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The Obama Watch
Chicago Tugs on Obama's Sleeve
Does what happens in Chicago stay in Chicago?
Tuesday's arrest of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich on charges that included trying to sell President-elect Barack Obama's U.S. Senate seat has brought renewed national attention to the state's corrupt political culture while creating a headache for the incoming administration.
Blagojevich's declaration, recorded by wiretap, that a Senate seat "is a fu--ing valuable thing, you don't just give it away for nothing," is sure to enter the political scandal lexicon along with Larry Craig's "I have a wide stance" and Marion Barry's "the bitch set me up."
In a press conference, prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald emphasized that the 76-page complaint against Gov. Blagojevich contained "no allegations" against Obama. In fact, the document quotes Blagojevich using an Oedipus-themed slur in reference to Obama, and the governor lamented that the President-elect wasn't willing to dole out bribes to secure the Senate seat for his preferred candidate.
Nonetheless, the wide-ranging scandal, which also included charges that Blagojevich tried to shake down a children's hospital and have an editor removed from the Chicago Tribune, raises a number of important questions about our next president. The most immediate is whether Obama or any of his representatives had any interaction with Blagojevich over the past month regarding the Senate vacancy.
On this point, there is already some uncertainty.
"I had no contact with the governor or his office and so I was not aware of what was happening," Obama told reporters in the wake of Tuesday's indictment.
But soon after his statement, ABC's Jake Tapper posted video of a November 23 interview in which senior adviser David Axelrod said of Obama's involvement that "I know he's talked to the governor."
Later in the day, Axelrod claimed he was "mistaken" in the interview.
The scandal has also drawn attention to Obama's relationship with Blagojevich, which Obama's defenders say is tangential, while other evidence suggests otherwise.
In a July New Yorker article, reporter Ryan Lizza quotes Obama's chief of staff designate, Rahm Emanuel, as saying that he and Obama served as key advisers to Blagojevich in his run for governor, along with two other campaign staffers. "We basically laid out the general election, Barack and I and these two,” Emanuel said, according to the magazine.
Lizza goes on to write that "a spokesman for Blagojevich confirmed Emanuel’s account, although David Wilhelm, who now works for Obama, said that Emanuel had overstated Obama’s role. 'There was an advisory council that was inclusive of Rahm and Barack but not limited to them,' Wilhelm said, and he disputed the notion that Obama was 'an architect or one of the principal strategists.'"
What is clear is that Obama endorsed and campaigned for Blagojevich in 2002. In June of that year, he told Jeff Berkowitz, a local television interviewer, that his "main focus is to make sure that we elect Rod Blagojevich as governor," and when asked whether he was working hard for him, Obama responded, "you betcha."
Some of Obama's signature moves could be seen in Blagojevich's 2002 campaign: promising change and reform, tying his Republican opponent (Jim Ryan) to the unpopular Republican incumbent (George Ryan), and turning his unusual name into an asset and source of humor.
"How can you replace one Ryan with another Ryan and call that change?" Blagojevich asked at a rally that summer at the Illinois State Fair, according to an Associated Press account at the time. "You want change? Elect a guy named Blagojevich! Now that's change."
Philip Klein is The American Spectator's Washington correspondent.
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Michael L. Hauschild| 12.10.08 @ 6:58AM
I have not had sexual relations with that governor......
Melvin| 12.10.08 @ 7:12AM
We are constantly reminded by the media of the thuggishness of Chicago style politics. Gov. Rod Blagojevich appears to be just the tip of the iceberg.
How many Rod Blagoevichs are out there in politics? How many Rod Blagoevichs are in the Senate, and the House? How many Rod Blagoevichs reside in the labyrinth of bureaucratic hacks that reside in government.
Many Americans want cradle to grave government taking care of they're lives. If this cradle to grave government is run by the Rod Blagovichs of government the grave might be closer than you think.
Speedbump| 12.10.08 @ 8:50AM
What troubles me about this is how, under normal circumstances when something like this erupts, Democrats will immediately lock arms and stonewall until the public tires of hearing about the scandal, then the incident gets quietly swept under the rug...all with the aid of the mass media...
