I hope every time I criticize President-elect Barack Obama or President Obama after January 20th, I don’t have to say I voted for him.
My vote for him doesn’t negate the fact that I will rail at him whenever he blunders, or goes in a direction that I think is dead wrong for the country, like if he doesn't kill NAFTA or at least make it a FAIR trade agreement and not a FREE trade agreement, or close our borders. But those are for another time and other rants.
This blast, because it is so terribly personal and familiar to anyone living in Los Angeles, doesn’t mean that once I stop ranting, I will forever hold it against Obama, and won’t write pieces about him that are just as positive as this one is negative, even though the negativity is directed more at Obama's choice for one of his economic advisors.
I do have high hopes that Obama will mostly do the right thing, and withering criticism will come from the right, and not from me. Ask anyone who’s been on a honeymoon…mistakes are made and wise people learn from their mistakes.
I know now why I wasn’t thrilled to the point of jubilant, tear-filled exhilaration on election night. Happy, yes. Happy in the hope that we will go in a new direction, and that we’re no longer under the oppressive reign of Bush and the neoconskies.
Not jubilant, for fear that he would put his foot in it immediately if not sooner.
He didn’t disappoint. My worst put-his-foot-in-it fear come true.
Ire raged in me when Los Angeles local radio reported first thing yesterday morning that one member of Obama’s 17-member economic team is none other than … Ta-Da! … spend-11 percent-of-his-time-on-the-job and bankrupted the city, Mayor Antionio Villaraigosa.
I know Tonio worked like a selfish, self-interested demon on Hillary’s and then Obama’s teams, and I truly hope this will be the first, last and only payback for his support.
But never forget, his support was, is and always will be in own self-interest, so…
Listen Up Obama People: Vet the strutting peacock before having any further dealings with him.
You don’t want the stench of Villaraigosa anywhere near you. Unlike that of Bill Ayers or Rev. Wright, his stink will rub off on you; you and the country don’t need it.
Vetting couldn’t be more applicable here, because this rabid, voracious, egotistical political wolf is in desperate need of a vet as well as vetting.
Here is a list of all the things you should be investigating in the vetting process:
* Villaraigosa, along with the city council, bankrupted Los Angeles, in spite of dire warnings over the last 18 months that the City coffers were drying up, and he allowed and encouraged them to continue their spending sprees all the same.
* He has spent only 11 percent of his three years in office on the job, at his desk in L.A. From before his inauguration as mayor, most of his time has been spent gallivanting all over the country and the world promoting himself and raising funds for his next election as either governor of California or mayor of the world.
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