In an amazing display of investigative journalism, Brett J. Blackledge at AP uncovered the following shocking news about then mayor Sarah Palin:
She gladly accepted gifts from merchants: A free “awesome facial” she raved about in a thank-you note to a spa. The “absolutely gorgeous flowers” she received from a welding supply store. Even fresh salmon to take home.
She also stepped in to help friends or neighbors with City Hall dealings. She asked the City Council to add a friend to the list of speakers at a 2002 meeting — and then the friend got up and asked them to give his radio station advertising business.
They’re kidding, right? This is news. Digging into Obama’s relationship with Rezko, ACORN, Ayers… not a big enough deal for the super sleuths at AP… but a mayor receiving a facial and flowers… ewww, let’s appoint a special prosecutor.
But wait, thre’s more:
Some of her first actions after being elected mayor in 1996 raised possible ethical red flags: She cast the tie-breaking vote to propose a tax exemption on aircraft when her father-in-law owned one, and backed the city’s repeal of all taxes a year later on planes, snow machines and other personal property. She also asked the council to consider looser rules for snow machine races. Palin and her husband, Todd, a champion racer, co-owned a snow machine store at the time.
Oh my goodness, mercy me.
To be fair, Blackledge did include the following…. as the LAST THREE FREAKIN PARAGRAPHS IN THE ARTICE!!!!!
James Svara, professor of public affairs at Arizona State University and author of “The Ethics Primer for Public Administrators in Government and Nonprofit Organizations,” suggested such behavior is part of small-town politics.
“Small towns are first-person politics, and if people are close, it’s hard to separate one’s own personal interest and one’s own personal property from the work of the city,” Svara said. The key questions from an ethics standpoint include whether the politician makes a potential conflict of interest known and removes himself or herself from actions related to it, he added.
“I think in a small town there is a greater likelihood that people will accept that you will pay careful attention to friends and neighbors,” he said, adding that there may be some local gossip about it, but not a lot of public scrutiny. “At the national level, there will be far more people watching, there will be far more pressures to come forward to try to influence the outcome.”
If Palin’s record as a mayor is fair game for MSM like AP, then why isn’t Obama’s partnership with Ayers, his association with ACORN, his relationship with Rezko?
For example, a search on “Rezko” finds 3 AP articles about Sarah Palin, a couple with headlines about the Illinois senate, and one article with the following:
AP - McCain’s ad begins, “Barack Obama: Born of the corrupt Chicago political machine.” That’s an inaccurate statement - Obama wasn’t a machine candidate in the state Senate or in the U.S. Senate primary. However, he has been backed by Chicago Mayor Richard Daley and other establishment Democrats since he got the Senate nomination in 2004 and has worked with them since being elected.
The ad goes on to list establishment Democrats and their connection to Obama - some stronger than others.
It is true that Obama’s fundraiser Tony Rezko is a convicted felon. And his political mentor, state Senate President Emil Jones, has an array of relatives with state jobs, arranged for his son to take over his Senate seat next year and has dragged his feet on ethics legislation.
Obama did endorse his fellow Illinois Democrat Gov. Rod Blagojevich for re-election despite questions about his ethics, but the two are not particularly close. It’s also true that William Daley has been an adviser. But it’s not surprising Obama would seek economic advice from a former Commerce secretary.
The article is about attack ads, barely mentions Rezko, and is essentially written as a defense of Obama.
Why not dig a little deeper into the Rezko-Obama relationship then simply mentioning he is a fundraiser for Obama and a convicted felon:
From Wiki - Starting in 2003, Rezko was one of the people on Obama’s U.S. Senate campaign finance committee, which raised more than $14 million. Rezko threw an early fundraiser for Obama, which Chicago Tribune reporter David Mendelland claims was instrumental in providing Obama with seed money for his U.S. Senate race. Obama has since identified over $250,000 in campaign contributions to various Obama campaigns as coming from Rezko or close associates, and has claimed to have donated almost two thirds of that amount to charity.
Also, in 2005 Obama purchased a new home in the Kenwood District of Chicago for $1.65 million (which was $300,000 below the asking price but represented the highest offer on the property) on the same day that Rezko’s wife, Rita Rezko, purchased the adjoining empty lot from the same sellers for the full asking price. Obama acknowledged bringing his interest in the property to Rezko’s attention, but denied any coordination of offers. According to Obama, while the properties had originally been a single property, the previous owners decided to sell the land as two separate lots, but made it a condition of the sales that they be closed on the same date. Obama also claimed that the properties had been on the market for months, that his offer was the best of two bids, and that Ms. Rezko’s bid was matched by another offer, also of $625,000, so that she could not have purchased the property for less. Obama’s description of the purchase was later confirmed by the previous owner of the house.
After it had been reported in 2006 that Rezko was under federal investigation for influence-peddling, Obama purchased a 10 foot (3.0 m) wide strip of Ms. Rezko’s property for $104,500, $60,000 above the assessed value. According to Chicago Sun-Times columnist, Mark Brown, “Rezko definitely did Obama a favor by selling him the 10-foot strip of land, making his own parcel less attractive for development.” Obama acknowledges that the exchange may have created the appearance of impropriety, and stated “I consider this a mistake on my part and I regret it.”
<SNIP>
In June 2007, the Sun-Times published a story about letters Obama had written in 1997 to city and state officials in support of a low-income senior citizen development project headed by Rezko and partner Allison Davis. The project received more than $14 million in taxpayer funds, including $885,000 in development fees for Rezko and Davis. Of Obama’s letters in support of the Cottage View Terrace apartments development, Obama spokesman Bill Burton said, “This wasn’t done as a favor for anyone, it was done in the interests of the people in the community who have benefited from the project. I don’t know that anyone specifically asked him to write this letter nine years ago. There was a consensus in the community about the positive impact the project would make and Obama supported it because it was going to help people in his district.” Rezko’s attorney responded that “Mr. Rezko never spoke with, nor sought a letter from, Senator Obama in connection with that project.
Now I know what you’re thinking… Obama’s relationship to a man convicted on six counts of wire fraud, six counts of mail fraud, two counts of corrupt solicitation, and two counts of money laundering does not reach the level of Palin accepting flowers and a facial, but I just thought you should know anyway.
But seriously… this is what I found on Wikipedia.. don’t you think AP’s time would be well spent digging a bit deeper here? Isn’t this at least as important as Palin supporting the roll-back of taxes on planes when her father-in-law owned a plane or Palin being given some Salmon?
