The Light: Hillary

/ Bumped Up /

UPDATE: Two of them, actually. Since I am in my hometown after having seen my orthopaedist, and have to get something from my mom’s house (now my brother’s house), I have this on the jobs front. This came in on Friday, to add to the high Unemployment filings for the last week of July. There was a decline of jobs by 131,000 to add to this already disappointing (to put it mildly) news. I don’t quite understand how this keeps Unemployment steady at 9.5% since the numbers keep hovering close to half a million, but that’s just me.

And then, there is this headline regarding Michelle’s European vacation: Spanish Police Close Public Beach For Michelle Obama’s (Almost $400,000) Spanish Holiday (sorry – couldn’t find the pound sign while my 6 yr old grandnephew is jumping around). Oh, this is some story, with LOTS of photos and details, except how many aides Michelle actually has. Why can no one get that number? There’s a ton of security with her, too, as you might imagine, which costs each and everyone of us our taxpaying dollars. Gee – and you wonder why Andrea Tantaros refers to her as a “modern day Marie Antoinette…”

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Original of “Must Be Nice To Jet Around On Someone Else’s Dime”: That would be Michelle Obama, of course. She and her daughter, Sasha, are currently in Spain. With plenty of their closest friends, enough to fill 60+ rooms at a swanky resort on the Mediterranean Coast.

If only this was her first vacation of the summer, and we weren’t footing the damn airfare for Michelle, her daughter, staff, and security. But that is exactly what we are doing as Lynn Sweet of the Chicago Sun Times wrote in her recent article, “Michelle Obama Could Face ‘Appearance’ Issue Over Luxury Vacation.” Uh, yeah, you could say that:

First lady Michelle Obama may catch some flak for vacationing at an expensive luxury hotel on Spain’s Mediterranean coast. By the end of the summer, Mrs. Obama will have taken eight vacation trips — including her visit to Marbella, staying at the five-star Hotel Villa Padierna with daughter Sasha and some pals. {snip}

Mrs. Obama’s U.S. Air Force jet landed at Malaga on Wednesday; she skipped celebrating her husband’s 49th birthday with him. (Daughter Malia, 12, is at overnight camp.) Mrs. Obama pays for personal expenses — as do her friends who arrived on their own — but that only covers a small part of the expense. Taxpayers pick up the tab for staff and security at the exclusive hotel and most of the expenses for the plane.
(more...)

The First Lady is getting her share of grief for mentioning her daughters while discussing obesity. ABC News reports in their article, Did Michelle Obama Send the Wrong Message With Obesity Comments?:

The first lady made the issue of healthy eating personal last week at an event in Alexandria, Va., where she kicked off a campaign addressing the issue of childhood obesity.

“We went to our pediatrician all the time,” Obama said. “I thought my kids were perfect — they are and always will be — but he [the doctor] warned that he was concerned that something was getting off balance.”

“I didn’t see the changes. And that’s also part of the problem, or part of the challenge. It’s often hard to see changes in your own kids when you’re living with them day in and day out,” she added. “But we often simply don’t realize that those kids are our kids, and our kids could be in danger of becoming obese. We always think that only happens to someone else’s kid — and I was in that position.”

It is my sense that the first lady should not have mentioned her own children in this debate. I don’t think she was trying to shame her kids publically. But by using them as an example to show other families she is in the same position they are, she is being insensitive to the fact that Sasha and Malia live in the worst kind of goldfish bowl — growing up with attention paid to their every move. Young girls are sensitive enough about their appearance without their schoolmates reading on the net that their Mom is worried about the size of their behinds.

I have personal experience with this, being on a diet since age 11. I always felt criticized at home for my baby fat and sensed I was being closely monitored. The result was a bad relationship with food that lasted for years. I have at one time been borderline anorexic and at other times, subject to binge eating. While I have been relatively slim my entire life, it took me until I was nearly 40 to forget about dieting (p.s., diets don’t work).

