[legion]

Originally Posted by MRM

Half truths and inuendo more than outright lies.

It is intellectually dishonest to bring up Obama's house, that he paid for with his book earnings, in relation to his state senate salary and then connect him to someone being charged with corruption completely unrelated to Obama and then say "it is unclear if he did anything to benefit Rezko during his brief four years in the U.S. Senate."

How is it dishonest to bring up a purchase that Rezko arranged for Obama? (Fact.) How is it dishonest to state that Obama lobbied for Rezko while in the state senate? (Fact.) Now Rezko is indicted for shaking down a businessman on behalf of the governor. (Fact.)

Originally Posted by MRM

It's just intellectually dishonest. If Obama is doing something shady, show us the evidence. He's not, which is why saying things like this is a smear. I don't like liberals. I'm happy to engage them in the battle of ideas because we will always win over the fuzzy headed liberals when people take time to examine their ideas. But smearing people you opose instead of debating their ideas defeats the whole purpose of our political system and diminishes us as a country. That's what I expect out of the Clintons. I expect more out of a Conservative. True conservatives would rather lose honestly (like Goldwater) instead of winning dishonestly.

So I'm supposed to believe that everyone he surrounds himself with is corrupt to the core, yet he is sqeaky clean? Why not? Richard Daley has gotten the same treatment for the last 20 years.

http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/184952,CST-NWS-obama24.article

In addition to a land deal, Sen. Barack Obama's ties to indicted dealmaker Antoin "Tony" Rezko include an internship the senator provided the son of a contributor at the request of Rezko, an Obama spokesman confirmed Saturday.
John Aramanda served as an intern for Obama for about a month in 2005, said Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs. His father is Joseph Aramanda, a Rezko business associate who was named as an unindicted co-conspirator in a federal corruption case against Rezko. Aramanda has contributed $11,500 to Obama since 2000, Gibbs said.

"Mr. Rezko did provide a recommendation for John Aramanda," Gibbs said. "I think that it's fairly obvious that a few-week internship is not anything of benefit to Mr. Rezko or any of his businesses."

The internship revelation comes after Obama acknowledged he erred in buying property from Rezko in January. The transaction took place when it was widely known Rezko was under investigation by the U.S. attorney's office.

"It was a mistake to have been engaged with him at all in this or any other personal business dealing that would allow him, or anyone else, to believe that he had done me a favor," Obama -- a likely presidential candidate -- told the Chicago Sun-Times in November.


Alleged kickback
Rezko was indicted in October for allegedly trying to collect nearly $6 million in kickbacks from government deals and trying to shake down a Hollywood producer for $1.5 million in campaign contributions to Gov. Blagojevich.
Obama and Rezko have been friends since 1990, and the Wilmette businessman has raised as much as $60,000 in campaign contributions for him.

After Rezko's indictment, Obama donated $11,500 to charity -- the amount Rezko contributed to the senator's federal campaign fund.

Gibbs said no decision has been made on whether Obama will return any contributions from Aramanda, given his alleged role in the federal corruption cases against Rezko and former Teachers Retirement System board member Stuart Levine.

Aramanda is identified as "Individual D" in Rezko's indictment. And when Levine pleaded guilty in October, Aramanda again was listed as "Individual D."

Aramanda was identified by the Sun-Times as "Individual D," who allegedly received a $250,000 kickback tied to a scheme to steer lucrative state pension deals to firms and consultants that donated to Blagojevich. Aramanda is not specifically named or charged with criminal wrongdoing in the court papers. He did not return a call seeking comment Saturday.

Gibbs said John Aramanda served in Obama's Capitol Hill office from July 20 to Aug. 26, 2005.