I want to POLITELY point something out Re: Obama, Axelrod and Blagojevich

[LaydeeBug]

On November 23, David Axelrod said that he was sure Obama had spoken with the governor regarding his senate seat.

Today, Obama said that he had not spoken with the governor 's OFFICE.

Obama did *NOT* say that he had not spoken with the governor. Yes there is a distinction. Just like him saying, "You won't SEE ME smoking in the White House" is NOT AT ALL THE SAME as "I won't be smoking in the White House".

I just wanted to point out, that while I feel that Obama had NO involvement in this scandal, this governor has been radioactive for YEARS NOW. It ain't exactly rocket science for Obama to have avoided him (rightly so) Also, there is no discrepancy from what Axelrod said on the 23rd and what Obama said today. None whatsoever.

:hide:

[ErinBerin84]

1. yup , and Ax has said he was mistaken

Most of the newscasts I've seen tonight have pointed this out and not made much of it...I'm sure the Repukes will , but I guess they don't have anything better to do at this point. It seems like the feds have been taping Blago for a while now, so they would probably have anything on tape, and it doesn't sound like there was anything that implicated Obama or his aides, at this point (and I doubt there will be anything).

[GarbagemanLB]

2. Blagojevich has had all his conversations recorded for months. Obama wouldn't play around with words

in this situation if he had had contact with the governor.

[LaydeeBug]

4. He didn't play with words. He said that he had not spoken with the governor's office, and did not

see this coming. That is what Obama said, and it is not at all incongruent with Axelrod's statement on the 23rd.

[GarbagemanLB]

11. Do you think it would look good if a tape later surfaces of him talking to the governor after he sai

d what he did today?

Obama isn't an idiot.

[FrenchieCat]

Your point is?

:shrug:

[LaydeeBug]

5. made in the OP. thanks.

[Xipe Totec]

8. I don't think so. n/t

[LaydeeBug]

9. sorry if you don't understand. nt

[Xipe Totec]

41. You should be

The objective of a writer is always to convey a message.

A writer who has not done so, has failed.

[FrenchieCat]

12. Could you come again?...cause I don't get it.

Are you intimating that someone lied, and that the someone is Barack Obama?

cause it seems to me that there has been taping going on since October.....
so the evidence of whether they talked or didn't is there.
I doubt that Obama would lie about something so proveable.

[LaydeeBug]

No. I am saying there is no THERE there. There is no discrepancy between Obama saying he has

not spoken with the gov's office today and Axelrod saying that Obama spoke with the governor on the 23rd. EVEN IF Obama talked to the governor AND revealed who his preference would be, it gives Obama's detractor's nothing. There is no discrepancy between what Axelrod said then, and what Obama said today. That dog won't hunt, under the BEST circumstances for repigs.

[twiceshy]

34. Sounds like Clintonesque...........

word games to me.

[LaydeeBug]

15. dupe

nt

[Radical Activist]

3. It's also possible

that Axelrod was wrong. It would be reasonable to assume that Obama and Blago spoke about it, but even Dick Durbin couldn't get Blagojevich on the phone to talk about it. So Axelrod could have made a false assumption.

[LaydeeBug]

7. oh, absolutely.

[ErinBerin84]

10. yeah, Axelrod has come out tonight and said he was originally mistaken

which is completely believable, I would think Rahm would know more than Axelrod (about the phones calls that Obama has been making).

[Radical Activist]

14. I saw your response after I posted mine

and it doesn't surprise me in the least.

[tyne]

6. Actually, Axelrod was probably

referring to Rahm....iow, Obama's voice equals or can be Rahm.

[BeatleBoot]

13. It depends on what your meaning of "is" is

:popcorn:


Or so forth and nonesuch...

[HughMoran]

27. Not really funny

Kind of an easy booger to flick, dontcha think?

[ShortnFiery]

16. Let's all take a moment to thank Fitz for serving Bush-Co in the end ... a loyal corporate soldier?

:thumbsdown:

[jenmito]

18. Come on. He did his job. There ARE some corrupt Dems. He said Obama was not involved.

Would you rather he let the Governor go and let the corruption continue?

[ShortnFiery]

19. Fitz is CORRUPT. He's serving his bosses. Don't trust him or you will be sadly disappointed. eom

[jenmito]

20. I trust him. Did you trust him during the Leak Investigation?

[ElsewheresDaughter]

26. no I didn't trust him then either...he never called Cheney or Rove to testify and should have

[bridgit]

31. I thought the timing & operation were very strange. Team Fitz said they *had* to move...

when they did cause they feared a deal for Obama vacated seat would go down...I guess 'unforeseen'; which I think is an odd thought when the Feds were already looking at this Blagojevich guy through every electronic peep hole he has; in either event, a larger onus was cast out when they did, larger than a Dem; albeit an unbalanced Dem Gov frog hopping to the cruiser just one day after meeting with Jesse Jackson Jr.

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/12/is_jesse_jackson_jr_candidate.php

Cause I'd be pissed if I were Jackson having my meeting linked so indelibly near to an unbalanced political profiteer, a Federal investigation, the indictment that came down as a result, and the undefined 'reason' for the Feds having jumped so hard. When they could have copped him while he was stirring his first cup O'Sanka, or half way through the next bugged phone call...

