”Welcome to Chicago…”

“…this town stinks like a whorehouse at low tide.”

Barack Obama's choice to be his White House chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, is coming under mounting pressure to make a full disclosure about his contacts with the disgraced governor of Illinois over the billowing Senate "seat for sale" scandal.

Well, I expected the bloom to start coming off the Obama rose quite quickly.

But even I thought the other shoe would drop after the coronation, not before!

Though Emanuel is understood not to be a target of the investigation, the disclosure that he was in contact with Blagojevich's office with regard to the seat has unleashed a storm of media interest that is awkward for the Obama team.

So, now we see media interest in Obama’s background and political affiliations? Yet before the election, all we heard about was Sarah Palin’s tanning bed and in-law disputes. Good going, legacy media!

There is nothing untoward about Emanuel having made clear Obama's opinions about the Senate appointment. What is proving difficult is the silence emanating from the Obama camp about the full nature of his contacts with the governor. Observers are puzzled by how long any response has taken, giving Republicans space to criticise Obama for failing to live up to his promise of open government.

I uses Obama learned one thing, at least; it’s always the cover-up that gets you…

Not sure how effective the tactic of staying silent will prove, instead, though. It’s a bit like holding your breath under water – it goes quite well for the first few minutes. But then you’ve gotta come up, no matter what.

I’ll keep watching for bubbles… ;)