Clean As A Whistle

Everyone jumped on Joe Biden when he paid a compliment to Barack Obama. What was it that had folks so alarmed? Not the bit about being clean, based on the comments of Jesse Jackson. The Reverend was insulted by the part of Biden's blather that suggested Mr. Obama is the first African-American candidate to be mainstream...normal, if you will. There was an earlier Presidential campaign, you may recall, that featured a certain Operation Push promoting candidate. Didn't much like Senator Biden's implication that he was less than sharp and not exactly centrist.

If you follow Chicago politics, you'd be laughing your head off about the "clean" remark. Usually, one thinks of a clean politician as one who is untouched by scandal or dirty dealings. A man like Edward Kennedy is far from clean, resulting in a Senator who dares not speak out on any issue that touches on morality. Harry Reid is coming under fire these days for some shady real estate deals, making him less than spotless and pristine. Senator Obama is not exactly Mr. Clean either.

Patricia Blagojevich, wife of the Illinois boy-governor, dabbles in real estate. She dabbled a bit with Tony Rezko, who is now under indictment. She dabbled a bit with the owner of K.K. Bio-Science Inc., and the drug testing firm is now under investigation. Mrs. Blagojevich earned over $113,000 on her commision, which is traditionally 6% of the sale price. You can do the math, but even without a calculator you can see that the price on the property was high.

When Mr. Obama bought his lovely home in Kenwood, he paid less than the asking price. On the very same day, Tony Rezko bought the empty lot next door, and paid an inflated price. Within a short period of time, Obama was buying a strip of Rezko's land to make his own lot larger, and the generous Senator paid far in excess of what the strip was worth. Raised a few eyebrows with that transaction.

The FBI and the State of Illinois are investigating K.K. Bio-Science, which has enjoyed a no-bid contract with the state to do urine tests for DCFS. Allegations of fraud have been raised, with evidence that the company billed for tests never carried out. A search of K.K.'s offices revealed a great deal of empty space this past Tuesday, as the company had abruptly terminated the contract, gone out of business and emptied out every last cubicle. Even the employees were surprised when they discovered that they were fired -- no notice, no nothing.

Right now, no one is saying that there is a connection between Patti Blagojevich and the illegal doings of K.K. Bio-Science. Just as no one is saying there is anything amiss in her real estate business done on behalf of Tony Rezko. But when it comes time to sling mud, later, when the election really heats up, the whispering campaign will begin. The now impeccable Senator will be lumped into the same pile as the Blagojevichs, the Rezkos and all the rest of the muck that is Illinois politics. Barack Obama is clean now, on the surface, but look for his tailored suit and shiny shoes to become quite splattered, and fairly soon.