Oddly, when I no longer obsessed over what I ate, I started exercising regularly and ate what I felt like. I threw my scale in the trash. Checking the fit of my pants is good enough to see if I need to lay off the bread for a few days. It took 30 years to figure this out. At 51, I’m probably in the best shape of my life. And for the record, a mother clothes shopping for her daughter, making comments to the saleslady while her child is within earshot such as “Give her the next size, she needs it is the hips” is a killer.

Worry and fear creates the obsession. Making a child hyper aware of his or her weight and appearance can make food a drug of choice and grow any potential eating disorder into a worse problem than it might have been. A better answer is modeling good behavior. By setting an example for her girls without preaching about it, I wonder if a better result is possible. Girls are always worried about being compared unfavorably to their mothers. To feel like Mommy does not approve of them in some way is a recipe for disaster. I’m no shrink, but common sense tells me that when children feel loved and approved of for who they are, it is possible they will not require “a drug of choice” to hide in.

Laura Collins Lyster-Mensh, an eating disorder activist and executive director of Families Empowered and Supporting Treatment of Disorder (F.E.A.S.T.) pointed out the First Lady should discuss “behavioral change, not weight loss”:

“We’ve confused health and weight in a way that’s very confusing for children and very confusing for parents,” Lyster-Mensh said. “When we speak publicly about putting our children on a diet, we start to get into weight stigma and confusing the message to families.”

The focus on obesity, Lyster-Mensh said, turns this into an issue of appearances, which does not bode well for children, especially girls.

“There is simply no reason to be pushing children into weight reduction diets and that’s the message parents out there get,” Lyster-Mensh said. “Dieting is a gateway drug to eating disorders for those with a biological predisposition to eating disorders.”

I do not pretend there is an easy solution. Obesity is a huge problem in our country brought on partially by obsession with too many electronic toys that keep one sitting on one’s backside, too much junk food, and no P.E. Not to mention kids internalizing the family stress around them.

What do you think the First Lady should have done? What is a better solution here.

Remembering my own time as a “tweener” I never appreciated being discussed in front of other people by my parents as though I were an inanimate object or their possession. I think it would have been prudent for the First Lady to remember that in her quest to help a national problem, her children do not need to be a casualty of that discussion.

A classic case of “She said, he said,” is what we have here, that’s for sure. This next video (courtesy of longtime reader, SFIndie) illustrates the conundrum:

Um, it seems to me that if you happen to be the President of the United States, maybe you could appoint a Fact Checking Czar to go with the other Thirty-One - make a nice even number of it. I’m just saying - when you are giving a speech before Congress, televised all over the nation, it seems the very least he could do is MAKE SURE HIS FACTS ARE CORRECT.

Hey - maybe THAT’S when Rep. Wilson called him a liar! He KNEW Obama was lying about the cancer-stricken patient he was using for political gain. Just a thought.

Not for nothing, but they are using their own daughter to further this debate? Interesting. Funny how they don’t seem to make the connection that they are MILLIONAIRES, most people in this country are NOT, and the illness wasn’t serious (according to Michelle, anyway). Or that they both had jobs at the time - really, really, good jobs. Or that those jobs provided excellent health coverage, the very kind that 87% of employers would work to reduce if this Health Care Reform goes in as defined now. I know, picky, picky, picky…

Anyway, you know, there are plenty of REAL examples from which Obama could choose, I am sure, but honestly - why lie? ABOUT HIS OWN DAUGHTER? Is it just that he hasn’t met a truth he couldn’t corrupt? What’s the deal?

Oh, well. I am sure there will be plenty more examples to examine as his time in office goes on. But for now, I will leave you with this peppy little tune. I’m sure it will stick with you for the next 3 yrs and 4 months:

Palin Can’t Outsmart Letterman
by Margaret Carlson

“The governor has spent much of her public life in high-pitched feuds—but taking on late night’s prince shows a complete lack of political sophistication.”

I left a comment telling Ms. Carlson how ridiculous I thought her article was, but they have yet to appear in the comment section at Daily Beast.

I asked her to point out exactly WHERE Letterman apologized. I asked why she felt just because Palin’s children appeared during the primary they are fair game, but yet the Obama daughters are off limits. I decided to expand on her article, and my comments below, since they have yet to appear.

