FBI Raids Obama Friend's Office

The Washington Times has reported that the FBI conducted a raid Wednesday on the offices of former Illinois state senator and Will County executive Larry Walsh, reported to be "...a poker-playing buddy of Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama."

Citing authorities in Chicago, the Times reported that the FBI raided the offices of Mr. Walsh and his chief of staff, Matt Ryan. The Times article called Walsh "...a longtime friend of Mr. Obama's...."

For those, like myself, wary of Mr. Obama's past associations with individuals like Jeremiah Wright, Tony Rezko, and Bill Ayers, this is just one more in a long line of "questionable" relationships that Mr. Obama has had over the years. I imagine we'll get a "disassociation" statement from the Obama campaign in relatively short order.

According to the Times report, Mr. Walsh was an Illinois state senator from 1997 to 2005 and received an endorsement from Senator Obama for his candidacy for county executive. Walsh "...has supported his friend's presidential bid, and campaigned for him in rural and farming areas of the state." The Times goes on to say, "They are seen hugging each other in photos before Mr. Obama's announcement that he was running for president."

The Times, an admittedly conservative-leaning publication, says Walsh and Obama "...became tight friends during their tenure in the Illinois Senate and bonded over games of poker."

The real issue here is not an individual case or investigation involving Mr. Walsh. The real issue is that this episode is just the latest in a string of questionable associations that Mr. Obama has had during his adult life. Radical preachers, slum landlords, domestic terrorists, and now someone under suspicion of wrongdoing and under investigation by the federal government.

It's not possible to sit in a pew for 17 years, be married by a guy, have your kids baptized by him, and donate to his church and not know what the man believes. It's not likely that someone can have business dealings and friendly relations with a guy who involved in shady landlord practices and not have some inkling of what is going on. And it's not okay to associate with a former domestic terrorist, unrepentant for his actions, and to claim that it happened when you were a child. Yet Mr. Obama continues to get a pass.

Despite the message of change that is preached daily on the campaign trail, Senator Obama and his choice of a longtime Washington insider as a running mate look more and more like the same old politics as usual.