CIRCUMSPECT LIMBAUGH CAREFULLY AVOIDS TARRING OBAMA WITH THE BLAGO BRUSH ... NOT

Reuters today:

U.S. conservatives rubbed their hands with glee on Wednesday over news that the Democratic governor of Illinois has been accused of attempting to sell the U.S. Senate seat of President-elect Barack Obama....

"Folks, this sitcom just gets better and better every day. This is unbelievable! Except that it's all too believable," said Rush Limbaugh, a leading conservative U.S. talk radio host.

Obama should escape being tainted by the scandal since he has never been close to Blagojevich, analysts said, and Limbaugh did not accuse Obama of involvement in the alleged crime....

"Limbaugh did not accuse Obama of involvement in the alleged crime" -- that's a rather odd way of characterizing what Limbaugh said.

Limbaugh today:

RUSH: Breathe easy. Breathe easy, my friends. Relax out there. Calm down. The scandal in the Blagosphere involving Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich does not affect President-select Obama. I know this for a fact, and I will share with you how I know this for a fact in mere moments, but fear not, breathe easy. Your president-elect is not corrupt. Your president-elect is as innocent and clean and pure as the wind-driven snow.

(playing of Leave It to Barry spoof)

... The Blagojevich scandal, ladies and gentlemen, cannot affect President-elect Obama. I mean, all this hard-wired Chicago corruption, Illinois corruption, it cannot possibly affect President-elect Obama. It can't affect Rahm Emanuel; it can't affect Dick Durbin. Now, how do I know this? Why am I so sure? Why am I doubtless? That's right, exactly, the media woulda told us about this! Obama has been vetted like every other presidential candidate in this country has been vetted fully by the legends of the old media.

... When ex-President Clinton said President-elect Obama had the instincts of a Chicago street thug, I'm sure the media, "President Clinton said that," the media went in there and did a thorough investigation, did a media anal exam of Barack Obama. I'm sure the New York Times, the Washington Post, CNN, AP, Reuters, Broder, Brokaw, even Larry King, if there were something like this in Obama's background, they would have told us during the campaign. And we didn't learn anything like this during the campaign. So this is a huge relief. The corruption bug in Illinois bites only governors when they become governors. And now I see what Obama meant when he said "hope," he meant he hoped he's not involved in this....

Is that an accusation of wrongdoing? Technically, I guess it isn't, ao technically I guess Reuters is fulling its duty to keep us fully informed.