However, this time the Democrats seem to be in a frantic rush to toss Blagojevich under the bus...they almost seem to want to be able to get this over before it can be investigated thoroughly...At the risk of sounding conspiratorial, I suspect there's much, much more here than meets the eye...
Jason, I agree with you in that Obama will be insulated from this at all costs...
Alan Brooks| 12.10.08 @ 8:50AM
these sort of chi-town hacks are so overconfident they become indiscreet.
Michael Roush| 12.10.08 @ 9:04AM
Kevin Philips writes, "In a press conference, prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald emphasized that the 76-page complaint against Gov. Blagojevich contained "no allegations" against Obama. In fact, the document quotes Blagojevich using an Oedipus-themed slur in reference to Obama, and the governor lamented that the President-elect wasn't willing to dole out bribes to secure the Senate seat for his preferred candidate.
Nonetheless,......" So what is the nonetheless Mr. Philips has to offer? (1) Well, we are not sure whether or not Obama talked with Blagojevich about the Senate seat he was going to vacate. Frankly, I would be surprised if no conversation took place. Why wouldn't Obama be interested in the political agenda of the person who might replace him and why wouldn't he discuss this with the one person who has the power to name his successor? This is a far cry from selling a seat or colluding in the process (2) Obama worked for the governor's election. By this standard anyone who worked for President Bush is guilty of all of this administration's malfeasance. I'm sure many people worked for W only to be disappointed by many of his policies and actions. (3) "Some of Obama's signature moves could be seen in Blagojevich's 2002 campaign:" Wow, what a damning piece of evidence. (4) Finally, Philips couldn't resist playing again the Rezko and Wright cards for old time sake, even if he had to qualify this with the following: "Thus far, most of Obama's top appointments have not come from the world of Chicago politics, but there are prominent exceptions, including Axelrod, Emanuel, and Valerie Jarrett, who worked for Chicago Mayor Richard Daley and will serve as a senior adviser in the Obama White House." Okay, but it appears that Emanuel may have been instrumental in bringing Governor Blagojevich down. All in all, Mr. Philips, a very sophomoric attempt to create guilt by association, however, I'm sure it will play well.
Anthony | 12.10.08 @ 9:14AM
While I believe Obama is too smart to get caught up in this mess, and really doesn't care who suceedes him in the senate as Dickie Durban's junior, (after all in Ill. they're all the same) and certainly, wasn't going to pay to play, even if he was, nonetheless, I think Patrick Fitzgerald is the ultimate Democrat hack and Chuck Schumer suck up, and I believe he rushed to arrest this moron, Blagoevich, before it could potentially spill onto Obama. Damage control, as they say. As things stand, we have contradictory statements from Obama and Axelrod about this very subject, which the MSM, in their typical fashion, think no big deal. Oh, but if it were Karl Rove who contradicted Bush, well, we know how that goes. Waxman's henchmen would have subpoenas out already. This is indeed a corruption mentality burnished by the '60s generation as their very own. The left is enjoying its absolute power in all facits of government and it has corrupted absolutely.
Joseph| 12.10.08 @ 9:23AM
First Resko, then 'I am not a terrorist"Ayers, then "ameriKKKA" Wright, then "get out the vote" ACORN, then "where is it from" internet money - now "I really had nothing to do with him" DEMOCRATIC Gov. Rod Blagojevich. And the list goes on.
So this wonderful country with the aid and abettment of the liberal media have now elected a President with a paper thin resume whose only urgency was to get to the White House and stay there for 8 years, about which they have done no vetting and hope he will prove to be the miracle grow who will makes us all prosper again.
For that American went along as the media dumped on a straight shooting, honest, successful administrator, with a photographic memory, a quick learner and solver of problems called SARAH PALIN.
Given the opportunity we went for HOPE rather than SUBSTANCE. What more will we find out ?
Doctor Right| 12.10.08 @ 9:40AM
Obama is up to his neck in this scandal. The conservative blogosphere needs to bird-dog this relentlessly, because the scumbags in the mainstream media will try to ignore it.
