I have no idea why Obama is going denying he spoke to Blagojevich. I think it might have to do with not wanting any association with Blagojevich. Whether he did or didn't though that doesn't count as corruption what matters is whether Obama actually engaged in any sort of quid pro quo regarding who gets his senate seat. So far no evidence shows he did and Blagojevich's own statements show that the Obama camp had rebuked any attempts by Blagojevich to have a quid pro quo. Obama may have a lot of reasons to deny that he met with Blagojevich with the most obvious being that he really didn't meet with Blagojevich. None of that matters though in terms of whether Obama is corrupt anymore than me fist bumping Shane Battier makes me a member of the Rockets or a better basketball player.
This is great news - our control of the media is working to PERFECTION. Before long, not only will we have erased Blago meetings, we will erase Blago himself. Sorry Encyclopedia FREEPER....you can't solve THIS mystery. MUHUAHAHAHAHAHA!
I would like to add that wingnuts, should you be reading, it is imperative that you should please devote substantial attention to this matter of the media conspiracy to erase the record in Obama's favor. That will be a productive use of resources. Trust me. Meanwhile the grown-ups will be busy running the country. Thanks in advance.
Actually, North Dakota is #1 corrupt state. http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-12-10-corruptstates_N.htm?se=yahoorefer
here are some good questions for B-Ho: [rquoter]1 – “Did you communicate directly or indirectly with Blagojevich about picking your replacement in the U.S. Senate?” Obama issued a categorical statement Tuesday that he personally hadn’t spoken with Blagojevich about the seat — but seemed to correct himself in a way that suggested others around Obama might have. “I had no contact with the governor or his office and, so we were not – I was not aware of what was happening," Obama said. Yet, according to prosecutors’ characterizations of Blagojevich’s wiretapped telephone conversations, the Illinois governor seemed to believe he had a channel of communications with Obama’s team. For instance, Blagojevich was recorded speaking to a union official who Blagojevich “understood … was an emissary” to discuss the interest of Obama confidant Valerie Jarrett in the seat, according to the criminal complaint unveiled Tuesday. But at some point, Blagojevich seemed to become aware that Obama’s team had no interest in his favored option – he would pick Jarrett in exchange for being named secretary of health and human services, prosecutor allege. How did he know that? Asked at the press conference if he or his people had interacted with Blagojevich or his office about filling the vacant Illinois Senate seat, Obama said he, personally, had not. But he left the door open to the possibility that his aides may have and promised that he would reveal the results of an investigation of any such interactions “in the next few days.” He said: “what I want to do is gather all the facts about any staff contacts that may have taken place between the transition office and the governor’s office.” He asserted, though, that no one on his staff engaged Blagojevich in his alleged efforts to trade the Senate seat for personal benefit. 2 – “Why didn’t you or someone on your team correct your close adviser David Axelrod when he said you had spoken to Blagojevich about picking your replacement?” Last month, Axelrod unambiguously described a conversation between Obama and Blagojevich about filling the seat. “I know he's talked to the governor and there are a whole range of names, many of which have surfaced, and I think he has a fondness for a lot of them," Axelrod told an interviewer from Chicago’s Fox affiliate. But then, Axelrod retracted the comment – after the president-elect asserted Tuesday that he hadn’t spoken to Blagojevich. Axelrod issued a statement saying he "was mistaken when I told an interviewer last month that the President-elect has spoken directly to Governor Blagojevich about the Senate vacancy. They did not then, or at any time, discuss the subject." 3. “When did you learn the investigation involved Blagojevich’s alleged efforts to ‘sell’ your Senate seat, or of the governor’s impending arrest?” Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs said it was not until Tuesday that Obama learned the details of the complaint against Blagojevich – the same day it was released to the public – and wouldn’t say exactly when or how Obama was notified. But at least some people got an early heads-up: Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. told reporters that he was notified Monday night by federal prosecutors that the investigation was coming to a head, that an arrest was imminent and that Jackson was not a target. 4 – “Did you or anyone close to you contact the FBI or U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald about Blagojevich’s alleged efforts to sell your Senate seat to the highest bidder?” Blagojevich seems to believe that Obama’s team was aware of – and had rejected – his offers, telling Harris in a wiretapped Nov. 11 conversation that Obama was “not willing to give (Blagojevich) anything except appreciation” for picking Jarrett. If Blagojevich contacted anyone on Obama’s team even hinting at a possible pay-for-play arrangement, it seems they would have been obligated to report that to law enforcement. One report out of Chicago suggested the possible tipster was Rahm Emanuel, Obama’s pick for chief of staff and a potential conduit for any communications from Blagojevich’s office to Obama. But Emanuel’s office has denied that story. 