Obama's First Miracle: LA Times Declares "Obama Clears Himself and Staff"

Yes, that is the actual LAT's headline. I'm not saying I actually think Obama did do anything wrong. But time was when the media prided itself on its skeptcism regarding performances like the one Obama is putting on. Fitzgerald has confirmed in a statement that he asked Obama to wait to release his report and it's looking as though Emmanuel will ultimately be a witness.

Obama clears himself and staff in Blagojevich case

"Information may be released about what one witness says that could compromise the effectiveness of interview or grand jury testimony of other parties to that conversation," said George Terwilliger, a former deputy attorney general.

I won't be surprised to learn that Obama's people were talking to the Feds all along once they learned what was happening. That would also explain Valerie Jarrett withdrawing her name from contention and joining Obama's staff. They could have concluded the whole thing was going ugly and they didn't want one of their inner circle anywhere near it.

These people are not stupid and everyone suspected Blago was bugged, if not a little buggy.

Still, the media had better take the blinders off. Power is what power is and it often does what's important to itself, using that power for self-preservation no matter what.

If the media does not scrutinize this administration and hold them up to the standards they would hold any Republican counterpart, somewhere down the line someone is going to take advantage of it.

It is Washington,DC, after all - not Camelot, no matter how much these people want to pretend that it is. Forget honeymoon, some outlets look as though they are willing to pay to send Obama and company on a delightful four year cruise. 

Comments

[Fred Beloit]

Before he became manager of the Office of the President Elect, Mr. Obama was a state Senator in Illinois working hard to improve government efficiency:

"Enter Barack Obama, state senator and chairman of the senate’s Health and Human Services Committee. Obama successfully introduced legislation to cut the size of the board down to nine members. Now you only have to bribe five members. But Obama’s legislation didn’t just cut the size of the board; it put appointment power directly in the hands of Governor Rod Blagojevich. And Governor “Blago” (as we Chicagoans love to call him) quickly appointed a number of Rezko’s cronies to the board.

One Democratic stalwart without flinching said to me, “Obama did that because he believed in more efficient government.” And Mrs. Rezko closed on the adjoining property next to the Obama mansion on the same day as the Obamas closed on their house, which netted the Obama’s a $300,000 discount on their purchase, because Mrs. Rezko believed the Obamas would be good for the neighborhood. I understand that thoroughly. In a neighborhood with unrepentant terrorists like Bill Ayers, you need some people with integrity to keep up property values."
http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/obamas-helpful-hand-in-blago-rezko-pay-to-play-scheme/2/

[WAHOO WILLIE]

Nixon said it best: It isn't illegal if the President does it...........Man I'd hate to go through that crap again. I hate to think of all the ODS crap we're gonna wade through.

Obie is not stupid enough to get tangled in crap like this. Saying that no one in his circle talked to Bloggo, may become an issue. Statements like : All they offer is gratitude, dont come from thin air. But if the offer to sell was made and the only price returned was "Thanks".....There's no crime. Obie's clean on this.

[chuck]

Just replace Obama (Obama Clears Himself and Staff) with Cheney (Cheney Clears Himself and Staff). Imagine the howling.

[IslamoLlama]

"-- Yes, that is the actual LAT's headline. I'm not saying I actually think Obama did do anything wrong. But time was when the media prided itself on its skeptcism regarding performances like the one Obama is putting on. --"

So you're not saying that he actually did anything wrong. But you're not saying that he's innocent either, now that even more evidence that he didn't do anything wrong is released to the public.

What exactly are you saying, Dan? That you're disappointed in the modern media for sitting on its hands and failing to investigate a smokeless fire? Or that a dying newspaper industry and a completely self-absorbed TV news industry aren't reporting on what you find interesting? Or that by god Obama must be guilty of something because both he and Blago are from the same state.

Seriously, what exactly are you implying?

[Dan]

"what exactly are you implying"

That you don't find a fire if you don't investigate the smoke. I doubt there is one in this case. What about the next? But for our media to so willingly abandon its skepticism of any pol and make it so obvious is not a good thing for America. The post isn't about Obama you idiot, it's about the press.

f your argument that the press slept and allowed the Iraq War to start is true, why is that? Allegedly because they abandoned their skepticism,duh!

Start using your head.

[Continuum]

Seems like Obama is following the Palin example where she declared herself cleared of all charges before the investigation of Trooper gate was completed. Sauce for the goose, sauce for the gander.

[Dan]

"sauce for the gander"

It's a shame really that liberal commenters tend to be either so dumb, or blinded by ideology. I didn't condemn Obama for making the statement, nor did I condemn Palin for hers. The press swallow Obama spew like a poor drunk does cheap wine. Oh, but not Palin's - which proved to be true.

Thanks for making my point for me with sucha dumb retort.

[WAHOO WILLIE]

"The willing suspension of disbelief"

Hildabeast

[Candy]

Wake up. How the heck can HE and HIS lawyer clear HIMSELF?

What do you expect them to say?

Rod, Obama and Rezko have been notorious for selling and buying people to boards for years. The Trib and Sun Times know it. Levine, Jones, Madigan, Kelly, Walsh, Jarrett, Whittaker, Stroger, Giannoulias and others know it too.

