You say: "BEecauseu of the way the property was spit, Obama later bought a small piece of land form the Renzo land to expend his yard. Waht is wrong with that?"

What's wrong with that is this: at the time Obama purchased the house, Rezko was seriously in hock and in no position to be buying anything much other than groceries. Also, to imply that the real estate agent 'found' Rezko is deeply wishful thinking. Obama had been associated with Rezko for many years by the time the transaction took place.

Sorry, but I simply cannot believe the number of Obama supporters who refuse to face the fact that Obama's long and intimate association with Rezko completely undermines his claim to be a 'new kind of politician'. THAT'S the issue here.

I really appreciate your last message, as it gives me some real insight into your support for Obama, especially your desire to see youthful energy harnessed in a positive direction. For some time now, Obama's support from this segment of the voting population has been a little inexplicable to me, so thanks for giving me a clue.

When you say, "I want to see her inspire and elevate herself, not spend all this time knocking the legs out from under Obama".... I can only respond that I see the same dynamic with which the right sandbagged Bill Clinton being turned on Hillary Clinton, this time fueled by the left.

Has Hillary Clinton had any other choice than to come out fighting, given the near constant drubbing she's taken? I see her very much as a champion of traditional Democratic ideals and would love to see her talk more about these. Unfortunately, ever since South Carolina, out of necessity she's been pretty much forced to expend one hell of a lot of energy fending off attacks, trying to keep her campaign alive on a terribly uneven playing field.

I think Obama supporters need to comprehend that there are many, many voters out here who sincerely believe in Hillary Clinton and are proud of her. Seeing the abuse heaped on her daily on this and other sites is proving very alienating and may well have long term negative implications for the Democratic party. At any rate, it definitely needs to stop soon.

Okay, I see I'm going around in circles here and I have to get SOME work done today. Thanks again for your sincerity - it makes a difference.

Could someone out there please tell me who Obama IS? Is he really the guy he claims to be, or is he a guy who is claiming to be something he isn't so he can gain higher office and THEN become the guy he really is - in order to do perfectly good things, of course. I realize it's quite audacious for me to hope for an answer, but hey, we can all dream.

Actually, I've read numbers of reviews and critiques of Obama's book online, some of which contain portions of the writing, some of which are extensive. Many of these critiques were written before he became a serious contender for the presidency, which may give them added credibility. The bottom line seems to be: you can believe Obama is whatever and whoever you want him to be (or not). I get the impression that, as an author, he tried a bit too hard to be all things to all people. Anyway, autobiographies are invariably limited to what the writer wants you to know and think about him/her. If Obama had written a substantive book about a topic other than himself, I think I'd be much more inclined to read it.

Turns out that back in '07, the Chicago Tribune published a series of profiles of Obama which appear to be fully and responsibly researched. The link below is to the segment which explores how Obama got his start in Illinois politics. It's worth a look, especially as this story graphically demonstrates Obama's embrace of old school, bare knuckle politics.

A last note here. Please, Obama supporters: when, oh when, are you going to admit that your candidate does not inhabit a superior moral plane? He's a politician who's in the business of winning - just like all the others. Can we please remove the foolishness of this stance from the debate, sooner rather than later?

If the following link doesn't come through in its entirety, you can easily access the series on Obama by visiting the Chicago Trib site.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/obama/chi-0704030881apr04,1,7336556.story

Just type in 'ory' at link's end so it reads 'story'

Obama is obviously capable of playing hardball - he has a history of this which needs to be admitted by his supporters; otherwise, genuine debate will remain impossible and the ugliness which appears on this and all others sites will simply continue to proliferate. C'mon, people, can we please stop pretending Obama lives on a higher moral/ethical plane than any other politician who ever lived? He's a politician, pure and simple.

Last night, I discovered a series of Obama profiles the Chicago Tribune published last year. These profiles appear well and responsibly researched. Here's a link to the segment on Obama's rather bare knuckle entrance into Illinois politics. (Just type in 'ory' after 'st' to complete the truncated link:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/obama/chi-0704030881apr04,1,7336556.story