Discourse in (Dis) Honesty

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 29, 2009
Discourse in (Dis) Honesty
By JoyFull

I am pretty sure most parents teach their children to tell the truth. We should expect no less from our Commander in Chief. Especially one who had the audacity to hope we would believe him--or enough of us anyway.

The discussion of late has been Obama's first 100 days in office and his approval rating. I was able to glean the following from Politifacts.com and put in my own words. So let me just put it out here this way: if your child or spouse had been caught lying at least 7 times in the last 3 months, would you, or could you, conceive of a possible total disregard for, um, let's see, integrity?! Call me a "right wing extremist", but I do expect a certain amount of honesty from the President and also from his administration.

Why not put it in Obama's own interpretation: "transparency." That brings me to the (dis)honest "five days of public comment before a bill lands on my desk." Not only was the public denied the opportunity to review the stimulus bill and subsequent bills. Our elected officials did not even get the chance to read it before it was ushered into a quick vote. I doubt Obama even read it before he signed it even though it sat on his desk for days. We all know that old sordid story, so let's move on to another (dis)honesty. How about "no lobbyists" appointees until they have been out of the lobbying business for 2 years. Why, in front of the whole nation, he signed an Executive Order stating that. Loopholes and waivers, however, have allowed the assignment or nominations of no fewer than 4 and most assuredly more recent lobbyists...one lobbyist for Goldman Sachs appointed as chief of staff to Geithner himself. No conflict of interest there!!??

Two other promises that haven't even seen the light of day, BUT would have been great for stimulating the economy, were penalty-free withdrawals from 401(k)s up to $10,000, and no income tax for seniors making less than $50,000. They didn't even make it in the stimulus package, but even worse, they are not even up for any legislation. We must have "misinterpreted" his intentions.

Another, what I consider atrocious (dis)honesty is the broken promise of school choice. Not only is it not on the table, the Obama Administration is eliminating the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program after the 2009-2010 year!! Why?? I mean really!! It allows low income children and parents a choice of schools that will make them more competitive and educated. It has been a success. Obama said he would be the "education president". Oh really? Tell that to those children who are thriving under the Scholarship program now, but will have it stripped away in a year. By the way, where are Obama's girls going to school? They, of course, do have a choice. How (dis)honest is this? Notice, I use (dis) because Obama is doing exactly that with his broken promises.

Who among us can forget the promise of making it impossible for Congress to get Pork into the stimulus package? Another "misunderstanding" I suppose?

Listen, my point is, if my husband had said so many out and out lies in so many days, there would be talk of divorce, and my children, if guilty of the above, would be in counseling.

So when Obama says he is not going to be using his prize trophy Arlen Spector as "political padding," I suppose we are to believe that also.

These are but a few examples of (dis)honesties. There has been no shortage of broken promises in the first 100 days of Obama's Presidency. There will be much more to be disclosed soon enough, I am sure, but I am ready to send a certain someone for counseling myself. If Obama is not being truthful to us, then he is not truthful to himself and for that reason alone, I feel kind of sorry for him. It will be the common American who will be suffering for his broken promises. We must continue to call him on his (dis) honest promises and hold his feet to the fire. Don't give up or give up hope, we, collectively have much honest work to be done.

Joyfull