Reporter: Obama Has Bungled Rezko Response

Chicago Tribune:

A big question I have about the Rezko rumpus is this: Why in the world are there still questions?

It was 15 months ago that the Tribune broke the story about the unusual but evidently quite legal real estate deal between U.S. Sen. Barack Obama and controversial businessman Tony Rezko.

Read the whole story: Chicago Tribune

Comments

[Mcall]

IF Obama gets the nomination, the republicans will pull the chain of the media and spin this Rezko incident all over airways and another republican will be in the White House for another 4 years. Obama was not happy about the question of a Hillary/Obama ticket. He acts too much like George Bush!

[ljsfolly]

And now the truth comes out. Mr CoChairman of Hillary's campaign accepted money from TA DA....REZKO!!! The mayor of LA who has worked with Clinton to bring forth the hispanic voice is just now realizing damn. he took money from the guy too but of course the money he got from Rezko was long before it came out he was a crook. So if Barack did the same no matter what the amount, why should he be tarred and feathered for it?

[Tellmethetruth]

Obama was mentioned in the court papers filed to indict Rezko by Fitzpatrick.

Is the reason Obama has failed to give a full disclosure because

1) Obama will be called as a witness in the trial which begins on February 25th, 2008?

2) Fitzpatrick is also investigating Obama and Obama doesn't want to say anything that will go on record that may come back to haunt him if he is questioned under oath?

[eepatt]

Don't you think that if there was any illegality in the Obama-Rezko interaction, one of the papers in Chicago would have found it? I believe that I read in the Tribune that they had looked and not found anything. Do you think that 17 years ago, Rezko was considered a shady character? Most political figures interact with contributors until they find a reason not to. Obama's principal work was for a community organization trying to fund low income housing in a poor neighborhood by partnering with outside organizations, such as Rezko's business. I don't think is is possible to be in IL politics without running into something dirty.

[Evidence]

Obama is trying to convince us that he is an "honest" politician.

Rezko ruins his entire argument.

[califone]

The Chicago Trib is a serious muckracker. They were the ones that hounded Jack Ryan and the actress Jeri Ryan, and got the courts to release their divorce papers stating he forced her to go to sex clubs. This is how Obama won the senate seat in 2004. Before the Trib got the court documents, Ryan and Obama were literally neck and neck, and it was looking like Ryan had an edge on him. But, after the scandle, the Illinois Republican Party pulled support from Ryan, and got Alan Keys to run for the US Senate seat. Obama killed Allen Keys at the polls because Allen was clearly INSANE, and couldn't talk rationally during a debate. Actually, Obama was so confident during these debates, he started ignoring Keyes' response. If the Chicago Tribune hadn't of mucked up Jeri and Jack Ryan's sealed divorced papers, Barack Obama would probably be running for congress, not president.

[realitytrumpsbull]

3 words: Conflict of interest. And, Obama's not the only person affected in that regard. Dick Cheney is a GLARING conflict of interest, but no one says 'peep' to him about it. But, he's about gone, nonetheless hopefully all concerned parties were taking careful notes for oh, the last 7 years or so, and stand ready to balance the actions of whoever finally DOES get elected to ensure that any such conflicts get pointed out regardless of circumstance. Our federal budget is rampantly out-of-control because there hasn't been an institution-wide open audit, nor is that transaction likely to occur anytime in the foreseeable future, because a lot of people orbiting government offices and signing up to take those nice fat government jobs and running for public office so they can cut sweetheart deals of some kind for their buddies are the ones that'd be in control of that kind of decisionmaking authority. In english? Fox guarding the henhouse. Troops home, open audit, cases of pink slips on standby. That's my 2 cents' worth.

[criscokid]

Have you heard Obama mention that in 1990 when Obama was still a student at Harvard that Rezko offered him a job? Obama turned it down, yet with all of his superior academic achievements in 1993 Obama chose to take a job with the small Chicago law firm Davis Miner Barnhill. That Obama's then boss, Allison Davis who co-founded the non-for-profit Woodlawn Preservation and Investment Corp. was partners with Rezko's company in a 1995 deal to convert an abandoned nursing home into low-income housing. Altogether, Obama spent 32 hours on the project, but only five hours of that came after Rezko and WPIC became partners. The rest of the time, Obama spent helping WPIC strike the deal with Rezko.

In 1996, Obama began campaigning for a seat in the IL senate. Among his supporters: Rezko, and two Rezko companies donated money to Obama's campaign. Obama was elected in 1996 representing a district that included 11 of Rezko's 30 low-income housing projects.

Was Obama just being naive? I doubt it, but I'm from IL and know there have been plenty of dirty politics at play in Chicago.

source: http://www.suntimes.com/news/watchdogs/757340,CST-NWS-watchdog24.article

[honeybee49]

Rezko + Fitzgerald = O-BOMB-A

[piezoid]

His first test at countering the sea of shit headed his way if he's nominated and he fumbles.

[poeticjustice4all]

No, it's not much ado about about nothing. It's more like a continuing comedy of errors.

Squeaky clean Prince Barack rode into town on a white horse claiming he was going to put an end to corrupt politics as usual. His fairytale strategy was an open invitation for reporters and rival politicians to start digging for the real story. It wasn't very hard to find scandal and corruption -- Barack was living in it.

If the hope-mongering storybook hero wants to put an end to the still developing chapter on Rezko, he'll have to sell his castle and move out of the house that Rezko bought him.

[lvogt]

I live in Chicago and I don't know a single person who has ever mentioned this to me as an issue. We've read the stories and it's much ado about nothing.

[woodpile]

Rezko, a generous contributor to Obama's campaigns, "no doubt believed that by buying the piece of property next to me that he would, if not be doing me a favor, it would help strengthen our relationship,"
Now let me see...
Obama, who all agree is a very bright guy, was perfectly confortable getting a sweetheart deal from someone he knew was looking to strengthen their relationship. While this someone was already under suspicion for influence buying and other shady stuff.
Apparently this did not earn Rezko any payback from BO. So what do we learn about Obama from this? He's not a thief. But he is willing to mislead and use someone else to get something worth a lot of money for a discount. Not exactly the saint so many wish him to be. Not exactly the above "politics and self-serving motives" so many wish him to be.

Vote for BO? LOL. His slogan should be "Vote for BO. Unethical. Hypocrital. But, not a thief."

[itsnotmyfault]

Mr. Zorn can be quite confident that the little missing details, the revealing truths, the sordid facts of a troubling financial relationship between Obama and a known to be indicted businessman, Rezko, will be revealed in full bloom with the aid of the Republican party, if Obama should get the nomination. It would serve the Democratic party and the people of this nation, if Obama addressed the lingering doubts forthrightly. He chooses not to.

As was already said, Obama can return all the campaign money he wants, but that does nothing to explain why he would engage in a relationship with someone who was already indicted for political impropriety. Boneheaded is an acceptable excuse for locking your keys in the car. Why you choose to transact in a manner with a person indicted for just such transactions requires a very specific exculpatory response.

[VOTER]

You have got to admire the Chicago Tribune's

gumption in this matter because the paper no longer has

integrity.

For 7 1/2 years, they have chosen to look the other

way, while the Man of 935 Lies, Bush, put us into His War

Of Choice.

No wonder their subscriptions are down and continuing to fall.