If I Had Subpoena Power: Five Questions for Obama

Some questions I'd like to ask Mr. Isakoff:
1. Where were you when Bush was lying us into an illegitimate war?
2. Where were you when Congress was signing away our civil liberties with the 'Unpatriot Act"?
3. Where were you when Bush and the Republican Congress were deregulating us into economic hell?
4. Where were you when the Republican Congress was rubber-stamping all of Bushes nonsense?
5. Where were you when The Bush Crime Family were destroying America's moral authority by torturing prisoners?
6. Where were you when Katrina was drowning New Orleans and the "president" was bicycling?
7. Where have you been the last eight years? Obama is not yet president and you're on his case.

It appears that this journalist is trying to tie Obama with this governor. He should spend his time figuring out why Bush and Cheney were allowed this great country to go in ruins and bankruptcy. Where were you during the last 8 years?

Legitimate questions.....every one.

Isikoff, quit wasting our time. Let's focus on salvaging our economy and perhaps Newsweek might survive and you can keep a job. Apparently your relative fame has gone to your head and leaves you unfocused and supremely arrogant. Politics is what it always is. You know that. Move on and help the society repair itself rather than continue the poltiics of personal destruction. Your behavior is unwarranted and embarassing.

This seems like a ridiculous waste of time in light of larger concerns in the country. Put that investigative energy into something more pressing, please.

Right on! From a Chicagoan who voted for Obama.
We don't need a tainted administrative a month before the PEUSA takes office.
Emanuel needs to resign.

It's nice to know that Newsweek reporters are concerned with the REAL issues facing our country; huge debt, economic depression, rising homelessness and joblessness, failing businesses, mortgage failures, rising health care costs, environmental degradation, two international war fronts, Guantanamo, and, oh yes, the chittering stupidity of gossip over who talked to Blago and for how long and "Oooo! HolyOmyGod, D'ya think, maybe, really?".

Are you blonde? I presume if you have so much faith in Fitzgerald, you will let him play this out and leave things to the law.

Isikoff is an utter hack, who made his bones pushing the drudge story about Clinton f**king Lewinsky. He is a low level sleaze merchant who tries, often unsuccessfully, to create scandals involving Dems, and does the occasional GOP scandal to even it out.

Are you just a media hack who wants to stir up controversy so you can stay in the spotlight? This is pretty disgusting "journalism".

Bravo!
I implore the rest of the media to set about doing their jobs and investigating this story thoroughly.
Its time to take off the rose colored glasses and put your bongs down and get off your butts!
Any stooge with half a brain realizes that any politician that comes out of the Chicago political machine is dirty.. theres no such thing as a clean honest and upstanding Chicago politician.

Amazingly Isikoff wants to start off a new administration chasing red herrings when a Democrat is about to become president. Where was your call for subpoena questions when Bush and Cheney lied us into an illegal war?

This is the first serious objective look at Obama's involvement in this matter from the fawning media. While it seems clear that Obama did nothing illegal, it also appears that Obama knew that Blago was running a senate-seat-for-hire scheme, and they just sat on their hands and kept it a secret. There are sins of commission and of omission, and Obama seems dangerously close to one of omission, not speaking up when he knew of a ferociously corrupt scheme.

If you are going to talk about parting the heavens and a new era of transparency and honesty in government, then this response so far is not cutting it. In fact, it makes you look like you (gasp) just made a campaign promise you never meant to keep.

That's what happens when you elect someone you hardly know and then call him your Messiah. You will at some point discover that Obama is nothing more and nothing less than a politician.

For those who haven't been paying attention, the election is over. Those who continue to apply the guilty by association rule, believes whoever President elect Obama meets or seen with, he becomes that person. If there's a photo of President elect Obama meeting with some one and that person's creditability is in question, is President elect Obama in question also. We can assume all we want. We can look into that crystal ball all we want. Until there are facts to back up charges, then it's time to let the FBI do their job and stop playing Columbo.

A couple of points:

How can anyone say that Obama wasn't thoroughly vetted? Didn't he go through a pretty grueling two year long campaign in which he took on the Clinton machine and the Republican fear machine? They threw everything they had at him. He had some questionable associations, like nearly every politician, and the American people believed what he had to say. If that isn't thorough vetting, I don't know what is.

Where is ANY evidence that Obama was involved in this thing? Some of you people are demanding answers, but you don't have anything resembling a smoking gun! Everything is fabricated outrage "Obama needs to answer our questions!" What questions? Obama has spent the last year distancing himself from Blagojevich. Blag is on tape cursing Obama for his unwillingness to pay for play. Fitz has publicly stated on more than one occasion that neither Obama, nor anyone on his staff is under any cloud of suspicion. Obama has agreed to comply with the investigation and not release his internal report until DOJ says it's OK to do so. How is that hiding anything?

If there were any legitimate questions about Obama's citizenship, SOMEONE with more credibility than conspiracy theorists would have uncovered it long before now. LONG before now. Believe it or not, there are more than enough people in the press or the government with the ability to see any document they need to see. Trust me, I worked in Military Intelligence. If there was an issue with Obama's citizenship, any number of people in the Government could have caught it.

Finally: Let the guy take office. He's got a 76% approval rating right now. Why? It could be that the American people actually believe he's making good on some of his promises like reaching across the aisle, naming a competent cabinet quickly, etc. He's got Republicans like Newt Gingrich sticking up for him for god's sake! What else do you really need?

1) will be answered by Tuesday, as the delay in the internal report's release was requested by Fitzgerald. 2) is likely to be answered in that report. 4) was already answered. It was NO. He answered this at length during the campaign when he went before the Chicago newspapers' editorial board and answered every single one of their questions on Rezko. Isikoff might want to look those up. 5) Obama doesn't have to promise to leave Fitzgerald alone. He would be a political moron not to, and Obama is no moron.

Isikoff should have come up with better questions than these.

Michael, I am so disappointed in you. Innuendo and setting up straw men -- You know better than this. Shame on you.

Oh Michael, how disappointed I am in you. Innuendo and straw men do not make for honorable journalism. You know better. Shame on you.

Puh-leeze...If Obama had so many dead bodies buried in his backyard--would he bring a whole corps of nosy bloodhounds there for 60 + days? You can accuse Obama of many things--but being dumb is not one of them. Patrick Fitzgerald would have the power to subpoena Obama--he did not. Anyone really care what this simp Isikoff thinks? Me either.