Sun-Times columnist: Obama 'Rezko' comment 'borders on falsehood'

[wyldwolf]

Time for Obama to come clean. To dismiss Rezko as 'somebody who I knew' just isn't going to cut it...

Barack Obama just keeps bobbling the Tony Rezko hot potato, and if he doesn't get a handle on it soon, his campaign for the presidency is going to be badly burned.

On Wednesday, the Illinois senator fumbled again as he continued to try to minimize his relationship with Rezko while making the rounds of the morning news shows.

"My relationship is he was somebody who I knew and had been a supporter for many years," Obama said on CBS in response to Hillary Clinton's "slumlord" attack from earlier this week. "He was somebody who had supported a wide range of candidates all throughout Illinois. Nobody had an inkling that he was involved in any problems."

Somebody who I knew?

Wow.

That's such an understatement that it borders on a falsehood.

Remember, this is a relationship to which Rezko could soon be testifying in federal court if he chooses.

But one way or another, it's all going to come out before Obama can reach the finish line in November. He needs to prove he can deal with this forthrightly now before the Republicans make him explain it.

I write this as somebody who has always expected to be voting for Obama this year.

http://www.suntimes.com/news/brown/757286,CST-NWS-brown24.article

[acmavm]

1. Typical Obama behavior.

[robbedvoter]

2. "Ken Lay supported Ann Richards as I recall"

[sam sarrha]

10. did he sell her a $1,900,000 house for $300,000 less than he paid for it ?

[soundguy]

21. Screw The House Did You See The Lot?

Rezcos' wife bought a vacant lot for 625k and sold to them for 104k. My hillbilly math says thats a cool half a mill....I wonder how many present votes that would buy?

[ccpup]

23. the lot doesn't matter

because Obama later admitted it was a "mistake" and a "boneheaded decision".

Therefore, we should forgive him and speak of it no more. :sarcasm:

[sam sarrha]

33. i missed that.. thanks

[JackORoses]

36. you are not being truthful

Rezco din't sell Obama anything.

Obama and Rezco's wife bought lots on the same property. Rezco was not the seller.

[sam sarrha]

37. sorry, i just got to relating Rethug Senators Wives Charitys laundering money for them, got carried

away..

we all get pissed at millionares saving money wheel-n-Deal'n together to save money.

so it is just guilt by association..

[sam sarrha]

3. ...another link, ...>>Link>>

http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&resnum=0&q=tony+rezko+obama&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=X&oi=news_result&resnum=1&ct=title

[ccpup]

4. nobody had an inkling there were any problems?

"Everybody in this town knew that Tony Rezko was headed for trouble," said Jay Stewart of the Better Government Assn. in Chicago. "When he got indicted, there wasn't a single insider who was surprised. It was viewed as a long time coming. . . . Why would you be having anything to do with Tony Rezko, particularly if you're planning to run for president?"

[MNDemNY]

5. Lighten up, he pushed the wrong button...

no, maybe it was a wider political strategy, no, he was just "present".

[MethuenProgressive]

6. Expect Obama to start using the Karl Rove authored "I can't comment on an ongoing investigation"

:puke:

[mckeown1128]

28. uh oh... you stepped in it again...

Nice attempt to smear Obama with something he hasn't even said. By the way, it seems that Rove stole the technique from the Clinton administration.


Q You're saying that all of the suggestions about Chinese
espionage are simply allegations and that the administration is
not convinced that there has been any actual act of espionage by
the Chinese against the U.S.?

MR. LOCKHART: I'm saying that there are allegations, there
are investigations that are ongoing and it would not be
appropriate for me to comment on ongoing investigations.


http://www.fas.org/news/china/1999/990521-wh-red-china.htm

There are many more examples of Clinton's press secretaries using this line that you have called rovian.

[William769]

7. So this is something else Obama can't give a straight answer to?

Or he just can't remember?

Seems like his vetting process is not doing very well.

[ccpup]

15. yes and no

he's given straight answers, but, unfortunately, they were proven to be false so he had to find other straight answers to give. :shrug:

My favorite? Oh, there are so many. Okay ... here's one: He claims to have received only "$50,000 to $60,000" in campaign contributions, but it was later documented to have been close to $200,000.

Whoops!

[William769]

17. That seems to be the word for the week ( Whoops) for the Obama campaign.

[ccpup]

20. but, hey, if I were an Obama Supporter, I'd be upset

to see a major daily in an important Super Tuesday State -- and probably excerpted around the country -- run a headline with my candidate's name and Oops in the same sentence a day after a huge piece on his associations with an indicted money launderer.

Hope and change, hope and change, hope and change, hope (it will) change ...

[glowing]

8. Its worse than Bush saying he'd never met Abramhoff..

Hillary is taking him out, and settling for VP..

On Edit: she'll see how SC and Florida goes before Super Tuesday... Believe me.. if its not going well for her, this thing with Obama and his friend are going to be front page scandal and he'll be done...

I think this is the Green room meeting after SC debate. If Edwards and Clinton are the only one's left in the race, Edwards numbers will surge and beat out Clinton. The only reason Clinton is doing as well as she is, is because more people are more unaccepting of a black president than a white woman president... And according to polls and MSM Hillary and Obama are the only one's running and that matter....

We'll see what happens

[suston96]

9. Rezko doesn't matter, folks. Obama supporters will ignore anything bad about their candidate.

In fact, most supporters will support their "likeable" candidate no matter what....it's human nature.

[EmperorHasNoClothes]

11. I seem to remember someone else being associated with some unsavory people

But I guess that's all just whitewater under the bridge.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitewater_%28controversy%29

Pretty sick that the Clintons are playing the same game that the pugs played aginst them.

