The Discerning Texan
-- Edmund Burke
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
Obama and the Dirty Chicago Politics
"Obama has admitted it was "boneheaded" to enter into a land deal with Rezko that allowed the senator and his wife to buy a $1.65 million mansion on the same day Rezko's wife bought the lot next door. But there are a host of unanswered questions. Here are just a few:
"Exactly how were the terms and timing arrived at that allowed Obama to buy the house at a $300,000 discount, while Mrs. Rezko paid full price?
"Given that Rezko was already publicly known to be under investigation what persuaded Obama to still deal with him?
"When did Obama realize that Rezko, a low-income housing developer, had 11 failed properties in Obama's state Senate district alone? Or that Rezkowas defaulting on taxpayer-funded deals at the same time he was still an Obama political benefactor?
"Was there, at the least, the appearance of a conflict of interest between Obama's legal work for low-income Rezco-connected developers and Obama's responsibilities as a state senator?"
Those are all fair questions, and Senator Obama has the duty and responsibility to answer them. The American public needs to know the circumstances that led Sen. Obama to enter into the "boneheaded" deal with Rezko. Even if there is no wrongdoing involved, we need to know why Obama associated himself with a shady character like Tony Rezko. We need to know if Obama was aware of the illegal dealings for which Tony Rezko is standing trial. We have a right to know why the man we are considering for president of the United States was capable of such monumental bad judgment.