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I\’ve waited several days for our local libby left to generate the necessary mouth-frothing outrage to comment on a recent revelation about one of our DC politicians.  I didn\’t want to miss it, it was going to be great.  And it was a topic I KNEW they were interested in.  After all, they\’ve already covered this topic.

Last fall, the local loony echochamber stirred themselves into a virtual shitstorm because Senator Norm Coleman was getting cheap rent from a pollster!!  The downward spiral into near orgasmic glee that they might have a scandal to pin on Coleman was epic.  Surely the fact that another DC politician has been found to be doing the same thing would be of interest and would renew the drooling self-gratification??

Apparently not….so far it\’s been only silence.  It\’s couldn\’t be because this time it involves Rahm Emanuel, Obama\’s Chief of Staff, could it??? Surely their ethical integrity is intact yeah??

Except while Coleman at least paid rent and utilities, Emanuel was living rent free.  If you want to make the argument that they are benefiting because of their position, you have to condemn both.  If you want to make the argument that a politician living with a pollster for their party, you have to condemn them both.  If you want to write long tiresome rants declaring the abject horror of such an act, you have to condemn them both.

Instead I\’ve seen total silence from the same liberal bloggers who so enthusiastically berated Coleman.  Another example that it\’s not the ethical violation they are really worried about.  Our local left, practices selective ethics.  Meaning that ethical rules only apply to Republicans and/or conservatives and function primarily as a way to score partisan points rather than truly pursue ethical behavior by our elected officials.

[Crossposted at True North]

How dare YOU decide how to spend the money YOU earned??

Once again a Democrats says what they are probably all thinking.  They can spend your money better than you can!  They are the all knowing government, and the government never screws anything up….

My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government.

-Thomas Jefferson

Obama\’s Gerald Ford moment today caused several bloggers to wonder, and rightly so, if Obama will be treated just like Ford was for his clumsy moments.  I\’m pretty sure no.  They\’ve already proven to be pretty much in the bag for Obama, but also they\’ve ignored by Obama that is almost verbatim behavior that they widely criticized Bush for.

You\’ll all remember this…

Following a 2005 press conference in Beijing, President Bush attempts to leave except he was supposed to exit out the other side of the stage and was stuck attempting to open the wrong door.  He good naturely made light of it with one of his usual self-deprecating faces.

But at least he tried opening a door…

Obama instead tried making a door of a window.  Where are all the posts about what an idiot Obama is?  How uneducated He must be?? How low His IQ is??  Comparisons of Him to monkeys??

Double standards, just another feature of the Era of Hopenchange.

Political campaigns are an endless stream of promises.  That\’s what you do.  You meet a wide range of people with a hugely disparative set of issues, all of them looking to you to make their lives better.  To gain their favor, many politicians will make an endless stream of promises.

The veterans, or at least the smart ones, know that they can embellish a bit but they do have to remain in the realm of reality because eventually people will ask that they fulfill them.  You need to maintain some level of plausibility, even if you never intend to follow through.

Obama was in a realm all His own during the campaign.  Huge flowery promises, he tried to be all things to all people and as a result made promises that nobody could keep.  You knew his supporters were going to be very disappointed.  But still, you\’d expect him to at least keep SOME of them….

No more renditions?  FAIL

No lobbyists? FAIL

Bi-Partisanship? FAIL

Transparency? FAIL

Not being a complete dick? FAIL

Hope? FAIL

Sunlight Before Signing? FAIL

Iraq? FAIL

No earmarks in Stimulus? FAIL

Missile Defense? FAIL

Windfall Taxes? FAIL

Leadership? FAIL

State Secrets Privilege? FAIL

The Era of Hopenchange!!

UPDATE : To add State Secrets Privilege

The Rankings Are As Follows:

• Lloyd :5
• Drunkguy :5
• NightWriter :5
• Triple “I Whine Like A Child” A : 5
• Dan S : 4
• Mall Diva : 3
• Professor_Rackmaster : 2
• jroosh : 2
• Harvey : 2
• Bogus Doug : 2
• Aelfheld : 2
• Sola-Man : 2
• Bobby_B : 2
• Uncle Ben : 1
• Tiger Lilly : 1
• J Ewing : 1
• kingdavid : 1
• tommy g : 1
• spurringirl : 1

For this contest you get to make up your own answers!! That’s right…just pretend you’re a real life journalist and just make shit up. Post answers in the comments. They will be judged on creativity, plausibility and humor.

