1 – “Did you communicate directly or indirectly with Blagojevich about picking your replacement in the U.S. Senate?”....More at the link. The key question is #4. It presumes he knew there was a sale going on. Does the criminal complaint not imply that he did? And if the answer to #4 is "no," what are we to think?
2 – “Why didn’t you or someone on your team correct your close adviser David Axelrod when he said you had spoken to Blagojevich about picking your replacement?”...
3. “When did you learn the investigation involved Blagojevich’s alleged efforts to ‘sell’ your Senate seat, or of the governor’s impending arrest?”...
4 – “Did you or anyone close to you contact the FBI or U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald about Blagojevich’s alleged efforts to sell your Senate seat to the highest bidder?”...
5 – “Did federal investigators interview you or anyone close to you in the investigation?”...
6 – “When did you and Blagojevich last speak and about what?”...
7 – “Do you regret supporting Blagojevich?”...
December 10, 2008
"7 Blago questions for Obama."
From Politico:
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88 comments:
What a wonderful intellectual exercise! Say, why don't we submit those questions to change.gov? Oh yeah, that bit about change.gov's search for questions being a scam, as I predicted.
The bottom line is that no one from the MSM is going to ask him those questions.
And, no major bloggers were interested in pushing my plan to ask BHO real questions before the election. So, expect those major bloggers to simply do things like Althouse did: link to someone else's questions without urging their readers to go try to ask them at BHO's (now rare) public appearances.
And, of course, it's interesting that Althouse would link to questions for BHO after the election when - after being one of the few selected for McCain conference calls - she completely dropped the ball on asking McCain any sort of real question.
8 - "Can you, with a straight face, lecture the American people about hope and change in the future?'
9 - "How long do you expect that you will be able to play the useful idiots on the left for suckers with your stirring but empty words?"
10 - "Has there ever been a bigger idiot than Glenn Greenwald? Really, between us.
All I can say is Wisconsin looks so much better with neighbors like Illinois. I may not like Governor Doyle politics very much, but I have no major complaints about his integrity and with Governor Doyle I will never have to wonder if he is wearing the worst toupee ever. Cheers
11. How do you pronounce that Blago guy's name?
bluh GOY yeh vich
bluh - boring/look at that hair(piece)
GOY - definitely not a Jew.
yeh - whatever. shrug.
vich - bitch? rich? who knows.
Peter -- For some reason, I am reminded of the character in the cult classic Office Space, Samir Nagheenanajar .
You just know Blago is fuckin' steamed that his last name gets truncated.
FWIW, my opinion is that--at a bare, bare minimum--nos. 1, 3 and 5 need to be revised, sharply, and even expanded, though pointedly and crisply. As written, they are invitations, if not permissions, to weasel.
I am trying to adhere to the rule of three, by the way. That's why I didn't add #4 to the above, to which group it belongs, but it's a carry-on, IMO, not a standalone.
The other questions are animals of one different sort or another. This is not to say they're not of importance. They are (or at least parts of them are). But there are issues of sequence relative to the others and also sheer narrative banality from those who find that sort of thing more comfortable to present in their day-to-day (minute-to-minute) news-presentation realities.
Of course someone on Obama's team knew. If you've read the Governor's comments regarding what Obama was willing to give him in exchange for picking the person he wanted (i.e. nothing, or 'appreciation'), it's obvious he must have approached them for their bid and been turned down. So, they passed test one (not offering a bribe). The key question, as you say, is whether they reported the blatantly corrupt acts of this typical Chicago pol. My bet is no, when else has Obama tried to quash corruption in Illinois? Never.
Quite a few commenters on the Politico thread are angry that such questions are being raised and will resent it if they come up in the press conference. Says one: The campaign is over!
Very strange, having grown up during Vietnam and Watergate that apparent liberals would be so outraged by an inquisitive press. My generation of libs made heroes out of Dan Rather, Woodward & Bernstein, David Halberstam, etc.
Suppose all this happened in Texas in 2000. Would the press be interested?
And this is pretty creepy too:
http://tinyurl.com/5d6w9e
(Although some portion of the commenters will think it's just Glenn being a brownshirt again.)
