BlagoGate: Obama's Burden
At a news conference just now, U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald made very clear that he had uncovered no evidence of misbehavior on the part of Barack Obama. "I should be clear that the complaint makes no allegations whatsoever about the president-elect or his conduct," he said. But he also made clear that his investigation was hardly complete. He still needed "to find out what happened." And he said, as a policy, that the U.S. Attorney office is not in the business of "giving clean bills of health."
That's the reason that the fall of Gov. Rod Blagojevich is going to continue to haunt Obama, not to mention Chicago's Democratic establishment where he built his roots. The President of the United States has a higher burden than just about any elected official anywhere. His staff will be called on by the press to account for all their conversations with Blagojevich and his aides. Obama will have to explain what he knew about these discussions. The bit players in the complaint, like the unnamed Senate Candidate 1 and Senate Candidate 5, will have to come forward and explain their involvement. If the investigation continues into next year, which seems likely, there may even be calls for the appointment of something like an independent counsel at the Justice Department to avoid any hint of political interference. Obama's staff and political allies may be forced to get attorneys of their own.
To be clear, the bugging and wire tapping of Blagojevich suggests that Obama was not playing in the corruption scheme. The complaint states, "Blagojevich said he knew that the President-elect wanted Senate Candidate 1 for the open seat but 'they're not willing to give me anything except appreciation. [Expletive] them.' " But that is not the operating factor here. U.S. Attorney investigations often end with indictments far from where they start. (See the cases of Valerie Plame and Jack Abramoff.) And Fitzgerald is going to continue to follow the facts, which means many more questions for people close to Obama. So regardless of Obama's innocence, this will continue to be a burden for the president-elect and those around him. Politics, like life, is not fair.
UPDATE: ABC's Jake Tapper illustrates how this game is played. At a press avail this afternoon, Obama said, "I had no contact with the governor or his office and so we were not, I was not aware of what was happening." But just a few weeks ago, David Axelrod, Obama's top adviser, said this on Fox News, about Obama, the governor and the search for a Senate replacement: "I know he's talked to the governor and there are a whole range of names many of which have surfaced, and I think he has a fondness for a lot of them." Obama is avoiding further comment on the criminal complaint because, he said, this is an "ongoing investigation." But the investigation will likely last for months. It's not clear how long the Obama team can leave contradictions like this on the public record, without clarifying. (Tapper now updates his post, adding word that an Obama transition aide says Axelrod misspoke.)
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1
Haunt? What a drama queen you are Michael.
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WTF?
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Oh, give me a freaking break Michael. Just pretend he was George Bush circa 2001-2005 and give him the same press coverage. There will be no "haunting" then. Or are the Clinton rules back in effect, where smear and innuendo rule the day?
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Obama wouldn't play ball. This is very freaking haunting. What should be haunting is that the owner of the Tribune was going to fire editorial staff in order to get $100,000,000 from Blago.
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That should be haunting to you. -
4
Oh, for god's sake.
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Fitzgerald has found that Obama didn't "pay for play" and that translates into a 'burden' that might haunt Obama?
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Get a grip. -
5
I'd like to know why the Trib did not report coercion by the gov over their own dealings.
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Or are the Clinton rules back in effect, where smear and innuendo rule the day?
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Naturally Obama is responsible for everything that happens in Chicago.
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/snark -
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Haunting Obama? Boy, are you quick to spread the guilt by association slime. jeez, you are practically salivating with the prospect.
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Glad to see you are in salivating mode, MS. I guess we can rely on the Republican Hackopedia to try to bring Pres-elect into the mix. To all those aides about whom you are concerned, if they tell the truth they will not need to worry. The one thing I have noticed about Fitzgerald: he is not Starr. Are you going to play by Clinton rules?
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Haunt. Ha ha ha. Still laughing. Blagojevich is a criminal, not a vampire. Michael Scherer is afraid of vampires. Count Blagola. Ha ha ha. Boo!
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I am still in non insulting Michael mode. Somebody please do it for me.
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Holy cow. This post is the most blatantly hackish thing I've ever seen you write.
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12
Michael Scherer have a merry go f@ck yourself.