[William769]

14. Was it the Clinton's that brought the Federal Indictment?

Is it the Clinton's stopping Obama from speaking on the truth on the subject? Inquiring minds want to know!

Your attempt at deflection this time was absolutely pathetic. :eyes:

[EmperorHasNoClothes]

27. As usual, you completely missed my point

You're the one playing the guilt by association game. I'm quite certain the Clintons have been associated with more criminals than Obama has, but they're the ones pretending he is somehow complicit in what Rezko did. Talk about pathetic.

[William769]

30. As usual your deflection shield is not working.

:eyes:

[redqueen]

12. "Nobody had an inkling that he was involved in any problems"

I thought that was the one people were getting in a fuss about.

Are you saying he has closer ties to Rezco? Cause I haven't seen any evidence of that.

[sam sarrha]

16. link>

http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&resnum=0&q=tony+rezko+obama&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=X&oi=news_result&resnum=1&ct=title

[ccpup]

18. some links for you:

Obama's letters for Rezko

http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/425305,CST-NWS-obama13.article

Obama still answers for old ties to Rezko

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0704230648apr24,1,671186.story?ctrack=1&cset=true

Obama and his Slumlord Patron

http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/353829,CST-NWS-rez23.article

Obama Rezko ties at issue again

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-obama-rezko-clinton-080122,0,5430503.story?coll=chi_tab01_layout

[jackson_dem]

38. Good work. What happens if Obama is the nominee and gets indicted?

Are we stuck with him or can we substitute someone else in for him?

[angie_love]

13. You missed the other part of the article

And while the Rezko business has definitely taken the bloom off the rose, I still haven't seen anything so far that should disqualify Obama from being president, certainly not in a matchup with Hillary Clinton, who has her own fund-raising con man albatross in Norman Hsu to complement the earlier trail of tears from Whitewater to Monica Lewinsky.

[ccpup]

19. Norman Hsu? Oh, you mean THIS Norman Hsu!

Before becoming a major bundler for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign, disgraced Democratic donor Norman Hsu helped host a 2005 California event for Barack Obama's political action committee and introduced the senator from Illinois to one of the biggest fundraisers for his presidential bid.

Federal Election Commission records show that Hsu gave $5,000 to Obama's Hopefund PAC in connection with the fundraiser and that people publicly identified with Hsu and his companies gave an additional $19,500 to the PAC in 2005 and 2006.

Mark Gorenberg, who now sits on Obama's national finance committee and is one of his biggest fundraisers, said Hsu organized an early 2005 event for the Hopefund and invited him to help raise money.

"He introduced me to Barack Obama," Gorenberg said of Hsu. "He was working on an event for Barack's PAC, and he asked me to help, and I did. Barack came up to San Francisco, and introduced him to a bunch of people."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/07/AR2007090703047.html

[sam sarrha]

32. this is F'n peanuts compared to what they get from Pharma, Oil and Tobacco, except Edwards

they aren't owned by Hsu they are owned by BIG ASS'd CORPORATE MONEY..

this just a distraction from the TRUTH

[ccpup]

34. I attempting to enlighten the Poster I originally responded to.

Norman Hsu fooled a lot of people, Hillary and Obama among them. Not sure where your rant comes in, but I appreciate it nonetheless.

[sam sarrha]

22. Hsu wasnt in the employ of hillery, i doubt there was a conspiracy, except in your own mind. similar

thing happen rd to Gore, a fundraiser at a Buddhist group, supplied money orders to the people there because the Asian people there culturally don't cary cash or check books. he was providing a convenience for them. when the Gore people noticed the consecutive serial numbers they were returned.. but the Rethugs made a big deal out of it anyway.

the Buddhists supported him because there are no greater Environmentalists than people who believe in Reincarnation.

[ccpup]

24. Mark Gorenberg -- introduced to Barack by Hsu --

is still one of Barack's top fundraisers and works on his campaign to this day

[wyldwolf]

26. no I didn't. The article is about Obama

[rndmprsn]

25. two words...norman hsu

shame on you

[ccpup]

31. well, actually ...

Before becoming a major bundler for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign, disgraced Democratic donor Norman Hsu helped host a 2005 California event for Barack Obama's political action committee and introduced the senator from Illinois to one of the biggest fundraisers for his presidential bid.

Federal Election Commission records show that Hsu gave $5,000 to Obama's Hopefund PAC in connection with the fundraiser and that people publicly identified with Hsu and his companies gave an additional $19,500 to the PAC in 2005 and 2006.

Mark Gorenberg, who now sits on Obama's national finance committee and is one of his biggest fundraisers, said Hsu organized an early 2005 event for the Hopefund and invited him to help raise money.

"He introduced me to Barack Obama," Gorenberg said of Hsu. "He was working on an event for Barack's PAC, and he asked me to help, and I did. Barack came up to San Francisco, and introduced him to a bunch of people."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/07/AR2007090703047.html

[FredScuttle]

29. "Ken Who?"

n/t

[ProSense]

35. "he was somebody who I knew" I see the point: Rezko is somebody he knew

Oops, that's what he said!

Obama comes clean, but Hillary's sleaze machine thrives

Hillary Clinton has the audacity to raise question Obama on Rezko, when he has not been accused of anything. On the other hand, Bill Clinton refuses to disclose donors to his library, which includes $450,000 "from the former wife of fugitive financier Marc Rich before he granted Rich a pardon for tax evasion in 2001."

Chicago Tribune, Factcheck.Org, Washington Post: Obama Never Represented Tony Rezko

[CyberPieHole]

39. Obama and Rezko are tied together whether Obama likes it or not...

Fortunately, Senator Clinton brought the subject up in the last debate, otherwise the MSM would still be ignoring this issue. Obama should thank her for doing it now before it was too late. Certainly, if Obama got the nomination, the repubs would bring it up.

:kick: and recommend