There's NO WAY that Obama did not discuss who would fill his seat with the man responsible for selecting his replacement.
A Realist| 12.10.08 @ 9:42AM
Phillip Klein; GIVE IT UP !!!
You are wasting your time. The sycophantic media's love affair with their charismatic, hynotic, religious leader, Obama, will preclude any and all media investigations or reports associating Obama with any "bad" person or "bad" actions.
Like just Die Sturmer never found any fault with Der Fuhrer, rest assured that the US media will NEVER find any faults with their new living, breathing, walking-the-earth GOD (Obama).
David Shoup| 12.10.08 @ 10:13AM
The first African-American President is besmirched by scandal before he even takes office! I told you he was a light weight. Hold on to your country, America! We are in for a wild four years!
Dustoff| 12.10.08 @ 10:19AM
What did Obama know, and when did he know it!
___________________________
Notice how fast the Obama team is running from this mess. Even though Axelrod said back in Nov Obama spoke with this crook.
What next, Obama poking his finger at us and doing a Clinton.
Appleby| 12.10.08 @ 10:31AM
Any minute now Hopey McChange will issue a statement that he is shocked and saddened that there is corruption in Illinois...HE HAD NO IDEA ... NEVER HEARD SUCH THINGS BEFORE!
How a man 47 years old can sleepwalk through his entire life, seeing, hearing and noticing NOTHING that was happening around him, makes him sound a lot like Sergeant Shultz from "Hogans' Heroes".
Fortunately I have my NOBAMA sign and nobody will be able to pin this one on me.
Rex| 12.10.08 @ 10:39AM
I find it very ironic that campaign contributions are legal and Blagojevich's escapades illegal.
What's the difference?
Turk| 12.10.08 @ 11:03AM
I am heartened to see that only one of the preceeding commentors is a syncophant of the left
(Michael). They seem to be hanging around the Spectator a lot lately---heavy breath and all attacking conservatives. Could it be they are a little (and I emphasize little) shook up that this bomb went off soo close to the magnificent airhead. Or could it be that one time too many the annoited one has to express stupidity----" I dont know nothin-he just lives in the neighborhood-I never heard him say anything like that-etc, ad nauseum. If his lies go over the way slick willy's did BHO should have sky high numbers by mid January!
Come on you leftists, lets hear your B.S. Tell us what a dastardly guy Klein is to insinuate that BHO is not as pure as the driven snow they see so often in Chicago.
Daphne Kenward| 12.10.08 @ 11:20AM
The Chickens may come home to roost. The days of dirty politics may soon be at an end.
The Mafia gangs of politics may soon be held accountable.
We can only hope.
George| 12.10.08 @ 11:49AM
Take Patrick Fitzgerald at his word. This broke when it did because of the imminent potential sale of a Senate seat. He said there is more to investigate. And he hoped that by going public it would bring more people in to spill the beans to save their own hide. He said they had already gotten calls yesterday morning after the news of the arrest broke.
And remember the feds had bugs on the governor's offices, home, and campaign headquarters. If the governor and Obama did talk, what do you think the chances are that the feds have it on tape? And what about some of those angling for the senate appointment?
Fitzgerald has been chewing away at Chicago corruption for years. This indictment has probably blown the lid off Chicago politics. There will be a torrent of revelations over the next several months.
The Democrats are trying to close the barn door after the horse has already escaped.
As a Downstater, this will be an amzing realilty show.
Dustoff| 12.10.08 @ 12:04PM
Has anyone notced that the lying, racist Rev Wright is back!
The gift that keeps on giving.
You betch-ya.
Dustoff| 12.10.08 @ 12:07PM
Rex
I find it very ironic that campaign contributions are legal and Blagojevich's escapades illegal.
What's the difference?
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++
It's called a BRIBE!
that work for you.
