Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Obama and the Rezko Factor:
America Learns What Illinois Knew

It's amazing that the people of this country did not start asking questions earlier about a presidential candidate who hails from Cook County, Illinois. Our former governor is now in prison, and both parties have well-documented problems with corruption, with plenty of public officials over the years who have found themselves taking unscheduled vacations (under lock and key) at government expense. Chicago vote fraud is legendary in the annals of American politics, and just yesterday, the local paper featured the following "joke haiku"

In my house we vote
Even my uncle votes
May he rest in peace


This was, after all, the town where Al Capone made his reputation, and a town that looks the other way when only a "tolerable amount" of corruption is involved.

Perhaps it is the concept of a "tolerable amount of corruption" which could explain how Barack Obama and his election team were able to stake out and maintain a position that Barack Obama is the squeaky-clean agent of change in the Democrat presidential primary, despite the fact that Obama's early reputation was a Democrat machine politician who was mostly known in the Illinois state Senate for his intense loyalty to Emil Jones.

Sooner or later the name "Rezko" had to emerge in Barack Obama's campaign, and I'm glad Hillary Clinton brought it up well before Super Tuesday. Figuring that at this point this is more a Democrat problem than an American problem, I decided that the fairest approach would be to go looking at Democrat sources for the buzz on the Obama-Rezko connection.

A number of bloggers have done a great deal of the investigative research (although consulting Chicago newspapers would give any voter a clear picture) starting with one very pro-Hillary blogger who has a series entitled Rezko for Dummies Part I, Part II, and Part III. One of the more complete investigative complete posts, which includes images of letters signed by Barack Obama, can be found at My DD. The Daily Kos also weighs in. For those who wonder if Obama might have some problems that don't involve Rezko, this article discusses his poker-playing with lobbyists. Flaneur takes on the concept of community organizing, and the issues involved there.

Of course, for those looking for more partisan coverage The Backyard Conservative has a series of posts which discuss Mr. Rezko, and El Rider has been doing his part, and this blog has long questioned Mr. Obama's fitness for the Presidency.

Note: Mr. Rezko is indicted; he is not convicted. Unless he is convicted, he should be deemed innocent for all legal purposes. Further note: If elected President, Barack Obama's administration will be able to change the U. S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois.

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