. McCain is like a dusty old classic at the bookstore going up against a flashy new novel endorsed by Oprah. Game over.

6/04/2008 08:29:00 PM  
Blogger Doug said...


American Thinker Blog What's on the rumored Michelle Obama 'rant' tape

6/04/2008 08:53:00 PM  
Blogger Whiskey said...

Tim -- that's for people who follow the Smart Set. The Elites. TV and the media don't have the influence they used to. Fragmentation, elitism, and so on have made audiences one third of what they were in 1968, in a nation of 100 million fewer people.

As far as due diligence, Bear Sterns anyone? Enron?

By tying themselves to Obama, and endorsing him, Dems run the risk of Rezko, or Farrakhan, or something worse popping out and making them lose the white working class vote (and white middle class vote) forever. Or near to it.

Obama's been a pawn of Farrakhan for ages. He couldn't have operated in Chicago, dominated by Farrakhan, without his blessing and approval, and likely explicit payoffs or favor-trading. That's how Farrakhan operates.

And you can't be Louis Farrakhan's man and win in America. You just can't.

Of course there's dirt a plenty. Rich and for the taking. What the Internet does is allow small-time operators to reach out to the disgruntled, the vengeful, the angry, the betrayed, and allow them a way to get even. Bypassing the media gatekeepers, endorsements, etc.

Ned Lamont lost in CT when Jessie Jackson and Al Sharpton showed up on stage for his primary win. White voters went for Lieberman even though Lamont was younger, had the "correct" views on Iraq, and Lieberman had the charisma of a cold bowl of oatmeal.

Because Sharpton and Jackson are the eternal and greatest enemies of middle and particularly working class white voters.

Sometimes it's just a picture. Dukakis had a 20 point lead over GHWB, until he got in that tank, and Willie Horton's mugshot appeared. [Al Gore first raised Horton as an issue in the primary.]

6/04/2008 10:29:00 PM  
Blogger j willie said...

Wretchard - "You can infer due diligence."

I would respectfully submit that the smart investor NEVER infers due diligence, but ALWAYS does his own. The essence of due diligence is knowing what to trust, and, that cannot be delegated. (I once worked under Sam Zell, who made a real impression upon me when he said that "risk taking should never be delegated".) Politicians don't think in terms of risk and reward like investors. They think in terms of what they can do in contradiction to what they have previously promised or committed do do - in terms of what they can get away with. They measure risk on an altogether different scale from that used by investors.

6/04/2008 11:14:00 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

At least Obama's hometown paper is doing it's job...not that his supporters will care. It's a messianic thing, facts are irrelevant.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/obama/chi-obamarezko-connect.swf,0,455810.flash

6/05/2008 04:48:00 PM  
Blogger Zenster said...

whiskey_199: What the Internet does is allow small-time operators to reach out to the disgruntled, the vengeful, the angry, the betrayed, and allow them a way to get even.

You left out the part about how "they get bitter, cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations".

Other than that, I couldn't agree with you more.

6/05/2008 06:31:00 PM  

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