Posted on 06/12/2008 2:28:45 AM PDT by JohnHuang2
Say this for Sen. Barack Obama: He is a lot quicker in these post-Jeremiah Wright days to walk away from controversy caused him by others. By the time he finished distancing himself from Jim Johnson, his former vice presidential vetter, Johnson must have felt like he was on Mars.
After Johnson was portrayed in the Wall Street Journal as having received favorable treatment from Countrywide Financial Corp., a mortgage company Obama has frequently attacked, the Democratic presidential candidate immediately labeled Johnson as being only "tangentially related to our campaign."
Shifting into overdrive, Obama added that "these aren't folks who are working for me," referring to Johnson and his two associates on the vice presidential vetting team, Caroline Kennedy and Eric Holder.
It was enough to make you wonder if the three had somehow broken into Obama's office, stolen his letterhead stationery and appointed themselves to interview the capital's good and great about who should join Obama on the Democratic ticket.
But that was not all. "First of all, I am not vetting my VP search committee for their mortgages. . . . I would have to hire the vetter to vet the vetters." He was equally dismissive of questions about Holder's role in Bill Clinton's 2001 pardon of financier Marc Rich.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Getting a little crowded here under the Bus
Jim Johnson's gone -- and the hits just keep on coming! Campaign Staff Changes You Can Believe In! Obama is Dan Quayle without the benefit of a brain. Obama drags around a teleprompter with him everywhere he goes to avoid making a fool of himself, but now little Obama is finding that teleprompters aren't much use for half-term senators pretending to be presidential material in search of a running mate who isn't Hillary Clinton.
But, before the media (or, Democrats with press passes) flush Johnsongate down the memory hole, keep in mind that just a few weeks ago Obama acted all upset that Countrywide Financial was foreclosing on troubled borrowers while the company gave hefty payouts to company bigshots. At a town hall meeting in March, Obama screamed that "these are the (insiders) who are responsible for infecting the economy and helping to create a home foreclosure crisis!" (And for the first time in recorded history Obama formed a full sentence without a teleprompter.)
One of these insiders was former Fannie Mae CEO Jim Johnson, who got mega-sweetheart loans from Countrywide via 'Friends of Angelo', i.e, Angelo Mozilo, Countrywide's CEO, even as Fannie Mae was the biggest buyer of Countrywide's mortgages. As part of Johnson's commitment to openness, Fannie Mae sought to hide Johnson's true compensation from the public.
Johnson was such a sleaze, he was made head of Obama's VP search team. On Wednesday, Johnson was still insisting he'd done nothing wrong (and all prisoners say they're innocent, so this is 'Innocence You Can Believe In'). And to show there was nothing to all these "blatantly false statements and misrepresentations," he swiftly resigned.
Obama on Tuesday was still defending Johnson, clarifying matters up by noting that "well, lel, look, the, the, uh, uh, I mean, the, uh -- first of all, you know, I, I am not vetting my VP search committee for their mortgages, so you're going to have to de . . . direct -- it, it becomes sort of a, um, I mean, this is a game that can be played -- everybody, you know, who is tangentially related to our campaign, I think, is going to have a whole host of relationships -- I would have to hire the vetter to, to vet the vetters. I mean, at some point, you know, we just ask people to do their assignments." And 'this is not the Jim Johnson I knew' . . . 'this is not the Jeremiah Wright I knew' . . . 'this is not the William Ayers I knew' . . . 'this is not the Tony Rezko I knew' . . . 'this is not the [insert sleazebag's name here]'.
On a roll, Obama then claimed he just realized Johnson and the rest of his VP search committee aren't working for him because he's not paying them. "So this -- you know, these aren't folks [Johnson, Eric Holder, et al] who are working for me . . . and, you know, ultimately my assumption is that, you know (WILL SOMEBODY PLEASE FIND THE TELEPROMPTER???) this is a discrete task that they are going to be performing for me over the next two months" and "they are performing that job well . . ."
Or, to clarify this further: These chaps aren't performing any work for me but they are performing their jobs for me very well, plus it all depends on how the meaning of the word "work," works, plus the flawed vetters are just vetting possible VPs for flaws but they're just tangentially related to our campaign, plus fumbling my first major task isn't my inexperience shining again because it's a great idea to be getting advice from a guy linked to the most crooked financial institution in America that I called out by name, plus I could no more disown this man Jim Johnson than I could Eric Holder than I could . . .
Obama says he's running against the Washington system, so the Washington System lands on his VP-vetting team and even his whole campaign team because when you're a marionette puppet in a nice empty suit just dipping into the Washington power game, getting rolled is what happens. And being easier to get rolled by the party bigshots is why the party bigshots appointed Obama as nominee, flipping primary voters the bird. Chances are Obama's choice of Jim Johnson wasn't Obama's choice, but George Soros's choice, since -- in one of those staggering coincidences --Johnson's a business partner with Soros, whose nut Moveon.org cutout bragged as how the Democrat Party is now "our party: We bought it, we own it." And then there's VP search team "tangentialist" Eric Holder, who made possible the Marc Rich pardon. Johnson's gone tangentially into that good night but Holder's holding on.
Then again, when you're running around as judgment impaired as Obama, it's possible he thought the Marc Rich debacle guy and the Johnson guy whose resume said, 'Played Major Role in Sinking Mondale Campaign and Kerry Campaign' were the way to go. And Obama's superior judgment led him into crooked real estate deals with Rezko, into paling around with Ayers and getting pastorized for 20 years by nutjob Jeremiah Wright.
If Obama's handlers decide to replace Johnson, may I suggest one possible candidate -- Sandy Berger!
Anyway, that's...
My Two Cents...
"JohnHuang2"
“to walk away from controversy caused him by others”
Weird how obama keeps finding himself next to these controversies caused by others.
Nah Johnson wasn't surprised, he's just now another surplus, typical white male, left in the wake of B. Hussein.
B.O. is “the most intelligent candidate...since Bill Clinton.” Trees had to die so that ink could stain paper with this absurd remark.
Bravo!
I thought the theory was that H! was the brains in the outfit, though a “Willie has Two Brains” book could be forthcoming.
LOL!!! Eric Holder is as bad as they come!! DIRTY because he was a Clintoid and they ONLY know DIRTY people.
Caroline Kennedy ........WHat the HELL does Caroline kennedy know about picking a VP? Her pick is almost as bas as Eric Holder AND Jim Johnson put together!
Wright
Pfegler(sp?)
Rezko
Johnson
Burglar
Holder
Ayers
Makes you shudder when you think what his cabinet would look like.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.