But there are issues of sequence relative to the others
... THESE others
and also sheer narrative banality from those who find that sort of thing more comfortable ...
... from those who[, due to the demands of their day-to-day jobs/livelihoods,] find ...
12) Has your campaign received any contribution from directly Blagojevich?
13) What are the amounts of the contributions your campaign received from Blagojevich's associates named in the indictment?
14) What are the amounts of the contributions your campaign received from the business interests named in the indictment?
15) Explain the nature of your wife's work with University of Chicago Hospitals and the remarkable increase in her paid salary there?
16) Will you tell us please when you intend to finally quit your fucking smoking cigarettes forchristsake?
17) And do you believe you can make cheese crackers as delicious as Chip Ahoy's? Well, do you?
8 – "Don't you think people should be reminded that if you went down in a corruption scandal, they'd be stuck with President Biden, and given that, don't you think they should shut up?"
:)
Chip needs a cooking show. His blog makes my mouth water.
Cut these pols some slack Ann. How in the world could a Chicago Democrat ever know there is any other way to do business. This is like asking them to live by a code of honor. Only the military academys set standards like telling the truth. Political office is open to whoever bids the highest. What could be fairer then allowing everyone to pay Donations. When the mfg. sector jobs went overseas so did a lot of the money the pols need. So Geo. Soros and the Chinese have been welcomed to donate back some $$. Where else can anyone get in on a legal way to sign 7 trillion $ IOU's and distribute those bucks among your donor-investors.
Freeman: Yes, but even so, no. Exceptions lead to vacuums and, worse, precedents. Wanna live with even more than we've been bequeathed and begotten, ye these many years?
I agree on Chip's blog. It's been an as-alerted-updated-feed reed for me for a long while, and I almost always click over immediately.
Even my son reads Chip's feed/blog. (Yes, he does.) It so totally embodies, without preaching, a particular approach and 'tude toward food that we share.
/OT
Also, Chip's the only person/blog I know who uses tomatoes even more than I do. It's been SO useful in impressing upon my child (without, you know, having to keep saying it myself) that I'm not crazy in loving them so much on a daily basis.
Let me take this opportunity to say: THANK YOU, CHIP AHOY! You're my hero. (No kidding, on these front.)
/[for real, this time] OT
If you've read the Governor's comments regarding what Obama was willing to give him in exchange for picking the person he wanted (i.e. nothing, or 'appreciation'), it's obvious he must have approached them for their bid and been turned down.
Well, what's the 'you have to wait for two years for your reward' part of it got to do with it iall?
Is that like, look, we have to lay low, play the game, pretend to be something we're not, lull the people to sleep and then we can go at it with a vengeance... Union seat? Just wait, it'll be better than that. But keep quiet.
Well, bleep that. I don't want to wait two years!
Wanna live with even more than we've been bequeathed and begotten, ye these many years?
No. But then, I don't think Biden is above corruption. (In fact, I think he'd go for it if he only knew how.) And he's so wretchedly incompetent that I'm not sure it would be worth taking down one guy if you end up with a Biden presidency.
All that said, and as a totally separate thing ...
16) Will you tell us please when you intend to finally quit your fucking smoking cigarettes forchristsake?
... is this something you really care about, regarding any POTUS, much less this one?
I really do agree with Freeman Hunt here, in that I feel a little queasy about Obama but positively appalled at the idea of President Biden.
It's not too fetched to wonder if Obama himself had this very idea. I always maintained that it was Clinton who did not want to the vice presidency. Suppose she did. Suppose Obama knew all of this was likely to come out, months ago. In the event of a Vice President Clinton, Obama looks a lot more disposable to pretty much everyone.
It's just a theory.
You know, people just differ in what they see: IMO, the complete dismissing of Biden (as opposed to the ongoing funning and dissin', in which I participated way before it was popular, not just online or offline, but IRL, and for--oh, I don't know, something like 25 years) is a result of his uplifting by Obama. In this case, I really am not intending to be inflammatory. Still: I can't help thinking that Biden serves, to a certain and in a kind of degree, as an out for, in the end, people not really want to go full-out against Obama, given how things actually played out.
One is harder than the other, which makes total sense to me.