Question : What is happening here???

Previous contests

Yeah, work has been incredibly busy this week and I\’m already well into overtime so blogging has taken a back seat this week.  So heh, here\’s some links of stuff I noticed in the few spare minutes I managed this week.

Support for the Obama Rape Every Citizen’s Pocketbook Swindle of 2009 is plummeting.  I don\’t think it\’s a coincidence that support has dropped the more and more the public finds out what\’s in this bill.  CHANGE! HOPE!!

Universal health care, Democrats claim it\’s great.  Why then are people in the UK having to pull out their own teeth because they can\’t find a dentist even with their \”wonderful\” \”universal health care\”. HOPE!!

Wow, we have politicians who are willing to name buildings after themselves but won\’t even consider naming them after wounded soldiers.  How are they still in office?  HOPE!!

Obama promised to provide transparency in government.  But the website His administration has cited to do that won\’t provide information until AFTER legislation becomes law….at which point it\’s pretty much pointless.  This is not the Change™ we were looking for.  CHANGE!!

New vocabulary from Democrats : \”unofficial fiancé\”….yeah no idea what that means either. CHANGE!!

The lawmakers that have sworn off earmarks for 2009….only one MN legislator, Rep. Kline, is on that list.  That\’s pathetic. HOPE!!

IBM is building a new supercomputer and it\’s faster than the other top 500 fastest computers COMBINED.  Probably still not powerful enough to handle Vista though. HOPE! CHANGE!

I thought since President Obama was going to talk with with asshole leaders all of the world, they were all going to love us and change their dickhead ways.  Then whey are both Iran and North Korea now testing long range ballistic missles??  HOPE!! CHANGE!!

President Obama is withdrawing troops from Iraq against the advice of pretty much the entire military, including Gen Petraeus whose surge pretty much brought about all the success we\’ve had so far.  CHANGE!!

So what\’s an irrational Bush critic to do now that Bush isn\’t President anymore….well pretty much the same thing he\’s done for the last eight years apparently.  CHANGE!!

The Czech President apparently isn\’t much of a believer in bullshit, which is probably why he told Al Gore he\’s full of crap.  HOPE!!

The F-22 Raptor is a fascinating aircraft, which already has a long and interesting history.  Now to be fair, I should disclose that while I don\’t work on the program itself, the people that do are just down the hallway.  So I\’ve kept up on this program for quite awhile now.

Although the F-22 program is possibly on the chopping block, Captain Ed makes the case that the F-22 makes for a wonderful stimulus program, and he does make a lot of good points.  However, this is nothing new.  The F-22 has been on the chopping block literally since the very very beginning, even back when it was still an experimental program.

There are a lot of reasons for this, none of them having to do with our current economic worries or any stimulus program.  The F-22 has had a rather lengthy development process, complete with cost overruns and underperformance, both almost requirements for a defense project.  But probably it\’s biggest liability is it\’s cost, at close to $200 million per aircraft it\’s not cheap.  Although to be fair a lot of that skyrocketing cost is due to political nitwits and an ever diminishing total order number.  Originally 750 were ordered, the total order now stands at 183.

The F-22 Raptor is supposed to be the replacement for the F-15 Eagle, and a fine replacement it is.  But it is also a very close cousin to the F-35 Lightning, which is another liability it carries.  The F-22 is an air superiority fighter, that could also perform a strike role if necessary.  The F-35 is a strike aircraft that can also function as an air superiority fighter.  The F-35 is by far the cheaper of the two aircraft.  This is due both to it\’s development costs being paid by several countries, but also because much of the necessary technology was already developed for the F-22.  So it\’s tempting to wonder if the F-35 could perform both roles.  Technically yes, but no aircraft can be all things and do all of them well.

The F-22 is also a victim of it\’s era.  When Lockheed won the contracts for the F-22 and F-35, the rest of the industry decided to put their money on UAVs and that field has skyrocketed.  It is probably not unlikely that the F-22 and F-35 will be the last manned fighter aircraft ever produced.  For politicians that are easily distracted by shiny things, a new technology is a fascinating and tempting choice.

Whether there is an actual need for the F-22 is also frequently cited as a reason to consider it\’s termination.  Critics will argue that there is no need for a big expensive next generation fighter aircraft when there is nothing for it to fight.  I mention this last because it\’s the stupidest reason, as it\’s critics seem to forget that\’s exactly the point.  The Su-27 fighter emerging throughout the world is the match of both the F-15 and F-16, and more if in the hands of a competent pilot.  The F-22 makes this angle less than appealing for any potential enemies, such as China, Russia, Iran, etc.