Paul| 12.10.08 @ 12:16PM
I always try to explain to my children and my students that "appearances are 50% of everything". Case in point: Barrack Obama has been portrayed as a total health and fitness nut, what with all the pictures of him heading to the gym and all. Now we find out that he smokes, but he promises that "you won't SEE me smoking in the White House"
Likewise, President-elect "see no evil" manages to work his way up though the cesspool that is Chicago/Illinois, which has produced not less than four governors who are in jail, been jailed or on their way to jail, Tony "slumlord" Resko, Louis Reverend Wright of the allmighty Church of GetWhitey and terrorist bombthrower Bill "we only hurt buildings" Ayers; to say nothing of Louis "beam me up mothership" Farrakhan, ACORN, and every mayor named Daley. We are supposed to believe that Obama lived and prospered in THAT sort of gangsta's paradise, yet he's completely clean.
Yeah, riiiiiight!
Anyway, the Minsitry of Propaganda err, I meant the "mainstream" press will continue to whitewash EVERYTHING and not report anyhting that might link Obama to anything the slightest bit crooked. No matter what happens.
Pay no attention that man behind the curtain!
Tim| 12.10.08 @ 12:27PM
This whole Illinois corruption mess just insured that Obama will be a political prisoner of his own party defanged and absolutely void of any real power.
But heck, the White House is one hell of a nice prison with tons of perks and free guards to watch your back.
After all this could have been the Dem's "Machine" Party plan all along after it appeared certain that Obama would win.
Michael Roush| 12.10.08 @ 12:27PM
Turk,
I notice that you did not counter or refute anything in my critique of Mr. Klein's article. But why make an argument when you can name call and spout the same tired, old catch phrases of the right?
Al| 12.10.08 @ 1:04PM
I have just 2 words for you; "Rose Bud"
Alan Brooks| 12.10.08 @ 1:05PM
incredible how Rod knew he was being watched.
Like he wanted to be caught! If i tell my son not to take cookies from the cookie jar but he does it anyway and then breaks the jar, thats what Rod did.
JamesJ| 12.10.08 @ 1:10PM
Forget it Jake, its Chitown.
Dai Alanye| 12.10.08 @ 1:23PM
I, for one, am deeply disappointed that we didn't hear, "That's not the Rod Blagojevich I've known." But never fear, there's room under Obama's bus for many a more former friend.
BO's defining characteristic, right after arrogance, is caution--so his standard approach to any controversy, scandalous or otherwise, is to back off and claim lack of knowledge. Blagojevich? I dunno, have I heard that name before? It's all in keeping with votes of "Present!" and with his hesitation to step into the bailout crisis until McCain had stepped forward.
Still, how long before we begin asking ourselves whether this joker has *any* clean associates? At least Dubya, for all his slips from conservative principles, has never been tainted by corruption, despite the paranoia and distortions of the left.
Tailgunner| 12.10.08 @ 1:41PM
Michael:
You claim Emanuel tipped off Fitzgerald that Blago was acting improperly. Why didn't Obama proudly announce this at the press conference, instead of making a halting, blanket denial which is already unraveling?
If Axelrod's first comment actually was correct, and Emanuel , on Obama's instructions, (hypothetical) ordered Ax to backtrack and 'correct' himself, then you've got conspiracy and obstruction of justice. Period.
If Fitzgerald or another independent prosecutor begins investigating this, and Axelrod were to be subpoenaed and placed under oath, this alone could land him in jail. (Maybe the Ax could 'score' Scooter Libby's old cell.)
As far as The One is concerned, we have over five more weeks of daily dirt, details and Obamista denials.
Obama has not been convincing since day one. He has a lot more parsing, Clinton-style evading, and outright lying to do before this is over.
It's entirely possible that Barack Obama may be the first President-elect to be impeached before he is sworn in.
That's MY 'hope' for 'change'.
Alan Brooks| 12.10.08 @ 1:59PM
you're a dreamer.
Roscoe Mendago| 12.10.08 @ 2:33PM
That's it!!!!!!
The military needs to declare Marshall Law, round-up all democrats, throw'em in a dungeon, and get this country back on track. What's the alternative, ACORN has subverted the election process and you've got to wonder were any of the elections without scandal. With the serial equivocator soon to be sworn in, America will be in his vision and that's a lot like Chicago.
