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Barack Obama Watch: The Tony Rezko Problem; Update: Obama Strains His Credibility
Chicago real estate developer and fast-food magnate Antoin ‘Tony’ Rezko leaves federal court in Chicago in this Oct. 19, 2006, file photo. Rezko spent years pouring thousands of dollars in campaign contributions into Barack Obama’s climb from the Illinois legislature to Capitol Hill, and helped him raise tens of thousands more
Not a good day for Barack Obama. First, there is the Rev. Jeremiah Wright problem and, now, Tony Rezko who is turning out to reinforce the notion that Barack Obama’s judgment is poor and not ready for prime time.
An indicted Chicago businessman and political operator played a much bigger fundraising role in Barack Obama’s political career than the White House hopeful had previously disclosed, the candidate tells the Chicago Tribune for an exclusive story late Friday afternoon.
Antoin “Tony” Rezko, on trial for corruption, raised roughly $250,000 for Obama — more than $100,000 more than had been previously discovered by enterprising reporters.
Obama also admitted that he made repeated lapses in judgement by involving Rezko in a complex house purchase, the paper reports.
Read the Chicago Tribune story here.
This corner lot formerly owned by Antoin “Tony” Rezko’s wife, Rita, is next door to the home (right) of U.S. Sen. Barack Obama in Chicago’s Kenwood neighborhood.
From the Chicago Tribune piece:
Indicted Chicago businessman Antoin “Tony” Rezko was a more significant fundraiser for presidential candidate Barack Obama’s earlier political campaigns than previously known. Rezko raised as much as $250,000 for the first three offices Obama sought, the senator told the Tribune on Friday.
Obama also said for the first time that his private real estate transactions with Rezko were not simply mistakes of judgment because Rezko was under grand jury investigation at the time of their 2005 and 2006 dealings. In addition, he said, “The mistake was he had been a contributor and somebody involved in politics.”
In an extensive interview that he hoped would quell the lingering controversy over his relationship with Rezko, Obama said that voters concerned about his judgment should view it as “a mistake in not seeing the potential conflicts of interest.”
But he added that voters should also “see somebody who is not engaged in any wrongdoing . . . and who they can trust.”
Seen in a courtroom sketch is Antoin ‘Tony’ Rezko appearing before federal Judge Amy J. St. Eve at federal court in Chicago, Monday, March 3, 2008, where he is on trial, charged with using political clout to run a multimillion-dollar extortion scheme.
Does Obama think the American public is stupid? Naive? Both?
First, Obama attends a church for twenty years who has a race-baiting, America hating Pastor and want us to believe he did NOT know about some of his rants. Now, he wants us to believe that his involvement with a corrupt Tony Rezko and doing business with this individual who is under federal indictment is “a mistake in not seeing the potential conflicts of interest.”
Please……..
Now, Obama is saying on Fox News that if he had heard some of Jeremiah Wright’s statements in person or had some of them been repeated to him he would have quit the church. Unbelievable.
What about the disinvitation of Jeremiah Wright when Obama announced for President?
According to the pastor, Mr. Obama then told him, “You can get kind of rough in the sermons, so what we’ve decided is that it’s best for you not to be out there in public.â€
Barack Obama is not telling the truth and has just self-destructed.
McCain vs. Hillary will be the general election race.
Update:
As Newt Gingrich just mentioned on Fox News, this is a question of Obama’s credibility. Does Obama really expect the American people to believe him regarding Jeremiah Wright and Tony Rezko?
Previous:Barack Obama Watch: Is Jeremiah Wright a “Death Blow†to Obama?
Barack Obama Watch: Disagrees With “God Damn America†Statement of Jeremiah Wright
Barack Obama Watch: The Sounding Board – Jeremiah Wright
Barack Obama Watch: The Jeremiah Wright Problem
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Barack Obama Watch: Is Jeremiah Wright a “Death Blow” to Obama?
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEMZHQsQJ6Y&feature=related[/youtube]
The Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Obama’s pastor for the last 20 years at the Trinity United Church of Christ on Chicago’s south side.
TPM asks the question: Is Wright a “Death Blow” to Obama?
Flap says yes. The play this fool is getting in the blogopshere both right and left and Obama’s half-hearted repudiation will give this guilt by association a life of its own.
From a commenter at TPM:
Imagine this 30 second ad, run heavily next October. I think it would be devastating among undecided and swing voters.
