Obama's Past Will Catch Up To Him

I'm not one for predictions. That being said, it would not surprise me if we have a significant political scandal involving the president-elect in the next four years. Chicago's and Illinois’’ political machine is notoriously corrupt:

· Governor Blagojevich (D) corruption charges for his auction attempt for the open US Senate seat left void with Obama’s victory (2008);
· Illinois Antoin Rezko (D), a long-time Barack Obama fundraiser and from Chicago, convicted of 16 felony corruption charges (2008);
· Former Governor Ryan (D) conviction of racketeering, mail fraud, filing false tax returns, and lying to investigators (2008);
· Accusations of Illinois Rep. Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D), who racked up $420,000 through a series of suspicious real-estate deals (2008);
· Chicago City clerk Jim Laski (D) guilty of bribes for steering city business to trucking companies (2006);
· Chicago alderman Arenda Troutman (D) charged with bribery (2007);
· Chicago alderman Percy Giles (D) sentenced to 3 years in prison for racketeering and extortion, among other things (2000);
· Obama's buddy from the neighborhood, Bill Ayers, founder of the radical Weather Underground, who was involved in several bombings in the early 1970s, including the Pentagon and the Capitol.
I could go on, but you get the point. These are only a few of the recent accusations and convictions. The Chicago Sun-Times reported that in the last three decades, at least 79 Illinois elected officials have been convicted of a crime, including three governors, one mayor, and 27 aldermen from Chicago. To be sure, corruption and ethics issues are not unique to Chicago or Democrats. However, in Chicago it appears to hit a whole new level.

The question is this – How could a person rise so quickly in such a poisonous political culture and keep clean? Obama is 47 years old, one of the youngest persons to ever be elected President. He began as a community organizer in Chicago at age 22. His first elected office was in 1996 to the Illinois State Senate. So in his 25 years in the state and only 12 years in elected office, we’re to believe that Obama has steered clear of all political corruption in his home state and managed to work his way up the political chain to the Presidency on merit? Color me skeptical.

As the honeymoon period ends and investigative reporters decide to actually start doing their jobs on this guy, don’t be surprised if we learn Obama has a political past that would make Richard Daley blush.