In my VDARE.com column, I return to Obama's relationships with so many unsavory Chicago characters, which has been so baffling to outsiders. Here's the beginning, but please read the whole thing to understand how Chicago works. You've seen some of it in blog posts before, but I'm finally pulling it all together in a coherent fashion here.
Obama's Kind of Town, Chicago Is …
Did you know that Barack Obama's mentor, now-convicted fixer Tony Rezko, who funneled $250,000 in contributions to Obama from his initial campaign onward, got his start as a big-time Chicago operator back in the early 1980s through … the Nation of Islam?
Also known as the Black Muslims, they are the gentlemen in the bow-ties who preach that, in prehistoric times, the vile Dr. Yacub genetically engineered Europeans to be a race of human wolves.
Fat Tony, of course, is neither Black nor Muslim—he's a white Christian immigrant from a wealthy family in Aleppo, a famous Syrian rug-trading souk.
The Black Muslims are also notoriously anti-Semitic—but not when it came to their friend Tony Rezko, whose partner in Rezmar, the notorious government-subsidized slumlord racket, was Daniel Mahru, who is Jewish.
But that's the kind of town Chicago is—diverse, vibrant, tolerant … as long as you've got clout and are willing to put aside petty differences and play ball with others with clout to mutually exploit the public.
If you want to understand Barack Obama, you have to understand Chicago, the city where he twice chose to make a political career.
Chicago sits at the conjunction of America's two great watersheds, the Mississippi and the Great Lakes, which made it the transportation hub of the nation by the Civil War. Even today, the convenience of direct flights from O'Hare make the Chicago area central to American corporate life. The ample amount of money that can be extracted from businesses before they finally resolve to flee Chicago means that the city has always been a politician's paradise.
My published articles are archived at iSteve.com -- Steve Sailer
Good article.
ReplyDeleteI don't think I'll stop laughing at this one:
>>>> Blagojevich said he sought Rezko's
"advice on recommendations for agency directors for two reasons. Number one, I had every reason to think he was honest and independently successful in business..."
This is less funny but so apt:
>>>> Rezko kept a sharp eye out for upcoming black political talent who could provide a politically correct front for him.
I get a little uncomfortable thinking that Barack is a front for George Soros et al of the Dems who see Barack as some 12 year old English monarch of the Middle Ages to be led around by the power behind the throne.
Anyone know why the McCain campaign has not used any of this in their attack ads?
ReplyDeleteOr even why they have not put Rev. Wright and Michelle Obama's words into an ad yet?
Boeing moved to Chicago. Exception that proves the rule?
ReplyDelete"But that's the kind of town Chicago is—diverse, vibrant, tolerant … as long as you've got clout"
ReplyDeleteThe word "clout" is used wrong, at least in the Chicago sense. A clout is a person that you know on the inside, such as: "Joe is my clout at city hall" or "I will talk to my clout downtown and get the curb fixed in front of my house." A clout is a person not something you have.
Boeing moved to Chicago. Exception that proves the rule?
ReplyDeleteNah. Central US air hub for a subsidized industry.
--Senor Doug
Steve Sailer: You can trace his Chicago network to all sorts of unsavory folks: Rezko, terrorists, Farrakhan, the various Daleys, Jeremiah Wright, Manson Family fans, Jesse Jackson, billionaire Iraqi swindlers, Emil Jones, and so forth.
ReplyDeleteI think you need to go back even earlier, and ask yourself why Obama ever went to Chicago in the first place: Why did the young Columbia grad suddenly uproot himself from New York City and move halfway across the country to Chicago?
The only answer I can see, right now, is the old Chicago hand, and Obama [Soetoro] teen mentor, Frank Marshall Davis.
My guess is that either FMD filled Obama's head with all sorts of romantic nonsense about life as a Bolshevik in the Windy City, or else FMD more or less ordered Obama to move to Chicago [Obama moved to Chicago in 1985, and Davis died in 1987, so it's possible that the two were still in contact at that time].
PS: In addition to Michelle LaVaughn Robinson's connections with Bernardine Dohrn, which may date to the early- to mid-1980's, and Obama's connections with William Ayers, which may date to the mid-1980's, the other set of crooks who need to be investigated here are the Minows:
Global Labor and Politics: Who sent Obama?