There are plenty of past stories they haven't scrubbed yet.

I suggest everyone read Operation Board Games by Evelyn Pringle.
Also Obama, Wizard of Oz and Curtain Time for Obama. Also get ahold of Friends of O (from last year, forget which paper).

People have no idea who they put in the White House. Bush is Mary Poppins and the Clintons are Tinkerbell compared to this guy.

Let me know when his documents show up, when his illegal aunt/uncles/cousins are found, as well as when he gets around to having a service for his grandmother.

[mark l.]

"What exactly are you saying, Dan? That you're disappointed in the modern media for sitting on its hands and failing to investigate a smokeless fire?"

one could easily argue that when Fitzgerald discovered that Armitage was the leak in the Plame case, the case was also 'smokeless'. Libby, by that argument, was just a poor victim. Rove, Cheney? Since the investigation is over, it would seem that their innoncence has survived legal examination, while Emmanuel, and perhaps Obama, await their 'clean bill of health'.

"I suggest everyone read Operation Board Games by Evelyn Pringle."
It is the first link one comes to when performing a search on "operation board games".

The strange thing about operation: board games... no wiki entry. Scant information despite the mulitple convictions that have been ongoing since fitzgerald took the illinois post, many years ago.

I think one factor in the 'vagueness' that surrounds operation board games is that no one knows who is the target, other than 'corruption'. Blagojevich was not the initial, specific, target of board games, but the trail of breadcrumbs led straight to his door ofr this one singular and obvious occurrence of corruption.

Team Obama's defense is, we had nothing to do with the specific crime, but it does not vindicate all other pending criminal complaints. How many more convictions, after blagojevich are coming down the pipe? The only reason that fitz sought to charge Blagojevich on this specific crime is that it was pending. How much does he have on those whose crimes are evident merely upon reviewing campaign contributions, sweat heart land deals, and payoffs provided to family members, via 'high paying, irrelevant jobs'?

[IslamoLlama]

"-- But for our media to so willingly abandon its skepticism of any pol and make it so obvious is not a good thing for America. The post isn't about Obama you idiot, it's about the press. --"

The paper press is running itself out of business. The TV press hasn't been interested in doing more than checking out its reflection in the camera lens since the freak'n 90s.

Even then, no one thinks Obama committed a crime. And at a certain point you stop looking for the second gunman on the grassy knoll, the CIA agent who used remote control planes to fake 9/11, the truth behind the Loch Ness Monster, and the secret hidden diabolical link between the President-elect and his home state governor.

How many times do you need to read the report "Obama committed no crime" before you stop trying to dig up some vague hint at a crime?

I'm not saying the Press isn't composed of lazy slugs with no interest in actual journalism. For all its worth, I give the right wing blogosphere points for actually following leads and doing the leg work, even if it is after the double-super-secret "Real Obama Birth Certificate".

While Malkin probably didn't exactly glorify herself when she started peaking into Gramme Frost's windows, at least she decided to do background work - more than can be said of any network news agency acting as party stenographer. When rightwing bloggers started demanding press tours of Iraq, I applaud the fact that you actually went even if I considered most of the reporting more administrative propaganda. Hell, it takes balls to go into a war zone no matter what your agenda.

But at a certain point, hammering home empty allegations just won't fly. What, exactly, do you want the NYT to report on after two weeks of investigation reveal absolutely no wrong doing? You want a three column expose on all the crimes Obama didn't commit? That's not much of a story.

[IslamoLlama]

"-- one could easily argue that when Fitzgerald discovered that Armitage was the leak in the Plame case, the case was also 'smokeless'. Libby, by that argument, was just a poor victim. Rove, Cheney? Since the investigation is over, it would seem that their innoncence has survived legal examination, while Emmanuel, and perhaps Obama, await their 'clean bill of health'. --"

/rolls eyes.
If three people commit the same crime, you don't just convict the first guy you catch. The leak of Valerie Plame's CIA status was a coordinated affair. Armitage should have gone down. Fleischer should have gone down. Libby should have gone down. Eventually, Cheney should have gone down. But they all got shielded - in one form or another - by inside baseball.

I'm not sure how Cheney's staff made it out of the investigation with "innocence" intact when Libby was convicted of concealing evidence in the case. Kinda like Al Capone being found "innocent" because Jack McGurn got busted torching dead bodies. When you need Presidential Clemency to avoid hard jail time, that's hardly an acknowledgment of "innocence".

[Lala]

Isn't this interesting

Rep. Jackson was a past informant on Blagojevich: CNN
By Wallace Witkowski
Last update: 6:36 p.m. EST Dec. 16, 2008
Comments: 5
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., D-Ill., served as an informant in past federal investigations of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, but wasn't an informant in connection with the current charges brought against the governor, CNN reported late Tuesday, citing two unnamed people close to the congressman. Jackson has served as an informant for "more than a decade" and has related information about Blagojevich since 2006, according to the report. Jackson has said federal prosecutors told him he is not a target of their investigation. End of Story

[oyoung54]

You know what? The warning is apropos.

I've stopped looking in his face when he's talking because I'm downright tired of him and his family sweeping me off of my feet!! Someone has got to keep his/her head on straight when it comes to the Obamas.