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 ...
I stopped reading after the first sentence. Neutral my arse!
get the popcorn this is going to get good!
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.
His support was one of the main reasons roddy boy was reelected.
“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.
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.
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.
*****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.
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.
the black perspective:
FU, that’s Barak Obama’s seat - that’s a black seat - Jesse Jackson Jr is the victim here
wahhhhhhhhhhhhh
I think some writers are giving Obama a premature thumbs up as far as him continuing Bush policies.
No can do. Too far up there. Way too far...
I have read this article and I vote ‘Present’
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
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.
I am sure that house purchase help he got had no strings attached. (/sarcasm)
Obama is so crooked he has to screw his socks on.
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.
And I thought Boston politics were dirty. They are squeeky clean in comparison to Chicago’s!
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