Obama’s new baggage, and how Hillary will use it

Second, after claiming to be the real victor, she will hang Antoin “Tony” Rezko around Obama’s neck, and throw them both overboard. “Tony who?” you ask. Rezko (a.k.a. “Tony the Obamanator”) is Obama’s Chicago fundraising patriarch, a “fixer” who was indicted in January on fraud, various extortion charges and money laundering for an Iraqi billionaire, Nadhmi Auchi, whom military analysts describe as one of Saddam’s bagmen. (No wonder Obama opposed Operation Iraqi Freedom.)
Rezko was jailed after being indicted, not because of a risk of flight, but for his own safety. Given the history of high-profile defendants in federal racketeering cases in Chicago, he would likely not survive outside of his solitary cell. (For the record, Rezko is not Italian, he is a Syrian immigrant.)
While Obama has yet to be directly implicated in any of Rezko’s mischief, their relationship demands far greater scrutiny than a fawning mainstream media has so far given it. After Rezko’s indictment, Obama returned $150,000 to Rezko associates, and donated $72,650 to charity, an amount equal to Rezko’s contributions to Obama’s campaign. This is a phony gesture usually reserved for anonymous campaign donors who show up on police blotters. But Obama and Rezko have been friends for 15 years, and Rezko “raised” a lot of graft for Obama’s first congressional campaign. Obama says he did not end his relationship with Rezko until recently because “there was no evidence of wrongdoing.”
For the record, Obama went to Harvard Law School, was elected Harvard Law Review’s first black president in its 104-year history, and completed his J.D. degree magna cum laude. I am confident, therefore, that Obama has the perspicacity to realize that his friend was a gangster. However, their relationship goes well beyond politics, and that is why Clinton has Obama by the, uh, has him cornered.
According to The Economist, “Mr. Rezko helped [Obama] buy his home in Chicago in 2005. The seller would close the deal on Mr. Obama’s house only if the adjacent empty lot was sold on the same day. In June 2005 Mr. Obama bought his home for $1.65 million, $300,000 less than the asking price, and Mr. Rezko’s wife bought the adjacent lot.” Obama’s Georgian mansion on Chicago’s south side and the adjacent lot were originally one parcel, but the owner divided it into two. You guessed it—the adjacent lot was purchased by Rezko for the full $625,000 asking price, about $300,000 above market value. (I know, given Obama’s rhetoric, you thought he lived in a government housing project and commuted by mass transit.) In other words, Rezko subsidized Obama’s discount with the purchase of the adjacent lot. Notably, Rezko’s lot purchase coincides with receipt of a “loan” from his Iraqi friend, Auchi. Rezko’s trial began Monday, and his relationship with Obama will be a hot topic for as long as the trial lasts. Of course, Hillary will have to let the Leftmedia do her billing, and withhold any direct accusations, lest Obama will have time to resurrect the Clinton’s association with Jim and Susan McDougal and their Whitewater real estate “deal.” Of course, we previously published a photo of the Clintons with Rezko.
Reprinted [The Patriot Post (PatriotPost.US)]