Obama the Hypocrite

Barrack Obama has often spoke out against Hillary Clinton taking contributions from Washington lobbyists. Obama said, "In this campaign, [Clinton has] taken nearly double the amount of money from lobbyists than any Democrat or Republican running for president," he also said. "That's not being a part of the solutions business. That's being a part of business-as-usual in Washington."

Apparently Obama believes it is wrong to take money from lobbyists, but it is perfectly fine to take a land discount from a dirty political power broker, Antoin "Tony" Rezko, in the state of Illinois. Brian Ross and Rhonda Schwartz reported, "While Rezko's wife paid the full asking price for the land, Obama paid $300,000 under the asking price for the house. The house sold for $1,650,000 and the price Rezko's wife paid for the land was $625,000...Obama then expanded his property by buying a strip of the Rezko land for $104,500..." They further reported that, "An ABC News review of campaign records shows Rezko, and people connected to him, contributed more than $120,000 to Obama's 2004 campaign for the U.S. Senate, much of it at a time when Rezko was the target of an FBI investigation."

The following is another report from Tim Novak.

A few months after Obama became a U.S. senator, he and Rezko's wife, Rita, bought adjacent pieces of property from a doctor in Chicago's Kenwood neighborhood -- a deal that has dogged Obama the last two years. The doctor sold the mansion to Obama for $1.65 million -- $300,000 below the asking price. Rezko's wife paid full price -- $625,000 -- for the adjacent vacant lot. The deals closed in June 2005. Six months later, Obama paid Rezko's wife $104,500 for a strip of her land, so he could have a bigger yard. At the time, it had been widely reported that Tony Rezko was under federal investigation. Questioned later about the timing of the Rezko deal, Obama called it "boneheaded" because people might think the Rezkos had done him a favor."

Now who is Rezko? "Rezko had been widely reported to be under investigation by the U.S. attorney and the FBI at the time Obama contacted him and has since been indicted on corruption charges by a federal grand jury in a case that prosecutors say involves bribes, kickbacks and "efforts to illegally obtain millions of dollars", reports Ross and Schwartz.

Obama explains this incident by saying he made "a bone-headed mistake." Really? A bonehead mistake? It sounds more like Obama and Rezko found a way to give Obama a little under the table money. Who needs to abide by campaign rules when you can hand out cash in dirty land deals? This was not a bone-headed mistake. This was a deliberate and successful attempt to flaunt campaign rules. This was Rezko getting his fingers into Obama before he hit the big time. This reminds me of a dirty sports agent going after a 16-year-old basketball player before he makes the NBA, and like with basketball players, Obama takes the help, anything to get himself out of the "ghetto" state Senate.

I am sorry, but it is no coincidence that Rezko's wife and the Obama family just happened to purchase land next to each other. It was not merely a convenient deal for Obama to purchase the land from Rezko's wife. This was a dirty land deal and this is what Obama "hopes" people continue to ignore.

It is completely hypocritical for Obama to point his finger at Clinton after what he has done. Obviously Obama does not have to stoop to such behavior now, but there is a historical precedent here that we cannot ignore. When Obama needs something, he is more than willing to get dirty in order to get it. That sounds awful familiar...that sounds a lot like the Bush Administration.

A really nasty question that no one wants to touch

Will the nomination of Obama drive Latino voters to McCain and maybe even permanently to the Republican party? I am not trying to fear monger or play some race card on why Democrats shouldn't vote for Obama. I think it is a legitimate question considering the less talked about race issues between black and brown voters. Living in Los Angeles gives me a unique perspective on the relationship between the two and I think this is a valid question. I don't think the question is relevant in regards to the current nomination process, but I do think it is something people will need to think about come November and maybe further into the future.

Please understand that I am not trying to single out Latinos as racist. You can find racists in every culture. I think the question needs to be answered because the Latino voting block is exploding and will have a massive affect on politics in the future, which it rightly should.

If this is true, the Democratic party is going to have to find a way to pull these voters back. Karl Rove found a way to get them in 2000 and 2004. If Obama is nominated, I think Democrats will have to do the same. If this question is ignored, Democrats could have problems in years to come.

Novak's The Bradley Effect

I just finished a horrifically written and disturbingly biased article by Robert Novak. Novak, in a pathetic and transparent attempt at scaring the American public, played the race card today. America won't vote for a black guy, implies Novak. It is the Bradley effect all over again. He uses California as his premise and bad data to back it up. First he states that two polls showed Obama winning California, when really only one of those polls had Obama ahead.

"Zogby and SurveyUSA polls showing big Obama leads in California, it is argued, were just plain wrong."

SurveyUSA had Clinton ahead 52-42 on the day before the election

Then he says that people, not wanting to be seen as racist, just said that they voted for Obama, when they really voted for Clinton. Novak conveniently forgot that a large number, 42%, of California ballots where mail in ballots. A lot of these ballots were most likely mailed off before Obama made his push.

The truth is, Novak and his conservative masters, want no piece of Barrack Obama. Hillary is an easy target, but Obama seems almost untouchable. If Bill Clinton can't even imply race, then what is a Republican to do??? As much as I like John McCain, Barrack Obama would destroy him in a general election....Novak knows this and is doing whatever he can to make sure Hillary is the nominee.

What Novak doesn't get, is that George Bush has insured that no Republican will win in the general. McCain doesn't have a chance...voter turnout alone is proof enough of this.

Mr. Novak, and I use "Mr." loosely, we can see the fear in your lies.