So it\’s not that anyone has rejected the F-22 as not economically stimulating, but rather it\’s been on the verge of death for at least a decade.  Really it\’s only been the political game playing of Lockheed management that\’s kept it alive.  Such as farming out work to other defense contractors, thereby instantly procuring the use of the lobbyists for the entire industry.  Plus the positioning of production facilities in politically advantageous has given it cover in Congress for years.

Which by no means should imply that the F-22 is not a worthy program.  It extends the air superiority ability of the United States for at least another generation.  It has also served as a platform from which to develop new technologies that have already been put to use elsewhere.  In that sense, the F-22 has been the incoming tide that has caused all boats to rise.  It also keeps alive airframe production lines, which at the very least retains some of our nation\’s industrial capability.  The aircraft itself quite frankly kicks ass.  In wargames, it\’s racked up impressive victories…including one case were 12 F-22s downed 108 adversaries, with no losses themselves.

Should the F-22 be a stimulus project?? No, it works as that, but it has benefits enough to stand on it\’s own two feet.  Continue the program and enjoy the benefits that are all the more appealing because of our recession.

Not because he does a good job, but because it\’s pure comedy gold when he tries.  Even his attempts to fire back at reporters turn into pitfalls of desperation.

Actually incidents like this bring me a little hope that the media isn\’t going to entirely be a rubber stamp for Obama.  Close but every once in awhile there is a ray of Hope™.

It\’s only February and I think we already have a stellar candidate for the most unintentionally hilarious line spoken this year…

\”The bar that we set is the highest that any administration in the country has ever set.\” – Robert Gibbs, Obama White House Spokeman

What\’s even more amazing is he said it with a straight face, proving his funny bone has been surgically removed at great taxpayer\’s expense.

High standards huh?? Well after Obama\’s promises of \”the most sweeping ethics reform in history\”, vowing to \”clean up both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue\” and declaring that lobbyists and special interests won\’t find a job in his administration, I sure hope so!!  You go girl!!  You set that bar high!!!  I feel a tingle down my leg!! HOPE™! CHANGE™!!

Let\’s take a look at the people that passed that bar…

Bill Richardson (nominated to Commerce Secretary) – Dropped out due to a federal grand jury investigating his involvement in a pay-to-play scandal.

Tom Daschle (nominated to Health and Human Services Secretary) – Dropped out after it became clear he can\’t remember to pay taxes.

Timothy Geithner (confirmed as Treasury Secretary) – \”Forgot\” to pay taxes despite signing a document indicating he was aware he had to and being given the money to do so.

Nancy Killefer (nominated to chief performance officer) – Also \”forgot\” to pay taxes…there seems to be a trend.

Eric Holder (confirmed at Attorney General) – In 1999, got President Clinton to pardon 16 Columbian terrorists….so far he has paid his taxes.

Hilda Solis (nominated to be Labor Secretary) – Violated House Ethics rules by being a Board member and Treasurer of a group that lobbied Congress while she was in Congress.   Didn\’t find her ethics manual until after she\’d been  nominated.  Also apparently her husband didn\’t pay taxes for his business.

Judd Gregg (nominated to Commerce Secretary) – Thinks so highly of the work of the Commerce department, he once voted to disband it.  Clearly the best person to lead this invaluable department.

Hillary Clinton (confirmed as  Secretary of State) – Come on…it\’s Billary…between the two of them they\’ve broken so many ethics and criminal laws, whose to say what other skeletons lurk in those closests….other than the foreign financiers of Bill\’s library that is.

William J. Lynn III (appointed as the #2 position in the Defense Department) – Lobbyist…which is a problem since one of Obama\’s major campaign promises, and the topic of an Executive Order, is no lobbyists.

William Corr (nominated for deputy secretary at Health and Human Services) – Another lobbyist

Tom Vilsack (confirmed as Agriculture Secretary) – Lobbyist

Mark Patterson (appointed as chief of staff to Treasury Secretary) – Lobbyist….uh, that no lobbyist rule was a \”rule\” right???

David Hayes (appointed as deputy interior secretary) – Lobbyist

Ron Klain (appointed as Chief of Staff to VP Biden) – Lobbyist

Mona Sutphen (appointed Deputy White House Chief of Staff) – Lobbyist….so that was a rule right, not a \”guideline\”??

