The interviews were scheduled. Members of the media were waiting at the White House. After two weeks in office, President Obama was to spend the day giving one-on-one interviews. But just as he was to begin, word got to the media that the Obama's motorcade had just left the grounds. Moments later the President and first lady turned up in a second grade classroom of a D.C. charter school. The spontaneous media event was quite telling. The President told the class "we just had to get out of the White House". As Mrs. Obama described life at 1600 Pennsylvania avenue, the President hung his head as if he had just lost a battle. In a way he did. Two of his cabinet nominees had withdrawn after revelations of tax fraud. And support for the bailout was dropping away in the senate thanks to the strictly partisan house version passing. The President would later sit down to those interviews and say "I screwed up". America, you ain't seen nothing yet!
The President, seeming rattled by the "screw up" of his vetting team by nominating so many tax cheats, was merely made to face the result of his own arrogance. While the senate members of his own party may overlook the above the law actions of people like Daschle, the Republicans and the American people weren't. Secretary Geithner, who was confirmed, will now have to work under the shadow of his tax problems. One wonders if the new cap on corporate executives pay whose company's excepted bailout funds, allows the same executives to not pay taxes for a couple of years as Geithner did? Or is it another example of "Do as I say, not as I did"?
It's only been two weeks since Barack Obama took office and he has already had to "get out of the White House". Of course it's not like he went for a private walk to rethink things. He brought a media crew to interrupt a classroom to appear as a compassionate leader gracing the lives of poor city children. I am sure a lot of those second graders have also run away to get attention. But then, they are seven.
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