Corruption In Obamaland
by Matt Margolis on December 9th, 2008 at 06:54pm
First, IL Governor Rod Blagojevich has been arrested on corruption charges.
Gov. Rod Blagojevich and his chief of staff, John Harris, were arrested by FBI agents on federal corruption charges Tuesday morning.
Blagojevich and Harris were arrested simultaneously at their homes at about 6:15 a.m., according to Frank Bochte of the FBI. Both were transported to FBI headquarters in Chicago.
In one charge related to the appointment of a senator to replace Barack Obama, prosecutors allege that Blagojevich sought appointment for himseld as Secretary of Health and Human Services in the new Obama administration, or a lucrative job with a union, in exchange for appointing a union-preferred candidate.
Another charge alleges Blagojevich and Harris conspired to demand the firing of Chicago Tribune editorial board members responsible for editorials critical of him in exchange for state help with the sale of Wrigley Field, the Chicago Cubs baseball stadium owned by Tribune Co.
And, back in October, a grand jury issued subpoenas on the Obama/Rezko land deal.
A former Illinois bank official, now claiming whistleblower status, says bank officials replaced a loan reappraisal that he prepared for a Chicago property that was purchased by the wife of now-convicted felon Tony Rezko, part of which was later sold to next-door neighbor Barack Obama.
In a complaint filed Thursday in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Kenneth J. Connor said that his reappraisal of Rita Rezko’s property was replaced with a higher one and that he was fired when he questioned the document.
Mr. Connor, a real estate and commercial credit analyst at the Mutual Bank Corp. in Chicago, also noted in the complaint that the bank received a grand jury subpoena in October 2006 requiring it to produce information concerning Mrs. Rezko’s purchase, including the bank’s files on the property.
The complaint also said that the grand jury wanted information on Mrs. Rezko’s checking account and loan file and that the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) had audited the Rezko file - although Mr. Connor’s lower reappraisal had been replaced with a higher amount.
South Carolina Republican Party Chairman Katon Dawson has called on Barack Obama to “uphold his pledge of expanded transparency and release any records of discussions between the Obama-Biden transition office and Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich regarding the appointment of Obama’s successor to the United States Senate.”
UPDATE: Obama talked to Blagojevich about Senate replacement
UPDATE, by Mark Noonan: Democrats go into full damage control mode.
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December 9th, 2008 at 2:01 pm
all those branches from that rotten tree….the same tree obama comes from….
its no coincidence that obama took in so much money for his election campaign…crime does pay well they say…
December 9th, 2008 at 4:37 pm
“all those branches from that rotten tree….the same tree obama comes from….”
The root of the tree disowned Obama. Gov. Blagojevich’s house has been bugged for a long time. While the Governor was doing some of his dirty business, he said, “Obama doesn’t give a shit about us!” Obama has no connection. You are doing even worse than guilt by association. This is guilt be geography.
December 9th, 2008 at 5:55 pm
sorry, chicago and illinois is a tree that obama can not disown, nor be disowned from…his ability to become a senator on that rotted tree casts him as a core player in the sewage that it is…
December 9th, 2008 at 6:03 pm
So, js, is that how it is? Illinoisnans are bad people, just cause they’re from Illinois? Another 12 million to the list of people you hate?
December 9th, 2008 at 6:11 pm
To Obama’s credit, he was cursed up and down by this bozo.
Obama is one of those rare specimens; a clean politician.
December 9th, 2008 at 6:15 pm
AHHHHHHH HA HA HA
BWWWWAAAAA HA HA HA
This new O-CHIMPY, chicago corruption machine will make even al capone look like jimmah kartah.
A rank amateur!
I smell impeachment even before the “swearing” in party ends.
Unlike academia where the corruption is so intense, the stakes are so small, and the justifications truly Kafkaesque, the guy on the right side of the take in Chicago could, well, like Tony Rezko, buy a great mansion in fashionable Wilmette, or like Barack Obama get a real discount on a mansion in trendy and liberal Hyde Park-Kenwood.
No further rationale would be required.
Since 1972, on average two Chicago politicians per year have been convicted of felonies. In 1991, when not one Chicago Alderman was convicted or even indicted, the Sun-Times ran that deviant event as a front-page story.
Michelle Obama spent just three years at the Chicago Law Firm of Sidley Austin, far less than a typical associate on the career path to be partner. In a move incongruous with the alleged iconic credentials that are a mainstay of the Michelle hagiography, she took a job with the Democratic machine.
Probably some people think you leave a high- powered, prestigious law firm like Sidley Austin to take a job with the Chicago machine to save the world. But no one who knows how Chicago works is going to buy that!
Michelle was subsequently hired by the University of Chicago, ultimately ending up as the University of Chicago Hospital’s Vice President for External Affairs. Barack was chair of the Illinois Senate’s powerful Health and Human Services Committee, the position tied by some to the Rezko scandal.
If you don’t get the picture, you are definitely not from Chicago.
