Obama should have been able to breathe a sigh of relief since she’s finally gone. But instead, loyal Obama supporter Tony Rezko was convicted on 16 of 24 charges of corruption. What did Obama say? “I am saddened by today’s verdict. This isn’t the Tony Rezko I knew.” Seriously. Power Line’s Scott Johnson has some background on the Obama-Rezko connection and concludes, “Obama’s comment on Rezko’s conviction reaches a new height of absurdity.” His colleague John Hinderaker adds, “I don’t doubt that Obama is saddened by his mentor’s conviction, but the rest of his statement is from outer space.” Michelle Malkin asks, “How many times can Barack Obama claim to be shocked, shocked by the behavior of his longtime friends?” Could this latest news about an Obama supporter cause problems for the Democratic nominee? Hot Air’s Ed Morrissey says, “The Rezko conviction itself provides an indirect shot at Barack Obama for the moment, showing the kind of people with whom he associated while a Chicago politician…Now we can add a convicted crook to that circle of associates, especially since Rezko raised over a quarter-million dollars for Obama during the same period in which he committed the crime and corruption for which he was convicted today.” And Ace wonders, “Only found guilty on 2 of 6 counts of ‘corrupt solicitation,’ which I assume is bribery of a public official. Wonder if they found him innocent of any charge that would bring him closer to Obama here.” But as Townhall’s Matt Lewis concludes, “If it had to happen, the timing couldn’t be better for Obama.” But, we should probably just ignore it, because as Malkin says in another post, “you know, it’s just a ‘distraction.'”