“What does Barack Obama really believe in? His spiritual teacher for 20 years has been Jeremiah Wright. Wright wedded Obama & his wife. Obama named his book from a sermon of Wright’s. [insert video of favorable comment about Wright by Obama]. What has Jeremiah Wright taught Obama? [Insert rabid clip of Wright capped by “God Damn America!! God Damn America!!”] We need a solid patriot to lead our nation. Someone we can trust. Vote John McCain 2008.”
Obama can kiss Pennsylvania good bye and Hillary will exploit this flap to win over Super Delegates. Obama may have the Democrat nomination lead today and he may very well be able to defeat Hillary but Jeremiah Wright is a DEATH BLOW to his electability in November.
Update:
Has Barack Obama thrown Jeremiah Wright under the bus?
Let me say at the outset that I vehemently disagree and strongly condemn the statements that have been the subject of this controversy. I categorically denounce any statement that disparages our great country or serves to divide us from our allies. I also believe that words that degrade individuals have no place in our public dialogue, whether it’s on the campaign stump or in the pulpit. In sum, I reject outright the statements by Rev. Wright that are at issue.
Well, sort of….but he did not name the statements. Why?
Because Obama did NOT attend the church when spoken or EVER hear them?
The statements that Rev. Wright made that are the cause of this controversy were not statements I personally heard him preach while I sat in the pews of Trinity or heard him utter in private conversation.
Obama’s statement falls short. He may have thrown Jeremiah Wright under the bus but what Obama REALLY needed to do was THEN run him over a couple of times.
And, sure Obama is denouncing Wright today but where has Obama been the past twenty years? Or, three years ago when Wright made the sermon and said “God Damn America.”
These words of Jeremiah Wright will live on to haunt Barack Obama.Update #2:
Jeremiah Wright has left the Obama campaign.
Too little and way too late. Why didn’t Obama leave that church after 9/11 or repudiate Wright in 2003 when he said “God Damn America?”
How about last year, why did Obama disinvite Wright from his Presidential anouncement?
Well, Obama will have an opportunity to answer these questions as he goes “on air” at Fox News within the hour.
Barack Obama and Rev. Jeremiah Wright
Previous:
Barack Obama Watch: Disagrees With “God Damn America†Statement of Jeremiah Wright
Barack Obama Watch: The Sounding Board – Jeremiah Wright
Barack Obama Watch: The Jeremiah Wright Problem
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Barack Obama Watch: Disagrees With “God Damn America” Statement of Jeremiah Wright
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEMZHQsQJ6Y&feature=related[/youtube]
The Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Obama’s pastor for the last 20 years at the Trinity United Church of Christ on Chicago’s south side.
WOW, this is a relief. Barack Obama disgrees with his Pastor of over twenty years in a statement made in a sermon in 2003 that instead of singing “God Bless America,” black people should sing a song essentially saying “God Damn America.”
I haven’t seen the line. This is a pastor who is on the brink of retirement who in the past has made some controversial statements. I profoundly disagree with some of these statements.
Q: What about this particular statement?
A: Obviously, I disagree with that. Here is what happens when you just cherry-pick statements from a guy who had a 40-year career as a pastor. There are times when people say things that are just wrong. But I think it’s important to judge me on what I’ve said in the past and what I believe.
Again, a repudiation of the line but not a repudiation of the numerous outrageous statements of a man whose church he attended for many years. A man who was Obama’s spiritual counselor and a man Obama called his “SOUNDING BOARD.”
This avoidance of the Jeremiah Wright problem will NOT help Obama with the Jewish community or in the general election.
However, McCain will NOT push the issue.
Yeah, we’ll see about this. It’s not totally implausible: Maverick has enough trouble with evangelicals and, potentially, with Catholics via Hagee that he might be shy about going after a pastor, even one as scummy as Wright. Better to let the media handle it than give Obama an opening for the tu quoque.
Makes sense to me. Why should McCain go after Wright when Hillary’s people will do it first? McCain can rise above the fray and talk about his own themes while Hillary and Obama fight it out in the streets.
Exactly. The Clinton cabal are licking their chops, particularly in painting Obama as anti-Semitic.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lY6qjeJ5mG8[/youtube]
Barack Obama’s new pastor at the same church of Jeremiah Wright. At 2:00 he talks about Obama choosing Trinity and Wright because they were in line with his “values†as an organizer.
Previous:
Barack Obama Watch: The Sounding Board – Jeremiah Wright
Barack Obama Watch: The Jeremiah Wright Problem
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Barack Obama Watch: The Sounding Board – Jeremiah Wright
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEMZHQsQJ6Y&feature=related[/youtube]
The Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Obama’s pastor for the last 20 years at the Trinity United Church of Christ on Chicago’s south side.