Reader -- I felt strangely happy when Obama won. McCain is not a real conservative, not a real libertarian, not a real anything except a Washington man.
I believe that Obama has the capacity to be great. I also believe he has the capacity to be a disastrous failure. He could also be anything in between. Who the hell knows? We elected a blank slate.
I think we all know, though, that Biden could not possibly be an effective president.
positively appalled at the idea of President Biden
OK. Given the option (and I DID have the option, unlike most people in the US) I did not vote for Biden in my later sojourn as a resident of Delaware, ye those years ago.
OTOH, given the oft-repeated objections to Obama's ascension, here are just a couple of observations:
1) Biden stayed in his office; he just didn't use on to uplift to another.
2) He did, in fact (whether I agreed or not on any particular issue), serve in office and with an eye to constituents in the state that "brung 'im," and he did so over many years and terms. And he stood for, and won, re-election for multiple terms as senator. One could hardly accuse him of not serving out his first full term, & etc.
3) Despite his many gaffes, he has been a surprisingly open and skillful representative of varying, and even opposing, groups in his own state. (Think deeply as to whether this was ACTUALLY true of Sen. Obama, in his brief--and the brief counts--sojourns in public office in Illinois.)
...
I won't bore you more. And I'm CERTAINLY not advocating the bringing down of President-Elect Obama. How could this be a good thing, in these times?
What I am curious about is something else entirely.
I see there's been a cross-posting. Well, perhaps 7M's is the answer. I can see that, and I can get it, and yet--I react, "curiouser and curiouser."
"11. How do you pronounce that Blago guy's name?"
The more you know about him, the easier it is to say!
[I urge you all to listen to this, it's gold]
Reader -- I have had the great displeasure of being trapped in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee while Biden spoke. And spoke, and spoke, and spoke. The issue was a confirmation, yet he never asked the confirmee a single question.
Trust me. You don't want this guy as president. He's a vainglorious idiot.
Also, regarding the idea of moving to a higher office, he did run for president. Twice. And vice president.
7M: I would never question that.
I know what he's run for, and when, and in what sequence. With all due respect, I didn't just float the idea of his aspiring to higher office as an equivalent to barely serving in one before seeking another, much less barely bothering to serve one before seeking a higher. What I specifically wrote was: Biden stayed in his office; he just didn't use on[e] to uplift to another.
Whatever your (or my) opinion of Biden (and, God knows, his mouth), surely you see the difference, or at least a difference.
I do see the difference. He's probably a good man. He's just an idiot and a blowhard.
Thank you Freeman Hunt and reader_iam for your kind words. They warm my heart. They warm my heart like a space heater on 11, like a water heater that has malfunctioned and cannot be shut off, like a Saturn V booster rocket at take of when it's really shooting out the fuel, like the warm side of the planet Mercury which is quite close to the sun, like a ... like a ... like something that is really warm.
Taking a larger, or perhaps longer, view, I've said all along that Obama MAY emerge from this essentially in the same way Harry Truman emerged from his origins in a corrupt political machine: By doing a good job.
It's going to be rough, but I believe he will be brought through this crisis, and emerge stronger for it by his supporters in the media. They will succeed, because they have a near-perfect media candidate to work with. He sounds and looks intelligent and reassuring. His calm manner and sonorous voice fill the air with a kind of perfume that reminds me of jasmine and orange blossoms in the cool, dark evening air in California of my youth.
He will get up and answer these questions, or some weasled-down variant of them, in his reassuring baritone. He, of course, doesn't have to actually answer the substance of the questions, whatever that could possibly mean. He will say, "In regard to my knowledge of the potential sale of a US Senate seat, all I can say is it's crackers slips a rosin, dropsy in snide." All the reporters will hang on his every word. You will hear on CNN that he really cleared everything up with his statement, "Ladies and gentlemen, mumblefritz rhubarb rhubarb, snapleflapes blumps."
The fact that he can say ANYTHING, and it will be regarded as the emanation of personified greatness by those who tell us what to think, is a tremendous asset that will see him through this crisis, and probably his term as President. He will be pictured, digitized, bubble-packed and sold as a competent, caring President. He will become a generated and veneered figure, all because of THE VOICE.
