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EDITOR OF REDSTATE

Yes, why isn’t this news?

By: Erick Erickson (Diary)  |  September 25th, 2008 at 01:38 PM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

That’s Jenn Rubin’s question about this.

A $100,000 state grant for a botanic garden in Englewood that then-state Sen. Barack Obama awarded in 2001 to a group headed by a onetime campaign volunteer is now under investigation by the Illinois attorney general amid new questions, prompted by Chicago Sun-Times reports, about whether the money might have been misspent.

You and I frequently speculate that if it had been a Republican, it’d be front page news. But on this, the press is still after Saran Palin on the bridge to nowhere issue. Why isn’t this in the news? The media has done very little work on Obama’s legislative days — in fact, they’ve covered Palin as Mayor of Wasilla more thoroughly than Obama in the state legislature.

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COMMENTS

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  • awtherfrd

    Just a hunch, I don’t know if there is any evidence for this or anything.

  • Strelnikov

    The media wants Big Brobama to be president!

    As Howard Cosell used to say, you know it, I know it, the fans know it!

    The only way to push it onto a headline is to find evidence involving Big Brobama much more directly, and then to get the McCain campaign to do a fierce negative ad about it.

    Then they will cover it, but will also find an excuse to explain away any fault on the part of Big Brobama.

  • buh

    If there was fraud committed, then, certainly, it should be investigated. But can you really compare $100,000 of misused funds to $233 million funds that Alaska received for the Bridge to Nowhere and then used for other initiatives? At the very least, they’re both fraud.

  • Pomme

    Obama and Biden both voted for the 233 mil to Alaska thing. Just saying.

  • Pentagon16

    “Liberal media bias and shilling for $1,000 Alex!”

  • ZootSuit

    The funds for the “Bridge to Nowhere” were released to the state of Alaska and was used for other projects. It was completely aboveboard and in no way can it be termed fraud.

    And by the way, McCain voted to reallocate the money or the “Bridge to Nowhere” to the Katrina victims but both Obama and Biden voted to give the money to Alaska as an earmark any way.

    And I say this as someone who has castigated the McCain/Palin campaign for implying that Governor Palin was always against the bridge and that she returned the money. Yes, the McCain/Palin campaign tried to oversell her position but what she actually with the funds was not fraud. Nor illegal or even unethical for that matter.

  • Achance

    The money for the Ketchikan bridge was merely an earmark within Alaska’s proportional share of the Transportation bill; it did not add one dime to that appropriation and was really just a reflection of one of the realities of Alaska politics. With almost half of the population, Anchorage is a giant sucking sound and had the federal transportation funds come as a lump, they would largely have gone to Anchorage. Young earmarked them so that the money would go to a needed project in Ketchikan rather than gold plating the gilt in Anchorage. When all the controversy arose about it and the earmark essentially vacated, that is exactly what happened to the money.

    And you really ought to have some clue what you’re talking about before you start throwing words like fraud around.

  • Fallon

    …or, is it GardenGate?

    The sad thing is this is just a little kernel off of the corncob of corruption that can be found in Chicago, if the old school investigative press would just do it’s job and look deeper into Obama’s past dealings.

    I think Governor Blago is just about to be indicted… Stay tuned.

  • rjd27

    what story about Obama has the media covered?

    I guess I do have to mention here, that CNN did have a story about Obama and Biden voting for the “Bridge to Nowhere” this week.

    Other than that, I’m not sure Obama couldn’t kill someone and move on without a blink from the MSM. They might even help to clean up afterward.

  • QueenOfCups

    Chicago, Cook County, IL

  • mbecker908

    And, I would note, given your resume you should know better.

    Lefties “getting a clue”??? Come on man.

  • Achance

    I just keep trying to get them to rise above.

    Hey, my kid didn’t re-up. Been home for a couple of weeks. Need to get him out of here NOW! The Army’s discipline doesn’t cross the base perimeter. He’s a better person, but he’s not a changed person.

  • mbecker908

    And I know exactly what you’re saying about better/changed. I think that when the certainty of the 1st Sgt discovering whatever is discoverable (and, at least in the Corps, they KnowAll™) and the sure knowledge that you will be wishing for a violent death as a result goes away, they revert to being all-knowing, invisible and bullet proof kids.

    We should have multiple children so there’s usually one doing good stuff at any given time. And we should have a dog in case they all screw up simultaneously.