Chatty Cathy's string got stuck.

I wrote a piece about Obama and the economy - but forget it. I can't get my mind around "21". One reporter is saying that Rahm The Man in on tape 21 times talking with Blag. No wonder Obama is stalling. Chatty Cathy's string got stuck.

And I have stood back from the Caroline Senate Seat Grab. It is all so disheartening. Why her? There is no reason except, of course, her name. If the seat was in Idaho (The CLAN must have a ski lodge there. Or a ranch, or a 7-11, to justify an appointment.) I wouldn't be so bothered. But New York is overloaded with qualified people - esp women. That seat in particular is becoming a national joke. It's like an ambassadorship - handed out as a reward. Hillary, at least, worked her tail off once she'd decided to go for it.
Besides, I think Caroline is a bad choice for Democrats. Clinton had six years of experience, and gravitas when she had to run again. In 2010, Caroline will have neither. And 2010 is already shaping up as a GOP year.

Lunch Break - various distractions

Quote:
I'm an experienced woman. I've been around...Well, alright, I might not have been around, but I've been...nearby.

Mary Tyler Moore
as Mary Richards.

WTF?
Make no mistake, Google is moving into new territory: not only making arbitrary, editorial choices - really no different to Fox News, say, or any other media organization. It's now in the business of validating and manufacturing consent...


Another note: One of the most aggravating aspects of the Obamanation is its relentless intellectual dishonesty. Blag's arrest is being equated to Whitewater by the Pods as a way of absolving Obama. It's all a big smear by evil conservatives to get a good man. This is nonsense. Everyone knows it. They know it. But ensuring that Barry's imaginary reputation remain pristine is of paramount concern. So onward with the doublethink!
Here's a big difference between the current scandal and Whitewater - the latter story was over a decade old by the time Bill Clinton ran for President, whereas Blagogate isn't even a week old yet. Why don't we find out the facts and let the chips fall where they may?
Of course, these Pods spent months revisiting Whitewater as a way of bashing Hillary Clinton. But never mind that.


Music - Some Flamenco Guitar. Very Sexy.

Early arrest.

Pat Buchannon, a man I am sure I've almost never agreed with in my life, writes an interesting article here.

Why, if Fitzgerald was listening to the wiretaps and laying his trap for the governor and corrupt politicians interested in buying a U.S. Senate seat, did he abort the operation with his 6 a.m. arrests of Blagojevich and his chief of staff? Why spring the trap when the mouse is just outside, mulling over whether to go for the cheese?

Personally, I think Fitzgerald saved Obama's ass by arresting Blag. early. The indicators are that Obama's office was in deeper than they are admitting but not Obama himself. Fitz has more than enough to treat the wound that is Blag., cauterize, and insure that no infection spreads.

Or BHO indicated he would not wait until he was in office for Blag to go down and Fitz had little choice. Obama knew full well he had a bleeder on his hands in Blag. If JJJ goes down now - so be it. It is not as if he won't have company under the Obama bus.

OR Fitz wanted to get something for his trouble and allowing the investigation to stretch past January 20 leaves him open to being fired. If he was not to be fired, then Fitz is, at least, avoiding a constitutional crisis. So enough evidence on the tapes to cook Blag. before Obama was sucked in completely - will have to do.

Why? Simple enough. This scandal is appalling. It could easily overrun the first months of the Obama Administration if allowed to fester. Did Fitz. save Obama's transition?

He may have.

Nominees for the Liberal Rapture Hypocrite of the Year award

The final six 2008 Hypocrites are in. Interesting year. After yesterday's announcement of the sexist of the year contenders - Obama gets his second "Rappy" nomination in a row today. Steinem seems to have snuck in with a powerful piece of hypocrisy after the Palin nomination. 3 groups are contending and Blagojevich makes a strong stand with an end of the year arrest after running as a reform candidate.
Please vote for your favorite. (Sexist of the year nominees are here. Please vote early and often.)

The winners will be announced sometime between the Hidden Valley Ranch Toss My Salad Bowl- at Attica State Prison and the Acu-Life Earwax Removal Syringe.com Bowl in Homosasa, Florida.
(Because, you know, - we don't need a playoff system in college football. The bowls are so important.)

The Obama distortion

I've been saying it all year. Obama is a liar. There are various types of lies. Big ones, "white" ones, ones that people are forced into, some protect security, some are actually helpful, some lead nations into war, some end marriages, some are told out of sloth, some fear, and there is a special group of lies that are for one purpose and one only: Lies to protect one's inflated ego. Many lie by omission and commission to protect and defend an inner narrative. A tale one tells oneself about oneself.

