Paul R. Hollrah

Obama’s “Butt Boys”
December 30, 2008
 

On Tuesday, December 23, Barack Obama’s newly-named White House Counsel, Greg Craig, announced the results of Obama’s internal self-examination of contacts between members of his staff and the office of Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. The purpose of the study was to determine whether or not anyone on his staff has engaged in any inappropriate conversations with the governor or his chief of staff relative to the auctioning of Obama’s vacant senate seat.

(The notion that Obama would believe that his crew of Chicago machine politicians would be trusted to produce a report that is complete and comprehensive represents either a new high in political naivete, or a monumental political arrogance, unmatched in history or fiction.)

In his report, Craig insisted that only one member of the transition team, Chief of-Staff-designate Rahm Emanuel, had spoken with the governor’s office and that all contacts and communications were "appropriate and acceptable,” an assurance that is bound to allay all of our worst fears.

Craig went on to say that Emanuel had “one or two” conversations with Blagojevich and “about four” conversations with his chief of staff, John Harris. “One or two?” “About four?” Is Obama the candidate who promised openness and transparency? Is he not aware that telephone logs exist and that estimates of contacts are unacceptable?

The Craig-Emanuel conversation must have gone something like this:

CRAIG: “Hey, Rahmbo! The One needs to know how many conversations you’ve had with Governor Blago in the past month.”

EMANUEL: “Oh, (expletive), I’ve talked to the (expletive) maybe once or twice and I’ve talked to that (expletive) Harris about four times.”

CRAIG: “The One needs to know whether or not you discussed anything with them that might be embarrassing to him... you know, like giving Blago a few goodies for doing the right thing... if you know what I mean?”

EMANUEL: “Who, me? What the (expletive) do you think I am... a (expletive) Daley political fixer? Everything we talked about was (expletive) appropriate and acceptable.”

CRAIG: “That’s okay, man. Don’t get your shorts in a knot. You’ve told me everything I need to know.”

So who is Greg Craig, and can he be trusted to conduct any part of the people’s business with honesty and integrity? First and foremost, it was Craig who led the defense team in the U.S. Senate in January-February 1999 when Bill Clinton was tried on multiple charges of perjury, conspiracy, and obstruction of justice.

Just to refresh our memories, Clinton lied under oath in a court of law, he suborned the perjury of Monica Lewinsky by helping her to write a false affidavit in which she denied having had sexual relations with him. That false affidavit was eventually used by Clinton attorney Robert Bennett in argument before Judge Susan Weber Wright. Clinton and Lewinsky then sought to suborn the perjury of Lewinsky’s friend, Linda Tripp, by pressuring Tripp to either remain silent or to deliver perjured testimony. As Judge Wright later ruled in finding him in contempt, Clinton made "intentionally false" statements and enlisted others to lie for him, as well.

The record of Clinton wrongdoing is so complete that there is no doubt he was guilty of perjury, subornation of perjury, conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and witness tampering. However, in his opening arguments before the United States Senate, Craig said, “I welcome this opportunity to speak for President Clinton. He has a strong and compelling case, one that is based on the facts in the record, on the law, and on the Constitution...

“You will see that the President was truthful. And after reading, seeing, hearing, and studying the evidence for yourselves, not relying on what someone else says it is, not relying on someone else's description, characterization, or paraphrase of the President's testimony, we believe that you will conclude that what the President did and said in the grand jury was not unlawful, and that you must not remove him from office.”

So much for Mr. Craig’s integrity. Yet, this is the man chosen by Barack Obama to investigate the possible involvement of his staff in the scheme to sell his vacant senate seat.

In a November 18, 2008 statement in response to Obama’s announced intention to name Craig as White House Counsel, the Washington-based watchdog group, Judicial Watch, had this to say:

“It is disturbing that Barack Obama will allow Bill Clinton's impeachment lawyer Greg Craig to serve as his White House Counsel. Many thought Barack Obama had beaten the Clinton political machine. Instead, he appears to have embraced it. Given his defense of Bill Clinton's lies and obstruction of justice, what sort of legal advice will Mr. Craig give to President Obama? Will it all depend on what the meaning of 'is' is?

“Not only did Greg Craig defend the worst of the worst of the Clinton scandals but he also defended the violent government raid that delivered Elian Gonzalez back to Castro's Cuba... Greg Craig is the wrong lawyer to serve as White House Counsel in the Obama White House. Barack Obama's White House personnel decisions show that he doesn't seem to care about government integrity.”

Looking at Obama’s White House appointments to date, one would think that the Clinton crew of “enablers” has simply moved back into the White House after an extended eight year vacation. In selecting Eric Holder... of Marc Rich pardon fame... as his Attorney General, Rahm Emanuel as his Chief of Staff, and Greg Craig as his White House Counsel, Obama has managed to resurrect almost all of the worst elements of the Clinton Administration. If he were to add Harold Ickes to the mix the Clinton “rogues gallery” would be essentially complete.

Having Rahm Emanuel and Greg Craig as his closest advisors puts Barack Obama in the unique position of being the first president, ever, to require the service if two “butt boys.” So what exactly is a “butt boy?” “Butt boy” is the derogatory term for the presidential aide whom Vanity Fair describes as “the person responsible for making sure the president wakes up on time in the morning and stays on schedule during the day, and for peering around the corner of the president’s existence 24-7, at home and on the road, to make sure he has everything he needs (lunch, tie, speech, hat, golf clubs, a handy bathroom), and avoids everything unnecessary, unwanted, and undesirable... ”

Being a product of the most corrupt Democratic machine in modern times, Obama understands that he will have far more messes to clean up than any of his predecessors. Who better to do that than two of the most unprincipled “butt boys” in presidential history.

It’s going to be an interesting and eventful four years, so hang onto your hats... and keep your eyes and ears open. You won’t want to miss a minute of it.