Marathon Pundit: Obama and Chicago's "We Don't Want Nobody Nobody Sent" culture

Monday, March 10, 2008

Obama and Chicago's "We Don't Want Nobody Nobody Sent" culture

In Chicago, there's a political saying, "We don't want nobody nobody sent." Surely Barack Obama has heard that legendary Chicago phrase.

Translated into grammatically correct and more delicate English, is that political connections, not qualifications, are what counts when getting a plum government job.

In 2003, for the first time in thirty-five years, a Chicago Democrat, Rod Blagojevich, became Illinois' governor. And the era of "We Don't Want Nobody Nobody Sent" was back. Yes, the long Republican run in Springfield was littered with political hiring as well, but the Democrats, especially those belonging to the Cook County Regular Democratic Organization, are always more artful in relation to working the system to their favor.

When he initiated Operation Board Games, US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald was already knee-deep working on the Hired Truck Scandal involving Chicago municipal government.

But it was Operation Board Games that netted Democratic political insider Antoin "Tony" Rezko. A resident of toney Wilmette, Rezko got his start in the food vending business working for Crucial Concessions, which had contracts with the Chicago Park District. Rezko, with Daniel Mahru, formed Rezmar Corp., which received millions in city, state, and federal loans to develop Chicago apartment buildings. The work was shoddy, which is why the word "slumlord" is tossed at Rezko.

When Blagojevich was sworn in as governor five years ago, Rezko was the "go to" guy to for state jobs.

And yes, there is an Obama connection.

From AP:

Sen. Barack Obama was among eight state officials and others consulted about who should be appointed to a state board that later became involved in what prosecutors describe as a fraud scheme, according to a memo discussed Monday at Antoin "Tony" Rezko's trial.

The June 2003 memo written by Matthew Pickering, an associate of former Democratic National Committee chairman David Wilhelm, did not indicate exactly what input Obama had in connection with appointing members to the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board.

It gave no indication Obama was involved in the alleged corruption that later engulfed the board.

Rezko, a Chicago businessman who was a prominent contributor to Obama and Gov. Rod Blagojevich, is on trial for, among other things, allegedly plotting with board member Stuart Levine to split a bribe from a contractor.