The image of Barack Obama as a politician above the typical fray of folly forever present in contemporary political life is speedily being replaced with a more accurate picture of a Chicago suit operating under the the same rules as generations of earlier pols hailing from the windy city. Chicago has its well-known moniker not because of the winds blowing across the relatively flat American Midwest, but due historically to the caliber and sincerity of its ruling elite. Not one, or even two, but three separate people Barack Obama desired to have in his administration have all since been clouded in tax controversies; of the three, only Tim Geithner, arguably the worst offender, is now expected to serve in the Obama administration. Meanwhile, a stimulus package moves through the U.S. Senate that looks to increase the deficit substantially while lending validation to the pet projects of Senators from coast to coast.

President Obama went on television to apologize for his recent nominations. One presumes, however, that the President is not sorry for trying to put tax cheaters in positions of power, but merely for being caught having attempted to do so. The withdrawals of two of Obama’s planned “czars” from intended service only reduces the credibility of other such bureaucrats, honest or not, in what is expected to be an ambitious administration. Though the thought of people with less than stellar records of paying taxes being put in charge of such thorough tasks such as overseeing the agency to which federal taxes are paid, streamlining legislation to rid policy initiatives of wasteful spending, and overhauling an inefficient healthcare system is troubling, even more disturbing is President Obama’s cavalier attitude with regard to the U.S. Constitution and national security concerns.

The first two weeks of the Obama administration have surely been discouraging for the millions of Americans who took to his vague, but assuring message of “change” when voting last year. Arrogance was one of the worst qualities of the Bush administration. Now, it seems, some things never change.

Last 5 posts by James Kane

• Obama's Accidental Case Against Reconciliation and the Senate Bill - March 10th, 2010
• On "Real" Diversity and Thinking Critically - March 1st, 2010
• Analyzing the Blair House discourse - February 27th, 2010
• Scott Brown, Barack Obama, and the Politics of Change - January 27th, 2010
• The Massachusetts Senate Race Offers a Guide to Competing in November - January 10th, 2010