While there is some dark humor is watching the Obama administration trip over the furniture every time they turn around, there is perhaps a more interesting story among the generous number of scandals that have plagued the administration in only its first two weeks of office.

Remember the media criticism of McCain's vetting of Sarah Palin? Palin of course came out smelling like a rose, but media collusion to protect the Obama administration is being stretched to the limit as its becoming crystal clear that they have no meaningful vetting process in place--AT ALL.

Joe Biden as VP was an incomprehensible pick to anyone with a brain in this country. The man should be making "Naked Gun" movies, not inquiring after the President's health. While the media manufactured Dan Qualye's incompetence, Joe comes by it honestly. The fact that Homer Simpson was an operator at a nuclear power plant is funny--because its a cartoon. In reality it would be horrifying, and that is effectively the situation we have in the Vice-President's office.

Having won the election, Obama might have been forgiven for having one or even two nominees with a Nanny problem, but this? This would be slapstick comedy if it didn't have such worrying implications.

Geithner bothered me the most. His "tax problem" was as clear a case of tax fraud as I've ever seen, and if you or I had been caught doing it, we would have had a serious problem. Daschle's tax problem isn't a problem of intent to defraud, but of utter cluelessness. He has been living in the bubble so long, so inured to the blandishments implicit in all the "personal favors" he's enjoyed for most of his adult life, that he was unable to recognize the economic value of a car and driver extended for his personal use. How is he any different from the various corporate executives getting pilloried in the media day after day for their normative personal excesses?

Of course, the point of highlighting corporate excess is to break the rubble of corporate American into gravel, destroying their prospects of ever returning to the position of trusted public institution.

Hey, I'm just asking for a little consistency.

Richardson and Killefer's withdrawal almost certainly signals much larger problems that would intolerably embarrass the Obama administration if they actually were to submit to the confirmation process. Daschle gets a pass for $140,000.00, but Killefer has to withdraw for less than a thousand? Something else is going on here.

Fundamentally, Obama can't build a clean administration because he literally doesn't have the bricks to do it. While the Republican path to office requires success in private life as a gateway to election, Democrats commonly go right from school into political life. Politics for Democrats is a career. I recently read up on Alan Mollohan--one of the kings of Congressional corruption. He inherited his father's Congressional seat and so even before he was elected, he began construction of his now infamous office park, populated with his "good friends" and contributors who just happen to be the happy recipients of an amazing amount of government largesse.

The corruption isn't exceptional, its systemic.

If the Democrats weren't such and integral part of the power structure in this country, the Justice Department would undoubtedly be able to build an excellent RICO case against them.