the point as i see it is, that 0bama swears NO contact/communication took place. so if true, ipso facto he is caught in a lie... multiple lies at that.My first reaction is...so what? I would expect they had conversations about it. Did he do anything wrong? This whole thing is really weird.
Obama is protesting too much.
Mine too. So why is Obama stretching the truth about any contact with Blago over this matter? Why the retraction of statements from Axelrod and Emmanuel regarding contacts with Blago? This doesn't make sense unless something shady was going on in association with those contacts.
So why did Obama lie about it?
It seems perfectly natural to have this conversation with Blago, but Obama denies (denied) that they took place.
Emanuel is going to be a problem for 0. He became the congressional rep for the district vacated when Blog took over the governershi - and this is Chicago politics!
Oh, excuse me...he is "confident that" none of his people have had conversations.
Your first reaction should be ...’why did Obama come out yesterday and deny that anyone associated with him was involved with Blago picling the new Senator’ Obama is pulling a classic Clinton here, you have to parse his words to see what he is actually saying.
If you believe Emmanuel was not the middleman between Blago and Obama, you are a fool. Obama and Emmanuel were two of the main people who got Blago elected in his first term as Gov. Obama acts like he barely knows the guy, but it is funny they are not only linked by Emmanuel, but by Tony Rezko as well. He was a major fundraiser and sleaze involved with both of them, and he is singing like a canary to the Feds in order to get his sentence reduced. I would imagine Blago may try the same route, now that they have him on tape. Mr/ Clean Barry O is kneedeep in the Chicago cesspool. His house purchase and mising appraisal may prove his undoing.
Well, it wouldn't be weird if Emanuel, or Obama, had stated that right off the bat. They haven't, which leads to all types of speculation about Emanuel being caught on tape, and if so, did he participate in what Fitzgerald has characterized as "the most appalling...fact that Governor Blagojevich tried to sell the appointment to the Senate seat vacated by President-elect Obama."
The ball's in Obama's court, but I have a feeling, judging from previous behavior (e.g. Rev. Wright), there will be a period of frantically trying to find out if Emanuel is on the tape, and if so, exactly what he said -- in other words, how they can shape the story and/or damage to Obama's advantage.
In that regard, the media stands ready and willing to help, we can be sure.
I would expect him to do the same.
Did he do anything wrong? This whole thing is really weird.
This is sounding like another case where "the cover up is worse than the crime" or the cover up is the crime. It begs the question "what is Obama hiding"
The guy was trying to sell the seat. If Emmanuel had "several" conversations about it with Blago, then the conclusion that can be drawn is that Emmanuel was NEGOTIATING a deal.
If Emmanuel knew that Blago was seeking bribes, then he should have immediately notified the FBI and he should also have notified his boss (Obama) that Blago was seeking bribes for the office.
I doubt very seriously if Emmanuel or Obama were the ones who tipped the FBI about this matter.
Even if Obama refused to conceed to the bribe, he had a legal and moral obligation to turn Blago into the FBI for corruption the second he knew he was corrupt. Obama's hands are not clean. Everyone in Chicago politics is dirty.
Welcome to the third world.
Me too. So, why did Obama say they didn't?
“I would expect they had conversations about it.”
They were adamant that they didn’t, that’s the problem. Stupid on their part to have said they didn’t speak with Blag, as most people would assume they would have.
the point as i see it is, that 0bama swears NO contact/communication took place. so if true, ipso facto he is caught in a lie... multiple lies at that.Well, yes. One would certainly expect them to have had such conversations. It is exactly what you would expect, in fact.
Which is why it's so interesting that Obama denies ever having had such a conversation.
Blago is a corrupt SOB, of course, and one must view Obama's denial in that light. He naturally wants to avoid guilt by association. The problem is that he flatly denies that any discussions took place at all, not only by Obama, but also his "office."
Such a claim is simply incredible, especially since his own spokesman, and the Blago tapes, pretty much confirm that such discussions did take place.
The suspcions arise because an honest man would say, "Sure we talked about it. Given the circumstance, we had to talk about it. But there was no discussion of a quid pro quo for the seat."
But Obama didn't say that, and his denials are not plausible. One begins to believe that Obama's folks were doing a little deal-making with Blago the corrupt governor.
The question now is whether or not there are reporters and news organizations hungry enough to chase this down. And I tend to think there are still some out there.