Would this be Obama’s buddy Tony Rezko?
Bookworm on Jun 04 2008 at 2:29 pm | Filed under: Barack Obama, Crime and punishment
Yes, I think it is Obama’s buddy who has been found guilty on multiple criminal charges:
A federal jury has found a prominent political fundraiser for Sen. Barack Obama and Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich guilty of 16 of 24 counts in his Illinois corruption trial.
Antoin “Tony” Rezko was accused of scheming to get bribes from businesses seeking state contracts.
The jury delivered its verdict Wednesday after a nine-week trial.
Rezko has known Obama since he entered politics and was involved in a 2005 real estate deal with the Democratic presidential candidate, although testimony barely touched on their relationship. Most of the focus was on shakedowns prosecutors said Rezko arranged when he was a top adviser to Blagojevich.
My best guess is that the only reason Obama’s criminal associations don’t rival Whitewater is that he hasn’t had all the time that the Clinton’s had to sink to those depths of corruption. But I’ll freely admit to my bias in making that statement, because I truly believe (and I believe time will show) that Obama is a very, very bad man.
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2008.06.04 Politics and National Defense Roundup…
This post will grow as the day goes on. Please don’t forget to check back later. So Wonder Boy Barry thinks it’s all over. Not so fast, Wonder Boy. There’s still plenty of time between now and the convention for…
I think that it is about now that Tony starts warming up to sing like a mockingbird.
From the Chicago Tribune.
http://tinyurl.com/6xrcg7
First there was Wright, then the church, and now Rezko.
How could these people have changed so dramatically?
The state senate has failed on two occasions to begin impeachment proceedings against another corrupt governor here in Illinois. The right hand “man” to the senate president is running in my congressional district to replace the current retiring congressman, a Republican.
The state , of course, is run by Democrats.
The Democrats are very good at creating and nurturing that kind of person, Book, while of course saying that it is their political enemies that are corrupt.
This isn’t the Tony Rezko he knew. That wasn’t the Reverend Wright he knew either. And I’m sure that was the Father Pfleger he knew. And if that rumored DVD tape of Michelle Obama spouting off in black rage turns up on YouTube, will he say this isn’t the Michelle he knows? Does Obama “know” anybody, except as a matter of convenience, or know anything except his own ambition? This man is the emptiest of empty suits.
Several having the same thought as me - it isn’t the Rezko he knows. How many times do we have to hear that excuse? For a man running on his ‘good judgement’ he sure does fall down in choosing this circle of friends and associates.
Illinois and pre-Jindal Louisiana seem to be in a dead heat when competing for title of most corrupt state government.
At least it’s an equal opportunity competition, since one’s north and one’s south.
Yo, JackCoupal…how can you possibly compare Illinois to Louisiana?
Once Rezko finishes singing, we (Ill-annoy-ans) may well succeed in sending three out of our last five governors to jail. Take that, Louisiana!
Danny, you’re right!
And, it’s both Republican and Democrat governors of Illinois who get sent to the slammer.
Chicago and state pols should give seminars on corruption since they do it so well!
Obama was not a native of Chicago. He could have gone anywhere in the country after college, after law school. My assumption is that he was thinking of two things in relocating from NY: 1) get some connection with his paternal, black roots and 2) launch himself into politics. I do not doubt that from the beginning his ambitions were on the national level. Which is fine. No person without ambition could withstand the rigors of the presidency, and of campaigning for the office.
In the last 50 (or 100) years, if one were to ask any college-educated American about the first word to associate with the phrase “Chicago politics,” odds are the word that would come up most often would be “corruption”. Chicago has long had an unfortunately deserved reputation for corrupt politics. Anyone contemplate a move to Chicago in order to participate in politics, would have to be aware that sooner or later any Chicago politician, no matter how honest, would be tarred with the corruption label, and that the label “Chicago politician” would have the potential to sink an ambitious politician outside Illinois- and Chicago.
As Obama spent his first 18 years outside the continental US, he most likely did not absorb the folk culture association of “ Chicago politics… corrupt.” When he was warned of that when contemplating a move to Chicago, he most likely dismissed it, or assumed he could handle himself.
He found out to the contrary. He has been labeled with the Chicago politics he has associated with for the last 20 years: Wright and Rezko for starters. Any minister who discusses politics from the sermon is also a politician.
California would have been a more practical place for him to have begun his career. He also would have had the excuse of having gone to college there for two years. We may be thanking ourselves in November that Obama did not think strategically when deciding where to begin his career.