In 2007 the not-for-profit University of Chicago hospital turned out a profit of 143 million, and is up 118 million for 2008. The hospital is scheduled to receive a 30 million infusion from Medicaid, and will be turning some of its Medicaid patients to another hospital to free up space for its private insurance paying patients. According to the (London ) Daily Mail (online), in 2006 the hospital turned away an indigent man, who died.
When Michelle exhorts young people to turn down the profit system and do something meaningful with their lives, apparently this is not the example she means to convey.
Now you might ask what does a community relations director at a university do? That’s really a naive question. The question is who does the community relation’s director know?
The answer became apparent when Barack was elected to the U.S. Senate and Michelle’s salary more than doubled.
Barack and Michelle were a power couple hooked into the Democratic machine. Tony Rezko cultivated them, the Chicago Way. When the Obamas bought their mansion in trendy Hyde Park-Kenwood, Mrs. Rezko bought the lot next door for asking price in a coordinated deal from the same seller. The Obamas got their house at a discount. Mrs. Rezko paid full price. Later, Mrs. Rezko sold part of the lot to the Obamas to expand their back yard.
What Rezko wanted from Obama became apparent later.
To understand the genius of Rezko, you need to understand that for generations, corruption in Chicago was partisan specific. As my mother used to say when she split her ticket, ‘You need some Republicans. Then the machine can’t steal as much.’
Rezko established a typical Chicago ‘pay for play’ scheme. You want to build a hospital, you had to pay Rezko, who paid the appropriate people who could help you play. The problem that Rezko faced was the hospital board had fifteen members and that is a lot of people to bribe and a lot of loose ends. But then Rezko had a friend who chaired the Illinois Senate’s Health and Human Services Committee.
Enter State Senator Barack Obama, who is credited as the moving force behind a piece of bipartisan legislation (Il. Senate Bill 1332) that reduced the hospital board to nine people, to be appointed by Governor Rod Blagojevich (know as Governor ‘Blago’) with advice and consent of the Illinois Senate.
Blago immediately appointed three physicians, Rezko cronies, all of whom were coincidentally big contributors to Barack Obama. As they say downtown, Barack knows how to walk the Chicago Way. Rezko became the guy you saw if you wanted to build a health care facility. He controlled the board’s votes.
The three appointed physicians have been convicted in the Federal probe and are rumored to be about ready to sing.
For his part, Rezko just sent a ‘I will not rat out my pals letter,’ to United States District Judge Amy St. Eve. Veteran observers of the Chicago crime scene note that the guys who don’t sing, don’t write letters. They just clam up. You write a letter because you want the other guys to be reminded to take care of your wife and kids’ college is expensive.
So, what else does Rezko expect, a presidential pardon, ala Bill Clinton and Carlos Vignali, the dope dealer Clinton’s brother-in-law, Hugh Rodham, represented?
If you want to make sure that the White House is not going to be tainted by corruption, don’t elect a president who grew up in the Chicago political system and whose wife thinks that the country owes her some palliative to eliminate her sense of personal shame. Because unlike the stock market, when it comes to human behavior, past performance really is indicative of future results.
December 9th, 2008 at 6:44 pm
Hey, Marine, who writes your babbling rants? Because there is NO WAY you wrote that.
Shucks, even the punctuation is correct. It CAN’T be his!
Re: this scandal- Blago is a corrupt idiot, but Obama is not tied to him. It’s all there in the complaint, dummies. Read it.
December 9th, 2008 at 7:09 pm
noactorintights
There is no city in America that has been as maligned as Chicago when it comes to the city’s politics, politicians, corruption and questionable voting practices. Even Chicago’s most famous nickname of the “Windy City” comes from the hot air that is expelled by the city’s politicians, rather than for the speed of the local air currents. This is a city that is known for its back room politics, favors and bribes and its politicians have long been colorful characters.
More here>>>>>
http://www.prairieghosts.com/graft.html
December 9th, 2008 at 7:18 pm
cyberactor, we all knew that this was eventually coming. The Sean Hannity’s of the world are going to fling every kind of BS accusation about how terrible Obama is (i’ll even bet money they start targeting the kids within three-to-four months after Obama is sworn in) and how corrupt he is.
They did it to Bill. Now they’re sharpening their spears to aim at Barack.
December 9th, 2008 at 7:21 pm
It’s good to see Blagojevich get nailed. I sure don’t see any Democrats defending him, which blows the theory that Democrats will defend their own, no matter how bad.
I’d love to see Patrick Fitzgerald appointed AG (I know it’s not going to happen). Let him go after the corrupt politicians on both sides of the aisle.
December 9th, 2008 at 7:27 pm
Hmmm. One of the most, if not the most corrupt state in the country and Obama was Senator and comes out of this 100% clean? He knew NOTHING of the vast amount of corruption in that state? Or did he not care?
Why and how does a SENATOR of an entire state not know a thing or not do a thing to clean up the mess of his state???
Obama can not change this country because he can not change the very state he was Senator for!!
Birds of a feather flock together. He ate from the same plate as them. He comes from the same tree as them (as someone noted earlier).
Luckily, TPTB did all they could to get Obama to rise to where he is now - without Obama having to do a thing. Money can buy you anything - even the Governorship twice, while being a crook. Even………….the presidency.