Melody Barnes (domestic policy council director) – Lobbyist….or even a \”rumor\”??

Cecilia Munoz (White House director of intergovernmental affairs) – Lobbyist

Patrick Gaspard (White House political affairs director) – Lobbyist

Michael Strautmanis (appointed as chief of staff to the president’s assistant for intergovernmental relations) – Lobbyist….did we redefine the word \”rule\” and I missed it??

Leon Panetta (appointed to head CIA) – Has never so much as read an intelligence briefing in all his life….but at least he didn\’t lobby….as far as we know.  And he probably paid his taxes.  So far he\’s the bright spot in this administration!!

Ron Sims (nominated as Deputy Secretary of House and Urban Development) – Also known as the guy that incurred the largest fine for violations of public records laws.  Basically that means he\’s done the exact opposite of transparency in government.

Arne Duncan (nominated as Secretary of Education) – Oversaw the Chicago public school system which had a widespread problem of teachers/staff beating children, including fracturing bones in some cases.  Despite hundreds of verified cases, only a few resulted in disciplinary action.

Rahm Emanuel (President\’s Chief of Staff) – Failing to disclose gifts, not paying taxes on those gifts and his actions on the board of Freddie Mac, at the same time as Freddie was being fined for lying about it\’s earnings….these are just some of the ethical lapses that have come to light about Rahm.  So should it be surprising that he\’s the one in charge of vetting the list of yahoos listed above?

Gary Locke (nominated for Secretary of Commerce) – Involved in a number of ethical scandals, involving funneling a lot of state contracts towards the company belonging to his brother-in-law.

Ron Kirk (nominated for US Trade Representative) – Forgot to pay roughly $10K in taxes.

Chas Freeman (appointed to the Chair of the National Intelligence Council) – Eventually withdraw from consideration after attention came to numerous rather nasty statements he made about Israel and his questionable ties to foreign interests.

Vivek Kundra (appointed at Chief Information Officer) – His office has been raided by the FBI, and her staff has been arrested in a bribery sting.

Tony West (appointed to head the Justice Department\’s Civil Division) – Defense attorney for Johnny Walker Lindh, the American Taliban member indicted for aiding the enemy (Taliban).

H Rodgin Cohen (nominated for Deputy Treasury Secretary) -Withdrew his nomination due to an undisclosed \”issue\”

Annette Nazareth (nominated for Deputy Treasury Secretary) -Withdrew her nomination after it became clear she would be questioned about her role in the SEC\’s failure to catch Bernie Madoff.

Caroline Atkinson (nominated for Undersecretary for International Affairs) – Withdrew her nomination due to \”tax problems\”

Neal Wolin (nominated as the number two man at the Treasury Department) – Wrote the deregulation legislation that is blamed for the current economic crisis.  So I suppose he\’s probably uniquely qualified to deal with the mess he helped create.

Ray Mabus (nominated as Secretary of the Navy) - Started a national scandal when he secretly recorded marriage counseling involving his wife and their pastor, and then used the recording against her in court.

Wow….that\’s a pretty low bar.  Don\’t trip Mr President!!

In fact, by those standards I think I qualify for every position in Obama\’s cabinet.  Unless, as seems increasingly likely, previous employment as a lobbyist and having committed a criminal act, is seen as a positive bullet point on a resume rather than the usual negative.

I think Andy Ostroy, a blogger writing on The Huffington Post, had a very good observation :

\”Is this really the message he wants to convey to voters in just his first month in office, a message that it\’s O.K. to break or skirt the law just as long as you\’re a good guy with a special skill set?\”

Except that if you go through the list above, not a single one possesses a special skill set not also possessed by dozens, or even hundreds of others.  Which really leads one to wonder why pick these clowns?

Allow me to paraphrase Inigo Montoya, regarding Hope™ and Change™ :

You keep using those words. I do not think they mean what you think they mean.

[Crossposted at True North]

UPDATED: To add Ron Sims, just appointed, to the list

UPDATED: To add additional \”tax problems\” regarding Solis.

UPDATED: To add Arne Duncan

UPDATED: To add Rahm Emanuel

UPDATED: To add Gary Locke

UPDATED: To add Ron Kirk

UPDATED: To add Chas Freeman, Vivek Kundra, Tony West, H Rodgin Cohen, Annette Nazareth and Caroline Atkinson

UPDATED: To add Neal Wolin and Ray Mabus