A question about a question

[4themind]

I was wondering if there have been any reports as to which question Obama was addressing in the barrage of question that was asked at the end of his press conference. I mean word parsers are going to say that he did have "contact" with blagojeivich if only at the governors meeting last week

So it seems to me that knowing what specific question was asked would be important in analyzing obama's response(perhaps there were constraints time frame/specifics placed into the question itself, or maybe it was intentionally ambigous).

For example,what if the question were "Were you aware what was happening with your senate seat"? In that case the word that would probably be parsed is "happening"; did that refer to, knowledge that Blago wanted a monetary quid-pro-quo in order to consider certain people, or did that refer to simply knowing the people that Blago was considering, or did "happening" mean actual knowledge of an investigation(the results of which spurred what occurred today). I'm just saying that anyone who wants to analyze this question fully needs to know what he was responding to. (I should put as a disclaimer that I don't believe that Obama has done anything legally or (in my view) morally wrong, I just want to know what question prompted the quote that the press will be examining in the coming days.)

[ErinBerin84]

1. I don't know

Everyone shouted their questions at once when he walked away, so I didn't hear the specific one he was responding too. Politico and Jake Tapper at ABC are already trying to go all "oooh, but Axelrod said he HAD spoken to the governor" recently. Not sure if this is just a difference between talking about resignation (when he first talked to him, if he did) or specifically about the senate seat. Lynn Sweet was on Hardball talking about how there was no relationship between Bago and the Obama camp (she said that she would have been laughed off the phone if she asked about a potential role for him in electing Obama. "It would have been like, a moment of comedy") and Jill Zuckman is reiterating that everyone in Illinois politics knows there is no love lost between the two. The wingnuts are really desperate if they are going to try to use this against him.

[DevonRex]

2. That's a good question. nt

[Brazenly Liberal]

3. I wouldn't worry about it.

There is nothing you or I or Obama can do or say to have any significant effect on what the birth certificate deniers and AM radio oxycontin junkies have to say. As always, the RWnuts will find a way to parse whatever he says so he appears evil and corrupt and not a natural citizen of this solar system. A few people on the left who haven't yet adjusted the idea of the good guys being in power will join them. This will go on for the entire time he's in office. Think of it as ugly wallpaper. It's always there in the background and can make you queasy if you concentrate on it, but if you give its proper importance (none), life can go on splendidly in spite of it.

Any examination - cursory or in depth - of Obama's relationship with Blago will show...........nothing, really. Like most respected Illinois pols, Barack Obama has treated Blago like he's infectious for some time now. Blago was completely shut out of the campaign and has had no voice in the transition.