December 9th, 2008 at 8:05 pm
Okay so fmrmarine is a freeper.
Anyway, this is the most serious corruption criminal complaint about a politician I have ever seen, period. Blagojevich is going to prison and that is exactly where the arrogant mother[bleep] belongs.
For me corruption isn’t a gotcha political issue. When it shows its head I write about it after verifying my sources. That’s what separates me from a mouth breathing wingnut like fmrmarine. He and others here are not willing to note the full depth of Illinois corruption I’ll go back to Rostenkowski, Ryan, Daley and Vrydolyak.
December 9th, 2008 at 8:10 pm
thatleogirl: One of the most, if not the most corrupt state in the country and Obama was Senator and comes out of this 100% clean? He knew NOTHING of the vast amount of corruption in that state? Or did he not care?
Using your logic Bobby Jindal must be dirty too. But I don’t buy the logic. The fact is, a single senator can do very little by his or herself vis-a-vis corruption other than attempting to avoid it themselves (and I suspect that itself would be hard). A governor has a lot more power in that regard, which is why Jindal is (or at least so far appears to be) exactly what Louisiana needs at present and why Blagojevich is exactly what Illinois doesn’t. The latter’s chutzpah alone is simply breathtaking. From what I’ve heard Blagojevich has to be in the running for both the dumbest politician in the world and the most brazen. Either way, the sooner Illinois rids itself of that bozo the better off everyone will be.
December 9th, 2008 at 8:15 pm
4. atheistmule
“So, js, is that how it is? Illinoisnans are bad people, just cause they’re from Illinois? Another 12 million to the list of people you hate?”
id like to see where i said that…bringing me to the conclusion that you are not much more than a monkey in a stupid suit for even trying to attribute your stupidity to me…
December 9th, 2008 at 8:16 pm
there isnt anything out of the ordinary in the way blago was doing business…thats the mentality of politics…he just got caught…unlike obama….whose entire involvement was behind advisors who are lawyers who can not be compelled to tell the truth about thier clients activities…
December 9th, 2008 at 8:20 pm
look at pelosi, how many people in her family and friends circle were put into high paying jobs…and reid? face it…just like earmarks…they do thier dirty deeds behind our backs…and use feasible deniablity as a cover to hide thier lies…obama isnt any different…michelle got a 300k salary because barak got a 3 million dollar earmark for a hospital…
they are thieves…and we are the prey the delight in fleecing…wake up liberal idiots…stop defending the lie…
December 9th, 2008 at 8:31 pm
“I smell impeachment even before the “swearing” in party ends.”
snifff, snifff
No fmr,
That’s you.
December 9th, 2008 at 8:34 pm
This guys going down, I just hope it happens quickly. Stopping funding (8 million) to a Children’s Hospital because they wouldn’t give him $50k? What a scummbag! That’s before mentioning trying to sell a senate set.
I took their word, at a press conference when they said they weren’t implicating Obama was involved, then Obama came on and said he NEVER had a conversation with Gov. Blago about who should get the senate seat.
THEN…I’m listening to Sean Hannity on the radio and he plays a tape of Axelrod telling the press that Obama has spoken with Gov. Blago on the phone and has had meetings in regards to who would take his senate seat. (I’m sure it will be on Hannity & Colmes tonight.)
I didn’t question what Axelrod, in a press conference, contradicted Obama statement today. AGAIN, if Obama has nothing to hide then why not admit the conversations? Unless their is more to the conversations then have been released.
December 9th, 2008 at 8:40 pm
js,
We as liberals have a differnent view of government. It is that view we will defend, not corrupt politicians who have carried our banner, unfortunately. Such jackasses do not help our cause. The Govenor of Illinois is not someone we will defend. If he goes down in flames on his own accord, I say let him burn.
However, you have done nothing to prove your main point that Obama raised all the money in the presidential election by using corrupt tactiics.
December 9th, 2008 at 8:44 pm
Other than the Rezko thing, how is Obama corrupt? And to me, you guys are blowing a lot of smoke about Rezko.
December 9th, 2008 at 8:57 pm
js02: michelle got a 300k salary because barak got a 3 million dollar earmark for a hospital…
I think you need to check your facts. If you do I think you’ll find that (a) Michelle Obama was initially offered the job well before Barack became a state senator; (b) she turned down a more lucrative offer to eventually take it; (c) as I recall Barack’s earmark request occurred after Michelle accepted the VP position, and was for about $1 million, not 3, but; (d) it’s a moot point because the earmark was never approved.
December 9th, 2008 at 9:02 pm
Casper, the “theory” as you call it, only applies to Senators and House members at the Federal level.
Meanwhile, Obama will have to answer to a special prosecutor, just to find out his communications by him or his staff with the corrupt governor. This will be a fact finding interview to see if the governor approached the individuals Obama had in mind to replace him. I don’t see how Obama can be implicated at this time.
