When Obama was inaugurated, I kind of just watched with amusement when Dianne Feinstein introduced the "Oaf of Office". Chuckled when the "Oaf" was messed up, thinking it was Obama, then chuckling again when it turned out to be Roberts who flubbed. Anything that anyone considers funny is because of someone else's misfortune. Seeing someone fall down, step on a rake, take a pie in the face, or get nailed in the jewels by a kid with a pinata stick are hallmarks of comedy.




Well, I guess Obama is laughing his ass off right now as he has just kicked us all in the balls. The really bad thing, though, is that, right before he did it, he looked at us and said, "Don't worry, I'm not going to kick you in the balls. Just relax."

On Obama's first day, he brought with him new, tighter ethics rules. He put a salary freeze on high paid employees, saving the economy a few bucks. Kind of weak really, when you consider the task at hand, but the move is just dripping with symbolism, and the folks love their symbolism. How can anyone argue with tighter ethics rules and the symbolism of our beloved government making a sacrifice for the sake of its poor people, who have suffered for eight long years under the tyranny of George Bush. The kind of thing I would imagine a benevolent dictator doing after a successful coup.

Part of the tighter, and I use the word loosely, ethics rules was that people who have lobbied a particular interest within the government cannot work in the Obama administration for that particular department.

Obama called the rules tighter "than under any other administration in history." They followed pledges during his campaign to be strict about the influence of lobbyists in his White House.

He had to realize that this would rule out a lot of qualified people. The people who lobby for companies like Raytheon are experts in weaponry, aeronautics, and a whole range of other military technologies. This experience makes them extremely qualified for positions at the Pentagon. So Obama built in a waiver system to his executive order allowing for exceptions when it is best for national interests. The thing about making a rule, especially an ethics rule, is that you don't just turn around and break it yourself, not once but twice, two days later.

Bring in William Lynn, the top lobbyist for Raytheon. Despite his position, he has been tapped to take the number two spot at the Pentagon. It's okay, though. Obama has issued him an "Ethics Waiver" so that he can break his own rule.

Meanwhile, Obama's nomination for the No. 2 official at the Pentagon slowed as lawmakers considered whether William J. Lynn III might require an exemption from the administration's own lobbying rules. Lynn, who has broad support in Congress, had been considered a shoo-in for deputy defense secretary.

Then there is William V. Coor, who used to lobby the government on behalf of the Campaign for Tobacco Free kids. Obama tapped him to be the number two at the Department of Health and Human Services.

And don't forget about Tom Vilsak.

If we could charge money for these ethics waivers we could get the budget balanced and have economic growth for at least the next eight years. We could sell them to Bill Ayers, Tony Rezko, Tim Geithner, Rod Blagojevich, Bill Richardson, Barney Frank, Chris Dodd, and I'm sure that the Clintons would want to pick up a Family Four Pack.

Harry Reid may not be able to find the time to smell the tourists this year, judging by his first week leading this Senate. Democrats wanted to hit the ground running, but Rod Blagojevich tripped them up and instead, they hit the ground with a wet thud.

When Blago was arrested, Reid drew up a letter demanding that Blago resign and not make the appointment, and had all of the senate democrats sign it. In the letter, he said, "Please understand that should you decide to ignore the request ...and make the appointment, we would be forced to exercise our Constitutional authority under Article I, Section 5, to determine whether such a person should be seated."

Reid backed down from that statement the day after the pictures appeared of the black Roland Burris and his black entourage being stopped from entering the 'All White Mens' Club'.


Technically, the law is on Reid's side, though, as the Senate has the final say in who its members are.

Each House shall be the judge of the elections, returns and qualifications of its own members, and a majority of each shall constitute a quorum to do business; but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the attendance of absent members, in such manner, and under such penalties as each House may provide.
Each House may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of two thirds, expel a member.

Each House shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and from time to time publish the same, excepting such parts as may in their judgment require secrecy; and the yeas and nays of the members of either House on any question shall, at the desire of one fifth of those present, be entered on the journal.

Neither House, during the session of Congress, shall, without the consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other place than that in which the two Houses shall be sitting.

This is only one of the stumbling blocks that the democrats faced this week, as Bill "Horatio Sanz" Richardson withdrew his name from the nomination for Secretary of Commerce. This was a known issue to Obama's vetters since before his nomination, so there must be something there we don't know about.

Then there was the appointment of Leon Panetta as director of the CIA. Appointing an intelligence chief without any experience is about as smart as electing a president with absolutely no executive experience. Oh, wait, we did that one, didn't we?

Let's not forget about Obama's 'present' vote on the situation between Hamas and Israel. He conveniently use his new mantra "One President at a Time" in deferring all decisions about US reaction to the conflict to Bush. Come on, Bam-Bam, you only have ten days before this all falls in your lap. You must have some kind of opinion.

Finally, there was Obama's backtrack on his economic stimulus plan. This week, Obama told the country that we would be looking at huge deficits for years to come. Let me guess... four years? Eight years? In doing this, he has admitted that his plan won't work. He also revised the word 'created' to 'saved' when talking about jobs in his plan. This may have been smart on Obama's part. How do you measure a 'saved' job? Will he take credit for every job not done away with during his tenure? Using that standard, three million should be a fairly easy goal to reach.

So this is what it's like when the most ethical congress teams up with the chosen one to solve all of our country's woes. Flip-flopping, continued deficits despite a trillion dollar stimulus package, vacillating in the face of terrorism, questions of integrity... and that's just in the first week. This is going to be a looooooonnggg four years. I can only hope that the segment of the population who gets their news from Entertainment Tonight and The Daily Show really see what they have gotten us. It would be too much of a stretch for them to realize that this has been going on for the past two years and was being passed off as Bush's fault.