(Chicago Sun-Times) [1]-He was “the man behind the curtain” whose pervasive influence in the Blagojevich administration stacked state boards and lined his pockets, prosecutors charged Thursday as they opened their highly anticipated corruption case against Tony Rezko. But lawyers for the one-time fund-raiser for Sen. Barack Obama painted a drastically different picture of the multimillionaire, saying the Syrian-born immigrant was a legitimate businessman chasing the American dream.
That was the setup in U.S. District Judge Amy J. St. Eve’s courtroom on a day that featured mentions of two major political players: Blagojevich and Obama.And, for the first time, prosecutors revealed how successful Rezko was as a Blagojevich fund-raiser: An FBI agent testified he traced $1.4 million in Blagojevich campaign contributions to Rezko, 52, of Wilmette.
While Blagojevich, his political fund-raising operation and some of his administration’s hiring practices were front-and-center virtually all day, Obama’s name was mentioned only briefly by Rezko’s lawyer as someone the defendant met while trying to recruit him for a job out of law school.
[2]Well, look, forgive me for pointing this out, people, but as a rule, one doesn’t make it in Chicago politics… at least, in Democrat Chicago politics, without being up to their beltloops in illegal funding… influence peddling, etc, etc…the kind such as Rezko was apparently hip deep in himself. Sorry, it just doesn’t happen.
So, now that we have a solid connection between Rezko and politcal payoffs, and string pulling, we now have a better idea why the name of Obama, certainly someone who came up fast within that world, is of such great import, just now. I say again, one doesn’t make it in Chicago politics… and least, Democrat politics, without being up to their beltloops in illegal funding, etc.
And, Obama certainly managed to make it in Chicago politics, didn’t he? I can’t imagine that were the left-wing press to actualy do their job and do some investigation on Obama, they’d not be able to come up with a evidence of a history the American people would find of interest. My guess is that Blagojevich is looking at some jail time, regardless how this comes out. Then again, he’s not running for President. Obama is. At most, this will sting Obama, but likely won’t derail his campaign for the nomination.
Of course, among Democrats, this being brought up would be seen as a badge of honor, as was the Clintons, and their history of misdeeds. Among many blacks, this will be seen as persecuting the black man solely because of his pigment. They too will take such charges as a badge of honor.
Fortunate, that the majority of Americans aren’t quite so blind to reality.