However, because of the seriousness of the charge, there must be a special prosecutor and an investigation (the liberals got away with this crappy excuse for years - Ex. Bush 41 role in delaying the release of the Iranian hostages in order for Reagan to defeat Carter. Pre-election surprise in the ‘92 campaign - just an accusation and no evidence).
This should be an interesting investigation.
December 9th, 2008 at 9:32 pm
“Casper, the “theory” as you call it, only applies to Senators and House members at the Federal level.”
Interesting that wasn’t mentioned on the thread about Jefferson. Most of the comments were about democrats in general. I guess if the facts don’t fit your theory, you get to go back and change the theory.
AS for the Blagojevich case, it looks like the democrats in the state legislature are already pushing for impeachment.
Also, for those that feel that Obama has to be a crook because he comes from Chicago, remember that as Rico points out, “Using your logic Bobby Jindal must be dirty too.” You could say the same about Sarah Palin, since she comes from a state with pretty corrupt politics.
December 9th, 2008 at 9:42 pm
You could say the same about Sarah Palin, since she comes from a state with pretty corrupt politics.
You could also say the same about Sarah Palin because of, you know, the ethics violation.
December 9th, 2008 at 11:17 pm
what ethics vilation? the trumped up political grandstanding that the ex-guv played out…that found no guilt and no charges?
you dream too much
December 9th, 2008 at 11:26 pm
Does his ability to become president make America sewage?
December 9th, 2008 at 11:51 pm
Does his ability to become president make America sewage?
No, of course not.
His ability to become President makes our public school system garbage ready for pick-up by the garbage truck, taken to the nearest landfill, run through the garbage grinder and buried!!
December 10th, 2008 at 12:03 am
You know, you still haven’t told me where you’re getting your information on what our public schools are like.
December 10th, 2008 at 1:28 am
Sergei,
I don’t know how familiar you are with Chicago politics, but this is par for the course. Here’s sample:
Rep. Dan Rostenkowski was at the center of the House “check kiting” scandal and as a result of this, he was defeated for re-election in 1994. His district was (and is) very heavily Democrat so there was really no question that some Democrat would re-take the seat in 1996 from the GOPer who won in 1994 - and so it was done. The winner? Now-governor Blago.
Time goes on and Blago runs for governor, leaving his seat open - given the nature of the seat, it is sure to go to a new Democrat, and it does. The new man? Obama’s pick for Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel.
Intertwined with all these changes is the fact that Rostenkowski, Blago and Emanuel are/were hip deep in Chicago’s corrupt political culture. Part of this whole scandal is the part about how Mayor Daley appears to have used city employees to assist first Blago and then Emanuel to get elected to the House - these were city employees who were on the clock (ie, on the taxpayer’s dime) when the did their campaign work. Why did they do it? Because their positions in the Chicago city government were given via political favoritism and were maintained only by continual placating of the Powers which placed them in government.
Chicago is essentially a one-party political entity - and the commonality in all one-party States is that corruption runs rampant. There’s no one to really check up on what government is doing as there’s no functional political opposition to dig up and broadcast the dirt. The Democrats run Chicago as a political cow to be milked by the connected for money and political power. Obama arose out of that morass.
Now, does Obama know all this? If he doesn’t, then he’s the biggest fool in human history. Did Obama deliberately take advantage of Chicago’s political culture to assist his rise? Well, two strong opponents of Obama (one for State Senate and one for US Senate) were forced out of the race against Obama by dirty political tricks. Any proof that Obama orchestrated same? Nope - but it is clear that the same corrupt machine which elevated Blago to the Governorship was assisting Obama in his rise to power - and now to the Presidency of the United States of America.
In the final analysis, Obama owes his rise to the very people now being indicted - whether it will brush close to Obama is unknown. Obama seems a pretty smart guy, and he may have been smart enough, once in the Senate, to use entirely third-party cut-outs in his dealings with the Chicago political machine. But, perhaps not - if Blago and Co start to sing, we’ll know pretty quick if Obama has played it smart. Unless, of course, Obama pulls a Clinton and fires all the US Attorneys when he takes office in order, like Clinton, to get rid of the one who is a threat. I’ll take it that there’s genuine dirt on Obama if Fitzgerald is out within 6 months of January 20th.
Does all this mean that Obama is personally corrupt? Impossible to tell - there is a chance that Obama arose in the most corrupt political imaginable and maintained his honor and managed to get aid for free from people who have here to for always insisted upon payola for services rendered. The chances of this are small, but not impossible. Does all this mean that Obama will be brought down by corruption? Probably not - he’s got at least a bit of plausible deniability and if he just lets this investigation go forward it might all be wrapped up in a year…on the other hand, it could hang ’round his neck year after year like Whitewater did for Clinton.
December 10th, 2008 at 1:59 am
Which of my comments were you responding to?
December 10th, 2008 at 6:46 am
26. Sergei Andropov “Does his ability to become president make America sewage”
why are there so many idiots on one message board? when you follow a fool, you are usually acknowledged to be a fool, so when you follow a con artist and a liar, what does that make you?
December 10th, 2008 at 6:48 am
Sorry casper I did not mean to confuse you with only examples of federal Senators and House members.