WARNING: Olbermann alert - total bullshit

(Whoever thinks the left doesn’t stir up hate never met Olbermann. I have never hated anyone more than this idiot.)

“But picking a fight with a trained comedian, refusing to accept his apology, and continuing to battle after the white flag is shown reveals a complete lack of political sophistication.”

Palin didn’t pick this fight. Letterman dragged her children into this crap when he mentioned them. Did Carlson knock Obama when he picked a fight with FOX news, or Rush Limbaugh? (And he DID pick that fight.)

“Letterman apologized at unprecedented length for a comment about Palin’s recent trip to New York.”

WHERE?? Where is his apology? I watched the entire video, a few times, and there is NO apology.

“Who said anything about a 14-year-old girl? Not Letterman. That would be… the Palins. It turns out it was Willow, not Bristol, who went to the baseball game. But who knew that until the Palins brought this “disgusting” comment so painful to their younger daughter to the attention of the 300 million people not tuned into David Letterman?”

WILLOW knew it was Willow at the game. The media knew it was Willow at the game. How do you think Willow felt hearing about the jokes the next day at school?

“Not that Bristol should have been left at home in the dark, but if you want a “zone of privacy” around your daughter, do you have her appear on stage with her then-fiancé hinting at prospects of a White House wedding waving to the crowd like Charles and Diana of the Klondike?”

Obama’s daughters are given a zone of privacy and they appeared on stage for two years!! They appeared in magazines, on covers, and have been interviewed by the media. I don’t see anyone attacking them.

“Bristol could have been sheltered and given space to rebuild her life, the Palins arranged to send her out like a vaudeville act, traveling the country to talk about teenage pregnancy…”

Are you kidding me? Perhaps as a young unwed mother, who tried to live by her beliefs in abstinence but made a big mistake, wanted to share her story, and educate other young girls on how one mistake can change your whole life. That it isn’t all peaches and cream getting pregnant so young. She was trying to be a good role model, wasn’t she? Because she makes a mistake, one that hundreds of thousands of girls make, she tried to reach out, and share her story. So she deserves to be attacked for it?

Bristol didn’t ask for the publicity in the beginning. Her family was forced to reveal her pregnancy because of the attacks on Trig. She was forced into the spotlight because her mother accepted the VP nomination, wanting to serve her country. She was *outed* because of the ugliness from the media (about Trig’s birth mother) and was then left to try and make the best of a most uncomfortable situation. She was outed because she chose life over having an abortion.

“When you become the ambivalent poster child for unwed motherhood, you attract off-color jokes.”

Again, are you KIDDING ME? So she asked for it? She deserved it? Her skirt was too short, so she deserved to be raped…?

“Letterman’s eight-minute expression of regret on Wednesday night was almost as riveting as the one where Letterman talked about his heart surgery with the doctors and nurses who cared for him.”

You mean the one that was full of sarcasm, and repeatedly drew laughter. The one where he REPEATED all of the jokes, even pausing to comment that he liked the slutty flight attendant one? How the hell does Palin look like a slutty flight attendant? Because she is pretty?

“Palin was so intent on maintaining her fury, real or manufactured, that she used Letterman’s apology to escalate…”

The media is the one keeping this feud alive for Sarah Palin. Just watch Matt Lauer’s interview on Today Show. Palin was there to speak about the pipeline in Alaska. But she has every right to be angry about the attacks on her daughters! She gave a lengthy interview, but msnbc only cares about the Letterman controversy.

“So in the end, Palin spent a week when she could have given a substantive speech, laid out a political philosophy, or choosing the issues she wants to run on, deliberately misinterpreting a bad joke, in the process dragging yet another child into the celebrity scrum.”

How did she misinterpret the joke? The joke was about her daughter. EITHER daughter, it doesn’t matter! And her 14 year old was with her. Does anyone give a shit about how Willow might have felt, hearing about the jokes? She was the one THERE.

