Rahm on 21 tapped conversations by the FBI?

[Thrill]

About Obama's Senate seat.


http://www.suntimes.com/news/sneed/1333057,CST-NWS-SNEED16.article

[polichick]

1. Wonder how many f-words were recorded in those 21 conversations. :)

[ananda]

2. Whoa!

Ominous.. or not.

[FrenchieCat]

4. True or not? Gossip or not? Rumors or not? Hearing Rumbles? WTF???

[FrenchieCat]

3. This really is gossip.......and shouldn't be posted here....as it only spreads rumors.

Sneed hears rumbles President-elect Barack Obama's chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, is reportedly on 21 different taped conversations by the feds -- dealing with his boss' vacant Senate seat!

Considering that is the extent of the story.....this is really tabloid type gossip. :eyes:

[JuniperLea]

6. Considering there's no meat to this...

I agree. I don't think it unlikely that Obama's staff would have conversations with the person charged with replacing him as Senator. It's pretty crummy to suggest there is no reason for discussion, which is what this piece of fluff intimates.

[FrenchieCat]

9. This one sentence blurb is there to help keep the dogs barking till the 22nd!

wouldn't want this shit to end so soon!

[JuniperLea]

12. Yep

The hounds of stupidity howl, and idiots listen. :eyes:

[VolcanoJen]

15. Amen. And it feeds the lazy press, of course.

So much to talk about... the transition, the coming depression, the non-existent auto bailout, the reason/reaction behind the shoe-throwing, etc etc etc.

But the media became bored with the financial crisis long ago (it's too complicated and haaaaaaard!!), and loves a good old fashioned cut-from-whole-cloth speculation scandal, eh? Gah. I'm so f'n sick of it all.

[Cirque du So-What]

16. I hear rumbles too

whenever I overindulge in some savory, seductive dish or other. Rumbles are a sure sign of thinking with the gut instead of the head, and that's a practice I abandoned long ago - once I decided that my guts have shit for brains.

[JuniperLea]

5. Seems logical that conversations would take place between...

the office of an exiting Senator, and the person charged with finding said Senator's replacement. This is a transition too, you know.

Until I see transcripts or something, I'm not going to get all bent about this.

[FrenchieCat]

7. Shouldn't we get all bent about rumbles heard?

I mean, why not just spread it on the internet and make a story till the 22nd?

Wouldn't that be productive? :shrug:

:sarcasm:

[JuniperLea]

11. Yeah, that is blatantly stupid, isn't it?

I'm sick of the Obama bashing, here and in the media. :puke:

[Diamonique]

8. This not a problem.

Fitz and his people have listened to everything, and he has stated that there is nothing that indicates any wrongdoing on the part of the Obama team.

[ProSense]

10. Unsubstantiated BS from a gossip monger

Sneed Undeterred

After a Sun-Times article by Michael Sneed erroneously identified the perpetrator of the April 16, 2007 Virginia Tech massacre as an unnamed Chinese national, the People's Republic of China criticized the Chicago Sun-Times for publishing what it called "irresponsible reports".<7> The newspaper later silently withdrew the story without making any apologies or excuses.

link

[FrenchieCat]

13. Thanks BrentTaylor!

Don't know what we'd done without this piece of information posted right here at DU.

Hell, Drudge can now retire officially. :shrug:

[EFerrari]

14. What a crock. A deep one, too.

Boy, it must suck to write that column.

[droidamus2]

17. Don't give a damn

I understand there are times when reporters and so called journalists must protect their sources but too many of the current crop of 'pseudo' journalists just use this as cover to make stuff up. 'Some people say', 'as I have heard', 'any curious person would want to know blah, blah, blah' and now we're supposed to worry about 'rumblings'. It is time to call these asses out every time they pull this crap. You heard something, really? From who? As they say online 'give us a link'. If they aren't ready to be upfront and basically put facts and proof behind what they say then they should just shut the 'f**k' up.

[McCamy Taylor]

18. For leaks like this, Obama is not allowed to clear his name? This is bull!

[Phx_Dem]

19. Yawn. He could have talked to him 121 times. So fucking what?

The question is, was he involved in wrongdoing. The obvious answer is, no, according to Blago himself who was pissed that he wouldn't get anything but appreciation from Obama. There was absolutely no indication by Fitzgerald's that Obama's "advisor" did anything wrong.

[mwei924]

20. Oh god, please release the tapes! Entertainment value off the charts.

It's probably just hours and hours of

Blago: "Fuck you!"

Rahm: "No, fuck you."

[firedupdem]

21. I clicked that link expecting a story.

I hate this "rumbles" stuff. They shouldn't even be allowed to print that mess. Get a fucking story and then report it and make sure it's factual. These fuckers suck big time!

[FVZA_Colonel]

22. If the calls were on tape, and Fitzgerald has done nothing against Emmanuel,

wouldn't that mean nothing illegitimate was discussed?

[Abq_Sarah]

26. Nope

That's not the way Fitzgerald works. He may not take every instance to a grand jury but he tends to stir up a lot of muck on the way to his goal.

Personally, I don't think this is a big deal. It's perfectly legitimate for Emmanuel to speak to the Governor regarding the Senate seat or anything else they care to discuss.

[FVZA_Colonel]

30. I agree.

I just want to be clear that I had thought that if Emmanuel had clearly been discussing his involvement in something corrupt then Fitzgerald would likely have moved against him as well, but I understand what you're saying.

[marshall]

27. I'm not sure selling a Senate seat is illegal

It's the extortion from the children's hospital among other things that I believe the FBI has caught the governor on. But if Rahm and the governor discussed money or any other quid pro quo involving the seat I don't know if there is really anything there to charge anybody on. Embarassing yes, but is it illegal?

[anigbrowl]

23. Here's some transcripts?

RING 'Hello?'
'Rahm, it's Rod. Look, about that--'
'Fuck off, ok? Stop calling me!'

[Gold Metal Flake]

24. That's, like, more than 20!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! periodic space !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

All of this bullshit is just to get the Conservative Media and the Well paid Pundits back on their stride. It's a workout routine.

The Media Is Our Greatest Enemy! The current media structure must be destroyed.

[Ozma]

25. I don't know what you are talking about.........please list FACTS!!!!

one after another.

Do you have the ability to post this.....or can you not live without a TV set to interpret the world in front of you?

What is the purpose of this thread without the Original Poster posting facts for us to discuss?

[bdamomma]

28. the media is making this sound sinister.

it is all about attacking Obama. And wouldn't you think Rahm Emmanuel would have discussions with the Governor regarding Obama's Senate seat, and no wrongdoing was done, the media is making this a sinister connection. The media will do anything to smear Obama.

[gkhouston]

31. The media doesn't want to talk about all the Xmas shopping that isn't happening.

And all the people who are out of work this holiday season. And they're mostly a bunch of pussies when it comes to pointing out that the Bush administration is laying on a thick coat of revisionist history before leaving office; better to skirt that subject altogether than broach it. Which leaves them with what to talk about?

[Bleacher Creature]

29. So what.

When a Senator resigns his or her seat, it's perfectly appropriate for him or her to have an opinion on who should be appointed in their stead. As long as Rahm wasn't offering anything in return (he wasn't), this is normal.