T he other morning while I was at our neighborhood Starbucks lining up for my first shot of caffeine and to read my favorite newspaper, The New York Times, I overheard this from a man in front of me.  He was talking to a woman who was in front of him.  He said, “Obama has no idea of what he’s doing.  He appoints people to office who do not pay their taxes, who are corrupt and who are felons …”

The woman answered, “I think he’s a cutie and would look even better with a little more weight and a little more hair … I don’t know what he saw in Michelle.  He could have done so much better …”

I nodded in silence. 

For it’s true: On Day 14 of Mr. Obama’s tenure as President, his campaign mantra of “Hope” and “Change” and “Yes, we can!” has become: “This was a mistake.  I screwed up.”

He can’t afford to keep doing that so early in his presidency.  He already had four screw-ups …

Ha! 

* The first screw-up was his pick for Commerce Secretary: New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, AKA, “the Backstabber,” who is being investigated for corruption, just like that Blago dude of Chicago, AKA, “the Hair.” 

* Then his choice for Treasury Secretary, Timothy Geithner, who was found to have failed to pay his taxes from 2001 to 2004 and who had hired three undocumented immigrants as his domestic helpers and that over a decade had repeatedly failed to pay their Social Security and Medicare taxes.  This man, by all counts, is a FELON.  Yet, he was confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

*Then Tuesday this week former Sen. Tom Daschle, Obama’s pick to be his Health and Human Services Secretary, withdrew his nomination, saying his failure to pay $146,000 in back taxes prevented him from serving “with the full faith of Congress and the American people.” 

In simple words, it means he got caught as a tax evader, too, like Geithner. 

Another felon, roaming free ...

* Hours earlier, Nancy Killefer, Mr. Obama’s nominee for Deputy Director of the Office Management and Budget and Chief Performance Officer, also dropped out because of “unpaid taxes” and for failure to “pay unemployment compensation tax on household help.” 

Like that Geithner dude.  Another felon, roaming free.

Ha!

Four screw-ups in two weeks?  Hey, what’s going on, O?  In baseball, the batter is only allowed three strikes and he’s out.  In politics, I wonder how many screw-ups are you allowed to commit?    

So, what’s the next screw-up? 

And when? 

And who’s next?

F rom what I heard, investigators are now eyeing Leon E. Panetta, Mr. Obama’s nominee as Chief of the CIA.  There are rumblings that are heard about, rumors that are thrown about … so to speak.  A little odor of smoke pa lang.  No fire has been detected yet.  But if there’s smoke, there’s fire somewhere, right?  Maybe, they’ll contain it.  I hope so.  Because all these “honest mistakes” that we’ve heard one after the other are getting to be embarrassing for Mr. Obama.  I am beginning to like him pa naman.

These mistakes, as Washington Post columnist David Broder said in his column this week “misjudged the political fall-out.”

Especially, Daschle’s withdrawal.

“Despite glaring contradictions,” Broder said, “between Obama’s proclaimed ethical standards and Daschle’s lucrative expense-account life, Obama said he ‘absolutely’ stood by his choice.  One day later, he accepted Daschle’s resignation.  That is a blow to Obama’s credibility that will not be easily forgotten.

“It leaves Obama and his administration with egg on their faces,” said Broder.

Well, an egg ain’t too brutal compared to those pair of Muslim shoes that were thrown at Mr. Bush during his last press conference in Baghdad … na may kasama pang mura na, “You dog!

OBAMA’S STIMULUS PLAN FOR DUMMIES: To better understand Mr. Obama’s Economic Stimulus Plan, it has been formatted into Q and A as follows:

Q: What is the Economic Stimulus Plan?

A: It is money that the federal government will send to taxpayers, and to non-taxpayers, too.

Q: Where will the government get the money?

A: From the taxpayers.

Q: So the government is giving me back my own money?

A: No, they are borrowing it from China.  Your children are expected to pay the Chinese.

Q: What is the purpose of this payment?

A: The plan is that so you will use the money to purchase high-definition, digital TV set, thus stimulating the economy. 

If y’all think that’s dumb, I agree.  That’s why it’s called “Economic Stimulus Plan for Dummies,” y’all follow?

Below are some helpful hints on how to best help the U.S. economy by spending your stimulus check wisely:

If you spend that money at Wal-Mart, all the money will go to China.  If you spend it on gasoline, it will go to Hugo Chavez, the Arabs and Al-Qaeda.  If you purchase a computer, it will go to Taiwan.  If you purchase a car, it will go to Japan and Korea.  If you purchase fruits and vegetables, it will go to Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras.  If you purchase heroin, it will go to the Taliban in Afghanistan.  If you give it to charitable cause, it will go to Nigeria and Kenya.

We need to keep that money here in America.  How?  Beats me.  All the consumer products here in America are now imported from somewhere, except home-grown pot that Michael Phelps, the winner of eight gold Olympic medals in swimming, was snorting -- as caught on the camera. Ha!  JJ