Anyone following the Illinois governor story? You should. The Chicago radio stations this morning and several well-known politicians in the state are making comments about Blago and Obama having connections. One said, You don't rise that quickly in the Chicago political machine without some type of illegal activity.

It could get interesting, folks.

By Vicki on Wednesday, December 10, 2008 - 02:38 pm:

I have been following it pretty close and nothing would surprise me at all.

By Ginny~moderator on Wednesday, December 10, 2008 - 03:05 pm:

Fitzgerald, the Attorney General, said very clearly there is no connection between Blago and Obama on this. Blago has been under investigation for a couple of years at least. If you listened to any of the sections of the transcripts read(I won't say quoted because they read them with "expletive deleted" substitutions), one of the expletive's deleted, out of Blago's mouth, was Obama. From the quotes I've heard and read, Blago has no love for Obama.

By Vicki on Wednesday, December 10, 2008 - 03:23 pm:

While that is true, I have also heard that there is a Obama aid involved somewhere. I have no doubt that Obama himself didn't speak to him about anything. There is ALOT to this story that has yet to come out to say anything concrete for now.

By Tayjar on Wednesday, December 10, 2008 - 04:14 pm:

Ginny - living in Illinois all of my life you learn some things quickly. If you are a Democratic politician in Chicago, you are a part of the machine. I like Obama, too, but I'm not naive enough to think that Dem machine hasn't somehow touched him. To what extent is the question. It's strong and has more power than you can believe. Obama and Blago may not have any love for each other, but they do run in the same Chicago political crowd.

We've been listening to numerous radio stations and reading everything we can on this for a couple of days now. Since it affects much of what is happening in this state now, we are all glued to the news networks to see what is happening.

That's why I said it's gonna get interesting. If you can get WLS radio, that is an awesome source. Also, wgn.com. It wouldn't surprise me if Blago's wife is arrested next.

By Ginny~moderator on Wednesday, December 10, 2008 - 04:35 pm:

I grew up in Chicago, and I agree that Obama has to have some connections with the Chicago machine. A young Black lawyer doesn't get to be a state senator, let alone get his party's nomination for U. S. Senator without some strong machine support. But that doesn't link him to Blago's corruption. And, despite all of the investigation done by numerous reporters and others, there doesn't seem to be much else. Even the Resko real estate transction doesn't amount to much, from what I read on FactCheck, Politifact, and in the Chicago Tribune.

By Tayjar on Wednesday, December 10, 2008 - 04:57 pm:

I agree. I don't think he's tied in with this, at least not in any illegal manner. But, with any investigation of this nature, things have a way of surfacing. It will be interesting to see how this all shakes out.