Could April 1 be Obama's favorite day of the year?

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

April Fools' Day is bigger and better than ever this year.

The best of this year's pranks are more elaborate and a heck of a lot more expensive, thanks to federal sponsorship.

You can bet that President Barack Obama, a merry trickster if ever there was one, just loves this day. You can tell by the way he tries to put a little April Fools' Day into just about every day of his presidency.

His biggest practical joke so far is actually an impractical joke: a health care law that we can't afford and that won't do any of the things he said it would.

But, hey, if it's allowed to stand, unsuspecting Americans -- and members of Congress who still haven't read it -- will be falling through trapdoors and tripping over time bombs for years to come.

Of course, those who are surprised will have only themselves to blame: All of the negotiations were on CSPAN, he waited five days to sign the bill when it arrived on his desk so everyone could get a good look at the whole thing on the Internet, just as he promised. Right?

Gotcha!

And it contains no mandates or fines or jail time for nonparticipants because, as Obama lectured Hillary Clinton during the presidential campaign, people shouldn't be forced to buy something they don't want.

He says the law doesn't provide for "death panels," but he also said it would cover children with pre-existing conditions right away.

Oops. That one backfired.

But that's just health care. The president has been busily fooling his own faithful on lots of other fronts, too.

In February, he quietly signed into law a one-year extension of the Patriot Act, which he once criticized in the Senate as "legislation that puts our own Justice Department above the law." Without his signature, the law simply would have expired, but he must see some value in it now. Or perhaps in owning a Justice Department that's above the law.

He gets points from me for that one. I think the country needs the Patriot Act. But if you feel fooled, I understand. And you might not want to phone the boys back in Yemen for new instructions just yet.

How about Obama's no-lobbyists pledge? That was a hot one.

And his pronouncement that recess appointments -- people whom presidents slip into executive offices when Congress is out of session, so as to avoid that whole, cumbersome confirmation process -- are "damaged goods," made back when he was in the Senate, filibustering Bush's nominees?

What a kidder. Just last Saturday, he gave a brand-new bevy of ex-lobbyists jobs in his administration.

Heading the damaged-goods list is Craig Becker, the associate general counsel at the Service Employees International Union and now a member of the National Labor Relations Board. The SEIU, in case you were laughing too hard to notice, served as shock troops for Obama throughout the presidential campaign, and the president has been determined to repay the loyalty ever since. Allowing SEIU President Andy Stern to practically take up residence in the Oval Office apparently wasn't enough.

Becker's problem was that even some Senate Democrats couldn't stomach him, closing ranks with Republicans -- and they say there's no bipartisanship in Washington -- to keep his confirmation from coming to the floor.

Well, problem solved.

At least as controversial as Becker -- and at least as unconfirmable -- is Georgetown University law professor and lesbian activist Chai Feldblum, now headed for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

During a debate in California in 2008 -- while advocates of homosexual marriage were trying hard to convince voters that their agenda was no threat to religious liberty -- Feldblum chimed in with this: Should sexual liberty and religious liberty conflict, "I'm having a hard time coming up with any case in which religious liberty should win."

Why would a moderate, centrist guy like Barack Obama appoint a radical like that? Or like Becker?

Why would he break one promise after another about the health care bill, then go right out and tell a new round of whoppers after it became law?

Simple. There's nothing moderate, centrist or truthful about him. But he'll fool us just as long as we're willing to be fooled.

http://www.cleveland.com/obrien/index.ssf/2010/04/kevin_obrien_could_april_1_be.html

[one...two...tree 2,762]

[Fandango 1,439]

Edited April 1, 2010 by Happy Bunny

[Nagishkaw 510]

I thought April 20th was his favourite day.

[justashooter 430]

I thought April 20th was his favourite day.

i'll still be paying taxes till after april 20. nothing i have taken in so far this year is mine. it's all taxes.

[Kevin and 10]

I thought April 20th was his favourite day.

4-20, Hitler's birthday????HMMMMMM

[Fandango 1,439]

April 20 = my bday too. FOUR TWENTY, YO*

*I just found out what that meant last year, lol

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

The 1620hrs smoke break?

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

i'll still be paying taxes till after april 20. nothing i have taken in so far this year is mine. it's all taxes.

Fire your accountant.