From his blog, Reverse Spin:
First, it's a bit silly to suggest that he didn't know Tony Rezko was in the crosshairs of newspapers and investigators. Rezko was front page news throughout 2005, even in the early months. It is part of a larger pattern of Obama not speaking out about corruption in his own party. He endorsed the ethically challenged Alexi Giannoulias for state treasurer and stuck by him after it was revealed he was responsible for bank loans to mobsters. Then he stood silently by at the Illinois State Fair in August, refusing to say a word about nine state and federal corruption investigations of Governor Rod Blagojevich. Then, a few weeks later, he had the Audacity to lecture Kenya about corruption.
I'm getting really local here, but I think it's important to bring up Obama's endorsement of Democrat Todd Stroger for President of the Cook County Board. (Cook has a population larger than most states.)
From Eric Zorn's Chicago Tribune blog:
Obama's staff released a profoundly disheartening letter to voters this week in which Obama, joined by Sen. Dick Durbin, endorsed Cook County Board presidential candidate Todd Stroger.
The letter, which puffs lots of hot air into the saggy balloon of Stroger's legislative resume, refers to him as "a good progressive Democrat" who will "lead us into a new era of Cook County government."
Todd Stroger was a "strong voice" in Springfield, the letter says. He has "worked assiduously" for the poor as an alderman. Yet, of course, the record reveals that Stroger is an unimaginative legislative drone whose reform credentials are wholly imaginary--an unlikely trailblazer to a new era.
In a back room deal that shocked even Illinois residents, Stroger was foisted on Cook County voters after his father, who created the mess that is known as Cook County government, suffered a stroke shortly before the senior Stroger's primary victory.
Sadly, Todd Stroger was victorious in November.
Technorati tags: Obama National politics Politics Barack Obama Illinois News Tony Rezko Democrats corruption 2008
No comments:
Post a Comment