The name comes from his father, who happened to be Muslim. But his father left when he was two and Obama (sounds like Osama, you know, the guy Bush let go) was raised a Christian, like I suspect you were.

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ring a bell?

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Kinda hard when the guy has essentially no record.

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Any of us? I used to be the first reviewer in chambers of financial disclosure reports of judges. They have already been reviewed in Washington, and the judge would also review them. I can honestly say that those people overwhelmingly stood up to scrutiny — and those who didn’t were prosecuted. That’s but one example (about a lot of people).

Yes, people have the potential, perhaps “opportunity” for bigger transgressions, but that’s not the same thing as transgressing. People in power who understand power and who are good people don’t make mistakes such as this Rezko business. Obama went to Harvard, for crying out loud. He didn’t know this smelled bad? The only kind of lawyer who would be involved in an ethically challenged transaction is well, ethically challenged. He should have, at the least, been careful not to give the appearance of impropriety. That he didn’t think about that with all his education impacts on his judgment. And if he can’t handle a simple real estate transaction totally above board, why would we want to allow him to conduct the country’s business?

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Who gets $800,000 “gifts?”

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The Rezko stuff just looks bad, and the explanations so far have been pretty meager (especially coming from a couple of Harvard lawyers).

If the NYT is going to run such pitiful whisps of non-stories as it has on McCain, it does seem odd that this story gets so little play.

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But I doubt any one of us would stand up to scrutiny and come out squeeky clean.

With power (religious or political) and money, people have the potential to commit bigger transgressions.

Is this politically motivated? Absolutely! If our Republican friends know how to do anything well, it’s spread rumors and innuendo about a person. Destroying a person, by any means necessary, is how Republicans do business now.

Interestingly, a fair number of our conservative Christian friends have decided that spreading rumors, innuendo and slander is no longer a sin.

Well, our Republican friends should look in their own house before casting stones about. They’ve got one on Obama so far. Whereas, there are a fair number of questionable and shady goings-on with Senator McCain.

I fully expect it’s going to get nasty – horribly nasty – by November. And I expect our conservative Christian friends to pull their own weight in that regard. They’re off to a good start on here already.

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First, there is a legitimate issue of whether Sen. Obama’s involvement with Rezko resulted in some distortion of duty or corruption of office. Corruption of this sort can be direct, a quid pro quo, or it may be indirect where the corrupter finds some beneficence bestowed by a third party. Influence is very rarely blatant or direct — that’s one reason for discounting some of this story. It’s just too dumb.

But second, there is another issue here, where the concern is not about the corruption of office, but the demolition of the opponent; “raise the negatives” as the political advisor might say. This is a darker game, since at its core the argument is essentially that of don’t vote for so-and-so because his association with this corrupt individual invalidates him (and that’s just what you would expect from members of his party!).

The first is concerned with the question of qualification for office, the latter with qualification of the person. The first is finally a matter of policy outcomes, the second a matter of celebrity (non)status. It is not clear to me how this second path especially matches a Christian commitment. Nonetheless, it is something we all love to do, left and right.

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