Audax| 12.10.08 @ 2:58PM
Hey Daphne you haven' brought up that John McLame was part of thr Keating 5 yet, WHY NOT?
Lets see, Keating 5 Senators:
1.) Alan Cranston (D-CA),
2.) Dennis DeConcini (D-AZ),
3.) John Glenn (D-OH),
4.) Donald W. Riegle (D-MI),
5.) John McCain (R-AZ)
4 (FOUR) democRATS and, Golly Gee only ONE Repub in the Keating 5 (FIVE) and he was only brought in because the Dems in control of Congress didn't want it to be a DemocRAT only scandal. LMAO Daffy Daphne! You Ditz!
Roscoe Mendago| 12.10.08 @ 3:15PM
Mr. B---
One could only hope for a simple; We've got the goods on ya, and then just a letter of resignation from the "One". Wishful thinking or stupidity, if it comes to pass then I'll take stupid (dumb).
Alan Brooks| 12.10.08 @ 3:34PM
this can only HELP Obama, after it fades, i remember when clinton was impeached and all these guys were calling up EIB to say he would be removed but Rush, being smarter than all of 'em said okay, if these fantasies make you feel better.
some of you guys react to the moment too much. does anybody really think Barry wont be reelected in 2012?
WilliamInWien| 12.10.08 @ 4:09PM
A while ago I saw a recent production of "Chicago" in NYC with a great cast. To keep "Chicago" running, it needs new main characters and a twist on the plot. The music will still work and Mr. Obama might well be cast as Mr. Cellophane as no one seems to have seen him around these characters. With all due respect, the opening of Chicago II should be scheduled for a time right after the legal proceeedings to allow for the development of all of the characters that will be included. Possibly, a seance scene could be written in that would allow cameo appearances by those who have gone before, but each cameo would have to be brief in order to include all the deserving individuals. Seems to me that the producers could find the funds for the new production right in the Chicago area. Finally, the original Chicago production featured many fine dancers, this should not be hard to replicate with the many Chicago politicians who have been "dancing" for years! Well, it is a thought!
Obama Rules| 12.10.08 @ 4:12PM
sestamibi, here I am, wassup?
ruth| 12.10.08 @ 4:37PM
Obomber! We just missed your sparkling conversation and enlightened comments. What do you think of your Obamassiah today? More in the tank than ever?
Obama Rules| 12.10.08 @ 4:47PM
ruth!
I'm sorry, I haven't been following the news lately, because I've been reading this really neat book called "Plan of Attack," where it becomes painfully obvious that Bush was going to invade Iraq no matter what the CIA intelligence said.
Why, wha' happen? Did the White House burn down because Obama was smoking again...? Is that what you guys are talking about? :-)
DaveS| 12.10.08 @ 5:12PM
Audax: if you mean THE Alan Cranston - was he not a Republican senator from Wyoming? I find it disturbing that many Obama supporters want us to 'move on' in a way that did not happen in the crimeless Plame matter (Libby convicted by his notes when the 'outing' wasn't illegal for at least two reasons). Fitzgerald is not going to be proportional here, and Obama will see a cloud but no hail.
ruth| 12.10.08 @ 5:16PM
You still make me laugh. Hope you're having a good day.
ruth| 12.10.08 @ 5:27PM
DaveS, unfortunately for us in California, Cranston was our Democrat senator. We used to call him 'Senator Skeletor'.
ruth| 12.10.08 @ 6:01PM
Tony: I didn't address you. Freak.
Michele San Pietro| 12.10.08 @ 6:19PM
It's incredible how Democrats steal. Only a madman may think the Democrats are "the good guys", and Republicans "the bad guys".
ruth| 12.10.08 @ 6:21PM
Michele, thanks for your kind words.
DaveS| 12.10.08 @ 6:21PM
Thanks, Ruth. I was confusing Cranston with Alan Simpson. Insofar as the Keating Five, McCain and John Glenn were not reprimanded. An THAT mess cost the taxpayers $3B. That is chump change compared with what members of Congress have done plowing the road for Fannie and Freddie.