And who's to say that, in the end, he won't do a good job, like Ronald Reagan, who also knew how to stand to a mark, look straight in the camera, and deliver the sonorous lines those who sent him had in mind.
And if all this doesn't stupify the mind and remove all traces of unpleasant backbone from your basic CNN flack, there is always President Biden to consider.
All in all, I think President Obama will continue to do a fine job.
Trust me. You don't want this guy as president. He's a vainglorious idiot.
OK. I guess that was a signal, right? I miss those sorts of things sometimes (or maybe I ignored them for too long). No matter what I write or say about candidates, nor matter what background I indicate, nor actual experience, it doesn't matter. (Even if--WTF!--it substantially aligns!) It comes down to: "Trust me [the me who actually, it seems, hasn't been paying attention enough over time to realize how weird a reaction that is in this instance] on this 'everyone-knows' judgment, you silly one for bringing up a river-bucking view."
Well, OK. Fair enough, and, God knows, all for the best.
OK, I am doing "research" as I will be arriving in Madison next Saturday (are you excited Althouse) and the gay scene sucks in Mad City.
I want lots of options and bobbles and spangles and Madison is just not going to be offering it to me.
Do I have to drive my ass to Milwaukee and stay at some hotel and have my mother call my at 8:00 in the morning wondering where I am?
I thought you Madsonians were all liberal and gay and shit. Not really. And I don't want to have to go to an all encompassing gay bar in Madison where all types of gays are in the same facility.
Calgon, take me away.
The trouble with a code of honor is that you never know what a crazy old man will pick up as being a matter of honor.
Great character, random judgment.
On the other side is reliable good old sleaze, which the political class doesn't mind at all.
The shocked, shocked line is from soap opera and aimed at you know who, as is the Obama purity line.
Stay tuned for the latest turn from the stable of news babes, is the message. (Has there ever been a better poetic representation of modern reporting than that page?)
The only thing that's genuinely shocking is how little money it takes to buy a politician, as Abscam brought out.
Chip: How about "like the fleeting but firm hand-press accompanied by the sincere smile and eye-twinkle of a stranger" who noticed, paused and then decided to revisit? It's not nearly so marvelous as the other options. Still, it has a lot in common with the sort of good stuff that particular blog of yours trucks in daily with every post, and mindfully so, yes?
I have been to "Woofs" on King Street which bills itself as a New York or Amsterdam club and it is not. The bar Woofs found steel as an interior design and thinks it is all that. Last summer when I was at Woofs I partied with upcoming graduates of UW-Wisconsin and they were women. How depressing.
I am not going to be attending no foam or "bubble wrap" party.
I just want some hog. Is that so hard to want?
Also, Madison has way too many crackers. Doesn't that city celebrate diversity?
And if I have to go to that club across the street from "Woofs" and dance with straight women at the UW I will not be happy.
As you all know I am the one who gets pursued. I don't want to be pursuing anything. Especially some Wisconsin rough trade that I wouldn't look twice at in the city.
But a girl has to do what a girl has to do. Duty calls.
Rare clumbers are looking at me longingly and lovingly right now. I can't kiss them enough.
God, I love my dogs.
Has Milwaukee really improved since my days as a teen going there and frequenting the same bars as Jeffrey Dahmer?
All the websites tell me it has but I am skeptical.
Is the Third Ward really fabulous? I doubt it. Have people in Milwaukee put down the cheese curds and found a free weight? I can hope.
FYI-I weighed myself today and I weigh 168. I need to weigh 165.
What an awful thought to have to actually drive to gay bars and then find a parking spot.
Where are the cabs in Madison and Milwaukee?
Titus, try weighing yourself around 10 in the morning. You might find that you've dropped those 3 pounds.
Palladian, thanks for the youtube link. I think I'll fall asleep with that tune running through my head.
LOL, all of you. And grateful I am for it, and you.
I'm going to go against the grain here, and I'm serious when I say this: why can't Blago sell the appointment to the highest bidder? Is there a specific law against it? Isn't it his entity to disburse for whatever reasons and considerations he deems important?