Sorry if it went over your head.
Obama denies all communications with Blago concerning his seat. Axelrod confirms Obama had discussions with Blago about his seat.
Hmmmm…. the games have started before the gate opens!
Chicago politics is interesting. Practically everyone surrounding Obama and had relationships with Obama are under investigation, but Obama is completely clean? Just like the Clintons in the Whitewater scandal. Everyone involved, except the Clintons went to jail.
Like I said…. interesting. The special prosecutor will find the facts … unless the liberal Democrats hinder the investigations like they did for Whitewater, filegate, travelgate, etc. etc..
December 10th, 2008 at 6:50 am
21. ricorun
sorry rico, i guess the raise from 125k to 300k after the earmark was so insignificant…you just dont notice…
December 10th, 2008 at 6:59 am
19. cam1
lol, you take the bronze ring on the merry go round on this one;
“We as liberals have a differnent view of government.”
i really dont care if you think its ok for a liar and thief to be elected president…it only means that you accept corruption and have concluded that its ok to vote for a liar…your personnal ideals are just as corrupt as that view…
and thats the rot in that tree you call liberal…
December 10th, 2008 at 7:09 am
isnt that strange how things work….blago was trying to get his wife a high paying low labor job as a political favor…”so it wouldnt look” inappropriate…as a part of a political pandering to fill a senate seat…which he said was worth a lot of money….
and obama’s wife who is a lawyer…gets a 300% pay increase….shortly after obama is elected to the senate…
aint it strange how that staynk gets around?
December 10th, 2008 at 8:06 am
Rod Blagojevich has followed in the footsteps of his predecessors: He became the fourth of the past seven governors elected in Illinois to be arrested. Residents blame the sad tradition on a culture of patronage.
“Government in Illinois isn’t about political ideology or helping people,” said Christopher Mooney, who teaches political science at the University of Illinois-Springfield. “It’s about which idiot brother-in-law are you going to get a job on a road crew because he helped you get into office.”
The governor, a Democrat, was charged yesterday with trying to sell Barack Obama’s vacated Senate seat, according to a criminal complaint filed by prosecutors. Three previous governors were jailed: Otto Kerner, governor from 1961 to 1968; Dan Walker, who held the job from 1973 to 1977; and George Ryan, who served from 1999 to 2003.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a5hFmTfqLK9s&refer=worldwide
its pretty obvious, dont you think? the smart ones that dont get caught are the ones we should concern ourselves with the most….like obama…whose career is surrounded by corrupt people like rezko, and blogo…and terrorists like ayers…and ayers wife…and the feasible deniability factor that they surround themselves with….like a talented quarterback…surrounded by 11 other players…so the quarterback doesnt take a hit…
December 10th, 2008 at 8:16 am
…when you follow a fool, you are usually acknowledged to be a fool, so when you follow a con artist and a liar, what does that make you?
You follow(ed) Bush without question for the last 8 years. I can’t help but laugh at you js. You truly are an ignoramus.
December 10th, 2008 at 8:59 am
“Sorry casper I did not mean to confuse you with only examples of federal Senators and House members.”
In other words you screwed up and now you are to blame it on me by changing the rules. Wow, I haven’t seen that ploy since I taught grade school. You would come off looking a lot better if you would own up to your mistakes, but I guess that’s not something Republicans can do.
December 10th, 2008 at 9:24 am
37. sar2
what is “ignoramus” is that you have been continuously challenged to produce irrefutable facts that demonstrate bush is guilty of any of your conspiracy theories, and all you can utter is speculations and gossip and rumors…
so…in light of the obvious…when you follow a con artist and a liar, it normally makes you a victim….but if you do so while knowing full well that obama is a liar and con, then it makes you a full partner in the lie and the con, which means you are a criminal…just like the con artist…
December 10th, 2008 at 9:26 am
38. casper
lol
it really did go way over your head…something not so unusual though…its actually normal…
December 10th, 2008 at 10:27 am
No casper, I did not screw anything up. The point flew over your head. My comments were about the Senate and House Democrats only and not state or municpal posiditons. You were not swift enough to see that.
What subject do you teach, basket weaving? It is obvious that you cannot comprehend anything more difficult nor be able to hold class room attention for more than 2 minutes, based on the round-robin subjects in your posts.
December 10th, 2008 at 11:31 am
what is “ignoramus” is that you have been…
LOL I think you just proved my description of you was apt.
As for proof, you won’t acknowledge that torture is unconstitutional as is a ‘pre-emptive policy’ and thats not to mention that there were no WMD’s in Iraq. So theres really no sense in address your hunger for the truth. Any truth that doesn’t go along with your pre-set beliefs is erroneous. Your not looking for truth, no, your looking for a nice comfy blanket.
December 10th, 2008 at 11:32 am
Bad link above…
December 10th, 2008 at 12:38 pm
lol, you get stupider every day…thats all you got? 8 years, and you point to a case that will NEVER be prosecuted because it was a lawful option?
