This is staggering news for Obama and company. Obama made it all
the way to this moment essentially untagged with the "he's just
another Chicago pol" label (meaning he's a crook, allegations
unspecified -- although his property transaction for his house
didn't help him). Anyone who has spent a lick of time in politics
knows that a governor and his chief of staff are de facto the
leaders of a state party. Which in turn means a myriad of
connections to other party leaders, in this case the two senators
from Illinois, Obama and Durbin. At a minimum there had to be
some awareness on the part of these two that their leader
was…ahhh…somewhat over ripe. The obvious question is the old
Howard Baker line from Watergate: What did the President (elect)
and the Senate Majority Whip know -- and when did they know it?
The troubling part of this is that the country has deeply serious
problems obvious to all. Is this the tip of an iceberg that is
about to unleash the hounds to such an extent that it adds
unimagined turmoil to a situation chaotic enough as is? Impeach
Obama -- already? Or have we elected the Virgin King? Is Joe
Biden already remembering Vice President Jerry Ford's words to
wife Betty as she went on and on about the decorations of the
newly acquired VP's residence where the Fords were scheduled to
move from their longtime home in Alexandria? "Honey, we're never
going to move in."
Buckle in!