I Did Not Have Contact With That Governor, Ray Bag-O-Juice

Not even in office, yet and he's being tested on just how Clintonesque he can be. There's another important test coming up for Obama, as well.

Asked what contact he'd had with the governor's office about his replacement in the Senate, President-elect Obama today said "I had no contact with the governor or his office and so we were not, I was not aware of what was happening."

Hmm ...

...on November 23, 2008, his senior adviser David Axelrod appeared on Fox News Chicago and said something quite different.

While insisting that the President-elect had not expressed a favorite to replace him, and his inclination was to avoid being a "kingmaker," Axelrod said, "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."

The media didn't push back against Obama at all during the campaign. The one or two times I can remember him getting some serious questions, he didn't handle it very well. White or black, his skin seems pretty thin.

That could make for four very long years. I would expect him to duck the press if it proves too tough for him and that will lead to a certain negative type of coverage all by itself. Welcome to the Big Time, Barry. I'm not sure I can honestly say that you earned it the old fashioned way. But you are going to find out what it means.

Good luck.

Comments

[justoneman]

Ohhhh Noooooo Panky!!! What we am be gonna do now!!

It's the cover up that always gets them in the end...

[LOL]

I'm missing what this proves exactly? Blagojevich's own statements seem to exonerate any involvement from Obama on this issue. If anything the whole incident so far seems to prove how un-corrupt Obama is: He didn't want to play Blago's game.

[Dan]

Funny, LOL - I thought Liberals cared about a president-"elect" in this case, lying. I guess that was only for the Bush years.

[LOL]

Again, what does it prove?

an update from the very article you linked:

"There are no allegations that President-elect Obama or anyone close to him had anything to do with any of the crimes Gov. Blagojevich is accused of having committed.

In fact, there are indications that Mr. Obama and his team refused to go along with the "pay to play" way Blagojevich is accused of operating, offering only "gratitude" if the governor appointed his friend Valerie Jarrett to take his U.S. Senate seat, much to the governor's chagrin."

[Lightwave]

Bullshit. Obama is up to his neck in this scandal. The second Blago contacted Obama's office with this scummy offer, Obama became a co-conspirator. Unless Obama immediately went to the Feds on this, the truth of the matter is they have Blago and Obama's office on tape. Obama should have immediately announced this as the case and turned Blago in.

All evidence points to the fact he didn't.

Impeachment is coming. This is Obama's Whitewater. We only learned of this because Fitz pulled the trigger to try to shield Obama. It's going to fail, because now the whole dirty Rezko/Blago/Obama affair will be in the headlines every single day, and as justoneman said...it's the coverup that will sink Obama in the end.

Guarantee it. The Obama Presidency is over before it begins.

[LOL]

But yeah in the Bush years, lying about intelligence, about how we don't torture, about the politicization of the justice department, about missing funds in Iraq, and so much more. Perhaps you can see the difference? I doubt it though.

[old trooper]

http://blogs.knoxnews.com/knx/granju/2008/12/note-to-presidentelect-obama-j.html
And in fact, according to one of his top advisors, Obama did talk to the governor about the matter.

"...on November 23, 2008, his senior adviser David Axelrod appeared on Fox News Chicago and said something quite different.

While insisting that the President-elect had not expressed a favorite to replace him, and his inclination was to avoid being a "kingmaker," Axelrod said, "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."

LOL, do your homework. Wait until Rezko's testimony for his plea bargain hits the press.
Chicago politics is a very small world. Your assumption, when you see the connections, won't hold water.

[LOL]

ROFL keep dreaming wingnuts. You realize obama right now has an 80% approval rating? What does that say about y'all?

[Continuum]

Seems that it was Obama's Chief of Staff, Rham Emmauel, who put the FBI on to the Blago corruption. Seems that Obama wasn't willing to play the corruption game with the soon to be ex-gov, and instead turned him over to the Feds. From what I've read, this is a big plus on the side of honesty for Obama and his staff.

[jharp]

I also heard that Obama smoked a cigarette.

[mark l.]