Michael Roush| 12.10.08 @ 8:15PM
Tailgunner,
You write: "If Fitzgerald or another independent prosecutor begins investigating this, and Axelrod were to be subpoenaed and placed under oath, this alone could land him in jail. (Maybe the Ax could 'score' Scooter Libby's old cell.)" Under what law? What he said was not under oath, so there is no perjury. You also, write: "It's entirely possible that Barack Obama may be the first President-elect to be impeached before he is sworn in." Again, what is the crime?
Alan Brooks| 12.10.08 @ 8:30PM
Obama's crime is in being too uppity.
We all must be humble and not be uppity all the time....
Because then you step on peoples toes. and we wouldnt want to do that, would we?
Alan Brooks| 12.10.08 @ 10:29PM
the people who work at amspec arent fantasizing about the end of Obama, are they? Theyre not wingnuts or else theyd be doing comments instead of articles.
francesca | 12.11.08 @ 12:12AM
Look, you pissed-off Republicans have a choice. You can spend then next four (and very possibly eight) years pointing your doom-and-gloom fingers at Obama. You can rerun the tape of all the trumped-up crap you said against him during the election. Circumstances--and there will always be such opportunities in politics--like Ohio's corrupt governor will allow you, if you choose that direction, to pretend that our president-elect is tainted by every crook or crazy he's ever stood in a room with--despite the fact that the tape showed the gov crook quite piqued with BO's refusal to play ball. You can ignore the needs of your country and spend your time and energy this way but it is unpatriotic in these desperate times to do so. Perhaps you could consider joining the "73% of adults {who} approve of the way he is handling the transition and his preparations for becoming president" (poll reported by today's HufPost). What do you think?
ruth| 12.11.08 @ 1:24AM
'Poll reported by today's HufPost'? Are you kidding? Please, Francesca, don't lecture us about patriotism--especially after 8 years of BusHitler. Just don't.
ruth| 12.11.08 @ 1:28AM
Alan, I didn't know you were an Obamaphile. Roush, you sound apoplectic over this Obama kerfluffle--too funny.
Alan| 12.11.08 @ 8:41AM
Well... I'm no fan of Obama, but it sounds like Blago was po'd over Obama's unwillingness to play ball on the Senate seat. That alone makes me think that Obama is not connected to this particular scandal.
Certainly, as a product of Chicago politics he's had his hand in one cookie jar or another, but without concrete evidence it's pointless to bluster and blather about what-if's and maybe's.
Baseless accusations are the territory of liberals, not conservatives. You folks pointing the fingers at thin air need to remember who you are and quit acting like 911 Truthers.
ruth| 12.11.08 @ 11:29AM
Alan, we don't have to point our fingers, the Federal Prosecutors will do it for us.
francesca | 12.11.08 @ 2:05PM
Ruth, the poll is actually from that left-wing Commie mouthpiece, the Wall Street Journal. HufPost just provides the link. Point taken, however; the Bushies gave patriotism a bad name. I retract unpatriotic and substitute not useful--and a waste of energy better used to solve a slipping mountainside of problems.
ruth| 12.11.08 @ 5:35PM
Francesca, I wonder what your Obamassiah's approval ratings are today? He's embroiled in a scandal already--and he hasn't even been inaugurated. Nice.
Francesca | 12.11.08 @ 6:20PM
Ruth, you sound much too eager to send in the prosecutors--and to ignore the evidence. All part of the bad loser mentality so prevalent right now on the right? Perhaps, instead of the instant spouting and repeating the same tired campaign rhetoric, and reframing and excusing the loss I keep seeing from Jeb Bush, Sarah Pain et al, it might be a good idea to take a moment to figure out how the right might rethink its goals and presentation. After all, Republicans were beaten by a half-black, far-too-articulate-for-the-heartland, pro-choice one-term Senator. Who'd have believed it?
ruth| 12.11.08 @ 9:22PM
Francesca, don't get your little liberal knickers in knots! The only reason your 1/2 term senator got elected was because of a corrupt, biased press. He's already embroiled in a scandal before his inauguration, and guess what, we Conservatives didn't do it! You slimy, lying Chicago thug liberals did. Chew on that, baby. I'm just laughing that you are lecturing Conservatives about our presentation and goals, and your clown-prince Obama is already under suspicion. Moron.
