Daschel would have made it through the Senate confirmation.It was the whiney liberals& media that brought down. Daschel would have been able to use his connections to get us health care reform more quickly. Good luck getting it now .

Barack, buddy, that's not how it's done in Washington. Fessing up? No, sir. No. What you do is you bungle two wars, let a major city drown, violate the constitution whenever you feel like it, destroy our country's standing around the world, flush the economy down the toilet, out CIA operatives, turn the Justice Department into a political organ to further your agenda, violate international law through torture and other policies, etc. etc. You do all that, and then, and only then, when someone asks you if you can think of anything you did wrong, you furrow those eyebrows, think real hard and say something like, "I'm drawing a blank here. I can't really think of a single thing."

Sure, the Republicans will be completely outraged by your behavior (he said, sarcastically) and demand accountability and all that crap because, you know, accountability is practically the religion by which they live (he said, contempt dripping from every syllable), but you just shrug all that off.

In the Daschle case, a job applicant apparently wasn't totally forthright. Now, that is ALMOST on par with all of the above, the principle is the same. Republicans are now making bloop bloop noises about accountability and such, because it's what they live by, but forget it. Just look them in the eye and tell 'em to go fuck themselves. That's what Cheney did, and it was good enough for him.

I love this guy. He's finding his way--thank goodness it's not the way Bush found HIS way. Right now, I'm thinking about how JFK made several blunders before he made some good political moves, but the two administrations have so many differences. Obama isn't JFK, and that's good for him and for all of us. He was blinded, but he's got the character to admit it and move on.

My optimism is Palin.

Obama's got the right idea, and the right instincts. Let's all move on. In fact let's jump a few facile news cycles - couldn't hurt.

Much, much bigger fish to fry.

The entire congressional body needs overhauling. Too bad they shot down term limits. How do you explain why a Klansman gets re-elected each year? How about the congressman that ran a brothel in his home? What about the racists who claim to help but are recreating the plantation? How about those trust fund recipients who have never had a job? No wonder why congress' approval ratings were even lower than President Bush's.

Every member of congress should lead by example and yet they are fast becoming like the ancient roman senate. All we need is Caligula.

We all knew that Obama is not, in fact, the Second Coming. He is a mere mortal (I think...). So lets give him a little slack. He has 1000 problems breathing down his neck; he has, like, never been president before, and the world is akin to that blimp on Led Zeppelin's first album cover - in flames and losing altitude - fast.

At least he admits his culpability. Lets see what he does from now on with potential staff members. I guarantee he is going to be so tight with vetting, a candidate who stole a pack of teaberry gum back in 1962 will be found out and grilled for his transgression.

Let's not jump on the guy. Give him at least two months before you get all cynical. I for one still feel like every morning is Christmas when I see him in the oval office. Compared to Bush, he is still in an entirely different moral, ethical and intellectual universe. And thank the Goddess for that. Whenever you start to get a little ready to pounce on Obama, just remember how you felt post-election 2004. Just remember...

I really enjoyed reading your article. What I find amazing is why were all these candidates with tax problems not identified at the time when they originally filed their taxes? In a few cases (e.g., Tim Geithner), the problems surfaced when they were audited a few years down the road (note: the risk of being audited is probably extremely low, especially for the average family). Does it mean that the IRS does not do a good job going over the tax forms or at least making basic verifications? I remember filing my tax forms when I lived in another country and forgot to include income (interests) coming from investments of about $40. Within a month after I filed my taxes, I received a letter from the tax agency with a severe warning not to do it again, which would lead to a huge fine if I were not to report taxable income in the future. Let me tell you that really opened my eyes about how serious that agency was about filing accurate tax forms. I am not sure I can say the same thing about the IRS.

Obama appoints folks with tax issues and takes responsibility graciously.

Bush invaded a sovereign nations, kills, wounds, and displaces hundreds of thousands, sets up gulags throughout the world and says "faulty data" was a boo-boo.

Keep rattling those sabers, GOP.

It is interesting that the biggest problem of President Obama's Cabinet-level nominees has to do with taxes. Maybe rich people make too money. I hope the president realizes that he can get good, smart people from the ranks of lower income. They don't all need to be millionaires, do they? Actually, that leads me to a question that I am curious about, if some reporter could ask or if President Obama, who impresses me, might know. Not that it says anything. I am just curious. Or maybe it does say something about our culture and its notion of value. I was wondering, of all the applicants who applied for jobs to work for the new president in his administration, who was the person that came from the lowest income? How many came from incomes of $50,000 or less? Who is at the highest job level from the lower end of the income scale? I'm just curious. And to the individuals who are those new workers and to the people who dared to hire not just millionaires, I give you a well-deserved fist-bump.