Obama: www.hypocrisy.gov

Sorry folks, he ain't all that.

When Obama ran for president he was hailed almost as the next Messiah.  Reported swooned, candidates were crushed, the public was told his election would herald a new era in Washington.  We’ve heard it before, eh?  Interesting news (which shouldn’t be of surprise to those of us with our eyes open) that another campaign promise has fallen by the wayside:

Roll Call is reporting that during the typical Friday afternoon document dump — a practice used to hide actions that might prove somewhat embarrassing to the White House — the administration quietly announced that some of the former restrictions on lobbying ballyhooed about during the late campaign have been lifted.

Roll Call (see here, but subscription is required) says that the administration lifted bans on lobbyists that have some part of spending “stimulus” funds. So now getting hooks into bloated federal spending is open season for the very lobbyists that Obama pretended to disdain only months ago.

I’m sure some Obama apologists will try and reason their way out of this one but, let’s face it, the only way to explain this one is to call it like it is: Reality.

Let’s take a look at some of Obama’s high minded and moralistic remarks about lobbyists and how he would be so different (bold added for emphasis):

Here’s the good news – for the first time in a long time, the name George Bush will not appear on the ballot. The name Dick Cheney will not appear on the ballot. The era of Scooter Libby justice, and Brownie incompetence, and the Karl Rove politics of fear and cynicism will be over.

That’s the change we can offer in 2008 – not change as a slogan, but change we can believe in.

One year from now, we have the chance to tell all those corporate lobbyists that the days of them setting the agenda in Washington are over. I have done more to take on lobbyists than any other candidate in this race – and I’ve won. I don’t take a dime of their money, and when I am President, they won’t find a job in my White House. Because real change isn’t another four years of defending lobbyists who don’t represent real Americans – it’s standing with working Americans who have seen their jobs disappear and their wages decline and their hope for the future slip further and further away. That’s the change we can offer in 2008.

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss?

Hmm… pretty interesting stuff, isn’t it?  I guess it joins other Obama reversals like not releasing detainee “abuse” photos, indefinite detention of terrorists, and military tribunals for terrorists.  Now it would be fine with me if Obama had changed course but what I believe makes him a hypocrite is that he had to base all of his ideology on taking the high road, the right moral course, that somehow George W. Bush was an evil, amoral president who abused his authority.  When you claim you are doing what is morally right you cannot compromise.  If you think you will have to compromise once you become president then don’t cast yourself in such stark terms.

Back to the original article on lobbyists:

The decision to change the policy follows the 60-day review period that the Obama administration set for the Office of Management and Budget to review the new lobbying rules. Several watchdog groups and lobbying entities, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the American League of Lobbyists and the AFL-CIO, raised concern over the recently imposed rules.

While I certainly understand that what a candidate promises and what he does can often be two different things and it is certainly understandable that one’s thoughts evolve whilst in office so “change” is expected.  What Obama did, in my opinion, is to campaign one way, make some very deep, philosophical promises, then quietly back away from them.

Will the media be all over this like a hot sauce?  Probably not because they still view him as the next Messiah even if he is really just a False Prophet.

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