I guess you never underwent waterboarding…like the US Military special forces training does…or the 3 people they used it on that provided substantial information on al Queda….
you are scant more than an excuse lookiing for a place to happen…lol…so present evidence that bush actually had foreknowledge that the 3 men the CIA used waterboarding on were going to be tortured…
the CIA’s rendition program existed for years before Bush set foot in DC….so…lets get some facts straight…assuming bush knows everything they do is pretty far fetched and ignorant…
time to step up to the plate and bite down hard Sar…proof and not lip service, or dont you know the difference between the two? or do you fail to understand that simple concept…
and as such, in your absence of facts…you truely are ignoramus…isnt that amazing…
December 10th, 2008 at 12:58 pm
ugh, js, do you even know what your defending?
I could go into the rest of it but as I stated it’s not worth my time providing facts to you. You’ll call it BS or librul MSM garbage.
Finally theres this. you truely are ignoramus
I even provided the definition of ignoramus for you. The least you could have done was use it properly in a sentence. Otherwise it makes you look like an even bigger ignoramus then I originally had suspected.
December 10th, 2008 at 1:03 pm
I guess you never underwent waterboarding…like the US Military special forces training does
No, because that would be unconstitutional and a violation of my human rights. Thats the point. ugh
December 10th, 2008 at 1:14 pm
Good morning to you, too.
“Government in Illinois isn’t about political ideology or helping people,” said Christopher Mooney, who teaches political science at the University of Illinois-Springfield. “It’s about which idiot brother-in-law are you going to get a job on a road crew because he helped you get into office.”
Therein lies the rub. How many corrupt Chicago politicians decided to forgo lucrative positions at law firms and become low payed community organizers instead?
Very well, produce some “irrefutable facts” proving that Obama is corrupt.
By the way, “ignoramus” is a noun, not an adjective.
December 10th, 2008 at 1:15 pm
so there you…the mental midget stooge…making more excuses…
see…i have you pegged 100% right…
ig⋅no⋅ra⋅mus /ˌɪgnəˈreɪməs, -ˈræməs/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [ig-nuh-rey-muhs, -ram-uhs] Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun, plural -mus⋅es. an extremely ignorant person. face it, you are ignorant
——————————————————————————–
Origin:
1570–80; < L ignōrāmus we ignore (1st pers. pl. pres. indic. of ignōrāre to be ignorant of, ignore ); hence name of an ignorant lawyer in the play Ignoramus (1615) by the English playwright G. Ruggle, whence current sense
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
December 10th, 2008 at 1:17 pm
actually, serg, my basis is that obama is a liar and con artist…do you actually need proof of that?
December 10th, 2008 at 1:26 pm
Barack Obama in 2003, talking to the AFL/CIO:“I happen to be a proponent of single-payer universal healthcare coverage. That’s what I’d like to see.”In January, 2008, Obama claimed in a nationally televised debate:”I never said that we should try to go ahead and get single-payer.”
In his memoir, Obama writes of one of the watershed moments of his racial awareness — time and again in remarkable detail. It is a story about a Life magazine article that influenced him. The report was about a black man who tried to bleach his skin white. When Obama was told no such article could be found in Life, he says “it might have been Ebony.He is 9 years old, living in Indonesia, where he and his mother moved with her new husband, Lolo Soetoro, a few years earlier. One day while visiting his mother, who was working at the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta, Obama passed time by looking through several issues of Life magazine. He came across an article that he later would describe as feeling like an “ambush attack.”The article included photos of a black man who had destroyed his skin with powerful chemical lighteners that promised to make him white. Instead, the chemicals had peeled off much of his skin, leaving him sad and scarred, Obama recalled.“I imagine other black children, then and now, undergoing similar moments of revelation,” Obama wrote of the magazine photos in “Dreams.”Yet no such photo exists, according to historians at the magazine. No such photos, no such article. When asked about the discrepancy, Obama said in a recent interview, “It might have been an Ebony or it might have been … who knows what it was?” (At the request of the Tribune, archivists at Ebony searched their catalogue of past articles, none of which matched what Obama recalled.)In fact, it is surprising, based on interviews with more than two dozen people who knew Obama during his nearly four years in Indonesia, that it would take a photograph in a magazine to make him conscious of the fact that some people might treat him differently in part because of the color of his skin.
Responding to questions about his intent to serve out the six year senate term, Obama says, in this video, (link removed), that he will not run for the presidency in four years.Notice: The video has disappeared. Using WayBackMachine, I found two links — both played empty videos — a lot of stuff is being scrubbed from the web.Here is what he said in the video:“I think I’ve been very clear. Ah-ah-mumble-mumble, there’s a presidential election in four years. I’m not running for president in four years.”Here is a backup story — during a meeting with reporters at his Illinois campaign headquarters after his election to the U.S. Senate, he ridiculed as “a silly question” whether he would run for president or vice president before his term ends in 2011. “I’ve never worked in Washington,” he said. “I can unequivocally say I will not be running for national office in four years, and my entire focus is making sure that I’m the best possible senator on behalf of the people of Illinois.”