“Palin’s final mistake was to refuse Letterman’s invitation for a late-night make-up appearance, a moment on the studio sofa every bit as good as make-up sex for smoothing over any scandal, misunderstanding, or affront, real or imagined.”

She should just roll over and appear on his show for makeup sex? Are you SERIOUS? Just roll over and take it? Boost his ratings, and feed his ego, and just bend over. Who is this woman?

“Instead, she chose to get the last word on the Today show Friday morning, damning “a so-called comedian” for eroding “a young girl’s self-esteem” with a “joke about statutory rape.”

Ms. Carlson doesn’t think that calling women sluts, and calling young girls whores and prostitutes isn’t demeaning to self esteem, as well as further demeaning to women as a whole?

I can’t believe this whole crap article. Especially since Margaret Carlson, when speaking about Don Imus, and his nappy headed ho comment said that Don Imus disgraced himself. But now, Carlson thinks it is Palin who is disgracing herself…not Letterman.

My comments have yet to appear on Daily Beast, although I did notice that these comments were approved:

Do you really want to be talking about whores anywhere near Palin - I mean really - whores-Palin - WHORES-PALIN - again since you are stupid and have never been with a woman (and no, a man in a wig does not count as a woman) - there is no bigger whore in the history of politics than Palin - and there never will be.

She is cheap carny trash - but then that is why you love her so

Palin is too stupid to be taken seriously.

No - we do not stand alone - plenty of people see Palin for what she is - opportunistic ignorant carney trash - more than willing to pimp out her entire family for her political ambitions.

Palin is a petty, vicious, stupid, vindictive, lying, immoral, opportunistic, evil woman - and now she is creating artificial feuds playing to the ignorant cheap seats in America - as her last political rallies on pig farms suggested - Palin knows that power of hate better than anyone. By all means you may stand with her - though I hardly call what she is doing standing - buy how DARE you suggest the rest of America - hard-working, educated, and well-bred - have to stand with you.

Palin would not get into my house to do the floors - I do not bring trash in - I take it out.

There is no bigger coward than the cheap piece of Alaskan trash pimping out her daughters to create her own victim hood - and you can’t nail her to the cross fast enough can you honey? Your Alaskan Moose - Martyr - and Saint.

She is disgusting, and the mainstream press — and even David Letterman himself — won’t call her out about her own pregnancy.

Palin looks increasingly road-tested and weary - she has - as evidenced by the terrified look in her eyes - seen the future and for her - it will not be pretty. She will remain the hero - the Queen - for the stupid and hate-filled - but she will never command the national stage as she had briefly hoped to do — and as she looks out at her supporters - she sighs - since, really, honestly, who wants to be Queen of the Pig People?

i personally let out a sigh of relief when letterman said palin had a “slutty flight attendant look”. Hell yeah!! It’s about time that critics stop tip- toeing around this prissy woman because she’s well, a prissy woman. Letterman said what I think a lot of Americans are thinking about sarah palin, and it was funny because it is true. she is dumb, stupid trash who openly manipulates the lives of her children for political gain. it’s time critics stop pulling the punches. this is not some dignified woman. this is an ignorant, manipulative, dangerous skank. don’t let her “slutty flight attendant look” fool you.

Amen. I could not have said it better. Best take on this whole silly mess - yet another that our aging MILF Sarah loves to put herself in the middle of.

Whore is not a strong enough word for Governor Palin. There is a word with a Germanic root ku- meaning “hollow place,” and cunt became used for a barren prostitute’s vagina that is “hollow” and of no value. Valueless. Hollow. and for Sale. Ladies and Gentlemen. Sarah Palin is a cunt.

Nice.

Bottom line - Letterman DID NOT apologize. He had no right attacking her daughters. Don Imus was fired for insulting college aged women. He was joking, too. They were innocent, did nothing to deserve his comments, and he was fired. Willow and Bristol did nothing to deserve these attacks. But instead of the Left demanding Letterman be fired, they are making excuses for him, and BLAMING the Palins.

The only thing Carlson said that is remotely accurate is that Palin should not be engaged in this fight.

