Barak Obama's name may come up in the trail of his longtime friend Tony Rezko. Rezko is accused of bribing public officials and taking kickbacks. Obama claims he was "unaware" of the illegal contributions Rezko made to his campaign. Around $150,000 donated to charities by the Obama campaign are connected to Rezko and others involved in the investigation. Many Illinois politicians say the trial will reveal the "cesspool" of Illinois politics from which Obama came from. Although Obama has been known to speak out against corruption in Washington and Kenya, he has been noticeably silent on the issue of corruption in his home state Illinois. Does his advocacy against corruption in places other than his home state make him a hypocrite?
Although Obama's name does not appear on the list of witnesses for the trials, his connections with Rezko are no private matter. In fact, Obama involved Rezko in a land deal that enabled the senator to buy his current home in Chicago.
Is Obama's friendship and relations with Rezko indicative of the type of people he may surround himself with if elected president? Will Obama's connections with Rezko turn out to be his Achilles heel--how much will it effect his support?
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2 comments:
I dont believe that one friendship can really determine what type of people Obama will surround himself with if he is elected president. The post says that "[Obama] has been noticeably silent on the issue of corruption in his home state Illinois." Perhaps this is because he does not wish to be known as a man who will not stand up for his friends. While we cannot know if Obama was aware of Rezko's illegal bribery, I dont think that people should judge Obama's situation because of this one case. Voters have been made aware of this, and it is their choice whether or not to condemn Obama for this friendship.
I think we are reading too much into one friendship. Although we should be double-checking everything our presidential candidates do, a lot of people are just trying to find fault in every thing they possibly can to make a certain candidate look worse. But maybe it is a friendship that will lead to trouble, i don't know.
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