"Again, what does it prove?"
welcome to the number one talking point of every manic liberal attack of Bush. You should get it on your speed type function.

[Worst President Ever]

Doesn't appear Obama was really interested - or involved in any quid pro quo deals. Blagovich calls Obama a m*********er. From pages 65 / 66 of Fitzpatrick's document:

ROD BLAGOJEVICH said that the consultants (Advisor B and another consultant are believed to be on the call at that time) are telling him that he has to "suck it up" for two years and do nothing and give this "motherfucker [the President-elect] his senator. Fuck him. For nothing? Fuck him." ROD BLAGOJEVICH states that he will put "[Senate Candidate 4]" in the Senate "before I just give fucking [Senate Candidate 1] a fucking Senate seat and I don't get anything."

and

Later in the conversation, ROD BLAGOJEVICH said he knows that the President-elect wants Senate Candidate 1 for the Senate seat but "they're not willing to give me anything except appreciation. Fuck them."

http://www.chicagotribune.com/media/acrobat/2008-12/43789434.pdf

[mark l.]

"You realize obama right now has an 80% approval rating? What does that say about y'all?"
bush held a high 80's number for a brief moment after Sept 11. His current 80 in light of being the first african american president is hardly astounding.

"I also heard that Obama smoked a cigarette."
I'll bet he's chain smoking right now.

[Dan Riehl]

Still smoking? Well, at least he isn't back on the Crack from his college days ... yet.

[Lightwave]

Rezko and Blago will sing. They will bring Obama down and down hard.

Can you impeach a President-Elect?

[Karen]

I do not believe that Obama did not have any discussion whatsoever with Blago about THE REPLACEMENT OF HIS OWN SENATE SEAT.

[SacTownMan]

"Still smoking? Well, at least he isn't back on the Crack from his college days ... yet."

How would we ever know Dan, after all he is an ADMITTED cokehead and won't admit to when he last used!

Once you do the crack, you never go back!

[WBestPresidentEver]

Oh boy, here we go again. From what I have heard about his thus far, this is only the tip of the iceburg. A lot more are going down. We will see what transpires.
And Obama, "I have not talked to the governor"..... YEAH RIGHT, BLOW THAT SMOKE UP SOMEONE ELSE BUTT ! Sure Obama, YOU HAVE talked to the govenor and you damn well know it. The truth is not in you. That is what coke will do to your brain. That's probably why he say uh uh uh all the time when he is giving his news conferences.
LIAR LIAR PANTS ON FIRE.
ROTL.
This is gonna be fun.

[ugg]

Let's deal with some more important issues... Monday's Press Conference.

"Should the state members of the Electoral College cast their votes for Mr. Obama in the face of such overwhelming evidence, and without verification of Mr. Obama's eligibility, they would be committing treason to the Constitution," said Schulz.

[mark l.]

"I do not believe that Obama did not have any discussion whatsoever with Blago about THE REPLACEMENT OF HIS OWN SENATE SEAT."

the conversation that intrigues me...

june 05,
obama: i found the perfect property. two houses, we can live next door.
rezko: cool I'll live next door to you. we can tie to tin cans together and talk all night.
(houses closes for sale on same day)

jan 06,
Rezko: You know barack, I got to liquidate, I'm under investigation...any chance you'd like to buy some of my property? rememeber that piece of land that I bought at the same time we all bought our houses together? I paid 625,000 dollars for it. The real estate market, being so 'bad', I'll sell it to you for 104,500.

obama: geeez...I don't know. Your under investigation and you are going to sell me property that's worth 500k more than you are asking?
Where do I sign?

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"Again, what does it prove?"

[Lala]

Well, Mark, there's also a lawsuit about that deal. Seems the appraiser put a complaint in that his appraisal was changed.

[Lala]

Today, Dec. 9th, is International Anti-Corruption Day. Perfect.

[mark l.]

the funniest thing about the land deal...

the only details the press has provided is that it is a 10 foot strip. If he bought a line, then the 10 ft characterization would do, but there seem to be three other dimensions not mentioned.

