What Blagogate Says About Obama

The Weekly Standard ^ | 12/10/08 | Michael Goldfarb

[DocT111]

Ben Smith:

Perhaps the best way to see him is as a neutral in the (lopsided) battle between machine and reformers in Illinois. That's the stance he took in a defining battle, the 2006 contest for the presidency of the Cook County Board of Commissioners. Reformers fault him for failing to support their champion; but he didn't endorse the machine favorite either. He stayed on the sidelines, and kept his focus on the White House. You can accuse him of cowardice for that, or you can grant him that he had decided to devote himself to larger causes and ambitions than Illinois political reform.

This was one of the central criticisms of Obama throughout the campaign -- that he'd always put his political ambition first (in contrast to candidates who put country first, not that anyone would ever question Obama's position). He probably couldn't have risen so far so fast if he hadn't played ball. But maybe what was a liability for Obama as a candidate -- his general go along to get along political philosophy -- will be an asset as president. President Bush risked his political fortunes on a war with Iraq, and one imagines that most liberals would prefer he'd simply played it safe.

[Ax]

Picture, if you will, a long trough filled with barnyard excreta. Picture further all the Chicago/Springfield playas in this trough up to their armpits. The governor, state and national representatives/senators, political hacks, and president-elect are all there. The referee blows a whistle and all hands emerge from the trough, covered in the excreta. All except the president-elect. The media expects us to believe that The One alone is untouched by this scandal in which all of his pals are involved and he is totally without any stain.

[balls]

The message is clear!

[aimhigh]

BlagabamaGate.