The reason that I'm bringing this up is when the Clinton's had the White House they sold sleepovers in the Lincoln Bedroom for about $10,000 a crack. They didn't own the bedroom, but they made a lot of money off of selling sleepovers in a house that wasn't even theirs. What's the difference? There was an opportunity to make money off of something that they didn't own, just like the situation that Blago found himself in. I won't even get into the pardons. But, they seemed to make money off of those too.
Allen -- Presumably, the feds believe that Blago's actions meet whatever elements of the crimes they are charging him with.
My nomination for best quote so far to emerge from the scandal:
“The President-elect is from here,” Galvan said. “You can’t let a few spoil it for everyone else.”
(Oh, c'mon: It's the SECOND sentence that's pure gold. Think out of the box, won't you?)
Chip Ahoy: He was just asked about quitting smoking on Meet the Press.
Why are commenters on this site so interested in Obama's smoking habit?
Good questions. They'll never be seriously asked or answered. Democrat. Media. No rocket science necessary.
Also want to agree with John Stodder...that if we knew the whole story, it probably would not be shocking or damning. I think Obama and his aides wanted no part of this after they found out Blags' intentions. But instead of just saying that, or saying nothing at all, we now have some dishonesty, I think. Ugh.
One person asked, and in a snarky manner that suggests a joke. No evidence at all that "commenters on this site" are "so interested" in Obama's smoking habit.
Maybe a small bit of evidence that one commenter is somewhat interested.
As for Obama and Blago, I think it is great and bodes well for the Obama Presidency that he apparently was not willing to play ball. It suggests he'll be a tougher negotiator than I had expected.
His bald-faced lie about having contact with Blago, though, continues his perturbing proclivity for prevarication, even when positing preposterous propositions.
Sorry for that last half of that sentence. I had a lot of 'p' that I needed to get out.
#4 is a good question, but it is far too specific. So it is entirely possible the answer could be no, even if they had contacted the FBI about suspicions about Gov. Blago. They were just slightly different suspicions.
When you're dealing with a politician you've got to phrase these questions in a way that is impossible to parse away like that.
How about the old standard: What did you know and when did you know it?
Corruption in IL. Any WI resident is going to say How is thie news?
Why are commenters on this site so interested in Obama's smoking habit?
I'm guessing it might have something to do with the State and Fed going after BIG TOBBACO as if they were the mafia and basically shaking them down for billions of dollars while preaching the morality of selling death sticks to the children.
When the leader of the nation is puffing away one might think it sends a conflicting message.
Personally I don't give a crap if he smokes like a chimney.
I realize that many posters here are not part of the real economy (especially you academics) but we do have an economic crisis going on. There is no way prosecuter Fizgerald is going to distract the incoming president with this. This is especially true given that Fizgerald released as part of his press conference a transcript of Blago saying that the Obama team would only give him "appreciation" for the Senate seat.
The serious media would also look silly if they make this a focus in terms of Obama with the economic crisis going on. The American people are worried sick about the state of the economy. They want the incoming president to focus like a lazer beam on fixing the mess that was created by the outgoing administration.
So, I predict that by tomorrow this will just be Hannity/Limbaugh fodder. Of course I am sure there are readers here who will be talking about it for the next decade.
L.E. Lee: Your comment is very frustrating, seeing how the media saw fit to distract, constantly, the outgoing President with every little scandal it could drum up. During wartime.
Thanks for your insight. I wish you had felt that way about the war. Or maybe you did, and felt the media was helpful in that regard. Sad, if you did.
Fitzgerald should do his job, free of politics. Period. Unlike the MSM.
I said it before and I'll say it again and again. Barry Administration is going to be a combination of Carter's incompetence and Clinton's greed and venal corruption. If he lasts one term without being in a serious scandal I will be monumentally surprised. This thing is just the tip of a very big iceberg floating our way.
Darcy,
President Bush did get a huge pass after 9/11. He then proceeded to misuse it and ultimately squander it.
My .02: Did Obama know personally about selling the seat? No (I assume his staff is at least smart enough to keep the boss fireproofed from that sort of thing)
Did someone on Obama's staff know what was going on? Probably yes including the nitty gritty details.