Obama's lies often fall into this category. "My parents met in Selma." "The Kennedys helped my father come to America" "My banking committee..." "I was a law professor..." They have the texture of truth and have never been extensively vetted . None of these Obama statements are true. But they suited Obama's narrative - and the media, unwilling to accept that Obama was anything but a blessing to the nation, refused to call him on these lies, all of which fed Obama's narrative of redemption. The narrative itself is a lie.

Obama told another whopper this week. "I had no contact with the governor's office."

This is, of course, bullshit. Emmanuel supplied Blag with a list of replacement Senators acceptable to Obama's campaign . The list came from somewhere. Are we to believe that Obama had no say in this list? Of course not. It is unbelievable. Obama approved the list and Emmanuel gave it to Blag's office. THIS IS CONTACT. Further it is contact that goes to the heart of the scandal now engulfing Illinois. It was not contact about the Cubs ownership...or the weather. Why did Obama lie on this point? It makes perfect sense for Obama to have had contact with the man who would choose his replacement. But we have been, and continue to be, harangued with a distorted tale that Obama is our great hope. THE ONE. Without that distortion Obama is just another politician about to make some grim decisions as President. Many of those decisions will directly contradict his campaign's alleged promises. Many already have. Being in anyway involved with a huckster like Blag. violates Obama's narrative.

The distortion is all he has - really. This is not a problem unto itself. All Presidents project an image that does not quite jibe with their reality. However, the gulf between the Obama distortions and the Obama reality is gargantuan. Obama is fresh and new. He will be different. He is not sullied by politics as usual. He is HOPE and CHANGE.

I fully expected the veneer to be striped off this nonsense a few months into 2009. But now we don't have to wait months. It does not look to me like Obama himself was involved in any illegality...we shall see...But what already stinks to high heaven is Obama's closest staff's involvement. The myth of Obama is taking on water. It now appears that Obama's staff was very involved with Blag's office regarding the empty Senate seat. Which goes to his judgement. Good judgement is a pillar of the Obama distortion.

He could learn from this scandal and move into the White House resolved to ditch his Chicago political upbringing once and for all. It would be quite a feat, though. His entire career is smoke and mirrors. Should he dump everyone who brought him to the party he has almost nothing left. Fantasy and corruption are the tent poles of his professional life. The speeches have all been geared to fuel our projections, His "resume" as such, from Excelon to his miracle final year in the Illinois state senate, is composed of back room deals and well timed "present" votes - all a delicate balancing act abetted by the media.

I believed then and believe now that the most incisive moments we had for seeing into the reality of Obama were in June when he flipped on FISA and public financing. In both instances he moved 180 degrees on core principles. This should have been to liberals what Bush 1's flip flop on "no new taxes" was to conservatives: a moment of clarity, a moment everyone saw the man behind the curtain.

Most disturbing as the Blag story unfolds: The Obama cabal will no doubt ramp up the distortions in the next month. The media, full partners in the endeavor so far, will help.

Fundamentally, this is unhealthy. My strong dislike of Obama aside, we can't afford a mythological President. Reality bites too hard.

Forget FDR and JFK, Barrack. Start looking to Truman, a man willing to to suffer unpopularity and make the tough choices. I know being unpopular is a violation of your sacred inner narrative - but, you sir, are all we've got. Be real.

A reading from the Obama Scriptures: The Demon Story.

In those days in the land of the Machine
That is the Lord's home
it came to pass that a demon was loose.
And the demon was muchly on the talking rock.
For he was a merchant.

The Lord had left his seat in the land of Reid
And the seat was cold - nary warmethed by the Lord
For the Lord made no impression in the Seat.

As it was foretold by the oracle Soros:
Lord Obama now planned his journey down the road of Pennsylvania
To claim his rightful throne in the House of Whiteness.

So his former seat was empty.
And the demon set a price on the Lord's seat.

The Lord knowed the Demon Blag. (But there was no evidence that he KNEW the Blag.)
The Demon Blag now madeth the Lord to looketh bad.
And it is written that no one must maketh the Lord to looketh bad.

For in the valley of corruption whereth the Lord made his home
HE was the one and only true light.

The Lord maketh the broken whole.
And the whole Holy.
The lame to be less lame.
And the children to dance many jigs.
And the Lord also maketh the car payments of those that love him.
And all who love the Lord receive treats.
Such as mugs, such as.

