Whatever else happens as a result of the multiple controversies that have engulfed the administration, one thing is clear: President Obama has failed to meet one of the most important goals he set out when he was first elected, which was to demonstrate that activist government could also be smart government.

Six weeks after winning the presidency in 2008, Obama reflected on the meaning of the election. He was reluctant to claim, as some others were, that his victory marked the beginning of an era in which Americans would embrace bigger government. Suspicion of command-and-control, top-down government, he said, was “a lasting legacy” of Ronald Reagan’s presidency.

So rather than portraying his first election as the end of a long period of conservative ascendancy, Obama called it “a correction to the correction.” As he put it then: “I think what you saw in this election was people saying: ‘Yes, we don’t want some big, bureaucratic, ever-expanding state. On the other hand, we don’t want a state that’s dysfunctional, that doesn’t believe in its mission, that can’t carry out some of the basic functions of government and provide service to people and be there when they’re hurting.’ ”

He then described what that meant for the government he was beginning to assemble. “What we don’t know yet is whether my administration and this next generation of leadership is going to be able to hew to a new, more pragmatic approach that is less interested in whether we have big government or small government [but is] more interested in whether we have a smart, effective government.”

What has happened since Obama laid down that challenge for his administration? More Americans favor smaller government over bigger government than when he was first elected, according to exit polls from last November. Public confidence in the federal government is as low as it has ever been, according to a Pew Research Center survey released this spring.

This weekend, four of the government’s most important agencies are beset by political controversy, management breakdowns or both: State (what happened in Benghazi, Libya), Treasury (targeting of conservative groups by the Internal Revenue Service), Justice (leak-related investigation of the Association Press) and Defense (rising numbers of sexual assaults).

Add to that the questions about Health and Human Services and its implementation of the Affordable Care Act, and it is little wonder confidence has eroded.

Suddenly the press is noticing things, how did that happen?

Authorities allege that former officer Richard DeCoatsworth left a party with two females early Thursday and took them to another location, where they allege that he produced a handgun and “forced the two females to engage in the use of narcotics and sexual acts.”

A police spokeswoman said the two called police after he left, and 27-year-old DeCoatsworth was charged with rape, sexual assault, terroristic threats and related offenses.

DeCoatsworth was hailed as a hero after he was shot in the face during a traffic stop in September 2007 but still managed to chase after his attacker, who was later sentenced to 36 to 72 years in prison.

DeCoatsworth was invited by Vice President Joe Biden to attend the president’s televised February 2009 address to Congress and sat with first lady Michelle Obama. He said he didn’t know why he had been singled out, but being in the presence of the nation’s leaders was an honor “that I will keep with me for the rest of my life.”

WCAU-TV, which first reported his arrest, said DeCoatsworth retired from the department on disability in December 2011.

Can’t even pick heroes, can he?

How many more nightmares you want?

(Reuters) – More than 8,000 French households’ tax bills topped 100 percent of their income last year, the business newspaper Les Echos reported on Saturday, citing Finance Ministry data.

Look what we have to look forward to? I suggested a tornado tax given how hard it might be to collect.

No, no strawberries. Last frost down here was about 2 weeks ago. Go figure. Darned global warming is nowhere to be seen this year. Warmest day was in the winter, thus far. Going to be hard to beat 106F. Laredo, TX a couple of months ago or so. Been down to the 30F’s since. 17+ tornadoes 3 days ago after virtually none for quite some time. Tax tornadoes, now there’s an idea whose time has died aborning.

Dreams? More like nightmares that I predicted years ago.

At a press conference today, President Obama announced that he is ordering his face be placed on Mount Rushmore.

President Obama said that he has issued an Executive Order to immediately begin carving his face on Mount Rushmore. The President feels that this will create at least one thousand jobs and increase tourism in South Dakota.

The White House Press Corps erupted in applause when the President made his announcement. Representatives from MSNBC, CBS, ABC, NBC, and NPR all wept openly. ”He should be the ONLY one on Rushmore,” gushed MSNBC host Andrea Mitchell.

The last President under consideration to be carved into the mountains of South Dakota was Ronald Reagan. Reagan, considering the overwhelming support and acclaim he received from the American people, seemed a natural choice. The Congress approved of Reagan on Rushmore, but President Bill Clinton overruled the order.

President Obama has bypassed Congress and has ordered the carving to begin. ”I am the first black President. And I think history will show that I am one of the greatest Presidents to ever live. I deserve to be put on the Mount Rushmore,” the President reportedly told the White House Press Corps.

Al Sharpton applauded the decision and said Obama should be added to the mountain post haste. He added that Bill Clinton should be up there too. Republicans said that if Bill Clinton goes on Rushmore, than Monica Lewinsky has to go up there, too.

Obama explained to the press why he thinks he should be on Rushmore. ”I don’t think there’s any President more deserving to be on Rushmore than me. I am the greatest leaders this country has ever known.”

Lawrence O’Donnell and Rachel Maddow of MSNBC believe that Teddy Roosevelt should be taken off Rushmore. ”We should put Obama up and take Teddy down,” O’Donnel reportedly said. ”Personally, I think it should just be Lincoln, Washington and Obama.”

Republicans are trying to challenge the Executive Order, but the White House told WWN, “Obama will be on Rushmore. There’s nothing the Republicans can do about it. But they are welcome to visit anytime, at their own expense however, you know, the sequester problem?”

Yup, definitely a nightmare of epic proportions. Seems someone with a fat head that large won’t fit, so they’ll build his own mountain to accomodate Obama.

And you worry about sequesters?

First comment was right on:

Ashley B · 3 weeks ago
I can’t wait to see his face on the Mount Rushmore!! I LOVE MY PRESIDENT!! Let’s be honest ppl…most of u don’t like Obama cuz he’s black and little do u know, the more u fight Gods Will the more He will prevail!!

So, everyone just take a deep breath and “BACK DOWN”. Isn’t satire wonderful?

Mt. Rushmore? Ha! Give me a break! I hear Jimmy Carter absolutely loves Obama, because finally there’s a worse president than him!

“I have a hunch that a lot more is going to come out, frankly,” Baucus, whose pending retirement seems to have freed him up to speak bluntly, told Bloomberg Government’s “Capitol Gains” TV show.

“It’s broader than the current focus. And I think it’s important that we have the hearings, and I think that will encourage other information to come out that has not yet come out. I suspect that we will learn more in the next several days, maybe the next couple three weeks which adds more context to all of this,” added Baucus, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee.

Can’t wait.