We don’t know to what degree Blagogate affects members of Obama’s team, and hope only that after a too long election, we get on with our new president and looming crises. But the continual mishmash of “misspokes” is growing alarming. More worrisome is why we are even here weeks before the Inauguration.
We learned everything about McCain down to his wife’s private temperament, and we were forced to endure the daily speculations about the Palin pregnancy and clothes. But far too much about far more important things about Obama in his Chicago years were simply off limits: the disturbing legal action in his state campaign that eliminated all opponents by having African-American petitioners declared null and void, the mysterious leaking of sealed divorce papers to eliminate the Democratic Senate rival, and the lightning-strikes-twice reoccurrence of that in the general election against his likely Republican opponent. When collated with the Chicago Circle (Rezko, Wright, Pfleger, Ayers, Khalidi, etc.) his past was a lot to swallow.
But no matter — the election is over, and that was then.
Yet now, rather than pursuing leads the last few weeks about the swirling rumors concerning Blago, the media continues to discourse on their Constitutional frustration that President-elect Obama simply could not assume power right now! To outsiders, they all seem eager to audition for parts in a Sophoclean tragedy of their own making.
Again, the media treatment of Obama the last two years has been ethically reprehensible and absolutely derelict, and now the media will be left scrambling to ponder a number of Chicago synapses.
Given the long and close ties in the past (cf. especially 2002) between Blagojevich and Axlerod/Emanuel/Obama, it was very unwise of Obama to offer those initial sweeping disclaimers about an absence of contact between the two parties, given that they will inevitably have to be rendered “inoperative”.
We know that later there will be corrections coming, since there were contacts between Blagojevich and members of the Obama transition team (if for no other reason than Blago’s profanity-ridden frustrations with the negotiations).
I fear throwing Hot Rod under the bus will make Rev. Wright look like the toss of a blow-up doll.