The New York Times and MSNBC  just threw a rock under the wheels of the Obama train. I was shocked to see this headline at the New York Times; Obama’s Ethics ReformPledge Faces an Early Test. The opening paragraph was eloquent and brutal:

During almost two years on the campaign trail, Barack Obama vowed to slay the demons of Washington, bar lobbyists from his administration and usher in what he would later call in his Inaugural Address a “new era of responsibility.” What he did not talk much about were the asterisks.

I really thought the honeymoon would last longer, but you have to love the media this time. They have a vested interest in finding bad news. This is why our founders understood that freedom of the press was critical in a free society.

Ironically, I had just posted a comment yesterday on the Northern Muckraker that I would take a “wait and see” attitude about whether or not Obama meant would stick to his word to the American people about higher standards.

Well, I didn’t have to wait long. I figure if the New York Times can start the questioning, I can follow their lead and not risk being labeled a “mean spirited conservative.”

Is it too much to ask that President Obama keep his word about ethics and standards in his administration? I was a vocal critic of these same types of violations in the Bush Administration and the Republican-lead Congress. That’s the reason I supported Democrat Tim Walz in 2006.

It’s time we demand that our elected representatives set standards and keep them. America needs heroes, like the brave Hudson River pilot who remembered to call the library and tried to make things right regarding his overdue book at the bottom of the Hudson River.

Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger did not “forget” his responsibility. What a guy. Our elected officials need to inspire us like that.