Did Axlerod lie when he said "he misspoke?" Either he or Obama is lying about that; misspoke = lie
Did Rahm Emmanuel know what was going on? Most probably yes given his role in Chicago politics
What Fitzgerald does with this case will be interesting--I doubt he would have brought this sorry mess to court unless he had some really strong, iron clad evidence--the interesting thing will be how far the investigation reaches, because I believe there are some members of Obama's staff who may be in deep do do if and when they are called to testify before a grand jury. On the other hand, I doubt that any democrat in Congress is going to be asking for a special counsel.
Bottom line for me: In the specifics of the sordid mess, Obama is clean; more generally, does he know how Chicago politics works and did he do anything to deal with the rampant corruption? Most definitely not. His moral judgment is certainly suspect, but I suppose that comes with (1) being a politician generally and (2) being a Chicago politician specifically.
I do so love hope and change. Especially in light of the democrat culture of corruption.
President Bush did get a huge pass after 9/11. He then proceeded to misuse it and ultimately squander it.
He did? If memory serves, I recall a lot of what did he know and when did he know it after the initial shock had gone away.
Your previous comment smacks of 'pay no attention to the man behind the curtain'. I certainly don't think that Obama had any involvement with Blago's pay to play scheme but I also don't think he should be given a pass on it either.
If anything, he should get at least the same amount of scrutiny by the press as Palin did with 'who's Trig's really mommy' and her frickin wardrobe.
L.E. Lee: so your position is that investigations into possible law breaking should be suspended because of the broader domestic or international situation because we do not want members of the administration distracted from dealing with the events?
L.E. Lee: Whether I agree with that or not, it doesn't have a thing to do with fair and reasonable treatment from the media. You want fair and reasonable now. I want it as a standard.
They want the incoming president to focus like a lazer beam on fixing the mess that was created by the outgoing administration.
I get it, LE. We're supposed to ignore when His O'ness friends, associates, and supporters focus like a lazer (sic) beam on lining their own pockets.
They want the incoming president to focus like a lazer beam on fixing the mess that was created by the outgoing administration.
Speak for yourself. You know, I have one simple request. And that is to have sharks with frickin' laser beams attached to their heads!
It seems likely a few Obama appointees (i.e perhaps Rahm Emanuel) may have to step down even before they officially take the job.
That would be a first. Rahm's continuing silence in the next few weeks will be the signal that he screwed up big time.
I realize some of you have delusions that somehow Obama was behind all of this but Fitzgerald said otherwise on Tuesday and released transcripts of Blago saying that he would only get "appreciation" from the super clean Obama Team. Score that one for Obama.
I am just trying to help you get back in touch with reality. Though I do hope Hannity/Limbaugh continue to drag the Republican right further into this never world.
Yeah let's now not distract ourselves with petty investigations. When dozens of Americans were dying every month we mistakenly turned our anger into sympathy for the poor couple, Joe Wilson and Valerie Plame and dreams of frogmarching Karl Rove out of the White House.
I was so much younger then, I'm older than that now.
"I realize some of you have delusions that somehow Obama was behind all of this but..."
Where did anyone in this thread say that Obama was "behind all of this", other than your comment?
It's the standard political douchebag technique: incorrectly characterize and generalize the nature of the preceding comments, then act like a douchebag and make fun of the stuff you just made up. The smarmy condescension thrown in for good measure is just douche-y icing on the douchebaggy cake.
Investigating Bush would be a witch hunt(!) that would set a horrible precedent. Terrible, just terrible that angry left. The People are just looking for the new President to get stuff done. Oh shit, wrong thread again!
reader_iam said...
All that said, and as a totally separate thing ...
16) Will you tell us please when you intend to finally quit your fucking smoking cigarettes forchristsake?
... is this something you really care about, regarding any POTUS, much less this one?
Why?
1. because Obama never made his medical records public.
2. because people who smoke get cancer. much was made about McCain's successful fight with cancer, but Obama doesn't share his health issues and that is a big deal for president's
Palladian,
You appear to be somewhat delusional. Almost every post to this blog on this topic has been anti-Obamacentric. I stand by my characterisation even if it did slightly overstate.
I stand by my characterisation even if it did slightly overstate for effect.
LE: point of order. What in the hell is anti-obamacentric? This word cries out for a definition. I do hope you are up to the challenge, and have not overstated for effect :)
Just as there are people on the left who somehow can turn every ill in the world back to Bush, there are people on the right who are doing the same thing with Obama.
