AMERICAN CONSERVATISM IN 2008 AND BEYOND

Nope. But it does make President Obama's assertion that Blago was an acquaintance and he barely knew him pretty suspect.

Questions Arise About the Obama/Blagojevich Relationship

December 09, 2008 3:37 PM

"Obviously like the rest of the people of Illinois I am saddened and sobered by the news that came out of the US attorney's office today," said President-elect Obama this afternoon in Chicago, speaking of the criminal complaint against Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich for corruption. "But as this is a ongoing investigation involving the governor I don't think it would be appropriate for me to comment on the issue at this time."

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."

(UPDATE: An Obama Transition Team aide says that Axelrod misspoke on Fox News Chicago.)

(UPDATE #2: Axelrod this evening issued a statement saying. "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.")

There are no allegations that President-elect Obama or anyone close to him had anything to do with any of the crimes Gov. Blagojevich is accused of having committed.

So why are you changing the subject? I didn't mention a word about a 'dirty machine'. I only proved that Obama was up to his eyeballs in the Chicago machine and, in my opinion, based on what we CAN prove, he was not uninvolved in the corruption of that. I mentioned no specific crime.

And I don't think President Bush ever disavowed a relationship with Abramoff either or used the 'barely knew him' or 'he isn't the person I knew' defense that President Obama uses fairly consistently.

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In correspondence made public February 9, 2006, by the "liberal activist group" American Progress Action Fund, Jack Abramoff said that President George W. Bush "met him 'almost a dozen' times, disputing White House claims Bush did not know the former lobbyist at the center of a corruption scandal," Reuters reported.

"'The guy saw me in almost a dozen settings, and joked with me about a bunch of things, including details of my kids. Perhaps he has forgotten everything, who knows,' Abramoff wrote in an e-mail to Kim Eisler, national editor for the Washingtonian magazine. ... Abramoff added that Bush also once invited him to his [Crawford,] Texas ranch."

It is quite useful to post pictures that pretty well throw out any "I barely knew him" defense and clearly illustrate participation in the process. Didn't you get tired of President Obama's claims not to 'really know' or 'have any relationship' with ANYBODY he associated with coming up through the political machine? By the time he was through, the poor guy had absolutely no friends at all.

Obama was the Senator from Illinois; Blago was governor. You think it's indicative of a conspiracy of some sort, that they have been at the same events, shook hands, and had pictures taken together?

Cycloptichorn

Based on the obstruction of justice and I believe the perjury charges, Bill Clinton was suspended from the Arkansas State Bar and was banned from the U.S. Supreme Court.

the crime was upheld by a Superior Court and was recognized by th Supreme Court and the Arkansas State Bar.

This has all been well documented on other threads as has Barack Obama's connections/involvements with Resko, Ayers, and others on the Chicago political scene.

And that doesn't even include the political implications of how he went from a lowly community ACORN organizer to a wealthy member of the state legislature or Blago who he said he barely knew. . . .

A photo op of a hand shake is not an indication that somebody 'knew somebody'.

It is a good indication that somebody 'met' somebody, though not necessarily a meeting that would be in any way memorable. We recently began attending a new church and some folks we were introduced to did not recall the meeting several days or weeks later, nor did we remember everybody we were introduced to and shook hands with. Over my professional life, I attended a whole lot of occasions with important people, including hand shakes and photo ops with President Carter, President Clinton, and President Bush, and I'm pretty sure that should I meet up with most of those people today, they might not even remember the occasion, much less me.

People we meet up with regularly at varous functions, are enjoying ourselves with, confer with during meetings or gatherings, or attend and are introduced together at various occasions, we remember, and yes, establish a relationship with. I would not characterize those relationships as 'not knowing somebody' or 'not having a relationship' as Obama did related to Blago. No, he wasn't implicated in any of Blago's misdeeds, but he damn sure knew him and pretty darn well from appearances.

I only proved that Obama was up to his eyeballs in the Chicago machine and, in my opinion, based on what we CAN prove, he was not uninvolved in the corruption of that.

I mentioned no specific crime.

Of course, being from Chicago, you have become blind to the fact that Chicagoans are gangsters, whether you can prove it or not.

Thomas wrote:

Of course, being from Chicago, you have become blind to the fact that Chicagoans are gangsters, whether you can prove it or not.

Great point! Perhaps he is actually part of the machine? After all, he apparently rose from Fetus straight to Lawyer, with no explanation of how.

cycloptichorn

I suppose you will say that's not 'proof' at all.

But I think most would think there's enough smoke to strongly suspect a fire. And given the level of corruption surrounding those associated with him, it's very difficult to believe that he remained untainted in any way from that.

If he winds up pardoning Blago, that will be just more gasoline poured on.

I didn't prove that nor did I claim that I did. But it was 'proved' or at least the 'proof' was strongly defended on all the threads involving the President, how he acquired his house, the activities he was involved with in Chicago and the people he was involved with to make it to the state legislature and then to the U.S. Senate. He certainly had nothing remarkable in the wayof credentials, legislation, leadership, or accomplishments to justify his amazing rise to the top. And he has no other way to explain how a guy claiming to be of very modest background, who had a huge college loan debt, who worked for a not-for-profit organization and a year or so as an untenured law instructor was able to afford a million plus mansion and achieve high office.

UC Law School statement: The Law School has received many media requests about Barack Obama, especially about his status as "Senior Lecturer." From 1992 until his election to the U.S. Senate in 2004, Barack Obama served as a professor in the Law School. He was a Lecturer from 1992 to 1996. He was a Senior Lecturer from 1996 to 2004, during which time he taught three courses per year. Senior Lecturers are considered to be members of the Law School faculty and are regarded as professors, although not full-time or tenure-track. The title of Senior Lecturer is distinct from the title of Lecturer, which signifies adjunct status. Like Obama, each of the Law School's Senior Lecturers have high-demand careers in politics or public service, which prevent full-time teaching. Several times during his 12 years as a professor in the Law School, Obama was invited to join the faculty in a full-time tenure-track position, but he declined.