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"That's the reason that the fall of Gov. Rod Blagojevich is going to continue to haunt Obama...To be clear, the bugging and wire tapping of Blagojevich suggests that Obama was not playing in the corruption scheme...But that is not the operating factor here. U.S. Attorney investigations often end with indictments far from where they start."
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So anyone under the sun might be indicted, but what they hell, lets spotlight Obama even though it doesn't seem like he's involved. Brilliant. 8 years of blatant corruption in broad daylight and you got not a bit of it, or even wanted to...now this. You are a piece of sh!t. -
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It's a shame Don LaFontaine died, he could do a trailer for this post, "In a world where all Chicagoans are alike ..."
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14
Jesus God on a bike, Michael. While I'm sure Obama would rather not have had this happen - better to be able to focus on the issues that will be facing him when he's in office - it's his burden that the governor of Illinois - a guy who isn't even a political ally, a guy with whom the Obama team would specically NOT play ball - is a corrupt scumbag? Jarrett pulled her name out of the running pretty early, probably, in part, because Blagojevich was giving her and the Obama team the creeps. Heck, they may have even given Fitz a heads up.
If Jarrett and other folks on the Obama team who may have been caught in this Web can help Fitz put this jagoff away, that'a burden?
Blagojevich Whitewater. Next!
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15
I am so hopping mad at this unadulterated piece of cr@p that I could scream. We are going to have an expose by MS any day of Obama being the bag man for the Mena Arkansas cocaine ring that helped finance the hit on Vince Foster.
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The Clinton rules are coming back. The press could ignore the 1,000,000 dead in Iraq. Hey, it was good for ratings. It's time to go back to smear and innuendo.
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Expletives deleted. -
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I am still in non insulting Michael mode. Somebody please do it for me.
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Okay.
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Michael just brung teh stupid. Again. -
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Coffee: In a world where Michael Scherer was a credible journalist...
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18
Ah! The old hack Michael's back, huh?
Wondered how long that would take.
"Clinton Rules" become "Obama Rules," in Scherer land.
"...haunt Obama," indeed. -
19
Indeed, Michael. Get a grip.
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All of a sudden now that George W Bush and his MOST corrupt, but MOST unquestioned, administration in history is almost out the door, and now you invoke Clinton Rules of innuendo, fact-less speculation, and dark intimations of wrongdoing, no matter how far-fetched. There is OVERT EVIDENCE OF INNOCENCE by the entire Obama team. Don't say there isn't.
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Clinton Rules, according to a friend:
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"..the habit in the media to pursue and often magnify allegations of wrongdoing no matter how disproven, or incredible, in ways that set aside the tenets of the media as a profession and in ways that have no equivalent in media coverage of Republicans."
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Haunt them, my azz. -
20
The greatest Chicago vampire of them all! Sure to terrify the easily-haunted Michael Scherer - five time winner of the "Most Hauntable" journalist trophy.
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21
Michael, can you just explain what the point of this post was? What was going through your head when you decided to write it? Were you drunk? Stoned? Pissed off at your girlfriend? What?
Seriously. When every piece of evidence points against a hypothesis, why write a post claiming that the hypothesis *might* be true?
Your real point, aside from being poisonous, is that even tangential involvement in an investigation incurs overhead, both logistically and from a PR standpoint. However, *every* indication to this point is that no one in the Obama camp would even entertain playing Blagojevich's games, and Fitzgerald is known to be both thorough and fair.
Why is that fact buried beneath three paragraphs of nasty speculation?
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22
Rather than pile on MS, I'll simply note that few things inspire more confidence than being sure of your own innocence while being questioned. It's even more inspiring to note that the person doing the questioning is not a politically motivated hack but is someone noted for their integrity and tenaciousness.
In other words, MS's blatant concern-trolling aside, Obama has nothing to worry about.
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23
[...] Michael Scherer bumping up against the line at Time: That’s the reason that the fall of Gov. Rod Blagojevich is going to continue to [...]
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24
Obama has nothing to worry about. Agreed. But, does he have something to be haunted about?
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25
Michael, you of all people, by working in Washington, should know Watergate was an building complex. Gate does not mean scandal. Please help the media stop from adding "gate" onto the end of every scandal, it's annoying and inaccurate. Thanks.
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