Ah, The Asterisks

A couple weeks back, I wrote on this page:

Still, I'll be very interested to watch the reaction of those who have seemingly staked it all on Mr. Obama when the inevitable happens. When politics, reality or both come into play and all the great ideas end up on milk crates next to an urban freeway.

Today, the New York Times opens its Tuesday edition with this:

During almost two years on the campaign trail, Barack Obama vowed to slay the demons of Washington, bar lobbyists from his administration and usher in what he would later call in his Inaugural Address a “new era of responsibility.” What he did not talk much about were the asterisks.

The exceptions that went unmentioned now include a pair of cabinet nominees who did not pay all of their taxes. Then there is the lobbyist for a military contractor who is now slated to become the No. 2 official in the Pentagon. And there are the others brought into government from the influence industry even if not formally registered as lobbyists.

Somebody get the milk crates.