Another great one from the Kos.

Guilt By Imagination

by BarbinMD

Thu Dec 11, 2008 at 10:35:05 AM PST

It was clear from the start:

...ROD BLAGOJEVICH said he knows that the President-elect wants Senate Candidate 1 for the open seat but "they're not willing to give me anything except appreciation. Fuck them."

...that President-elect Obama wasn't playing ball with the corrupt governor of Illinois, but that hasn't stopped various media hacks from trying to turn the Rod Blagojevich scandal into Obamagate.

For example, from Politico, we get:

At first blush, Barack Obama comes out of the Rod Blagojevich scandal smelling like a rose. The prosecutor at a news conference seemed to give the president-elect a seal of approval, and the Illinois governor himself was caught on tape complaining that Obama was not interested in crooked schemes.

But make no mistake: For Obama and his team, the Blagojevich scandal is a stink bomb tossed at close range.

And Politico's reason for thinking that? Easy. Because Republicans will express pseudo-outrage, draw false connections, and Politico will report it.

And then there's this from Liz "Sprinkles" Sidoti of the Associated Press:

President-elect Barack Obama hasn't even stepped into office and already a scandal — not of his own making — is threatening to dog him.

Obama isn't accused of anything. But the fact that Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, a fellow Democrat, has been charged with trying to sell Obama's now-vacant Senate post gives political opponents an opening to criticize him. A slew of questions remain. The investigation is still under way. And the ultimate impact on Obama is far from certain.

While a bit more dramatic than the Politico opening, the message is the same: Yeah, sure, I know Obama isn't involved, but as long as I can find a Republican to talk about it, I've got a story.

The Washington Times went the inflammatory headline route:

Scandal casts cloud over Obama presidency

...while Chris Matthews opted for the incoherent:

But Fitzgerald made clear that Obama was not implicated today. Here he is, quote, "The complaint makes no allegations about the president-elect whatsoever." Obama said this afternoon that he had no contact with Governor Blagojevich over who was gonna fill that Senate seat.

Still, there are many unanswered questions, including that one.

The unifying theme throughout this coverage is, when you have a corrupt politician, caught on tape peddling influence and cursing like a sailor, guilt by imaginary association trumps boring issues like the economy and health care any day of the week.