On the fly I would label them "anti-obamacentric".
I stand by my characterisation even if it did slightly overstate.
I ran this throught my bullshit translator and came up with this.
"False but accurate."
Honestly, I don't know how I could read Liberalese without this thing.
L. E. Lee said...(hoisted by his own petard)
Assuming you believe Blago's statement that Obama would only give Blago 'appreciation', that means Obama was approached for a bribe. If he declined to pay Blago, he's only fulfilled half of his ethical duty. The other half was to blow the whistle. If he didn't, he should be held accountable.
Investigating Bush would be a witch hunt(!) that would set a horrible precedent.
Well ya'll had eight flippin years to investigate him.
I am just trying to help you get back in touch with reality. Though I do hope Hannity/Limbaugh continue to drag the Republican right further into this never world.
My bullshit detector also has a Luckoldson/Michael setting too.
I figure if he uses the Hannity/Limbaugh line followed up by suck my dick then we'll be certain.
Seven Machos -- the real question is whether my former governor is sent to federal white collar prison or federal pound him in the ass prison.
What did Obama know, and when did he know it?
I wrote
"I stand by my characterisation even if it did slightly overstate for effect."
Hoosier Daddy replied,
"I ran this throught my bullshit translator and came up with this. "False but accurate.""
Now come on H. Daddy, the owner of this blog is the queen of "slightly overstate for effect"!
I think we should wait and see. But when these guys start to roll and plea bargain some stuff might hit the fan.
I don't think either side should really jump to conclusions yet. Either that Obama is guilty of something or that he is totally innocent.
What the President Elect and his Chi-town minions should fear is the out of control headline seeking prosecutor. I would fire him and put a respected but less opportunistic figure in his place. Take the heat now right out of the box by firing all the US Attorneys and getting new people in there. That is quick and painful and would cause a firestorm, but the death of a thousand cuts that Fitzgerald is going to inflict will be a lot worse.
Problem is that Obama has two problems here to deal with and he is not handling them too well.
He has the budget/economic crisis one where all his programs will require big bucks and the economy won't provide them without his raising taxes way high. If he does that then the crisis will get worse. If he doesn't then his programs will be dropped and so will his supporters.
The other problem is that the Democrats do not have enough votes to stop any filibustering should the opposition party care to indulge. Obama has to be able to count on the votes and that means he has to know the senators in detail. His position will have to be filled and if it is filled by someone who is not to his taste, then he will have problems with vote-counting. For that reason he has to have some input to the selection of his replacement.
Unfortunately the President cannot pick and choose what problems he will address. He has to deal with all of them, either directly or by proxy, and he cannot just wish them away. He also cannot just say I will deal with this one now and maybe someday I will handle that other one. It will just have to wait. Problems grow is not attended to and the buck should stop at his desk. Based on his past actions, I would assume he is not very good at taking responsibility for what happens. He is too good at dropping anyone who causes him tsouris. Presidents can't always do that.
Unless Obama starts taking control of all these things, he will be doomed to fail and we will be the ones who pay the price for electing a rookie who can't handle the job.
Astute analysis. Obama has two problems; no doubt he will have more anon.
If he wasn't such a raw beginner Obama would have realized that of course he discussed the senatorial position with Blagojevich. Why not? There's nothing wrong with that -- and I say that as a confirmed Republican who regards Chicago Democrats as guilty until proven innocent. But once Obama denied the obvious, it opened up the likelihood that there really is something there he needs to cover up.
Perhaps he can commune with the ghost of Dick Nixon, and learn that the coverup -- or in this case, the appearance of a coverup -- is worse than the crime.
Given Blago's well deserved toxic reputation I seriously doubt that Obama talked directly with him. There was no need to.
Mr. Lee, you might want to go here http://blogs.knoxnews.com/knx/granju/2008/12/more-evidence-that-obama-and-b.html You and a lot of other people are trying to suggest that the obvious reality never happened. Dang, I thought that went out with Animal Farm, 1984, and Brave New World. Was Orwell only 24 years too early?
And, again, there is no point to lying -- unless it's your automatic reflex, that is.
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