MSM Wakes Up And Begins Asking Questions, At Last

Finally, journalists are starting to wonder just what they were rooting for last November:

In the midst of his worst day since he became President, Barack Obama declared himself fed up with being trapped inside the White House and headed off to a local school where he read to a class of seven-year-olds.

Wow! Imaging the headlines and commentary had Bush ever done that…?

Only two weeks after taking office a chastened Mr Obama spent that evening doing a round of TV interviews in which he admitted: “I screwed up”, adding that a “self-induced injury” had left him “frustrated with myself - with our team”.

Which is no doubt being hailed as ‘brave’ and ‘honest’ by those determined to cling on to the idea of the Messiah of Washington:

Such a display of public humility had been made necessary by the sudden withdrawal of two Cabinet nominees, Tom Daschle and Nancy Killefer, because of disclosures that they had failed to pay federal taxes.

The loss of Mr Daschle in particular is a bitter blow for the President, who regarded him as a friend and mentor, as well as someone perfectly placed to oversee long-awaited healthcare reforms.

Yes, well. Probably best not to mention Obama’s ‘friends’ and ‘mentors’ too often…

This explains why the White House used up valuable reserves of political capital defending the former Senate leader earlier in the week and, perhaps, why a much vaunted vetting process designed to spot problems with nominees may have been blinded by the towering esteem in which Mr Daschle was widely held.

In Democrat circles, maybe…

A fledgeling presidency's reputation for competence and sound judgment has been dented but the affair may yet cause greater damage by opening up questions about whether Mr Obama - elected on a promise of hope and change - has already been guilty of practising double standards.

I’m shocked, shocked, to find out a Chicago politician might not feel the need to obey the rules they skkek to impose of the little people…

One of his first acts as President was to sign executive orders for a new era of civic responsibility designed to end the old influence-peddling ways of Washington by banning lobbyists from working in his Administration.

The White House swiftly bent its new rules to allow a lobbyist for the defence contractor Raytheon to be picked as the Pentagon's No 2 and another to be lined up as Mr Daschle's deputy.

Heh…

Mr Obama acknowledged that there should not be “two sets of rules” for ordinary people paying taxes on time and the political elite, and some are asking why Tim Geithner is still Treasury Secretary after failing to pay $43,000 in back taxes until recently.

Only ‘some’…?

Such tax wrangles are beginning to dovetail into the other problem facing Mr Obama this week - securing Republican support for a $890 billion economic stimulus package. As Congressman Eric Cantor put it, Democrats push for higher taxes “because, you know what, they don't pay them” .

Oh, it’s going to get better and better…