President-Elect Oblivious
December 13, 2008 | Filed Under 00Publius Contributor, Barack Obama, Dan Scott, Democrats/Leftists, Elections, Government, Corruption, Media Bias, News, President, Society/Culture | 5 Comments
-By Dan Scott
The recent scandal involving Barack Obama’s former Illinois US Senate seat reveals a great deal about the man who would be President of these United States. So far Barack Obama has denied ever having spoken with Governor Blagojevich regarding his personal preference for the person to be selected for that position. It is well known that Valerie Jarrett was the person Obama wanted to take over for him and she was referenced as Candidate 1 in the FBI’s criminal complaint. That a discussion did occur between Blagojevich and Obama can’t be denied at this point since Blagojevich has publicly stated before the scandal broke that he and Obama were talking about it (whether that be face to face or via intermediaries, i.e. staffers). Obama is foolish for denying the obvious since this makes him look guilty of a cover up.
At this point Obama is being very careful so as not to get himself entangled in a conspiracy charge. However, this is a case where Obama’s lawyerly thinking is going to get him into trouble. The mere fact he and his staffers had discussions with Blagojevich could be viewed by the FBI as being part of the pay for play deal making. Giving Barack Obama the benefit of the doubt, what in all probability happened was his staffers relayed the offer, Obama rejected it and when Blagojevich threatened to hold the appointment hostage for his own purposes Obama pulled out of the discussions. If he were smart he would have characterized the whole episode as “my staff” upon hearing Governor Blagojevich’s demands/suggestions of pay for play did the right thing by taking the initiative and said the seat is not for sale, thus accounting for the Governor Blagojevich’s cussing mad outburst…MF comment regarding Obama. The MSM gave Obama the perfect opportunity at the press conference to say “his staffers” did talk with Blagojevich’s staffers (acknowledge the obvious) and they refused to play the game, but he chose the road of denial. It seems eventually Obama is going to claim he, Obama, was kept out of the loop by protective staffers once the documentation comes out that there were in fact discussions between staffers of both politicians. What could be going on here is Obama is playing things close to the vest because he doesn’t know what conversations were recorded between his and Blagojevich’s staffers.
The level of evidence needed for a conspiracy charge is much lower than the actual charge of fraud/corruption. If Obama did admit to knowing what his staffers were talking about, he would be guilty of conspiracy since even if he didn’t “purchase” the seat via an agreement he was “in process” of doing it by the mere fact of negotiating/talking IF he didn’t report it to the FBI. It is against the law to NOT report a felony. At this point it is up to the prosecutorial discretion of Patrick Fitzgerald regarding Barack Obama’s conduct, whether it was either simply a matter of poor judgment by keeping silent or committed conspiracy by NOT reporting the corruption attempt. A conspiracy of silence is still a conspiracy and a crime.
However, the real issue for the country, i.e. you and me is not that Obama didn’t like the idea of paying to get his choice for the senate seat and stupidly denying the obvious, the real issue is that Obama did not contact the proper authorities, the FBI, to report Blagojevich for attempting to engage in fraud, i.e. enterprise corruption. This is particularly troubling since as the President-elect, the soon to be leader of our country, this man chose to allow a corrupt politician to carry on with his activity with no opposition. As the President of the United States, we expect him to uphold the Law, set the example and not tolerate those who feel they can use their government positions for personal gain. By Obama not outing Blagojevich to the FBI, what he has essentially said by his deliberate inaction, is his loyalty to the Democrat Party is greater than his loyalty to the United States of America. Because why would he not report Blagojevich to the FBI? To spare the Democrat Party (or possibly his long standing friend & ally) the public humiliation of another corruption scandal? How can Barack Obama be the President of ALL the people when his allegiance is elsewhere?
So now let’s ask the questions, why did Barack Obama fail to expose corruption when he had the opportunity? Is anyone claiming Barack Obama was so oblivious to what was going on around him that he didn’t know Blagojevich was corrupt? They campaigned for each other for years. Barack Obama was by the MSM’s admission immersed in Chicago’s pervasively corrupt surroundings and yet had NEVER took on those corrupt interests? The sad answer is NO, he looked the other way. So either Barack Obama chose to knowingly work within a politically corrupt system to advance his career making him equally as corrupt or he viewed himself as a helpless victim who chose to do nothing. Is either kind of person worthy of leadership?
Let’s contrast this climate of corruption via exposure versus character. Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska was surrounded by it, exposed the corruption and fought it, she even took on those in her own political party, what did Barack Obama do???? Nothing! That is the most damning indictment of any political leader there can be.
References:
The Blagojevich Case: Why Did Fitzgerald Act Now?
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Dan Scott calls himself a “Member of the Global Capitalist Cabal preaching Capitalism and personal responsibility as the economic solution to world poverty.” He is also a member of the 14th Amendment Society — victimhood is a liberal code word for denying the civil rights of others. He is also a proud member of the Global Warming Denier Cabal, insisting that facts not agendas determine the truth.
Dan can be seen on the web at http://www.geocities.com/fightbigotry2002/ as well as http://www.geocities.com/dscott8186/saidwebpage.htm, And can be reached for comments at dscott8186@yahoo.com.
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