On July 28th, the day after his speech at the Democratic convention catapulted him into the national spotlight, Barack Obama told a group of reporters in Boston that the United States had an “absolute obligation” to remain in Iraq long enough to make it a success.”The failure of the Iraqi state would be a disaster,” he said at a lunch sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor, according to an audiotape of the session. “It would dishonor the 900-plus men and women who have already died. . . . It would be a betrayal of the promise that we made to the Iraqi people, and it would be hugely destabilizing from a national security perspective.”In late winter, 2008, on the campaign trail, Obama says he wants to bring the troops home yesterday — you decide — was he lying then or is he lying now?
On the January 22nd edition of “Meet the Press,” Tim Russert and Obama had the following exchange:Russert: “When we talked back in November of ‘04 after your election, I said, ‘There’s been enormous speculation about your political future. Will you serve your six-year term as United States senator from Illinois?’”Obama: “I will serve out my full six-year term. You know, Tim, if you get asked enough, sooner or later you get weary and you start looking for new ways of saying things. But my thinking has not changed.”Russert: “So you will not run for president or vice president in 2008?”Obama: “I will not.”
As another example, consider Obama’s stirring tale for the Selma audience about how he had been conceived by his parents, Barack Obama Sr. and Ann Dunham, because they had been inspired by the fervor following the “Bloody Sunday” voting rights demonstration that was commemorated March 4. “There was something stirring across the country because of what happened in Selma, Alabama,” he said, “because some folks are willing to march across a bridge. So they got together and Barack Obama Jr. was born. So don’t tell me I don’t have a claim on Selma, Alabama. Don’t tell me I’m not coming home to Selma, Alabama”Obama was born in 1961, and the Selma march occurred four years later, in 1965. The New York Times reported that when the senator was asked about the discrepancy later that day, he clarified: “I meant the whole civil rights movement.”
Obama went on to tell his audience that the Kennedys — Jack and Bobby — decided to do an airlift. They would bring some young Africans over so that they could be educated and learn all about America. His grandfather heard that call and sent his son, Barack Obama, Sr., to America.The problem with that scenario is that, having been born in August 1961, the future senator was not conceived until sometime in November 1960. So, if his African grandfather heard words that “sent a shout across oceans,” inspiring him to send his goat-herder son to America, it was not Democrat Jack Kennedy he heard, or his brother Bobby, it was Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower.Actually, Senior was awarded an American sponsored scholarship in economics to the University of Hawaii at Manoa. He was selected by a former Kenyan cabinet minister, the late Tom Mboya, who was earmarked as the successor to Jomo Kenyatta, Kenya’s first prime minister.The presumption was that Senior would return to Africa and use his “Western-honed skills in a new Kenya.”
On May 8th, Obama, caught up in the fervor of a campaign speech Tuesday, drastically overstated the Kansas tornadoes death toll, saying 10,000 had died.”In case you missed it, this week, there was a tragedy in Kansas. Ten thousand people died — an entire town destroyed,” the Democratic presidential candidate said in a speech to 500 people packed into a sweltering Richmond art studio for a fundraiser.The death toll was 12.
need more?
December 10th, 2008 at 1:43 pm
#48. js02 | December 10th, 2008 at 1:15 pm
js, it’s really hard to take you seriously after posts like that. Please, for your own sake, read back and learn how you used the word wrong.
December 10th, 2008 at 1:56 pm
ya know sar, i really dont care how you take me…respect from a stooge really isnt on my hi priority list…
December 10th, 2008 at 3:04 pm
ya know sar, i really dont care how you take me…respect from a stooge really isnt on my hi priority list…
Thanks js, you perfectly summed up the mentality of the last 8 years in one single sentence.
With your own words you have proven that even when a mistake is shown you, you don’t acknowledge it, instead you dismiss it and say you don’t care.
From foreign policy to the economy and everywhere in between, this mentality has done tremendous damage to the US. It was soundly rejected and will continue to be unless the current republican party changes. No matter how much corruption or finger pointing you do at the democrats that will not change until you come up with a plan. Some ideas which are smart and will work. Absent of that, you’ll be spending a long time in the ‘minority’ party my friend.
December 10th, 2008 at 5:42 pm
funny, you have a brain fart, its still wrong…and engaging in arguements with stooges and idiots really wont make you right, so ill just laugh at you still…
in your confusion, you think you see a mistake, yet, in the context of what i posted (from the dictionary) the use of ignoramus was totally on target…yet, you, in your typical mental midget fashion, drift off on some bull so to avoid the real issue…
you still fill those shoes stooge…one step ahead of a moron…
December 10th, 2008 at 5:43 pm
53. stooge
“From foreign policy to the economy and everywhere in between, ”
details please….your constant and broad sweeping statements are not more than the rambling of an ignorant mutt wanting attention…
December 10th, 2008 at 6:54 pm
I’m almost afraid to ask this, but do you know what the difference between nouns and adjectives is?
December 10th, 2008 at 9:08 pm
When talking about ideology’s there really are no facts. I mean you can point to certain events, like, say the landslide victory for Obama. But thats about all you can do. Anyway, I’m done with this circle-jerk with you js.