The Lord came to the mountain of the Press and said:
"We are waiting for the ones
we've been waiting
for while we wait
for us to arrive."

And the masses marveled at the Lord's wisdom.

Then the Lord said "If you knock I will answer,
and if I do not answer come into my foyer
which I purchased while boneheaded."

So the Demon knocked.
For he knew the Lord would answer.
But there was a tapping on the wire of the talking rock.
It was foretold by the oracle Fitzgerald
that a tapping would come
to the Demon's talking rock.

And the Lord Obama was not to answer.
But others did.
And the Lord was madeth to look bad.
Now the wire became like cuffs.
For the Fitzgerald could turn taps into cuffs.

And the Lord's others
who answered the Blag
came into the land of deep doo doo.

(Forsooth. Anon.)

It was now left to the talking heads on the talking box
for to maketh the Lord not to looketh bad.
And they spinned and spunned.
Reminding the world of the great gift the Lord had brungeth by his presence.
They knew the ways of the masses.
So the talkers repeated the Lord's greatness many times.

Herein we enter the mystery of faith:

The Lord has risen (very quickly)
The Lord is in politics but is not OF politics.
The Lord arrived with the sullied, the corrupt, the mean, the bribe takers, and the Machine.
But the Lord is not like them.
The Lord is pure.
And so it is.

And the Lord taught his prayer:

Our Lord, who are from Chicago.
Hallowed be his names.
His machine doth come.
His will be done
In America as it is in Chicago.
Forgive us our doubts
As we forgive those PUMAs who doubt HIM.
Give us today our commemorative plates.
As we give commemorative plates to others.
For Obama is the kingdom
And the power
and the glory
forever and ever
Amen.

And then so the Lord went out back for to smoketh.


While the Lord smokethed he thought.
And a smile came across the Lord's face.
For the Demon Blag was now undereth the bus.

And all was well.

don't insult the cult.

Ask the Obama transition team anything you like - except about Governor Blag.
Yes, the cult is crossing the media landscape en mass now. Like water buffalo. Ensuring that no one impugne the integrity of the GREAT WATER BUFFALO FROM CHICAGO...

Now more than ever....

And tonight please remember that, one day at a time, you can skip tuning into any cable news network. Live FREE!

Who is the target?

Cannonfire says: I hold with those who think that the real target in all of this may be Obama.

I can't say as I agree so far but Cannonfire makes a good case. Though, by lying or bumbling the immediate response (as Obama often does) he has made matters worse. Obama stated yesterday he has not spoken to Blag (sorry got to shorten his name - my typing is horrific as it is). Axlerod had stated the opposite. Yet, Blag somehow knew that Obama was not willing to "pay" anything for an appointment. So something that should make Obama look like an upright guy - leads, instead, to a reasonable person questioning his veracity.

My only reason for not buying that Fitz. is after Obama in not based in facts on the ground. Fitz. always nets many big fish - but rarely the biggest fish.

Presidents often fire all U.S. attorneys upon taking office (Clinton did). Will Obama fire Fitzgerald on 1/20?
Hmmm.

On a positive note: I like BHO's appointment of this man.

Review session

Given the arrest of Governor Blagojevich it is time to review. During the course of the media reach around of Obama all year they neglected to inform the rest of America about how Illinois politics works - and how Barack and Michelle Obama may have involved themselves with those machinations.
Evelyn Pringle's article The Wizard of Oz is the primer. Here is another of her articles called Curtain Time for Barack Obama. Both are months old - and becoming more and more prescient by the hour. Neither Hilary Clinton or John McCain used the most damning information available to them about Obama. This I will never understand.

Also very good for reviewing the situation is Cannonfire - which I am riffing on here. He has Jesse Jackson Jr. as a possible co-conspirator. And connects the dots to Hunter Biden, the Vice-President elect's son. Cesspool comes to mind.

With that, a note about race. This blog and many others discussed early on just why Obama was bad for race relations in America. I pushed two reasons: 1. Obama, with the compliant media, weaponized race. If you criticized Obama you became a racist. I resented this deeply and still do. Much more importantly, it debased all real victims of racism. 2 . He was not who he said he was - which is now becoming clear. Obama was elevated far beyond what was justified given his resume and experience. This is precisely what white resentment feeds on. A national revulsion against Obama would give the worst racists among us cause to erupt. The fault for this lands squarely on the media for willfully ignoring the level of corruption Obama involved himself with. The ache for Obama to save us is still strong. But Obama's electoral enemies have been vanquished - he needed them to shine. The shine is fading fast. The damage done by Fitzgerald is to some of Obama's closest associates not him - so far. We will see if the levee has been breached. IT HAS NOT BEEN YET. I AM SPECULATING. Stand down, Pods.

