If lobbyists are the devil...

... Then apparently, the Obama Administration is in league with the devil after all!

After every single time that President Obama vilified lobbyists on the campaign trail (especially associating them with the Bush Administration), and after his repeated promises to ensure that there were no lobbyist connections to his administration, guess what? Secretary Geithner's chief of staff is a former lobbyist, and President Obama's special envoy to the Middle East, George Mitchell, is chairman and partner at DLA Piper, a DC lobbying firm with numerous clients based in the Middle East.

Meanwhile, Democratic Congressman and House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey is being scrutinized for his own potential lobbyist-related ethical shadiness. His son, Craig Obey, lobbies for the National Parks Conservation Association, which is receiving more than $2 billion in the $819 billion stimulus bill by the Democratic-led Congress. Sound fishy? In an $819 billion stimulus package to jump-start our economy, our national parks are suddenly at the forefront of the agenda... Why?

I guess people only get angry when Republicans are associated with lobbyists -- Democrats, meanwhile, are free to do as they like in that regard.

Personally, I don't have a problem with presidential administrations hiring former lobbyists, but if President Obama and Vice President Biden wanted to make the vilification of lobbyists a central part of their campaign, then they should stand by their word and ensure that the administration has no ties to lobbyists whatsoever. No excuses, and no exceptions to the rule!