Is Obama Mired in Corrupt Chicago Politics?

Throughout his campaign, Obama emphasized he was far from politics as usual. He claimed he was above the typical Washington games, and represented real change. Yet, if we examine his past, and the present, a different story emerges.

Obama is a product of the notoriously corrupt Chicago political machine. When Obama was first elected to the IL State senate, he did so not by popular vote, but by former senator Alice Palmer selecting him as her successor while she left for bigger and better things. And when she tried to come back and reclaim her senate seat? Why, Obama had her kicked off the ballot. Ah democracy, a beautiful thing. According to the LA Times:

She's the former state senator who picked Obama to be her successor back in the mid-90s.
When she tried to reclaim her spot, Obama got her booted from the ballot.

When Obama ran for the US senate against Jack Ryan, dirty little secrets about Ryan and his ex-wife Jeri Ryan just happened to be leaked, including their divorce records. Again, Obama bullied his opponent into dropping out, all but locking the election in his favor. Sounds like thuggery to me.

Fox News:

"What would take place, rather, is a brutal, scorched-earth campaign — the kind of campaign that has turned off so many voters, the kind of politics I refuse to play. Accordingly, I am today withdrawing from the race."

Ryan decided to bow out of the race to replace Republican Sen. Peter Fitzgerald after Illinois GOP leaders urged him to quit.

Obama also has publicized ties with Tony Rezko, a sleaze bag criminal from Chicago. They were involved in a shady land deal together, that has been well documented by deathby1000papercuts.com, so well in fact, I will simply link to it, rather than try and lay out their connection myself. Find all you need to know about their connection here.

Oh, and while you are at it, visit this previous post regarding Tony Rezko's connections to Obama. Tony Rezko's Ties with Obama and Biden

Recently, Obama has showed how strong his Chicago ties, and perhaps debts are, by selecting several Chicago thug types to his cabinet. Gulfinthemedia.com:

Obama has added to his White House staff attorney Tina Tchen and his former U.S. Senate counsel, Michael Strautmanis, the Chicago Sun-Times reported Saturday.

And of course there is Rahm Emanuel, a nefarious Chicago politician:

Rahm Emanuel, who has been chosen by Barack Obama to be the White House chief of staff, is known by colleagues as "Rahmbo" - a nickname reflecting his reputation as one of the most ferociously combative figures in Washington. -Telegraph.uk

I have also previously reported on Rahm Emanuel's radical liberal leanings. You can find that here.

Through out Obama's campaign for the presidency, he ran in a pack of fellow Chicago political, and socialite types. According to the Washington Times:

Joining him and his wife, Michelle, for the flight from Chicago to St. Paul, Minn., were half a dozen of their closest friends, a biracial cross section of the city's business and professional elite: Martin Nesbitt, a parking lot magnate; Valerie Jarrett, a prominent businesswoman; Eric Whitaker, an executive at the University of Chicago Medical Center; and John Rogers, the founder of an investment fund.

Some were mainly social friends from Hyde Park, their Chicago neighborhood. Some have played a major role in Obama's campaign, including Penny Pritzker, a billionaire Hyatt hotel heiress and Obama's national fundraising chairman; James Crown, son of Chicago billionaire Lester Crown and another prominent member of the local Jewish community; and David Axelrod, who has been Obama's Chicago-based political adviser and confidant since his U.S. Senate campaign in 2004.

The article also goes on at length about other Chicago political play callers, and how they were involved with Obama's campaign.

And then of course there is the recent development of Blagogate. Yay, this is turning into such fun.

Blagogate

Will Obama be Indited

The Obama and Blagojevich Connection

This could turn out to be Obama's Watergate. If it is found that Obama was involved in selling his senate seat, or if he has other shady dealings with Blago, it could tarnish his reputation and career, and possibly even lead to impeachment.

Notoriouslyconservative.com will continue to keep our eye on this, and cross our fingers that it mushrooms into something Obama can't wiggle out of. But one thing is clear, Obama is not the face of change, he is politics as usual, and worse, he is Chicago politics as usual.