There is a Wall Street Journal piece today that asks about Barack Obama’s close association with Pastor Jeremiah Wright.
Hearing Mr. Wright’s venomous and paranoid denunciations of this country, the vast majority of Americans would walk out. Instead, Mr. Obama and his wife Michelle have presumably sat through numerous similar sermons by Mr. Wright.
Indeed, Mr. Obama has described Mr. Wright as his “sounding board” during the two decades he has known him. Mr. Obama has said he found religion through the minister in the 1980s. He joined the church in 1991 and walked down the aisle in a formal commitment of faith.
The title of Mr. Obama’s bestseller “The Audacity of Hope” comes from one of Wright’s sermons. Mr. Wright is one of the first people Mr. Obama thanked after his election to the Senate in 2004. Mr. Obama consulted Mr. Wright before deciding to run for president. He prayed privately with Mr. Wright before announcing his candidacy last year.
Mr. Obama obviously would not choose to belong to Mr. Wright’s church and seek his advice unless he agreed with at least some of his views. In light of Mr. Wright’s perspective, Michelle Obama’s comment that she feels proud of America for the first time in her adult life makes perfect sense.
Much as most of us would appreciate the symbolism of a black man ascending to the presidency, what we have in Barack Obama is a politician whose closeness to Mr. Wright underscores his radical record.
Jeremiah Wright has provided Barack Obama spiritual guidance for years. Obama owes the American people an explanation as to what he repudiates of Wright’s extremist views such as:
- “America is still the No. 1 killer in the world. . . . We are deeply involved in the importing of drugs, the exporting of guns, and the training of professional killers . . . We bombed Cambodia, Iraq and Nicaragua, killing women and children while trying to get public opinion turned against Castro and Ghadhafi . . . We put [Nelson] Mandela in prison and supported apartheid the whole 27 years he was there. We believe in white supremacy and black inferiority and believe it more than we believe in God.”
- “We started the AIDS virus . . . We are only able to maintain our level of living by making sure that Third World people live in grinding poverty. . . .”
- “His depth on analysis [sic] when it comes to the racial ills of this nation is astounding and eye-opening,” Mr. Wright said of Mr. Farrakhan. “He brings a perspective that is helpful and honest.”
So, with what does Obama disagree with Jeremiah Wright?
There is little doubt that Obama is attempting to allay Jewish concerns they have about his candidacy. He has been working hard to capture this Democrat Party constituency. But, Obama’s association with Wright who has praised and whose church and children have awarded the Nation of Islam leader is a problem.
Yet there is unease among some Jewish voters about the Illinois senator and Democratic presidential contender.
Why?
Part of it is a division between blacks and Jews that’s been growing for years, a split that Obama has challenged fellow blacks to confront.
Another element is the praise Obama has received from Black Muslim leader Louis Farrakhan, whose disparaging comments about Judaism are toxic to many voters. Obama’s own pastor has a history of supporting Palestinian causes.
And there are questions about Obama advisers who some U.S. Jews see as less than ardent advocates of Israel.
Over to Obama.
What say you?
Do you agree with Jeremiah Wright’s black liberation theology?
For his part, Obama has said he does not agree with Wright on every issue, religious or political. But that doesn’t sit well with some.
“If Barack Obama has really submitted himself to his church like he’s claimed, why does he have a different expression of faith from his own pastor?†asks Anthony Bradley, theologian and research fellow at the Acton Institute in Grand Rapids, Mich.
As Flap said before:If there is NOT a repudiation then Obama cannot be considered a post-racial figure.
Previous:
Barack Obama Watch: The Jeremiah Wright Problem
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Day By Day by Chris Muir March 14, 2008
Talk about sleeping with the Donor recipient. How about Michelle Obama bringing home the pork for her employer and then receiving a nice 100 K plus raise the next year.
Pretty good work if YOU can get it or your husband is a United States Senator named Barack Obama.
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links for 2008-03-14
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Well, 2008 is looking brighter with Democrat sex scandals and the Hillary-Obama War.
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Don’t tell that to Obama primary voters now…..Flap says McCain beats either candidate.
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An earmark for his wife’s hospital. What did Obama say about lobbyists and special interest favors? Looks like the Obama family made out pretty well with this earmark.
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Obama’s earmarks including one for his wife’s employer.
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