Media Gets Tough with Obama
Mar 4, 2008 Political
Ever since Barack Obama came on the scene he stole the thunder from Hillary Clinton. The Clintons had experienced great media coverage for years with the media holding or burying stories harmful to the clan. That all stopped when Obama became the new darling of the media. They have fawned over him and a parody on Saturday Night Live was not far off considering how he has not drawn tough questions (until the last debate) or close scrutiny even though he says a lot about absolutely nothing. It is really bad when even Democrats who doted on the Clintons for years have turned against them, media or otherwise.
Perhaps the portrayal of the media as Obama’s toadies on SNL sparked a fire under them because the party seems to be over and it would appear that Obama has been stung by the unexpected attacks. At a speech Obama took questions and the media zinged him right off the bat asking him about the secret meeting with the Canadians that he originally denied but later acknowledged. He said the standard stump answer about not knowing or going with the information he had but it gave the appearance that he lied.
Then the media began with the Tony Rezko questions. Rezko is a friend of Obama who happened to buy a piece of property right next to him on the very same day. Rezko bought the property that Obama did not want (the seller required it to be part of the purchase) for $625,000 and then sold part of it to Obama so he could enlarge his yard. This political favor coincidence has significance because Rezko’s trial for corruption started today and Obama’s name is likely to come up. The fact that Rezko is involved in corruption and has been close to Obama is not happenstance. Obama is from Illinois and is a member of the Democratic Party that has been so corrupt that it has received its own name, Chicago Style Politics.
Obama has benefited from Chicago Style Politics and that is why, as a first term Senator, he is on top the political world. He has given the appearance of impropriety with regard to Rezko and the Canadians. Even if Obama turns out to be squeaky clean, he has acted in a fashion that appears improper and for many, perception is reality. A man who claims not to be part of the old political system and who claims to be looking to the future (which all presidential candidates say, by the way) does himself no good by looking like a politician of old. He is part of the Daley political scene and that makes him part of the past, a past that is rife with corruption.
It is nice to see the media finally stop drinking the Kool Aid and start asking tough questions.
Sources:
Daily News
Daily News 2
Washington Post
Will MSM Give Hillary Same Treatment as Bush?
Jan 25, 2008 Political
Drudge is displaying a picture that has surfaced of Tony Rezko with the smiling Clintons, one on each side. This is important because Hillary Clinton mentioned Rezko in the last Democratic debate when she said to Senator Obama; “I was fighting against those ideas when you were practicing law and representing your contributor, Rezko, in his slum landlord business in inner city Chicago.” The photograph looks like one of the many that presidents and their wives have taken, photos that are often with people they do not know and have never met. Often though, these pictures are taken with people who have donated money to the president’s campaign. So the question now becomes, how did Tony Rezko get invited to whatever event this was and how did he get his picture taken with the Clintons? Another question would have to be did this “slumlord” donate money to them?
On the surface this might not seem like a big deal and many Hillary supporters will say that she has taken many photos with people that she does not know. Hillary was making that very case this morning on the Today show. In the glory days of the Clintons the media would be tucking this under the bed and if she were running against a Republican they would certainly make no big deal out of it. The media are not treating the Clintons unfairly as Bill claims, they are just giving Hillary the same scrutiny as other candidates. In other words, the playing field has been leveled and the Clintons are not used to that. Remember, it was Drudge who expose the Lewinsky affair when the media was keeping it under wraps.
As I stated though, the photo looks like one of many except the person in the middle is different so why is this important and why should Hillary be taken to task for this photo? There was a guy named Jack Abramoff who was a lobbyist. He ended up in jail and several Republicans ended up in legal trouble because of illegal dealings with Abramoff (Democrats ignored their dealings with Abramoff as did their partners in the MSM). After the Abramoff scandal broke there was word that the disgraced lobbyist had been tot he White House and that there were photos of him with President and Mrs. Bush. The Democrats and the media went nuts over this and said it proved that Bush was doing illegal things. The Chicago Tribune said that Mr. Bush had some explaining to do even as the President was saying that he took thousands of photos with people he did not know and that he did not know Abramoff (sound familiar?). Here is the Tribune take on it:
“However, now we know there are at least two visits by admitted felon Jack Abramoff that the White House must explain,’’ Fitton said. “What was Jack Abramoff doing at the White House? With whom did he meet? The public deserves to know answers to these questions.†Chicago Tribune
Since Rezko is from Chicago, let’s wait and see how long the Tribune waits to tell us that the public deserves to know about Rezko’s visit with the Clintons.
There is no doubt that Abramoff raised money for President Bush as he did for many politicians from both parties. Many of those politicians, including the President, have donated that money to charity. The point being, if Abramoff was able to get his picture with the President because of fund raising, what did Rezko do to get his picture taken with the Clintons?
This photo, which has to be an embarrassment to Hillary, is probably nothing more than a photo with someone they really do not know, as are the Abramoff/Bush photos. However, the media and the Democratic Party went absolutely nuts over the Bush photos and the words corruption and scandal were thrown around quite often. Therefore, the Clinton photo with Rezko demands the same attention and scrutiny as the Bush/Abramoff photos and that attention needs to be now, not six months after she is elected to the Presidency.
The media cannot drag its feet on this and they must start digging to see if Rezko gave the Clintons money or if there is another relationship between the parties. The media must start using words like scandal and corruption and the Clintons must allow access to all their records so a federal probe can begin.
While the investigators and the media are at it, they can look into Hillary’s ties to Abramoff as well. If she wants to be President then she should be held to the same standard that the Democrats hold President Bush to.
Of course, this could be photoshopped…
Others items of interest:
Outside the Beltway, Blog @ MoreWhat.com, The Virtuous Republic, Rosemary’s Thoughts, Right Truth, The Pet Haven Blog, Shadowscope, Cao’s Blog, Leaning Straight Up, Conservative Cat, Pursuing Holiness, Adeline and Hazel, A Newt One- The Truth Surge, Pet’s Garden Blog, Diary of the Mad Pigeon, Allie is Wired, Woman Honor Thyself, The World According to Carl, Blue Star Chronicles, Pirate’s Cove, The Pink Flamingo, Wolf Pangloss, A Newt One, CORSARI D’ITALIA, Dumb Ox Daily News, and Right Voices, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.
Tags: abramoff, Clinton, investigation, photo, rezko, scandal