Making excuses for Obama and Democrats

Washington Post:

Commerce secretary-designate Bill Richardson's unexpected withdrawal from the nomination process provides yet another example of a simple fact about the presidential appointments process: It is up to the vetters to get the truth, whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

It is not clear precisely how Governor Richardson survived the early vetting leading to his nomination on Dec. 3. Did he underestimate the ongoing investigation of a "pay to play" scheme during his term as New Mexico governor? Did the vetters drill deep enough into what was already a widely-covered story in the New Mexico press? Did President-elect Barak Obama simply assume that Richardson had the throw-weight to deflect the news?

The Washington Post reported on Tuesday that a small team of Obama vetters with ethics, tax and investigative expertise scoured Richardson's background, looking for embarrassing facts or political problems. But they underestimated the seriousness of the grand jury investigation, while Richardson had played down the importance of the probe and did not reveal that his office and staff could be at risk, according to the report..

Regardless of what actually happened, it is safe to say that truth will be a very precious commodity as Obama vetters forge ahead in selecting candidates for other senior level positions in the bloated federal hierachy. The sheer number of appointees undergoing background checks virtually guarantees that other mistakes will be made.

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I don't think I will ever see a story like this about a botched appointment in a Republican administration. Of course it would also be accompanied with snide comments by Democrats about the incompetence of the Republicans. You know the media is biased in favor of Obama and Democrats, but it becomes blatant when they start writing their defense briefs for them.