"Again, what does it prove?"
about as much as Abramoff's assoication with Tom Delay proves.

without googling...
has delay been acquited or found guilty?

has been delay been 'publicly' found guilty? definitely.

[mark l.]

"This is gonna be fun."

absolutely.

given the choice of defending mccain or drilling holes in the leaky tub name obama, I'd have to chose the latter.

This admin is a gold mine.

My first and only question for Eric Holder's confirmation hearing:

"if the president appears to have violated the law, what is the threshold you would apply in reccommending a special counsel and pursuing the matter?"

(a followup might be...If Patrick Fitzgerald comes to you with direct evidence that obama(or his wife) were recipients of favorable treatment in exchange for legistlative advancements on behalf of Tony rezko, et al, would you grant him the right to pursue the matter?)

I cannot wait for eric holder to get the AG post. He actually comes across as someone who would prove more inept at their post, than John Snow at treasury. the thought of holder running interference for obama, in light of his absurd handling of marc rich, is priceless.

[Lala]

Why didn't Fitzgerald wait until he had the buyer of the Senate seat before making the arrest?

Anyway, here's a cop's take on Fitzgerald

"Fitzgerald is the same guy who shares most of the blame for not connecting the dots (or ignoring them) during the terrorist attacks on America during the Clinton Administration. My thread below has extensive info on his blunder involving Bin Laden's master spy in America, Ali Mohamed. This guy is the nexus for almost every attack that occurred, from the Kahane assassination to 9/11. Fitzgerald dropped the ball big time.

Speaking of which, wasn't Paddy lucky to get out of the Southern District of New York in August, 2001 -- just when things were about to heat up? Despite obtaining multiple convictions in the 1998 African embassy bombings by al-Qaeda, it was the guy who slipped off the hook that could have really caused real trouble for Fitzgerald after the Twin Towers fell. Ali Mohamed -- a US citizen found with documents concerning the embassy bombings on his hard drive -- escaped prosecution by agreeing to become a double-agent for the FBI and go back to work for al-Qaeda in Africa, and later Afghanistan. While training al-Qaeda "operatives" Mohamed flipped again to work for Osama. Fitzgerald had arranged for the Canadian RCMP to release Mohamed in 1999 after conspiring to bring explosives into the US -- for the big Y2K attack that was eventually thwarted by American and Canadian authorities.

Perhaps it was only Fitzgerald reading the handwriting on the wall. Defense attorneys in the Embassy cases later said that "they could sense throughout the case that something else was coming down...probably stateside" -- or words to that affect. This is admittedly a stretch but why wouldn't Fitzgerald sense the same thing? In any case, once in Chicago he wouldn't have to answer for Ali Mohamed."

[jharp]

Lala,

Take another bong hit and go to bed.

[Fred Beloit]

LOL says: "Blagojevich's own statements seem to exonerate any involvement from Obama on this issue. If anything the whole incident so far seems to prove how un-corrupt Obama is: He didn't want to play Blago's game."

But Obama said he "..was not aware of what was happening." If he was not aware and "we" were not aware, how can you say Obama or his representative turned Blogo down?

[Fred Beloit]

See it works like this: Blogo said Obama (righteously) refused to play a game Obama says he didn't even know about. Can LOL explain how this can work? How about you, Continuum, Harpo? Anyone?

[Fred Beloit]

Lala, Harpo's a cliche spewing dingdong. Here is another unwholesome aspect of Fitzgerald's career we should always remember. Victor Hanson remembers:

"He[[Fitxgerald] gained it [a near mythic status among the big media] when he once indicted a staff aide for the VP for supposedly not explaining adequately — or indeed doing so in illegal fashion — how he had supposedly leaked the covert status of a CIA agent, who was not covert, and if she had ever been covert, was already first exposed by someone else known at the outset to the investigation."

[Lala]

Fred, that whole affair was very strange. Fitzgerald knew from the beginning who the culprit was.

Some say he's angling for a judgeship down the line.

[Lala]

Fred,

Honest Graft and Dishonest Graft

http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/plunkett-george/tammany-hall/index.htm#s01