Welcome to Katalusis for progressive views on politics, religion, environmental issues,
and popular culture. (Photo of the Mississippi River
from the University Club in St. Paul, MN.)
Really – you have to read Gail Collins’ op-ed this morning in the NY Times. Gail is answering some tricky questions, for example:
Even when I get irked with Obama, I still want to help him. Isn’t there something people can do?
This weekend the Obama army is going to rise again, creating a nation of stimulus house parties, made up of people who would like nothing more than to spend their days off talking about the administration’s economic plan. There’s a Mommies, Daddies and Wee Ones Gathering in Brighton, Colo. (“We will have kid crafts, videos, juice, snacks and coffee.”) And a gathering called “What Happened to My Retirement Nest Egg?” is scheduled for Watsonville, Calif. (“We’ll break out the wine and cheese.”)
Or, for sterner spirits, there’s the Economic System Redesign Leadership Meeting in Manhattan, which is sponsored by the Corporate Social Responsibility Advocates for Obama, the Social Innovators for Obama and the Sustainability Activists for Obama. (“Please bring your own lunch or eat before coming.”)
Barack and Michelle Obama read to second graders yesterday. Photo credits: upi/newscom.
Today is my birthday and I’m somewhat embarrassed to admit it, but I just received a gift from Maureen Dowd. No kidding.
In today’s op-ed Maureen’s acidic style is exactly what’s needed to puncture President Barack Obama’s long over-inflated ego – especially the part that sincerely believed that solely by virtue of his charming personality he could overcome all of the divisions in the national body politic and then go forth and save the rest of the world.
It had to be disconcerting for Obama to wake up yesterday morning to realize that Hillary Clinton so far might be his only cabinet appointee who has paid her taxes - and she was the one his team vetted most rigorously.
But let’s turn to Modo here. She writes:
On 9/11, President Bush learned of disaster while reading “The Pet Goat” to grade-school kids. On Tuesday, President Obama escaped from disaster by reading “The Moon Over Star” to grade-school kids.
“We were just tired of being in the White House,” the two-week-old president, with Michelle at his side, explained to students at a public charter school near the White House.
Even as he told the children his favorite superheroes were Batman and Spider-Man, his own dream of being the superhero who swoops in to swiftly save America was going SPLAT!
It just ain’t that easy.
Unlike W. and Dick Cheney, who heroically resisted acknowledging their historically boneheaded mistakes, President Obama summoned a conga line of Anderson, Katie, Brian, Chris and Charlie to the Oval Office to do penance, over and over.
“I think I messed up. I screwed up,” he confessed to Couric.
He told the anchors that the man who helped make him president, Tom Daschle, had made “a serious mistake” by not paying taxes on a car and driver. (It should have been a harbinger of doom when Daschle began sporting those determined-to-be-hip round red glasses.)
Mr. Obama admitted that “ultimately it’s important for this administration to send a message that there aren’t two sets of rules. You know, one for prominent people and one for ordinary folks who have to pay their taxes.”
It took Daschle’s resignation to shake the president out of his arrogant attitude that his charmed circle doesn’t have to abide by the lofty standards he lectured the rest of us about for two years.
Keep in mind that following one of the most rigorous vetting processes in contemporary history, the Senate confirmed Hillary Clinton as secretary of state with a 94-2 vote.
The Obama Administration obviously did not vet either Bill Richardson as nominee for commerce secretary or Tom Daschle as nominee for secretary of Health and Human Services as thoroughly as it vetted both Hillary and Bill Clinton. (I doubt the activities of Mrs. Richardson or Mrs. Daschle ever came under scrutiny.)
Today, Daschle joined the previously sidelined Richardson, who is still under investigation, by choosing to withdraw from the process rather than face further embarrassment over tax issues.
Speaking to Katie Couric on Daschle’s withdrawal today, Obama said, “I messed up.” (Watch video here.)
I agree Mr. President: you should have made sure the boys were vetted as rigorously as Hillary Clinton.
Here’s the irony: with Daschle’s withdrawal, three prominent male Democrats who supported Obama against Clinton during the primary have since been publicly humiliated. I include the ethically challenged John Edwards along with Richardson and Daschle.
Echoing through the disarray in the Obama Administration this evening, one can almost hear Maya Angelou’s voice: “Rise, Hillary, Rise.”
Introduced by President-elect Obama today as Health and Human Services Secretary-designate, Tom Daschle endorsed Obama last February during the Democratic primary. Photo credits: Campusprogress.org.
Kate Seelye at the Caucus (NY Times) blogged Obama’s presser this morning when he introduced former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle as Health and Human Services Secretary-designate in Chicago.
At the top of her post, Seelye writes:
“Bottom Line 11:59 a.m. Mr. Obama was certainly more assertive in his condemnation of the Illinois scandal than he had been a couple of days ago, and he stated flatly that he had no involvement with the selling of his Senate seat.
“The U.S. attorney had also said there was no indication that Mr. Obama was in any way involved. But Mr. Obama did note that his staff was still gathering facts about whether anyone on his team might have been involved, leaving the door open that some inconvenient news could emerge. It seems unlikely that Mr. Obama’s statements today will put these questions to rest.
“And poor Mr. Daschle! Like Al Gore on Monday, Mr. Obama’s co-stars were overlooked as reporters questioned Mr. Obama about the scandal. Still, in the health-care question, Mr. Obama indicated quite clearly that the Bush tax cuts may not be rolled back as fast as he had promised, if at all. In the end, of course, dealing with health care and the rest of the economic emergency in this country will have a more lasting effect on his presidency than the current scandal in his home state.”