Why right then and there? I often find police actions curious, and others curiouser & curiouser

[leftynyc]

33. Are you defending that sleaze Blago?

He deserves whatever he has coming his way. Fitz merely did his job and you, apparently, cannot see anything without looking at it through a political lens.

[mwei924]

17. They already said Axelrod MISSPOKE.

[hlthe2b]

21. I just listened to it again: he said he had not spoken with

the Governor OR the Governor's Office.

Go listen. This is a non-issue, but please go convince yourself. Axelrod already said he misspoke and there is aditionally NO issue if you are suggesting he was parsing his words (which is what I think you were trying to imply)

[thoughtcrime1984]

23. Yep, he was NOT parsing words- did not talk with the Governor or the Office of the Gov. nt

[Clio the Leo]

22. And as for the smoking part.....

.... technically, he IS the White House. His physical person. He can't be OUTSIDE of the White House.

No matter how he tries to spin it!!!

We're on to you son! Quit now while you still can! You're not "more healthy" as long as you're smoking.

(but we still love ya) lol

[CreekDog]

24. Huh?

:wtf:

:rofl:

I'm drink better when i drive. :crazy:

[Clio the Leo]

28. lol, what are you huh-ing?

The White House moves WITH the President ..... if the President in in the air on Air Force One, then that's where the White House is. If he's at Camp David, then the White House is at Camp David. Technically this is from the perspective of the Secret Service, but it's the truth.

I mean, yeah, its a building ..... but it's officially a state of mind more than anything else.

[Beacool]

25. Well, the guy is a lawyer.

He knows quite well what the meaning of is, is........

:eyes:

[snowbear]

29. GMAFB

...........

I can see why you ducked after posting that..

[bridgit]

30. If there is no discrepancy, why did an Obama transition team aide say that Axelrod misspoke?

'Jake Tapper notes that, two weeks ago, David Axelrod told a local Chicago station that Obama had spoken with the governor. An Obama transition team aide says that Axelrod misspoke.'

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/12/09/obama-no-contact-blagojevich

The Blagojevich indictment is a shit-storm, as is Fitzpatrick's way the matter is not shape-shifting, its not will nilly, it is, or had better be; all tacked down round the edges. I just think we serve ourselves no greater good by leap frogging past a process that is unfolding in the fullness of time, or...a legal snail's pace

[brianna69]

35. For all the freepers trying to link Obama to this mess

Here were the words from Fitzgerald himself in his press conference yesterday
"Prosecutor Fitzgerald pointed out during questions and answers at his news conference that “there's no reference in the complaint to any conversation involving the president-elect or indicating that the president-elect was aware of it.”

If Obama had made contact himself with Blogo, it would have been on tape. Fitzgerald himself stated no such connection or conversation took place. So have fun trying to implicate otherwise.
On top of that we have Blogo on tape ranting and cursing about Obama.

[Beacool]

36. "Misspoke" is political jargon for I lied and got caught.

In this case though, I don't think that it was Axelrod who misspoke but his boss. It stands to reason that Obama would be interested in having a say on who takes over his senate seat. That doesn't mean that there was anything nefarious about it, but who can believe that he never mentioned it to Blago even in passing?

:eyes:

[brianna69]

37. Beacool if Obama had spoken to Blogo it would

be on tape. Fitzgerald already stated yesterday there was no conversation with Obama and Blogo or that Obama was even aware out what was going on. He would have said no such thing if there was some taped conversation between them. If a conversation had taken place between them it would have been revealed and it would have been all over the news. Nice try trying to link Obama to this mess but it won't fly.

[Beacool]

38. I'm not trying to link him to anything.

I don't think that Obama did anything wrong if he talked to Blago about his senate seat. Frankly, it's strange if he didn't talk to him at all about it. It's his seat after all and he's the PE. Why wouldn't he mention to Blago his preference for a replacement? There's nothing wrong with it. Blago is solely responsible for trying to extort money for it.

[bridgit]

40. No one is linking anything to anybody just talking but in either event you simply do not know...

neither does anybody; including you including me, now isn't that the truth? It is said, however, that the approval for the taps came down through testimony provided by Rezko; so that here I quote myself from post #30 above, the one you replied to yourself,

"The Blagojevich indictment is a shit-storm, as is Fitzpatrick's way the matter is not shape-shifting, its not will nilly, it is, or had better be; all tacked down round the edges. I just think we serve ourselves no greater good by leap frogging past a process that is unfolding in the fullness of time, or...a legal snail's pace"

And Rezko was tied to as many people as he could be, he made it his buisness...

I'm no big fan of Fitzpatrick; he's part of a republican DOJ that's been disgraced for years now especially imo after having never brought out Rove or Cheney in his 'wee goody its Fitz'mas trial' of Scooter Libby that is now in the process of being turned on its head. Though what will not "fly" in my book by 1/2, is a 1/2 defense for the insoluble :eyes: sacrosanct words :eyes: of a republican operative within a disgraced republican DOJ without even having to allude that one is aware that not all conversations are taped. Some are over-heard, or hearsay product from within the midst of duress and therefore suspect; 'hearsay product under duress' is a republican specialty and I find it important to keep these issues separate.

This Blago chump is on his own, and needed to go. That much is clear. Clear as well to me at least; its better to not be "leap frogging past a process that is unfolding in the fullness of time"

[dionysus]

32. passive aggressive flamebait FAIL.

:eyes:
try harder

[DevonRex]

39. Agreed. nt

[AtomicKitten]

42. Epic LIAF.