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Name:
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MartiniMan
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Subject:
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Good Synopsis
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Date:
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12/12/2008 11:45:52 AM
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Lest anyone try to imply otherwise, Obama has close ties to Blagojevich.
Rahm Emanuel, Obama's incoming White House chief of staff, told the New Yorker earlier this year that he and Obama crafted Blagojevich's first gubernatorial campaign. "We participated in a small group that met weekly when Rod was running for governor. We basically laid out the general election, Barack and I..."
On 27 June 2002, then-state Sen. Obama said, "Right now, my main focus is to make sure that we elect Rod Blagojevich as governor." In 2004, then-Gov. Blagojevich returned the favor with his fervent endorsement of Obama for the U.S. Senate and in 2005, Obama endorsed Blagojevich for re-election.
Despite the fact that Obama knew Blagojevich was under investigation for serious corruption issues, he said of Blagojevich, "We've got a governor in Rod Blagojevich who has delivered consistently on behalf of the people of Illinois."
Delivered for a price.
The complaint against Blagojevich outlines what federal prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald calls a "staggering" trail of corruption, and even ropes in another Obama benefactor, Tony Rezko, whose arrangements concerning Obama's home purchase are now the subject of a criminal investigation. Rezko is "cooperating with authorities."
Fitzgerald is tenacious, and will bulldog this investigation wherever it leads, unless, of course, the president-elect determines after 20 January that Fitzgerald's services are no longer needed.
Obama, in desperate need of his teleprompter, said Wednesday, "I had no contact with the governor what -- or, uhhh -- or his office, uhhh, and so we -- I -- I -- I was not aware of, uh, what was happening. And as I said, uh, it's a sad day for Illinois. Uh, beyond that, I don't think it's appropriate to comment."
"Not appropriate to comment?" How about showing some indignation and moral outrage, or a simple stumble-free assurance that he will support Fitzgerald's investigation going forward, no matter where it leads?
Asked whether any of his aides spoke with Blagojevich, Obama said: "Let me stop you there because it's an ongoing investigation. I think it would be inappropriate for me to, you know, remark on the situation..."
I guess Obama is borrowing a page from Bill Clinton's dictionary. Instead of "It depends on what the meaning of 'is' is," Obama is claiming, "It depends on what the meaning of 'contact' is."
Complicating matters for Obama, on 5 November, KHQA-TV in Quincy, Ill., reported Obama and Blagojevich were about to meet: "Now that Barack Obama will be moving to the White House, his seat in the U.S. Senate representing Illinois will have to be filled. That's one of Obama's first priorities today. He's meeting with Governor Rod Blagojevich this afternoon in Chicago to discuss it." On 8 November, the station confirmed, "Obama met with Governor Rod Blagojevich earlier this week to discuss it. Illinois law states that the governor chooses that replacement."
KHQA has removed the story from their Web site and denies any knowledge such a meeting took place.
Now, I would never suggest that the TV media always get it right, or that they ever get it right. However, there is a problem in regard to another televised interview, this one with Obama's senior advisor David Axelrod.
On 23 November, ABC carried an interview on Chicago's WFLD-TV in which Axelrod claimed matter-of-factly, "I know [Obama] has talked to the governor and there are a whole range of names many of which have surfaced, and I think he has a fondness for a lot of them."
Within minutes of Obama's disclaimer about any such meeting, Alexrod released this statement: "I was mistaken when I told an interviewer last month that the president-elect has spoken directly to Governor Blagojevich about the Senate vacancy. They did not then or at any time discuss the subject."
One of Axelrod's statements is false -- we may never know which one -- but he had no reason to lie the first time.
There is no suggestion in the Blagojevich complaint that Obama was directly involved in any of the shenanigans regarding who would fill his Senate seat, but the words "president-elect" appear 44 times in the indictment.
Like the Clintons, Obama is surely smart enough to have insulated any involvement in this racket with cutouts, disposable emissaries who can take one for the team if necessary. (Expect that player's name to surface soon.) But it is worth noting that the last guy Patrick Fitzgerald successfully prosecuted for perjury in connection with a federal investigation was Scooter Libby, who testified he had "no recollection" of the conversation that got him convicted.
Moreover, Blagojevich knows where all the Chicago political skeletons are hidden, and facing 30 years in the big house, he will certainly cut a deal and lead prosecutors to a few of them -- perhaps even one or two in the president-elect's closet. Of course, some 66 million voters did not care about any of this corruption six weeks ago, and are likely to turn an equally blind eye and deaf ear to it now.
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