Blago: Getting Old

This guy is getting so old that the mold is starting to grow.

Standing up for your values and principles

Good for the GOP for finally taking a stand against this ridiculous insane and many other unmentionable words to describe these insane bail outs.

The Circus Begins: Blago

The next four years will be a political circus. Can you say Clinton 2.0?

The governor’s strange behavior has been fertile ground for local armchair psychologists. Last summer, the downstate newspaper the Peoria Journal Star declared that the governor was “going bonkers.” Privately, a few people who know the governor describe him as a “sociopath,” and they insist they’re not using hyperbole. State representative Joe Lyons, a fellow Democrat from Chicago, told reporters that Blagojevich was a “madman” and “insane.” “He shows absolutely no remorse,” says Jack Franks, the Democratic state representative. “I don’t think he gives a damn about anybody else’s feelings. He tries to demonize people who disagree with him; he’s got delusions of grandeur.”

How did Obama Get Elected

This video is pretty revealing:

Should We Really Believe?

Should we really believe that Obama is as clean as the wind driven snow when it comes to his involvement with the governor of Illinois? Believing that demands a "willing suspension of disbelief."

This whole web that Barack has weaved will be a huge test of Barack Obama to show himself to be a man of character. Does he mean what he say and say what he means? This is a big test of the man, and his response to this will tell us a lot about what we can expect from the man for the next four years of his presidency.

If he really wants the country to believe that he is really for a new level of ethics, he needs to come out strong in his condemnation of the governor of Illinois. He mus absolutely stand up and show that he has the courage to be a strong president of the United States of America.

Barack Obama - What a Tangled Web We Weave

President-elect Barack Obama’s ties to indicted Illinois Democratic Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich run primarily through Chicago slum lord and felon Tony Rezko.

Rezko served as the political godfather for both Blagojevich and Obama, helping both to rise in Chicago and Illinois politics. Obama himself has credited Rezko with helping to his political career.

Rezko raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for both politicians.

A 76-page FBI affidavit released today after the arrest of Blagojevich and his chief of staff, John Harris, says Blagojevich conspired “to sell” the Illinois Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama.

U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald called the effort to barter the seat the “most sinister and appalling” of a long list of accusations against Blagojevich. Blagojevich, as governor, is responsible for naming Obama’s replacement.

Rezko has had extensive ties to both men:


Rezko’s Ties to Obama

According to the Chicago Sun-Times, the two met in 1990 while Obama was still attending Harvard Law School. Rezko offered Obama a job, but Obama declined.

In 1995, Obama billed 32 hours for work done on behalf of Woodlawn Preservation and Investment Corp., a company involved in a low-income housing partnership with Rezko. He also wrote letters supporting the proposed development.

Rezko was Obama’s second largest individual contributor when he began his run for an Illinois state Senate seat in 1995. Two Rezko companies contributed $2,000 to Obama’s campaign, and Rezko and wife Rita reportedly worked on Obama’s campaign.

In the first half of 1997, according to a report by Newsmax Contributing Editor Kenneth R. Timmerman, two Rezko companies contributed $2,000 to Obama’s ongoing political operation.

In the first half of 1998, Rezko provided Obama’s campaign food worth an estimated $457.70 as an “in-kind contribution.”

Rezko was one of Obama’s biggest contributors when he ran for U.S. Senate in 2003 and 2004, and Rezko was a member of Obama’s campaign finance committee, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

In June 2003, Rezko held a ritzy fund-raiser for Obama at his tony Wilmette mansion. Obama later said, “Rezko was not my largest fundraiser but a significant fundraiser.” According to Reuters, Obama said Rezko raised as much as $250,000.

In 2005, as news began to spread that federal authorities were investigating Rezko, Obama bought a house in Chicago’s Kenwood neighborhood for $1.65 million. Rezko’s wife, Rita, paid $625,000 for a lot adjacent to Obama’s new home, and the two deals closed on the same day.

Seven months later, Rezko’s wife sold one-sixth of her lot – a 10-foot strip of a 60-foot lot -- to Obama for $104,500.

In December 2006, Obama told the Washington Post the deal was a “boneheaded” mistake. “There’s no doubt I should have seen some red flags in terms of me purchasing a piece of property from him,” Obama said.

