Eugene Robinson, This Is The NEW Playbook!

Eugene Robinson is just the latest journalist to reveal their hacktackular side yesterday in his column entitled "A Playbook to Change". Now being as how Mr. Robinson is a frequent guest on "Morning Joe" everyone should have known the guy would be pliable when it comes to journalistic standards. But this particular article is just a joke in every sense of the word. Some how Robinson is equating PEOTUS Barack Obama's being thoughtful and actually wanting to investigate his own staff before making a blanket statement absolving them to using the "old" playbook. Really? So when was the last time that George Bush DIDN'T come out and lie immediately and make blanket statements when a scandal came out? When was the last time George Bush said he would release the fruits of an internal investigation into whether anybody on his staff engaged in questionable activities? No Mr. Robinson you see, this is the NEW playbook where it actually matters to the guy at the top that he gets it right the first time. It actually matters to him that his team is open and honest. It actually matters enough to PEOTUS Obama that he isn't willing to use the "old" playbook and promise things that might not be true just in the interest of politics and playing the media game.

There is a line being pushed by many of the drudge obsessed journos in the MSM that shows up in Eugene Robinson's article about President Elect Obama not being forthright enough. So lets examine it for a minute.

But the longer he leaves obvious questions unanswered, the longer the president-elect will have to talk about the seamier side of Illinois politics rather than initiatives such as saving the U.S. auto industry or revamping health care.

Ok so lets see the "obvious questions" that are included in Eugene Robinson's column that are so pressing for our President Elect that he hasn't answered. Here is the first one I found.

The normal thing would be for Obama's staff to talk to Blagojevich's staff -- and, unless prosecutors have asked him not to, I don't understand why Obama hasn't stated this simple fact.

But lets see what President Elect Obama
actually said on this matter.

What I want to do is to gather all the facts about any staff contacts that I might -- may have -- that may have taken place between the transition office and the governor's office. And we'll have those in the next few days, and we'll present them.

So Obama not only acknowledges that there might have been contacts between his office and the Governor's office and pledges to present the facts of any of those contacts. Isn't that what we have been missing for the last 8 years? Aren't we supposed to like the fact that our President is willing to investigate his own staff and then turn around and present the evidence publicly? Isn't the old playbook that you just deny deny deny and then refuse to comment? Ok so maybe Eugene Robinson just missed that part of the press conference. Lets look for the other "obvious questions" in his article that have gone unanswered. Here is the next one.

That raises the question of what the Obama team knew about the investigation and when.

Now here is what's funny, supposedly all of the Chicago newspapers and most off the Illinois politicians were following the investigation into Rod Blagojevich but they ALL claimed to be shocked about the new revelations about him trying to sell the Senate seat. I wonder if Eugene Robinson put in a call to Dick Durban to ask him if he knew anything about the investigation. I mean whomever that is named to that seat would be a fellow Illinois Senator. Following Eugene Robinson's logic we should all be suspicious of Dick Durbin too, no?But setting that aside for a minute, lets see what Obama had to say about this matter.

MR. OBAMA: I have not been contacted by any federal officials. And we have not been interviewed by them. As is reflected in the U.S. attorney's report, we were not, I think, perceived by the governor's office as amenable to any deal-making. And, you know, I won't quote back some of the things that were said about me. So -- this is a family program, I know.

So, you know -- so, beyond that, I'm not really certain where the investigation is going forward. I'll leave Mr. Fitzgerald to address those issues. OK, Mike Flannery, CBS.

Now the funny thing is the person with ALL of the answers about the case is Attorney General Patrick Fitzgerald so why aren't any pundits calling on him to answer questions? Notice how Eugene Robinson says in the earlier quote

unless prosecutors have asked him not to

So uhmmm why not just ASK the prosecutors if he asked PEOTUS Obama not to comment on the matter. Ill tell you why, because if the prosecutor says that he did in fact ask Obama not to comment about the investigation then it takes away another talking point. And we all know how those MSM folks LOVE their talking points. Especially when they get their mug on TV in the mornings. I could point out that the Chicago Tribune printed a letter to the readers that explained how the prosecutors had asked them several times not to publish stories that would hurt the case against Blagojevich but then I might be destroying Mr. Robinson's "the prosecution doesn't mind everybody talking" meme wouldn't I?

Ok so what other "obvious questions" are just burning in Mr. Robinson's brain? Wait, what do you mean that's it? Are you trying to tell me this guy wrote a whole article about "obvious questions" that PEOTUS Obama hasn't answered and he came up with all of 2 questions? And are you trying to say to me that at least 1 of those 2 questions had already been answered? Wow. But wait wasn't the whole point of his column that Obama was way too involved with Blagojevich not to be more open and forthcoming about it? And doesn't Eugene do a great job of joining them at the hip? Uhmm not exactly.

For most politicians, that would be good enough. For Obama, who inspired the nation with a promise of "change we can believe in," it's not.

The scandal involves Obama in only the most tangential way, as far as anyone knows, and actually seems to cast him in a favorable light.

He delivers an expletive-laden tirade against Obama, according to the court papers, because he believes Obama wants him to give the job to a specific candidate "for nothing." This actually makes the president-elect and his team look good

None of this is likely to hurt Obama in any material way or even dim the glow of his victory and upcoming inauguration.

So Eugene Robinson wrote a column about a subject that "isn't likely to hurt Obama" about a scandal that only involves Obama in a "tangential way" where the substance of the scandal actually "makes the president-elect look good" which should be the end of the story but because Obama "promised "change we can believe in" its not". Thanks so much for your contribution to American journalism Mr. Robinson. I am sure that you are oh so proud.

Here is a final "obvious question" to YOU Mr. Robinson that has gone unanswered, If President Elect Barack Obama were to have listed all of the contacts his office had with Rod Blagojevich's office yesterday and then a week from now he discovered that there had been more contacts, would you cut him a break and conclude he just had made an honest mistake, or would you rake him over the coals for lying to the American people after promising Change We Can Believe In? I'll leave the answer to your conscious, if you have one that is.


While you are at it maybe you can explain to me what is so important about whether Obama or people on his team met with Blagojevich and what they knew about the investigation when all the facts point to Blago having the distinct impression that they were not willing to pay to play. But then again that's a question that only a REAL journalist would ask themselves before they wrote articles like yours.