Double Standard

The latest example of the double standard is the Associated Press dictate that all AP stories mentioning our new President must refer to him the first time as President Barack Obama and thereafter may refer to him as Obama. Following that lead, other papers are falling in line. The Naples Daily News even refuses to print letters referring to him in any other way. This is all in the interests of civility and respect for the office. You know, just like when Bush was President.

Since we’re on the subject of Obamania, his image has become so ubiquitous that I’m starting to feel like I’m in some third world country where the dictator has his picture posted on buildings and billboards. There’s something eerily un-American, and dangerous, about all this unquestioning adulation.

Speaking of double standards, first there was Congressional approval of Treasury Secretary Geithner, whose jurisdiction includes the Internal Revenue Service, after he admitted that he “mistakenly” failed to fully report his income for several years. Even after an audit revealed the omission for the two years covered by the audit, he failed to refile and report the same omission for two prior years not covered by the audit.

Now comes former Dem. Senator Tom Daschle, nominee for Health Secretary, who failed to pay over $100,000 in taxes. Of course, it was an “honest mistake” and he’s really sorry. If confirmed, Daschle will be regulating the health care industry from which he has earned $220,000 in the last two years.

Imagine the outcry had either of these men had been chosen by a Republican President.

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