The Pink Flamingo :: All the Candidate’s Men (or) Obama to Hammer Hil on Ethics?

First, you might want to bookmark the blog Rezkowatch. I think it’s going to be very busy for awhile.

Rick Moran has an excellent summary of all the Chicago-Style fun and games with Barack Obama’s little associates. Now there are allegations that Tony Rezko may have found jobs for more than a few of Barack Obama’s staffers. Of course there are also allegations that Barack Obama is not being treated fairly by the media. The big problem with that theory is it isn’t quite true. The one fortunate aspect of this is the fact that there may be signs of “Obama Fatigue”

“…On college campuses Obama is a demi-god, and on the trail you get the sense that some of his supporters are not so sure about the “demi.” On several occasions now, audience members at campaign events have fainted merely from the thrill of being in Obama’s presence. Maryland Congressman Elijah Cummings, introducing the candidate at a rally, said of the Obama experience, “this is not a campaign for President of the United States, this is a movement to change the world.” Hollywood, too, has seen the light. “He walks into a room and you want to follow him somewhere, anywhere,” actor George Clooney told PBS’s Charlie Rose. “I’ll do whatever he says to do,” actress Halle Berry said to reporters without a hint of irony, “I’ll collect paper cups off the ground to make his pathway clear.”..”

and the fact that he does not appeal to “Reagan Democrats”, who might soon be called “McCain Democrats”.

This is funny: According to the NYPost Obama is going to go after Hillary’s ethical problems. Now I don’t know about you, but this could be a heck of a lot of fun. If the two of ‘em go at one another, this could be so darn much fun it will be better than watching juiced up sluggers this summer and fall. Flopping Aces is on an ethics watch of their own, keeping track of the Obama-Rezko show. The fun part of all of this is if Obama goes after Hillary for her Hus collection, she’s going to go straight for the jugular over Rezko. Perhaps the only one left standing will be Al Gore. The downside of all of this is the fact that the other night I heard Karl Rove say that there could be so much publicity the Dems suck all the oxygen out of the room and our candidate won’t have a chance.

CHICAGO STYLE
(Thanks SV) Evidently, unbeknownst to those of us who live in the rest of the world, there is a specific code of conduct required for Democrats in Chicago.
It helped JFK win over Richard Nixon in 1960. Now Barack Obama is playing it like an IPod as he works every angle in his attempt to secure the Dem nomination.

“…This is critical, as the nation's eyes turn toward Chicago's federal building, where Barack Obama's personal real estate fairy, Tony Rezko, stands trial on federal corruption charges. The phrase must be put in context, something the national media fails to do when they portray Obama as the boy king drawing the sword from the stone, ready to change America's politics of influence and lobbyists, ignoring the fact that Chicago ain't Camelot….Sorich was convicted two years ago of running the mayor's massive and illegal patronage operation, and he's still not in prison. Thugs, morons, idiots, and convicts were put on the city payroll to work the precincts so that Daley could keep getting elected. Obama's spokesman, David Axelrod, defended Daley patronage in a Tribune op-ed piece.  The Daley family's parish priest in Bridgeport, Rev. Dan Brandt, lovingly compared Sorich to Jesus Christ as both had troubles with the law.  "People often say, what would Jesus do?" he said, loyal not only to his faith but to the 11th Ward's place at the head of Chicago Way. "I put a twist on it and say, 'What would I do for Jesus?' With whom Robert has a lot in common as far as legal problems ... [The Lord] was a convicted felon. And Robert was convicted, and so he may have a lot in common with Jesus."  When the parish priest does right by the patronage boss to protect the mayor who gets endorsed by that great reformer Sir Barack of O'bama, that's the Chicago Way.  Naturally, there are some squares who don't think taxpayers should pave the Chicago Way to make it easy for Rezko to help purchase the senator's dream house in a kinky deal exposed by the Tribune and still not fully explained.  "It's really the Old Chicago Way," said Jay Stewart, executive director of the Better Government Association. "In the old days they would pretty much admit it up front, and now they deny it. It's essentially about power, access to government jobs, government contracts and taking care of your own."  One secret DaVinci Code-type sign for the Chicago Way is in the back room of the Chicago City Council chambers at City Hall, where a portrait of George Washington looks down at the crookedness below, and extends his own hand, palm up, itchy, needing that special grease….”

In other words, Barack Obama is up to his ears (slam intended) in the Chicago patronage and corruption system. Yep, we do need “Change”. Speaking of which, what’s the deal with Obama-Rama and “Oil for Food”?
 Andrew Walden in American Thinker:

“…Rezko's relationship with Barack Obama goes back to at least 1990, when Obama's law firm did work relating to a Rezko housing development. Rezko was a key early-money fund raiser in Obama's state Senate campaigns and his failed run at the US Congress. In June 2005, when the mansion was purchased, Rezko was widely known to be under federal investigation. Rezko also is a key fundraiser for Illinois Democratic Governor Rod Blagojevich.

The sudden emergence of Auchi into this story indicates Rezko's deals may include a money trail leading back to dead Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. Auchi's Saddam links trace back to a failed 1959 assassination attempt on the life of then-Iraqi-prime-minister Abdul Karim Qasim.

Auchi's General Mediterranean Holdings company was also the largest private shareholder in Banque Nationale de Paris which later merged with Paribas to become BNP Paribas. At Saddam's insistence, billions of dollars of Oil for Food transactions passed through BNP from its 1995 inception until 2001.

In January 2004, Iraqi newspaper Al-Mada published a list of 270 Oil for Food beneficiaries. The list was translated and published on line by The Middle East Media Research Institute. Hundreds of millions of dollars of Oil for Food money was illegally diverted to buy Saddam favor from the United Nations, possibly reaching as high as Secretary general Kofi Annan's son. Also receiving million's from Saddam's slush fund were heads of state and their associates from Russia, France, China, and numerous Islamic countries.

The Auchi-Obama links go beyond the mansion deal. The Times of London February 1 reports uncovering, "state documents in Illinois recording that Fintrade Services, a Panamanian company, lent money to (an) Obama fundraiser in May 2005. Fintrade's directors include Ibtisam Auchi, the name of Mr. Auchi's wife."

Auchi, a Chaldean Christian, was later pardoned by Qasim. As Saddam's Baath party took power, Auchi prospered. He went to work for the Iraqi Ministry of Oil in 1967. He rose to be Oil Ministry Director of Planning and Development before leaving Iraq in 1979. His brother was apparently killed by Saddam's regime as were family of many high-ranking Baathists. But there are also claims that Auchi continued secretly working for Saddam's intelligence services, a kind of dual reality not uncommon in the twisted world of Saddam's upper echelons….”