5 – “Did federal investigators interview you or anyone close to you in the investigation?” Fitzgerald said Tuesday he was “not going to speak for what the President-elect was aware of,” but it’s difficult to imagine his investigators did not reach out to Obama or his team during the course of the investigations into Blagojevich and businessman Tony Rezko, given how closely the subject matter involved Obama. Rezko, a former Obama fundraiser who in June was convicted of 16 corruption-related counts, had alleged that prosecutors pushed him for dirt on both Blagojevich and Obama. This one was answered directly at the press conference. Asked if federal investigators had contacted him or his people in the course of the investigation, Obama said that neither he nor his people had been interviewed. 6 – “When did you and Blagojevich last speak and about what?” Obama and Blagojevich both attended the National Governors Association meeting last week in Philadelphia and were photographed shaking hands at the event. Before the meeting, Blagojevich was quoted saying he had asked Obama’s transition team for federal stimulus aid of $3 billion over the next three years to help fill Illinois’ estimated $2 billion deficit. If Obama had spoken on the phone with him since Election Day, it’s conceivable that the conversation would have been recorded by the FBI, which in late October won a court order authorizing the wiretapping. 7 – “Do you regret supporting Blagojevich?” Obama endorsed Blagojevich in his two gubernatorial runs and was among his key advisors during his first bid, in 2002. During the governor’s reelection campaign in 2006 – with press reports swirling about a grand jury investigation into Blagojevich’s alleged jobs-for-contributions scheme – Obama praised the governor as a leader “who has delivered consistently on behalf of the people of Illinois.” It doesn’t seem like he shared the same high regard for Obama, at least not lately, considering that during a Nov. 10 conference call with advisers he called his old political ally and the president-elect an obscene name.[/rquoter]
LOL. I excerpted the only proven fact in that entire spew. Oh noes -- they shook hands. Obama doesn't shake many hands people. Telling. Yes, please devote more time to this. It is probably much, much bigger and juicier than whitewater. If you are worried about the country, or want to contribute to solving our enormous problems, you could spare a wee bit of time for that also.
Here are some reasons why those questions are irrelevant. If he answers in the most damning way possible here's what it would look like. 1.Yes we had direct contact about the possibility of person x taking the senate seat. (not illegal or unethical) 2.Because we didn't know that this minor miscommunication would encourage some folks to make a non-existent link. 3. Tuesday, JAckson may have knew on Monday, but we didn't get word until Tuesday, or maybe it was Monday. (Who cares whether it was Mon or Tuesday.) 4. We couldn't contact them, because we didn't know that he was actually selling it. As the transcripts make clear he wasn't being given anything but gratitude from my campaign. OR Yes Rahm turned him in, because what he did was illegal. (either way Obama is in the clear) 5. Whether yes or no, it doesn't matter because it either would clear Obama even more definitively or not. Either way it doesn't show or even lead to Oabma doing anything unethical 6.At the govs. meeting about stimulus aid package to Illinois 7. Obviously it was a mistake, and as I've said before he needs to resign. What do these questions prove? It pretty much doesn't matter what answers Obama comes up with, they don't really show or infer any wrong doing legally or ethically. Just a waste basically.
Actually, Obama landed on Blago's hate list the day he called the IL senate president and convinced him to push through ethics legislation that would have otherwise failed -- legislation that essentially shuts off the taps to Blago's corrupt money channels come January 1st 2009. Apparently since then Blago has had to scramble to tell all his regular contributors to get their dues in before year end or they don't get any favors next year. Also, I find it rather hilarious how basso, Fox News, Drudge et al attempt to paint the psychological guilt-by-association picture by putting up that picture of the handshake as often as possible. OMG, a state's senator shaking hands with the governor. The HORROR! Hannity was almost a parody of himself last night. "They're shaking hands! That looks like CONTACT to me! You can't shake hands and not have CONTACT! WHAARRRRGARBL!"
contact with Rahm, on tape? this certainly sounds like the leaky fitz of plamefest. but Obama is confident no one on his team was a part of any deal!
and Rezko is talking! remember, the morass that's sucking down Blago, is also the swamp that spawned B-Ho. <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/-zL82pqqsqY&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en&feature=player_embedded&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/-zL82pqqsqY&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en&feature=player_embedded&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
basso, none of that in any way shows unethical or illegal actions by Obama or his team. As much as you wish it did, it just doesn't.
Neither did serving on a charitable board with Bill Ayers - did that stop him then? Just let him froth it's fun.
its just funny now, really what do they even expect to find? obama who just became president elect is going to shake someone down for his senate seat. where's cheetah's "unlikely"
Yeah, but if they asked Obama those 7 tough questions they would really get to the bottom of it. Of course the conspiracy to protect Obama will undoubtedly win again.
Remember that movie "The Net" w/Sandra Bullock? It's like that. If basso gets too close he might have to be....neutralized.
Which is the funniest? 1. Blago's fuuuugly toupee 2. Listening to newscasters butcher pronouncing his name 3. Basso grasping for straws in this thread