She shouldn’t HAVE to be. Her daughters should not have been dragged into Letterman’s obvious hatred towards Sarah Palin. And men and women everywhere should have jumped to the defense of the Palins, so she didn’t have to.

Letterman says he regrets telling these jokes. Did he apologize for them? No. He denied he attacked Willow, therefore, I guess he has no qualms about attacking an 18 year old. He regrets telling these jokes because people started calling the station and complaining, and threatened to boycott his advertisers.

He doesn’t seem to care that he insulted the Palin’s, and women everywhere.

Michelle Obama’s arms are transformational. They are representative of a new kind of woman: strong, vigorous, intelligent and loving. And they are a mother’s arms.

It’s bad enough that the Washington Post publishes the drivel of the sniveling, stuck-up snob,Sally Quinn, but that they’re actually featuring her ode to Michelle Obama’s arms — literally and metaphorically — is too much to take. Check out the left column at the top of the home page of the Washington Post:

 
Last fall, Larry Johnson wrote how Quinn eviscerated Sarah Palin:

Last September, Larry Johnson wrote “Sally Quinn Projecting on Palin.”

Now, you’re going to have to read Larry’s entire article to get the irony of Quinn’s attacks on Palin, but here’s a sampling:

I was puzzled by the crazy attack that Sally Quinn launched on Sarah Palin, Republican V.P. nominee, because it was so over the top. Sally’s view? A woman with five kids has no business being Vice President. (Of course, no one made that argument to Joe Biden when he was a widower and single dad working in Washington as a Senator. But I digress.) Here’s Sally’s latest ranting:

Sarah Palin has five children. She is nursing her fifth child, an infant with Down syndrome. Her 17-year-old unmarried child is pregnant. Palin has spoken against sex education or the teaching of contraception. When her water broke with her Down Syndrome baby she got on a plane and flew eight hours back to Alaska, making it only hours before the birth, a risky decision for a pregnant woman of any age. After delivering one child she went back to work the next day. After the birth of her fifth child, she was back in the office after a few days.

I would like to hear what women think of her priorities. Do they believe that her first priority is as a mother or as a governor? Will her first priority be as a mother or as a Vice President or a President? One in three Vice Presidents become President. John McCain is a 72-year-old cancer survivor. As Vice President, Palin could ascend to the highest office in the land at any moment. Do women believe she should relegate her job to second place or her children to second place? Does she have to make such a choice? Every woman, and particularly every woman who works, including me, understands that the conflicts and the guilt are always there in a way that they are not for men.

So what’s her problem? Well, to use her logic, she’s a lousy, irresponsible mother. She was working as a journalist at the Washington Post, had a fling with the boss and married him, and then, at the advanced age of 41, had a child. …

It is well-known that Sally Quinn treated the Clintons like “trailer trash” when they attempted to join D.C. society during Bill Clinton’s two administrations.

But somehow Michelle Obama — who’s dropped the black power mantra to portray a 1950s-style motherly and wifely role — is superior?

People like Sally Quinn can’t stand — they actually fear — women who dare to stand up and take positions of authority beyond the traditional roles typically assumed by First Ladies.

I couldn’t bring myself to read all of Quinn’s column, but here’s another excerpt sent to me by Lyn:

“May I change the subject,” said a prominent Washington theologian at a recent dinner. The conversation had been high-minded — religion, philosophy, the nature of evil. “I’d like to talk about Michelle Obama’s arms,” he said.

He is a big fan of those arms. We then began a discussion about the significance of the first lady’s arms. Actually, it turned out to be equally serious. Michelle Obama’s arms, we determined, were transformational. Her arms are representative of a new kind of woman: young, strong, vigorous, intelligent, accomplished, sexual, powerful, embracing and, most of all, loving.

Today is Mother’s Day. Today we should celebrate Michelle Obama’s arms as the arms of a mother.

This is a woman who has the courage to say “I am mom in chief” and make her children and her family — unapologetically — her No. 1 priority. She is able to do this because she is so intelligent and accomplished that she doesn’t have to prove anything to anyone. She is healthy enough to be able to say, this is who I am, these are my values and my priorities. …

By all means, let’s worship as a role model a woman who has earned millions thanks solely to her husband’s political clout and who has servants waiting on her day and night.