Sidley Austin LLP - Our People - Newton Minow
HLS : Faculty Directory - Martha L. Minow
I would really like to see someone put that Minow/Axelrod/Soros troika under the microscope and see what turns up.
Awesome & scary.
ReplyDeleteMakes one feel quite ill.
Is there perhaps one group in Chicago not expected to organize along racial lines, in fact even discouraged from doing so?
"Boeing moved to Chicago. Exception that proves the rule?"
ReplyDeleteI don't see many companies leaving Chicago. They might move to the suburbs but not out of the area. Many companies that are now in places like Schaumburg and Northbrook are looking to build in the Loop.
James -- possibly yes. I would not be shocked (Chicago gave Boeing a sweetheart deal) to see them move a few years from now.
ReplyDeleteWith global telecom networks, there is no real reason for Chicago over say, Kansas City as a location for a big business.
Or even why they have not put Rev. Wright and Michelle Obama's words into an ad yet?
ReplyDeleteIt's the country club side of MacAmnesty's Republicanism: a haughty disdain for mere politics, combined with the foolishly idealistic notion that if they are polite and respectful to Nobama bin Biden, many black Americans will vote Repub.
Regarding Boeing: they moved their corporate headquarters from Seattle to Chicago because Wash. state raided taxes. Boeing poses as one of America's great companies, but B. has outsourced to overseas most of the manufacturing of the 787 airliner.
Another corporate headquarters relocation story is Nissan Motors. They have moved Nissan North American HQ from Los Angeles to Nashville. Nissan has operated a big factory in the Nashville exurbs since the 1980's -- a nonunion factory.
I live in Ohio.
ReplyDeleteBash Chicago all you want, but it's doing better than most of the cities in the Midwest. Whether you want to compare city to city or metro to metro, Chicago does well compared to other cities in the Midwest, at least in economic terms. Income per capita, job growth, even keeping manufacturing jobs... Chicago does well by these benchmarks.
In Ohio's cities, the politics are relatively clean compared to Chicago. I can think of a number of people who have been thrown out of office for relatively small scandals that I don't think would have gotten much attention in Chicago. But the politicians here don't have the hustle to create business deals which ultimately drive growth that Chicago's politicians do.
Look, I'm no liberal. I think most cities that are Democratically run are corrupt, and do benefit from Republican intervention like New York. But in Chicago's case, despite being overwhelmingly Democrat and corrupt, they still do quite well for themselves.
Also, despite being so heavily Democrat, Illinois has low taxes by Midwestern standards and a very pro-business government.
Don't forget, the senator before Obama (a Fitzgerald) was hated by the establishment because he suggested a non-related Fitzgerald (known on a national scale for putting Scooter Libby in prison) who has spent the last 7 years or so putting combine people in prison. Like former Guv George Ryan.
ReplyDeleteSen Fitzgerald baled on the office because basically he felt he was not appreciated by the IL repubs who wanted him to play ball.
Obama's opponent for the Senate (originally) was another wealthy independent Repub, not owing his success to the party. "luckily" for Obama, there was a sex scandal that forced that guy out of the race. In fact, if you want to see the same phony statesmanship pose Obama is showing now when the press is going nuts over S Palin's daughter, look at his behavior during that scandal. The press did his (and the Combines) dirty work then and its doing it now, and he can stand by and act real nuanced about it all.
"Chicago has low taxes by Midwestern standards"? Did I read that right? Chicago currently has the highest sales tax in the nation, over 10%. It is one of the most expensive cities in the nation, without having incomes to match. We are NOT doing well here.
ReplyDeleterobert--
you are incorrect. I grew up in the Chicago area, and the word "clout" is never used to refer to a person. It is a thing. It is pull, power, the way you get things done. You never have "a clout."
Anonymous you are incorrect! Mike Royko wrote one of his most famous article about the word "clout." He stated the meaning of the word and used it in a sentance like I did above! I grew up in Chicago as well and it was always used in the context that I used it in. If you grew up in the land beyond O'Hare possibly it wasn't used in this context but in the city and the older inner suburbs "clout" was a person not something you had. Look at this: http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/1465.html
ReplyDelete