And just like that, one era is over and another begins.
Is it just me, or was it all kind of… anti-climatic? Of course, it’s supposed to be anti-climatic; that’s the way the founders intended it. A peaceful transfer of power, with no palace coup, no martial law or rioting in the streets, just one guy handing the keys to another. But the past eight years, and the past six months especially, have been so emotionally intense, so harrowing, that I guess I expected to feel something… more. Pride that my country finally made good on its ideals and elected a black man to be its president. Pleasure that the first black president comes from my preferred party instead of the other side. Relief that the most hated presidential administration of my lifetime — yes, even more hated than Nixon’s! — has finally been sent packing. Ah, yes, relief. That was the sensation I was really counting on. But honestly? I’m not feeling much of anything, at least not to the extent that I thought I would be. I seem to have gone rather numb.
Well, no, that’s not entirely correct. I’m not numb. In fact, now that I think about it, I’m feeling very much like somebody who’s awakened on the fifth morning of a four-day bender, cottonmouthed and head pounding, and wandered out into a kitchen filled with weak, watery daylight to find a sink full of dirty dishes and a scatter of empty bottles on the floor. If you’ve never been in that condition, trust me when I say you tend to experience a bleary sense of resignation at the clean-up that awaits as well as a single recurring, shameful question: “Man, what the hell went on here?”
The Bush era is over, but our troubles remain, and while I’m happy with our new president and hopeful about what he may accomplish, for me there is a nagging sense of letdown on this inauguration day. I don’t know, maybe that doesn’t make sense. Maybe there’s something inside of me that’s broken, that prevents me from feeling the delirious joy that seems to have infected so many today. All I know is that I have felt so much for so long, and now it’s all come to… what? No reckoning, no accounting, just an oath, some fabulous parties, one man headed home and another man with his work cut out for him.
I loathe the term, because I think it’s been overused and its importance overemphasized, but in this instance, I could genuinely use some closure… and so far, I haven’t really experienced it.
I don’t envy Barack Obama at all right now. The hype surrounding his presidency is SO huge, and people’s expectations are SO high, how can he ever live up to everyone’s expectations? It’s Star Wars: Episode I all over again.
I, for one, didn’t get a chance to see the inauguration. I was working. However, I did get to see the news last night. Anyone happen to see the story about the guy our new leader has chosen to be Secretary of State? Timothy Geithner. Go ahead, look it up. I had a hard time finding the story on the Internet this morning, which is so absurd to me. This guy didn’t pay his taxes for FOUR years. Yes, that’s right, four years. Why are people not paying more attention to this? Forgive me for being naive, but isn’t that against the law? There are a couple of things about this that appall me. First, this guy isn’t on trial (at least by the proper authorities for tax evasion). Second, you haven’t heard Obama make one statement about this. Third, they’re still trying to push him through the system to be the next Treasury Secretary. Am I the only one that feels that we need to have someone in this position that has an impeccable financial history? He will be in charge of the money for this country. Hello! And this isn’t a “bash Obama” thing for me. If it was McCain that had chosen this guy, it still would have been a stupid, highly disappointing mistake. I really think it would be good for Obama to come out and say something, preferably something along the lines of “I didn’t know Geithner’s tax history and will therefore withdraw my nomination and go forward with choosing someone that doesn’t have this kind of history”.
I will say that I think the media is in love with Obama and I can’t help but feel that’s why we aren’t hearing much negativity surrounding this whole thing. It’s totally being downplayed. But I wish they would get it out there so the people know what’s going on.
Derek, I think you’ve hit the nail on the head with the Episode I comparison, and I’m now thinking that maybe part of the reservation I’ve been feeling is reluctance to be disappointed on down the road.
Tiff, I am aware of the Geithner situation — it has actually received a fair amount of attention online and in the larger newspapers, if not on the nightly TV news. My take is that he’s very qualified for the position intellectually and experience-wise, and while I’d prefer that everyone in Obama’s cabinet have spotless records, I’m not sure this tax thing is that big a deal. Geithner disclosed the situation months ago instead of trying to cover it up, the delinquency apparently arose from a legitimate mistake rather than deliberate wrong-doing, and he has taken steps to pay off the debt.
For the record, Obama was well aware of Geithner’s tax situation before he nominated him and has issued statements on this subject. Even our own Orrin Hatch has said –on Fox News, no less — that he sees no problem with Geithner’s nomination and will support him.
(You might want to read this article for the details: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/13/AR2009011302033.html?sid=ST2009011303458&s_pos= )
In any event, stuff like this is the reason why we have confirmation hearings. If there are concerns about his fitness for the job, they should be brought up and debated.
It still blows my mind. Wouldn’t a regular Joe (like myself) go to jail for them same “legitimate mistake”? And how do you justify the fact that when the mistake was discovered, he only paid half of the money back. He didn’t pay the full amount back until just a few days before his nomination. Maybe it’s not a big deal to everyone else, but it’s a big deal to me. That’s my money, our nation’s money that is going to be in that guys hands. Lets hope he makes no more “legitmate mistakes” with it!
Well, no, a regular Joe does NOT automatically go to jail because of failure to pay taxes. The IRS can and does work with you if they believe you’ve made a mistake (as opposed to deliberate tax evasion), and all evidence is that Geithner made a mistake, with no criminal intent. In addition, that mistake was with his PERSONAL finances, not those he was entrusted with at work.
As for why he made two payments, the information is in that article I linked to. He thought the mistake had only occurred for two years, and an IRS audit did not dispute that. He made the second payment when he was informed by Obama’s vetting team that there were two other “mistake years” as well. From the article: “Upon learning of the additional mistakes, aides said that Geithner paid an additional $25,970, aides said, even though the statute of limitations on the tax return errors had expired and he was not legally required to pay.” My italics.
I’m satisfied that no one here was trying to pull a fast one. If you’re still not, write your congressman and urge him to bring this up during the confirmation.
Every year the IRS offers offers a program to people who owe back taxes. If you fess up by a certain deadline and negotiate a plan to pay what you owe, they agree to drop tax evasion charges. This goes out to ordinary Joes and Janes.
Couple of things: Secretary of the Treasury, not Secretary of State (that’s Hillary Clinton). I bring it up because the problem here is more about attention to detail than it is about fraud, and you’d think someone who was going to run the Treasury department should be a little more careful when it comes to, you know….money.
At any rate, I don’t think the circumstances here rise ot the point of disqualification (which, thankfully, they did not). I do wish that others (in past administrations, for instance) were afforded the same sort of consideration.
If you’ll excuse the shameless plug, much more of my thoughts on this are here.