Machine-made in Chicago
Steve Diamond's excellent posting discusses the mystery man Barack Obama and his hard-t0-explain rapid rise in politics. 
From street agitator to presidential candidate in what amounts to the blink of an eye,
Obama's rise is so unusually fast that it begs questions, and Diamond not only asks the right ones, he provided interesting answers and theories for them too.
An excerpt from Diamond's "Global Labor and Politics" blog:
So it is reasonable to ask, who "sent" Barack Obama? In other words, how can his meteoric rise to political prominence be explained? And, of course, in an answer to that question might lie a better understanding of his essential world view. When I started looking at this question a few weeks ago I quickly grew more concerned about the kinds of people that seem to have been very important in Obama's ascendancy in Chicago area politics. FULL POST at Global Labor and Politics...
"TPR" at the "Just Politics" blog addressed the point of
Obama's allegiance to the Chicago Machine,
but missed the point:
When he endorsed a couple of the worst Machine hacks, including Cook County Board President Todd Stroger, it was less an act of obeisance to Daley than to the African American political base. But many read it as homage to the Machine.
TPR acknowledges the endorsement of "the worst Machine hacks" in local Chicago politics, but quickly excuses that saying it was for
Obama's "African American political base." TPR did not note the irony of
Obama, who bills himself as post-racial, endorsing hacks for purely racial political reasons. [
Source]
But race cannot explain why, in 2006,
Obama happily endorsed one of the
clowniest clowns on Chicago's City Council,
Alderman Joe Moore, 49th Ward. Moore, then a 48-year old white guy, is the goof who authored the internationally ridiculed anti-
foie gras ordinance. He was in bed (metaphorically) with Cong. Jan
Schakowsky's felon husband
Robert Creamer, who was convicted by the feds for check
kiting. Moore is roundly criticized for leaning on developers for donations, and there is at least one photo of him with his hand on the shoulder of someone while she is voting.
Perhaps Evelyn Pringle puts it most clearly, and most bluntly:
The most trusted leaders of the Democratic party, such as John Kerry and Ted Kennedy, ought to be ashamed of themselves for supporting Barack Obama. With use of the internet, a fifth grader could connect the dots to show a picture of a guy who was picked up in college and carried up the political ladder by a corrupt gang of influence peddlers. FULL POST at Countercurrents.org...
RELATED:
Obama The Practical
Obama's 'No, I Can't' Moment - Real Clear Politics
Obama Played by Chicago Rules - WSJ.com
From street agitator to presidential candidate in what amounts to the blink of an eye, Obama's rise is so unusually fast that it begs questions, and Diamond not only asks the right ones, he provided interesting answers and theories for them too.
An excerpt from Diamond's "Global Labor and Politics" blog:
So it is reasonable to ask, who "sent" Barack Obama? In other words, how can his meteoric rise to political prominence be explained? And, of course, in an answer to that question might lie a better understanding of his essential world view. When I started looking at this question a few weeks ago I quickly grew more concerned about the kinds of people that seem to have been very important in Obama's ascendancy in Chicago area politics. FULL POST at Global Labor and Politics...
"TPR" at the "Just Politics" blog addressed the point of Obama's allegiance to the Chicago Machine, but missed the point:
When he endorsed a couple of the worst Machine hacks, including Cook County Board President Todd Stroger, it was less an act of obeisance to Daley than to the African American political base. But many read it as homage to the Machine.
TPR acknowledges the endorsement of "the worst Machine hacks" in local Chicago politics, but quickly excuses that saying it was for Obama's "African American political base." TPR did not note the irony of Obama, who bills himself as post-racial, endorsing hacks for purely racial political reasons. [Source]
But race cannot explain why, in 2006, Obama happily endorsed one of the clowniest clowns on Chicago's City Council, Alderman Joe Moore, 49th Ward. Moore, then a 48-year old white guy, is the goof who authored the internationally ridiculed anti-foie gras ordinance. He was in bed (metaphorically) with Cong. Jan Schakowsky's felon husband Robert Creamer, who was convicted by the feds for check 
kiting. Moore is roundly criticized for leaning on developers for donations, and there is at least one photo of him with his hand on the shoulder of someone while she is voting.
Perhaps Evelyn Pringle puts it most clearly, and most bluntly:
The most trusted leaders of the Democratic party, such as John Kerry and Ted Kennedy, ought to be ashamed of themselves for supporting Barack Obama. With use of the internet, a fifth grader could connect the dots to show a picture of a guy who was picked up in college and carried up the political ladder by a corrupt gang of influence peddlers. FULL POST at Countercurrents.org...
RELATED:
Obama The Practical
Obama's 'No, I Can't' Moment - Real Clear Politics
Obama Played by Chicago Rules - WSJ.com
