Ill. Gov. arrested in Obama successor probe

[Yonivore]

Wow you're using involved incredibly loosely.

Obama Says He Had No Contact With Blagojevich on Senate Seat

Questions Arise About the Obama/Blagojevich Relationship

Asked what contact he'd had with the governor's office about his replacement in the Senate, President-elect Obama today said "I had no contact with the governor or his office and so we were not, I was not aware of what was happening."

But on November 23, 2008, his senior adviser David Axelrod appeared on Fox News Chicago and said something quite different.

While insisting that the President-elect had not expressed a favorite to replace him, and his inclination was to avoid being a "kingmaker," Axelrod said, "I know he's 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."

Liar, liar pants on fire.

[balli]

Liar, liar pants on fire.

again,

The tapes reveal a two-term governor who no longer wants his job, badly wants cash and is determined to leverage a financial benefit out of his appointment powers.


He also appears to think little of the president-elect, whom he calls a "motherf***er" at one point.

"F**k him," Blagjoveich says of Obama during a lengthy call with top aides and his wife recorded on November 10th, "For nothing? F**k him."

Yeah sounds like they were just the best of chums.

And pay attention to the "for nothing" part. If anything that's probably part of a complete exoneration of Obama, resulting from the casework itself.

[Viva Las Espuelas]

How do you claim Obama is involved?

read the criminal complaint

[ChumpDumper]

read the criminal complaint

Nah, you tell me how Obama is involved.

Use your words.

[Viva Las Espuelas]

Nah, you tell me how Obama is involved.

Use your words.

eh. sorry i don't have a clean spoon for you. you're out of luck.

[ChumpDumper]

eh. sorry i don't have a clean spoon for you. you're out of luck.

So you really can't explain yourself.

Not a surprise at all.

[Yonivore]

again,



Yeah sounds like they were just the best of chums.

And pay attention to the "for nothing" part. If anything that's a complete exoneration of Obama, apparent in the casework itself.

Didn't Jesse Jackson want to rip his balls off?

Politics make strange bedfellows and all that.

KATIE GRANJU: Note to President-Elect Obama: just tell the truth. “No more lies, please, Mr. President-Elect. Come clean on whatever your dealings have been with Blagojevich in this matter, and let’s put it behind us and move on.”

Time is already calling this BlagoGate.

[ChumpDumper]

This isn't going to do anything to Obama.

[clambake]

the only reason obama ran for president is so he could make a few grand on selling his senate seat.

[balli]

Yeah, you're going to have to do better than one out of context sentence, twisted around around by some neo-con hole of a blog if you want to make the case Obama was even remotely involved in this.

[SnakeBoy]

read the criminal complaint

As much as I would enjoy watching Obama and the dems go down in flames before he even takes office Obama looks clean as a whistle on this one. The tape of the governor saying Obama because he only offers appreciation if he picks Obama's choice pretty much clears Obama.

[Yonivore]

Yeah, you're going to have to do better than one out of context sentence, twisted around around by some neo-con hole of a blog if you want to make the case Obama was even remotely involved in this.

Bloomberg, ABC News, and Time?

[clambake]

As much as I would enjoy watching Obama and the dems go down in flames before he even takes office Obama looks clean as a whistle on this one. The tape of the governor saying Obama because he only offers appreciation if he picks Obama's choice pretty much clears Obama.

don't crush yoni's dreams.

[Yonivore]

As much as I would enjoy watching Obama and the dems go down in flames before he even takes office Obama looks clean as a whistle on this one. The tape of the governor saying Obama because he only offers appreciation if he picks Obama's choice pretty much clears Obama.

Well, that kind of makes it appear Obama knew Blogo was shopping the seat around and wouldn't play. Did he report the crime? Why'd he lie?

[Yonivore]

don't crush yoni's dreams.

Make it about me if that helps.

[ChumpDumper]

Chances are pretty good Obama was briefed on the investigation soon after the election.

[balli]

Yoni seriously thinks Obama risked his entire presidency so that the outgoing Governor of IL could make some relatively minute scratch... Pfffffff. in' clown ass Yoni.

[MannyIsGod]

Lol

[Yonivore]

Yoni seriously thinks Obama risked his entire presidency so that the outgoing Governor of IL could make some relatively minute scratch... Pfffffff. in' clown ass Yoni.

Or, he just thought it would be Chicago politics as usual.

[ChumpDumper]

Tell us what crime Obama committed, Yoni.

[clambake]

so what is his involvement, yoni? you're up to 3 scenarios so far. do you have more?

[TheProfessor]

As much as I would enjoy watching Obama and the dems go down in flames before he even takes office Obama looks clean as a whistle on this one. The tape of the governor saying Obama because he only offers appreciation if he picks Obama's choice pretty much clears Obama.

Agreed. Though it could become part of a larger narrative down the road if these little scandals keep popping up.

[Yonivore]

so what is his involvement, yoni? you're up to 3 scenarios so far. do you have more?

I have no idea but, I suspect the media will be as incurious as you.

When there's a hot story, the media usually likes to pile on with background pieces, context pieces, related pieces. This is flood-the-zone type coverage as former NYT editor Howell Raines dubbed it. And the media likes doing this coverage... so long as it's not harming The Cause.

In arguments between liberals and conservatives on media bias, liberals will often point out "But the media did cover that particular story!" Yes, there is usually a short article out there, failing to note the Democratic wrong-doer's partisan affiliation. But there is no flood-the-zone. There are no background pieces, context pieces, related pieces. Some follow-up, but no pile-on. Not when a Democrat has been caught dirty.

If there were going to be flood-the-zone coverage of the corrupt Chicago machine, some background as to how it operates and how breathtakingly blatant corruption is viewed as normal business practices by pols and citizens, what sorts of stories would we see?

Well, in this Bizarro universe I'm hypothesizing, we might see some fresh mention of this story:

Dan Riehl notes, via Amanda Carpenter, that in the list of earmarks he requested, $1 million was requested for the construction of a new hospital pavilion at the University Of Chicago. The request was put in in 2006.
You know who works for the University of Chicago Hospital?

Mic e Obama. She's vice president of community affairs.

As Byron noted, "In 2006, the Chicago Tribune reported that Mrs. Obama’s compensation at the University of Chicago Hospital, where she is a vice president for community affairs, jumped from $121,910 in 2004, just before her husband was elected to the Senate, to $316,962 in 2005, just after he took office."

Looks like that raise was worth it.

But the media is not going to offer context in this case.

What context do you need to explain One Man's Crime?

Blago did something bad. That's it. There's no more context to explain, no political culture which requires further elaboration.

The story begins and ends with Blago himself. There is no point in expending all those journalistic resources to story which is simply about a single man's failings.

Nothing to see here, folks. MoveOn.org.

[ChumpDumper]

I have no idea

[balli]

Politics make strange bedfellows and all that.

Just to rip apart your... argument (?) even further... WTF makes you think Obama has any use for a washed up, soon to be retired governor, with the lowest approval rating out of any politician in America? Do you think politics is the art of currying favor among people who you have absolutely no use for and who bring you no benefits of any kind? This inconsequential and corrupt mother er wasn't to Barack Obama.