The Post reports Rezko and Obama later “collaborated” to construct a fence to divide the two properties, which Obama said was required by city code. Obama paid for lawn maintenance for both properties.

In March 2008, Obama said Rezko had raised up to $250,000 to help underwrite his prior campaigns in Illinois – a much higher figure than had previously been reported.

Rezko helped Obama’s presidential campaign raise over $150,000. The campaign later donated Rezko’s contributions to charity.


Rezko Ties to Blagojevich

The FBI says between June 2001 and August 2004 Rezko raised over $1.4 million for Blagojevich’s political campaigns, according to the Los Angeles Times. (Blagojevich was elected governor of Illinois in 2002, and reelected in 2006.)

Rezko hosted Blagojevich’s first post-election party at his mansion. Although he had no official role in the Blagojevich administration, he reportedly participated in several Blagojevich strategy retreats.

In October 2006, authorities indicted Rezko for soliciting kickbacks from companies seeking state contracts that were awarded by officials under the governor’s authority. According to the Los Angeles Times and others, $20,000 that Rezko garnered from kickbacks found its way via a middleman into Obama’s Senate campaign coffers.

Rezko’s June 2008 trial on corruption strongly implicated Blagojevich. Blagojevich allegedly discussed a state job for a donor, after that donor wrote a $25,000 check for his campaign.

During the trial, prosecutors maintained that Rezko routinely arranged shakedowns while serving as a top Blagojevich adviser.

In all, prosecutors said, Rezko squeezed various companies for some $7 million in kickbacks.

Following his conviction on 16 counts of fraud, money laundering, and aiding and abetting bribery, Rezko said federal authorities tried to pressure him “to tell the wrong things” about the Obama and Blagojevich. The Sun-Times reported prosecutors pushed Rezko to cooperate in the corruption probe against Blagojevich.

It should be noted that Obama has consistently stated he never intervened on behalf of Rezko in any state or federal business. Authorities have yet to suggest any wrongdoing on the part of either Obama or his staff.

© 2008 Newsmax. All rights reserved.

Michael Steele

At the CBN interview he gives a quick account of his reason for joining the RLC. He had made friends with Christie Todd Whitman through another event, and she invited him to become a board member.

The RLC calls for diversity on a variety of issues not just abortion, for example environmental issues. My suspicion is Steele joined as a way to highlight the need for racial diverity in the GOP.

As he tells it, they both thought it would send a good signal if a pro life Republican were a member (as I believe a few others besides Steele have been).

What is making confusion on the right (and particularly in this forum) is the equation of the word moderate as a synonym for "pro choice".

Moderate, of course, as a generic descriptor is no such thing. (Proof of which is the attitude toward Mike Huckabee, a pro life moderate, liberal, socialist to many movement conservatives).

Rather, moderate can refer to temperment. I.E., one is neither boisterous nor lethargic, or they are neither fully for or against one side or the other, but they are patiently and respectfully engaged: they are moderate, they are a moderating influence. Moderates recognize political realities and tend to be brokers, like Bob Dole.

IOW, another way to describe a moderate is as realists, whereas strong conservatives and strong liberals are idealists. Thus, where we get our term ideologue.

Ideologues are principled, but not very practical, and they view moderate practicality as unprincipled. Moderates view ideologues as long on pontificating, but short on dispute resolution.

As Southern Doc has noted Abraham Lincoln is a classic example of a quintessential moderate.

He was neither an abolitionist, nor a promoter of chattel slavery. He thought slavery repugnant, but he saw no federal role in addressing it, save stopping its expansion into new territories. Likely Lincoln would leave abortion up to the states.

My point about Michael Steele is a different one. That is, he is no different than Mr. Big Tent Lee Atwater, or Haley Barbour. All RNC chairman accept the will of local Republicans to nominate whom they wish, and all RNC chairman "support" such nominees, even if such nominees disagree with half the party platform (with rare notable exception, like David Duke).

What is a curious thing in this thread is folks nervousness about Steele's inclusivist comments, yet few seemed appalled that President Bush supported one of the most noterious RINO moderates and dissing a conservative with impeccable credentials, as discussed here: Tue Dec 02, 2008 2:06 am.

Next post I will disagree with Michael Steele.