Drudge is trying so desperately to dig up dirt on the Clinton campaign it’s laughable. In today’s attempt, he finds a White House photo with Tony Rezko. Who’s Tony Rezko? Well, Wikipedia enlightens us:

Rezko has raised funds for many politicians, both Democrats and Republicans. These include Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich,[3] Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn, Attorney General Lisa Madigan, U.S. Senator Barack Obama, Comptroller Dan Hynes, former Cook County Board President John Stroger, and Cook County Board President Todd Stroger.[citation needed] Rezko has also raised money for former Illinois Governor Jim Edgar and held a megamillion-dollar fund-raiser for President George W. Bush in 2003.[4]

The indictment of Rezko on federal charges has drawn attention to his relationship with Illinois Senator Barack Obama, and has created problems for Obama’s presidential campaign.[5][6] In November, 2006, Barack Obama drew media scrutiny because he had purchased his house in 2005, on the same day that Antoin Rezko purchased an adjoining empty lot. Obama subsequently bought from Rezko an adjoining strip of land from the empty lot. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Obama’s purchase of the land from Rezko may have created an increased value to Obama’s property beyond the actual purchase price by making the adjacent Resko property difficult to develop.[7] However, Obama acknowledges that the exchange may have created the appearance of impropriety, and stated “I consider this a mistake on my part and I regret it.”[8]

In June, 2007 the Chicago Sun-Times published a story about letters Obama had written in 1997 to city and state officials in support of a low-income senior citizen development project headed by Rezko and partner Allison Davis. The project received more than $14 million in taxpayer funds, including $885,000 in development fees for Rezko and Davis. Before the Sun-Times discovered Obama’s letters in support of Rezko, Sen. Obama had told the Tribune, “I’ve never done any favors for him.” In response, Obama spokesman Bill Burton said “This wasn’t done as a favor for anyone, it was done in the interests of the people in the community who have benefited from the project. I don’t know that anyone specifically asked him to write this letter nine years ago. There was a consensus in the community about the positive impact the project would make and Obama supported it because it was going to help people in his district.” Rezko’s attorney responded that “Mr. Rezko never spoke with, nor sought a letter from, Senator Obama in connection with that project.[9] Obama had told the Sun-Times that Rezko raised “between $50,000 and $60,000″ during Obama’s political career. However, Obama has since donated all campaign contributions from Rezko to charity.[5]

In the South Carolina Democratic Party Presidential Debate on January 21, 2008 Senator Hillary Clinton said that Obama had represented Rezko, who she referred to as a slumlord .[10] Obama responded that he had never represented Rezko and had done work indirectly for Rezko’s firm for an estimated five hours.[11]

The excerpt in this article that stands out is this: “In the South Carolina Democratic Party Presidential Debate on January 21, 2008 Senator Hillary Clinton said that Obama had represented Rezko, who she referred to as a slumlord .[10] Obama responded that he had never represented Rezko and had done work indirectly for Rezko’s firm for an estimated five hours.”

So Barack Obama had a bunch of actual business dealings with Rezko. So what does this have to do with the Clinton campaign?

Turns out our good friend Matt Drudge found a photo of Bill, Hillary, and Tony Rezko…

Here’s the screengrab:

One photo? Her response on Today was textbook, and probably true. Are we now going to ascribe some crazy relationship based on a picture? Do you think people in the public eye like the Clintons who take thousands upon thousands of photos prescreen the people they shoot with before taking a picture?

Face it, it’s not the same as the dealings Obama had with the man, and I wouldn’t be surprised if this picture was “leaked” by the Obama campaign on the sly so they could say “Hey, look, she knew him too!”

UPDATE: Excellent Commentary Right here:

I’m not sure whether to be amused or annoyed at the blatant and poorly done attempt to somehow give political moral equivalence of a picture showing the Clintons with a slum lord to the actions of Obama’s business dealings with same said slum lord. The fact that anyone even thinks these can be counted as equal in nature is laughable.

For example, just because I met, spoke, and had a picture taken with Nursultan Nazerbayev when I was in a student exchange program to the then Soviet Union, doesn’t mean I can now be considered one of now Kazakhstan President Nazerbayev’s aides. Such a claim would be the height of stupidity a rightly scorned.

The fact that the Obama campaign or one of it’s supporters did this indicates to me just how weak Obama’s position is and they know it. So instead they play games to try to get people to ignore the truth of the record of which he claims to be so proud. He may be seen as affable and personable to most people, but if his actions run contrary to his own assertions and claims then he is shown to be just like every other politician. Perhaps even worse, because he lacks the qualifications, experience, and maturity for such high level politics.

Juvenile, even for Obama’s “feel good, ignore the truth” campaign.

Good thing that I support Mr. McCain.

I know I shouldn’t copy entire posts, but that one just really got me. Perfectly put, exactly correct.

Well said, Gray.