Barack Obama‘s history-making win Nov. 4 has not softened critics’ claims about the president-elect’s relationships and associations.
On Barackbook.com, a spoof on popular social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace, visitors can read up on Obama’s alleged ties to all sorts of characters from Chicago and beyond.
Among Obama’s “friends” are controversial names that became familiar during the election, including former Weather Underground member William Ayers, Middle East researcher Rashid Khalidi and convicted political fundraiser Antoin “Tony” Rezko.
But his friends also include Mayor Richard Daley, Gov. Rod Blagojevich and various left-leaning Chicago politicians tied to controversy.
The “profile” for one Obama political mentor quotes an Associated Press story from 2007: "[S]tate Senate President Emil Jones serves under an ethical cloud. He has several family members on the state payroll and uses his clout to aid their business interests.”
The Republican National Committee, which launched the site in July, still operates the site. Recent posts include criticism of Obama’s Cabinet selections and updates on his transition into the White House.
A GOP official said the site has been visited close to 380,000 times. Obama’s actual Facebook site has 3.2 million supporters registered.