Francesca De Stefano| 12.12.08 @ 9:30PM
I invite anyone reading this blog to take a look at my last comment and then compare it to Ruth's 8:22PM response. This is an ongoing problem I see on the right: the lack of ability to hold a reasoned discussion. and the name-calling and sweeping condemnation of anyone who disagrees. Ruth knows nothing about me yet she has somehow managed to brand me a "slimy, lying Chicago thug liberal. " I'll proudly admit to the last word in that list. She calls me a moron because she isn't capable of calmly defending her position. Barak Obama is neither my Messiah nor my clown prince, or prince of any kind. But he will be the President of your country in just a few weeks, and the majority of Americans wish he could start today.
Oh, yeah, and Ruth. My knickers are fine, thanks. And I'm not your baby.
ruth| 12.13.08 @ 2:51AM
Francesca, loosen those knickers of yours, my post wasn't personal. I was laughingly referring to the 'royal you', as in the slimy democrat thugs in your party. So, take my advice, be of good cheer and don't get so defensive when I try to engage you in 'reasoned discussion'; because after enduring your constant, obnoxious leftist bleats of BusHitler for the last 8 years, you're going to get a lot more of it. I just hope your prince escapes his first scandal so that he can be inaugurated next month. It's not looking too good for him.
dennisbyers| 12.14.08 @ 10:50AM
i am deeply concerned that the presidential scandel record (17), currently held by the boy president and his lovely wife, bruno, will fall. here we are, with our pres elect getting off to a bazing start with a very solid and impressive pay-for-play scandel. this compares to the relatively sluggish tee-off by tweedle-dee and tweedle dumb with travel-gate lies and mischief commencing a distant 1-2 weeks into office....what an amazing assault on a record i thought would stand forever......
Ken Roberts| 12.14.08 @ 6:13PM
It is comical that someone would even try to say anything about any one saying negative things about Obama and calling them unpatriotic as paying taxes ? but then the last 8 years we have seen name calling and actual events that could be considered treasonous in time of war from our wonderful news media and this person has the audacity to claim we do not have that same right . The libs are are for rights as long as it is liberal thinking and not other wise , I am not on the right nor the left and I abhor both parties right now , I have never seen class war fare starting from both sides of the line until the auto bail out, which in taxes alone would get back three times the amount of money loaned to the big three . the government should stay out of it and loan them the money after all they handed a blank check to the wall street thugs with no regulation . they got the money and then kept it would not loan it out, that will do nothing for the economy. and I must say this we had better start drilling now if we do not want the 4 dollar a gallon to come back .Maybe a good thing would be for the banks to be forced to loan the money to the big three and that way the government can let the banks and the business handle it, after all they have 350 billion extra right now . a 34 billion loan to three companies should be no problem for them to do . 10% of assets.????
bacd| 12.15.08 @ 1:04AM
I would like to join you all in your sense of humor about all of this, but, it really isn't funny...what's happening to our Country...There is no dignity left. How do you think all of this plays out to the rest of the World? In the good ole days we had the sense to revere our elected officials (at least publically) in order to insure a strong International image. Well, that's gone! Today the news readily reports someone's throwing shoes at our current President (Yes, we do still have one!) and all of the Obama hub bub will throw shock waves into the calming seas of other country's opinions. They were just settling into the illusion that we had elected a good, honest man to serve the World interest. We Americans are doing our best to besmirch the image so that others may go on taunting us. Maybe its time we kept our big "free speech" mouths shut, at least long enough to give other Nations the impression that we really do have good sense. We will not survive much longer if we can not maintain widespread respect. Remember, every word the Press writes or utters, helps define our Country to the outside world. How do you want them to see us?
ruth| 12.16.08 @ 12:26PM
bacd, you've got the lowest self-esteem I've seen in a long time. Have you looked at the nations you are so desperate to impress? Marxist thugs, weak socialist governments, small time tyrants everywhere. What a fool you are.
links of london jewellery| 9.10.09 @ 11:13PM
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