Every mother who’s forced to work two jobs to put bread on the table will be doubtless inspired.

Thursday (April 2nd) evening event concluded and bumped down . Click the arrow to read our chat session!

WE ARE LIVE NOW! CLICK ON THE ARROW TO JOIN US!

Come on by and let your hair down. You’ll be free to RANT about what you REALLY think about Michelle and Barack’s destruction of the once-unparalleled position of the United States as the globe’s clear superpower, both real and symbolically. I, for one, can’t take it anymore. Be sure to share what you’ve been saying and e-mailing to friends and family. Copy and paste any especially Obama-damning e-mails or blog comments you’ve written.

Why the Hell Not? ‘Itchy & Snarky Live Vent Session

Please read the Criminal Complaint filed by David W. Cain, Special Agent of the FBI. Details of the conversations Blagojevich had with his operatives about Barack Obama and the possibility Barack Obama would strike several deals with Blagojevich regarding the open Senate seat are discussed, and yes, quotations are provided.

I enjoy this gem from pages 63-64, where a telephone conversation between Blagojevich, Advisor B, a political consultant in Washington, DC, another Washington, DC, political consultant and John Haris, the Governor’s General Counsel, is discussed:

ROD BLAGOJEVICH said that the consultants (Advisor B and another consultant are believed to be on the call at that time) are telling him that he has to “suck it up” for two years and do nothing and give this “motherfucker [the President-elect] his senator. Fuck him. For nothing? Fuck him.” ROD BLAGOJEVICH states that he will put “[Senate Candidate 4]” in the Senate “before I just give fucking [Senate Candidate 1] a fucking Senate seat and I don’t get anything.” (Senate Candidate 4 is a Deputy Governor of the State of Illinois). ROD BLAGOJEVICH stated that he needs to find a way to take the “financial stress” off of his family and that his wife is as qualified or more qualified than another specifically named individual to sit on corporate boards. According to ROD BLAGOJEVICH, “the immediate challenge [is] how do we take some of the financial pressure off of our family.” Later in the phone call, ROD BLAGOJEVICH stated that absent getting something back, ROD BLAGOJEVICH will not pick Senate Candidate 1. HARRIS re-stated ROD BLAGOJEVICH’s thoughts that they should ask the President-elect for something for ROD BLAGOJEVICH’s financial security as well as maintain his political viability. HARRIS said they could work out a three-way deal with SEIU and the President-elect where SEIU could help the President-elect with ROD BLAGOJEVICH’s appointment of Senate Candidate 1 to the vacant Senate seat, ROD BLAGOJEVICH would obtain a position as the National Director of the Change to Win campaign, and SEIU would get something favorable from the President-elect in the future.

Senate Candidate 1 is Valerie Jarrett, an Obama advisor who also served as Daley’s Chief of Staff. Jarrett is very close to the Obamas. Senate Candidate 4 is either Dean Martinez, Bob Greenlee or Louanner Peters, all of whom are Deputy Governors of Illinois.

The “specifically named individual” is Michelle Obama, who was appointed to the Board of TreeHouse Foods, a WAL-MART vendor, on June 25, 2005, even though she did not have experience in the private sector previous to the appointment. Here are the benefits the Obama family received as a result of Michelle Obama’s stint with the WAL-MART vendor:

According to the couple’s tax returns, Mrs Obama earned $51,200 (£25,700) for her work as a non-executive director on Treehouse’s board last year, on top of the $271,618 salary she was paid as a vice-president of the University of Chicago Hospitals.

She also received 7,500 Treehouse stock options, worth a further $72,375, as she did the previous year, when she banked a $45,000 salary from the company.

Michelle Obama is the “specifically named individual” who was able to sit on corporate boards, although she lacks the experience of Blagojevich’s wife. And notice how Michelle Obama’s position with the WAL-MART vendor helped alleviate the “financial stress” of the Obama family at a time when they were purchasing a mansion from Rezko they could not afford.

