Oof. It's a very bad sign if the pricks at Politico are beginning to savage Obama after blowing him all Fall.

Turning a blind eye to hate (Wright) and evil (Ayers), Obama completes the trifecta and turns a blind eye to blatant corruption.

In my opinion, the best possible name is:

The Effing Mess

Anything "-gate" is an attempt to link all political scandals to a Republican scandal. That practice should be stopped immediately. Michael Graham is correct. However, your idea suggests an evocative phrase:

"Seatwater".

I bet this affair is producing plenty of that in Chicago.

Given the results of Clinton saying he'd have "the most ethical administration" ever and Pelosi claiming she'd have the most ethical Congress ever and the subsequent results, I'd guess Obama's transparent government will be as dark as the inside of a cat.

How about Blagwater?

or

Vichy? Oh wait. That has been taken.

Let's Make A Deal?

Money Machine? Machine Money?

Bribeathon?

Hair Today Jail Tomorrow?

What's It Worth To Ya?

My fear is that this is going to backfire and have Obama looking straight and honest, and that Republicans once again will give us reasonable conservatives a bad name by trying a little too hard to make a connection here. I think we should back off, especially since the guy was cursing out Obama for playing by the rules. I'm sure someone made contact with him, but it's pretty obvious there is no "there" there. Let's get Obama on the real stuff, like bad policy. This will look like a petty overreach.

As a rule of thumb, if someone goes out of their way to tell you they are honest, they are dishonest. If they tell you they are straight forward, they are devious. If they say they aren't crooks, they are crooks. I call it the law of opposites. Obama has said he is transparent, yet his life and friendships remain remarkably shrouded. He claims to favor public service, yet did little for his constituents. What of Wright and Ayers? He was not honest about those relationships. At some point these character traits are going to become obvious to everyone and then what will Obama do?

During election season, I wondered frequently why the haigographic press didn't publish the stories as to how the 'O'ne was able to succeed in Illinois politics without falling victim to the corruption.

Now we know - he was hip-deep in it; they just didn't report it.

I've got a suggestion about a possible name for this political trainwreck:

Treason.

Quit letting the politicians get away with screwing over the American public by playing along with the Washington and New York chattering classes in coming up with the whatever-gate or whatever-water cutesy, putesy name and call these maggots for what they are - criminals selling out the people of this country for their own interests.

And I'm deeply sorry that Obama finds this a "distraction" but perhaps he shouldn't have found the nastiest bunch of political corruption in the entire country to launch his career out of. Lay down with corruption, come up with maggots.

Seatwater is nigh brilliant, Chuck.

Personally, I find it hilarious that Obama's administration is being licked by the flames of corruption even before he takes the oath of office. If we extrapolate at the rate of one scandal breaking every month and a half, that gives us thirty-six scandals to look forward to over the next four years, plus this one for a total of thirty-seven. One can only HOPE that this rate will CHANGE in Obama's favor, otherwise it will be a grueling four years.

Here's a thought, it has been hinted at that someone in the Obama Admin turned this over to the FBI (Rahm Emanual has been suggested) coul it be they "Obama Admin" were talking to Blago and someone in Justice tipped them off that he was being wiretapped so to make it look like they were clean they went to the FBI? Just a thought.

US Attorney Fitzgerald acted precipitously using an arrest instead of the more expected indictment likely because he knew something was going down, fast and bad.
If Emannuel helped, be assured it wasn't for noble reasons. Emannuel's in the middle of almost everything going on with Obama now, just as he was for Blagojevich previously. Given that he's hiding- he was seen hanging with his kids in Chicago yesterday and wouldn't talk- there's grounds for more worry. Emannuel not talking is a very, very bad sign.
Keep in mind that the senate-seat thing is small potatoes in the Chicago Way, despite its gaudiness and headline-friendliness. There are serious things underneath that top line item, real crimes that go beyond just horsetrading.
It may not be a catastrophe if the incoming President is tied in knots and can't accomplish anything. It would, after all, lead to less government. But, should a real shoe drop, consider the possiblity of a Biden or Pelosi presidency.
My apologies for painting that picture.

I vote for 'Seataquiddick'. No reason except it sounds silly.

Worst possible time? Nixon was stuck in the heart of the Watergate thing when the October War crisis broke out. Clinton bombed Iraq during his impeachment crisis. Someone in Reagan's administration was under indictment or under fire domestically during pretty much every moment of his presidency. If Obama and his people can't keep focus under pressure, then why the hell did they think they were worthy of running things?

This is why you nominate candidates with a record of performance under literal fire, if at all possible. The veterans-issues and national security credentials aside, it demonstrates the ability to perform under extreme pressure.

Well, then, unwelcome to the club!

Nicely played, nicely played.

Call it Democratgate. Then all we have to do is tack on Roman Numerals to it to keep them all separate... Wait a minute, do Roman Numerals go past the thousands?

I don't hold out much hope that Obama will immediately come clean with information about his, or his team's, contact with Blagojevich.

His MO throughout the campaign was centered around revealing as little information about himself than absolutely necessary ... why is there any reason to believe that will cease now.

I think Obama won because he's a mirror, or crystal ball ... people look at him, and talk to him, and no matter their political affiliation are convinced that he's on their side. There's a name for that ability, it's called sophistry. There are some who can see beyond the pretenses, like we skeptics who try to read between the lines ... and we worried (and still worry) about the Obama presidency. As Abraham Lincoln so famously said, "You can fool some of the people all of the time, and you can fool all of the people some of the time, but you can't fool all of the people all of the time". We are among those who can't be fooled all of the time.

Changing the subject IMNSHO, Obama's campaign was designed to position him for 2012, and he was probably as surprised as anyone that he won both the primary and the election.

Now he's proving that his statement about his unsuitability to be President, when he first entered the Senate, were more prescient than he realized.

There is nothing here.

Remember, Obama ran against the Chicago machine's chosen candidate in the 2004 Dem primary for the senate, and prevailed. He was not the chosen candidate. He owes very little to the local political machine.

Blago has been in Fitzgerald's sights for a long time, and everyone knows it. We have known that an indictment was eminent, if not exactly immediate, and we expect that many other local politicos will fall. I suspect that Daley will have his moment before long, though he is notoriously cagey.

But Obama will emerge relatively unscathed from this. His test will come when his badly conceived New Deal Redux policies meet with reality.

Day 1: Neither I not my staff had any contact with the Governor.

Day 2: I have asked my staff to investigate if there was any contact with the Governor.

Day 3: My staff is preparing a list of contacts that occurred with the Governor.

Thought experiement: if the White House had made these statements concerning contact between GWB and Governor Palin about replacing Alaska Senator Ted Stevens, do you think we might have seen this progression laid out on the front page of some major newspapers?

"... Neither I NOR my staff..." duh.