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What Blagogate Says About Obama
The Weekly Standard ^ | 12/10/08 | Michael Goldfarb

Posted on 12/10/2008 4:04:56 PM PST by 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.

(Excerpt) Read more at weeklystandard.com ...


TOPICS: Political Humor/Cartoons
KEYWORDS: bensmith; bleepgate; cultureofcorruption; kneepads; michaelgoldfarb; obama; obamatransitionfile; obamatruthfile
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1 posted on 12/10/2008 4:04:57 PM PST by DocT111
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To: DocT111
Perhaps the best way to see him is as a neutral in the (lopsided) battle between machine and reformers in Illinois.

I stopped reading after the first sentence. Neutral my arse!

2 posted on 12/10/2008 4:07:48 PM PST by teletech (Friends don't let friends vote DemocRAT)
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To: DocT111

get the popcorn this is going to get good!


3 posted on 12/10/2008 4:08:18 PM PST by remaxagnt
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To: DocT111

Stayed on the sidelines? Yes, with his puppeteers who have taken on the current machine and they’ve already won that round. Round 2 coming right up.


4 posted on 12/10/2008 4:10:00 PM PST by sarasota
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To: DocT111

His support was one of the main reasons roddy boy was reelected.


5 posted on 12/10/2008 4:12:52 PM PST by mccainvoterinobamaville (Bye bye kerry)
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To: DocT111

“Unlike many others, Obama has not enriched himself off the machine; the closest he came was accepting Tony Rezko’s apparent help in buying a house. He backed ethics legislation that made the traditional ways a bit more inconvenient, though the fact that State Senate President Emil Jones, a leading machine soldier, backed it suggests it wasn’t exactly revolutionary. And he kept himself apart from many of the transactions — and other insiders, seeing his promise and not wanting to taint him — kept him away from any taint.”

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/1208/Obama_and_Blago.html

Pull yer head out, Ben.


6 posted on 12/10/2008 4:13:19 PM PST by Baladas ((ABBHO))
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To: teletech
Here's the way to look at Chicago region politics. First of all there's the Cook County Democrat machine. It's run by the old traditional immigrant groups ~ the Germans, Czechs, Irish and Serbo-Croats.

They got the Governor!

They got the Mayor of Chicago.

Then, there's the South Side of Chicago. That's the voting base that keeps the black Brahmins on the West side in power.

They think they got the Presidency.

Then there are the other minor centers ~ most identified by their county names, and then there's Gary-Hammond-East Chicago. There's a whole host of "other" immigrant groups there with a semi-independent black constituency in Gary big enough to keep Gary itself in the black voting column, if not keep the whole area there.

To the North side of Chicago proper you find Evanston which is dominated by Liberals of all sorts ~ even reformed Commies who no longer care to live in the older areas.

The thing that ties all the politicians in the region together is CORRUPT PRACTICES. These guys steal ~ and they steal a lot.

There's absolutely no way Obama is clean.

7 posted on 12/10/2008 4:15:11 PM PST by muawiyah
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To: DocT111
Likewise, conservatives may be relieved to know that Obama is disinclined to do anything that could hurt his reelection prospects, or his legacy.

Uh, ok.

What do I think this says about Obama? It says nobody knows anything about this guy. Nothing. And he's about to become the leader of the free world.

8 posted on 12/10/2008 4:16:43 PM PST by TheWasteLand
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To: Baladas

*****And he kept himself apart from many of the transactions — and other insiders, seeing his promise and not wanting to taint him — kept him away from any taint.”***

That has to be on a par with “the virgin in the whorehouse” she was possessed with the promise of being the highest priced whore in the County.


9 posted on 12/10/2008 4:18:03 PM PST by sodpoodle (Man studies evolution to understand His creation.)
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To: muawiyah

I was born & raised in Chicago and I am well aware of how it was or is run. Little Richie Daley learned well from the old man. I KNOW Obama is dirty and I hope and pray he is caught before he becomes president.


10 posted on 12/10/2008 4:19:53 PM PST by teletech (Friends don't let friends vote DemocRAT)
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To: teletech

the black perspective:

FU, that’s Barak Obama’s seat - that’s a black seat - Jesse Jackson Jr is the victim here

wahhhhhhhhhhhhh


11 posted on 12/10/2008 4:24:33 PM PST by She hits a grand slam tonight
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To: DocT111

I think some writers are giving Obama a premature thumbs up as far as him continuing Bush policies.


12 posted on 12/10/2008 4:27:40 PM PST by sageb1 (This is the Final Crusade, There are only two sides. Pick one.)
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To: Baladas
"Pull yer head out, Ben."

No can do. Too far up there. Way too far...

13 posted on 12/10/2008 4:27:54 PM PST by eureka! (Must not let the election continue to depress me so much.)
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To: teletech

I have read this article and I vote ‘Present’


14 posted on 12/10/2008 4:29:28 PM PST by TRY ONE (NUKE the unborn gay whales!)
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To: DocT111; All
The 12 Bleeps Of Christmas

Twelve frogs-a-marching
Eleven staffers fleeing
Ten wiretappers tapping
Nine cronies crowing
Eight bidders bidding
Seven senators sinning
Six rollovers by Lincoln
Five bids on that bleeping golden thing I've got!
Four fired editors
Three effin' Dems
Two jobs for the wife
And a Governor on a crime spree.

COPYRIGHT NEWLAND CONSERVATIVE MEDIA SQUAD

15 posted on 12/10/2008 4:29:39 PM PST by NewLand (Illinois math: 1 seat = $5 million)
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To: She hits a grand slam tonight

it’s so funny I read that article from Tristates before it was withdrawn about Obama meeting the Blob the day after the election from “the One’s own mouth”

It’s so funny no one is ever held accountable - BUT GOD forbid your kid is out after curfew - U R GUILTY

This is so funny - the bigger the crime the less the punishment.

Am I dreaming or is this really happening?

Please, shake me I need to wake up.


16 posted on 12/10/2008 4:31:17 PM PST by She hits a grand slam tonight
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To: Baladas

I am sure that house purchase help he got had no strings attached. (/sarcasm)


17 posted on 12/10/2008 4:54:51 PM PST by pepperhead (Kennedy's float, Mary Jo's don't!)
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To: muawiyah

Obama is so crooked he has to screw his socks on.


18 posted on 12/10/2008 4:58:49 PM PST by Cuttnhorse
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To: Cuttnhorse

When you hear “shaken not stirred,” you know it’s Bond. When you hear a politician say “he’s from Chicago” you know he’s a crook.


19 posted on 12/10/2008 5:10:32 PM PST by A Strict Constructionist (The "Road to Surfdom", can it be reversed?)
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To: teletech

And I thought Boston politics were dirty. They are squeeky clean in comparison to Chicago’s!


20 posted on 12/10/2008 5:26:22 PM PST by balls
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