My impression of Fitzgerald is that he goes as far as he can go while still winning. Hence Dick Cheney is still V.P. (Hard to believe...I'd almost forgotten the guy.) and Libby needed a pardon. The Chicago machine is good at protecting its arena. The world Cheney moves in is of a different order. Whether or not Obama has constructed a sufficient firewall should he need one remains to be seen. He may not need one.
However:
If BHO is in trouble Blagojevich has little reason to protect him now.
"...the FBI says it heard Blagojevich complain he has to give this "motherf***er [the president-elect] his senator. F*** him. For nothing? F*** him."

"The governor is heard saying he will pick another candidate "before I just give f***ing [Senate Candidate l] a f***ing Senate seat and I don't get anything."

This would appear to exonerate Obama in the short term. But Blagojevich and Obama did not meet a week ago. The relationship is long and deep. What Blagojovich has to bargain with now is information. That's it. And he does not sound like an adoring Obama Pod in the quote above.

Either this affair is going on the Whitewater track, that is sound and fury amounting to nothing until a man is entrapped into lying about a blow job - or the Watergate track...replete with a cavalcade of grifters and a lot of "plausible deniability." After one day it looks much more like a state level Watergate...but tackier. From here Illinois politics looks like a hybrid of Scarface, a used car salesmen convention in Reno, and a 30 year reunion of the Saved By the Bell cast.

The good people of Illinois need to stop paying taxes.

Obama is so good with a speech and a teleprompter - but like Bush anything outside a tightly controlled environment and he looks edgy. Yesterday his discomfort was very apparent.

That's not the Blagojevich, (or Rezko, or Wright, or Ayres, or Killerspin, or Exelon) I knew...

Some seriously rancid stuff is coming out of Illinois. The media never bothered to look into to Obama's political back yard. They were all in Alaska attacking a pregnant teenager.

Let's repeat: OBAMA IS A LIAR. Do what ever you want with that statement. It needs to be repeated now more than ever if we are to recover from the denial so much of the country has been lulled into by the ObamaMedia. I learned during the Clinton years that some lies bother me much more than others. Decide for yourself about Obama's lies. His lie about Selma and his parents doesn't bother me much. His lie about FISA last February is almost unforgivable.
Uppity has the latest lie here. Obama's operation now says Axlerod misspoke. Of course, if I was president-elect and I was told my closest aid said something false on television about an issue as important as a Senate seat - I'd make a statement ASAP. Wouldn't you? Wouldn't anyone?
Axlerod didn't say "Obama jogs every day" or "Obama likes maple syrup on his Wheaties" He said Obama spoke to the now arrested Governor of his home state about his Senate seat.

That "Axlerod misspoke" needed to come weeks ago.

Patrick Fitzgerald's press release lists the what Blagojevich wanted in return for the Senate seat.
Of particular note: A cabinet post or ambassadorship for himself.

Now how was a POTENTIAL Senator going to provide either of those two things? Blagojevich was thinking higher up. Why would he have the impression he COULD think higher up?

Michelle is in the mix here too.

And Rahm E. too- Chicago political heavy and Obama's incoming Chief of Staff.

This is as close as it gets: his Governor, his Chief of Staff, his wife.

Great work is being done on this story across the blogosphere. Of course, Obama is not named specifically in any of this. So Pods move along. Or tell us why this does not fix snuggly into the alternative narrative of Obama as a bought and paid for fraud.

What is telling and important is just how much much the stink of Illinois corruption that surrounds Obama was covered up all year by the cheerleading media. Obama is closely tied to Blagojevich. Yet all year all we heard about was how Obama was different. Obama WAS CHANGE.

Bullshit.

Obama is a machine politician and a serial liar. Sane people have seen this for years. The sooner everyone wakes up to this fact - the easier it will be to deal with the potential coming new age of corruption in D.C. Obama is "just a politician" in bed with more than his share of criminals.
I have no idea if Obama will end up being damaged by today's events. What I do know is that we all need to deal with the actual man who was elected - not the MSNBC/CNN/NYTs/Kos/Axelrod created myth.

Yes We Can! see Obama clearly. Yes we must!

And for God Sake, he's not even a liberal. He is an errand boy, sent by grocery clerks, to collect a bill.