This is OT, but can anyone tell me what will happen with the warranty to the G-5 that I bought 2 years ago? GM stays in business but the Pontiac dealer where I bought the car will not, or will be retrofitted as a Chevrolet dealer. In any event, the parts for the car will no longer be made (I have been told Chevrolet parts are similar, but don’t know for sure). Can anyone tell me if my 6 year warranty just went up in smoke while I’m still paying for it?
December 10th, 2008 at 9:42 pm
Ok, so after re-reading my first statement I realize how retarded that is. Been a long week so my apologies.
I think what I meant to say is that society is changing. The signs are around. Obama’s victory was just the beginning. The country is poised to shift to a fiscally conservative yet somewhat socially liberal position. The Roe vs Wade days are coming to an end. As will this debate about gay marriage. I really don’t see it even being an issue in 10 years.
js, If you want facts, come out from your basement sometime and socialize with people. Travel around the country and even the world. Most people think everyone should have healthcare and that they should be able to retire with a pension. Most women, whether for or against Roe vs Wade, want that choice if an unwanted pregnancy was placed upon them.
You ask for facts for common sense observations which are occurring in society?!?!?! Well ok then, here’s a fact. Bush and his doctrine was proven wrong to such an extent that America elected it’s first Black President, who was the most librul in the senate, whose Middle name is Hussein and whose last name is Strikingly similar to Osama. Mull that one over for a little bit.
It is funny to note that all that you have to offer in response to my constant and broad sweeping statements are insults. One would think that because they are so broad and sweeping there is plenty of room to debate instead of casting insults.
One last thing,
in your confusion, you think you see a mistake, yet, in the context of what i posted (from the dictionary) the use of ignoramus was totally on target…yet, you, in your typical mental midget fashion, drift off on some bull so to avoid the real issue…
Adjectives and nouns were something that was taught in grade 3. If you can’t figure out where you went wrong, I can’t help you. Just know, anyone reading this thread that has even a 6th grade education is laughing at you.
As for the corruption in the article above. Obama himself has called for Blagojevich to resign. Man’s guilty (well, not yet, but he is on tape and it’s a pretty well cut and dry case), Obama wants him gone, what more would you have him do? Hire a firing squad? Extend his vetting to all democrats he has ever spoken / been in the same city with? Didn’t you folks try this with Clinton?
December 11th, 2008 at 7:17 am
you must have a hole in your head…as an ignoramus its obvious that you fail to grasp reality…so you have to make it up as you go…no…you dont have the country in your pocket…no RVW opposition will not fade for you…the majority of the country is still Christian, and opposition will do nothing but continue to grow…the backlash of obama’s anti american behavior will assure that when he provides citizenship to 37.9 million illegal immigrants citizenship, most of whom are far better christians that many existing americans…your hatred for everything bush exposes you for the lie that you are…you have little to provide hiding behind those lies and rumors….so spreading gossip does not replace facts, facts are something which is AWOL in your posts…and you are still an ignoramus….lock, stock, and barrel…from the start…
and face it…obama only wants to look innocent, there is no other reason why he would toss another one of his comrades in corruption under the buss….or do you actually thing that blago was negotiating with “i dont know” through all those recordings….
wake up…mental midget
December 11th, 2008 at 7:24 am
“and as such, in your absence of facts…you truely are ignoramus…isnt that amazing…”
“noun, plural -mus⋅es. an extremely ignorant person. face it, you are ignorant”
ignoramus, being the name of a lawyer in a play (as cited in the dictionary), as a matter of fact, as a person, so when i call the mental midget ignoramus, it is a proper use of the word….
so, instead of pressing stupidity in your off topic discussion of your own ignorance, while the proof of that ignorance is right here on this blog, you should both pay attention to the details that you wash over, also ignoring, while you make sweeping, erroneous accusations against a sitting president….
December 11th, 2008 at 1:07 pm
Mark
29. Mark Noonan | December 10th, 2008 at 1:28 am
Sergei,
I don’t know how familiar you are with Chicago politics, but this is par for the course. Here’s sample:
He is a 22yo KID attending berkley of all places.
He is incapable of understanding nothing that is not poured into his hollow cranium, by his marxist handlers.
I believe him to be a CAIR plant!
December 11th, 2008 at 7:36 pm
“its pretty obvious, dont you think? the smart ones that dont get caught are the ones we should concern ourselves with the most….”
So what? Every Illinois politician is corrupt? Good grief… guilt by geography.
December 11th, 2008 at 8:05 pm
js,
You try to put words in my mouth. I said, “We as liberals have a differnent view of government. It is that view we will defend, not corrupt politicians who have carried our banner, unfortunately. Such jackasses do not help our cause. The Govenor of Illinois is not someone we will defend.”
Bottom line, if the politicians we once supported are shown to be corrupt, we will no longer support them.
Problem is that you have tried to make a connection between Blo and O but you have not proved your main point about any corruption related to his fund raising activities.
Fact is Obama raised the money by creating an extremely organized campaign using modern technoogy to raise money. Perhaps his days as community organizer paid off. Now that is funny.