Why is this relevant?

Blagojevich, according to the FBI complaint, thought Barack Obama could appoint his wife to corporate boards if he were to appoint Valerie Jarrett to the open Senate seat vacated by Obama. I quote pages 54-55 of the criminal complaint filed by Special Agent of the FBI David Cain:

By law, after the President-elect’s resignation of his position as a U.S. Senator, which was effective on November 16, 2008, ROD BLAGOJEVICH has sole authority to appoint his replacement for the two years remaining of the President-elect’s Senate term. See 10 ILCS 5/25-8. During the course of this investigation, agents have intercepted a series of communications regarding the efforts of ROD BLAGOJEVICH, JOHN HARRIS, and others to misuse this power to obtain personal gain, including financial gain, for ROD BLAGOJEVICH and his family. In particular, ROD BLAGOJEVICH has been intercepted conspiring to trade the senate seat for particular positions that the President-elect has the power to appoint (e.g. the Secretary of Health and Human Services). ROD BLAGOJEVICH has also been intercepted conspiring to sell the Senate seat in exchange for his wife’s placement on paid corporate boards or ROD BLAGOJEVICH’s placement at a private foundation in a significant position with a substantial salary. ROD BLAGOJEVICH has also been intercepted conspiring to sell the Senate seat in exchange for millions of dollars in funding for a non-profit organization that he would start and that would employ him at a substantial salary after he left the governorship.

Blagojevich, in other words, assumed Obama would appoint his wife to a Board for the political favor of selecting Valerie Jarrett for the Senate seat. Blagojevich is not a stupid man. Indeed, he only assumed Obama would participate in this “pay to play” scheme, for he knows Obama is acutely aware how the game is played in Illinois and in Chicago. This explains why Blagojevich mentions Michelle Obama and her lack of qualifications to serve on the Board of TreeHouse Foods when he discusses how Obama could appoint Mrs. Blagojevich to a Board for the political favor of appointing Jarrett to the US Senate seat. Michelle, after all, was appointed to sit on the Board of TreeHouse foods AFTER Obama was elected to the US Senate. Moreover, Michelle Obama’s salary at The University of Chicago nearly TRIPLED after her husband gained the power to submit earmark requests on her employer’s behalf. Just appoint the spouse to a Board and increase his or her salary if you need a political favor from an Illinois politician. That is how the “play to pay” game is played.

Blagojevich understands this, and he knows Obama understands this. Why else does FBI Agent Cain report the following discussion that occurred on Nov 8, 2008?

On November 8, 2008, ROD BLAGOJEVICH talked with JOHN HARRIS about the Senate seat. During the conversation, ROD BLAGOJEVICH and HARRIS discussed whether it would be possible to obtain a financial benefit for ROD BLAGOJEVICH’s wife in relation to the Senate seat. Specifically, ROD BLAGOJEVICH referred to his wife’s Series 7 license and asked “is there a play here, with these guys, with her” to work for a firm in Washington or New York at a significantly better salary than she is making now. Also, ROD BLAGOJEVICH wanted to know whether SEIU could do something to get his wife a position at Change to Win until ROD BLAGOJEVICH could take a position at Change to Win.

Michelle Obama, Blagojevich implies, received an appointment to a Board for which she was not qualified as a result of a “pay to play” scheme. What about his wife? After all, Obama ally Valerie Jarrett wants the Senate seat. What about Blagojevich’s wife? What about Blagojevich’s “financial stress?”

Blagojevich and his advisers only thought of this as a possibility, for they know Obama has already played the game. Again, these are smart men who know the rules of the game. Why else would they think Obama would participate in a “pay to play” scheme? Michelle was paid for someone to play, they thought. What about Mrs. Blagojevich? Besides, Mrs. Blagojevich has a Series 7 license. All Michelle has is a license to practice law that was revoked as a result of a court order in 1993.

Blagojevich thought Obama would “pay to play,” as the Obamas have been engaged in “pay to play” schemes in the past. That is what Blagojevich thought, and that is why the Obamas are yet again mentioned in a complaint filed in a Court of law.

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