How hard is it to find a Commerce Secretary in Washington, anyway? With the exit of yet another high profile Obama Cabinet nominee – and the second one for Commerce Secretary to boot – I can’t help but remember then Sen. Clinton’s claim to be “Ready From Day One.” So far, the Obama administration seems plagued by “Missteps From Day One.”

Ironically, the aforementioned Clinton, who with her former President and philanderer husband caused so many headaches for the Obama campaign only a year ago, seems to be the one causing the least headaches for the new Obama administration. She has kept the State Department and America‘s foreign affairs humming along with nary a hiccup.

Meanwhile, newly appointed Treasury Secretary Geithner’s ambiguous bailout plan caused the largest stock market fall of the new administration’s short history; two successive Commerce nominee wannabes have slunk away with their tails between their legs; and former Senator Tom Daschle ended up paying over $100,000 in back taxes for getting a shot at Health and Human Services.

Getting nominated by President Obama looks to be about as good for your career as majoring in political science and legal studies. And in case there is any doubt: that’s not good for your career.

It was only a month or so ago that various news outlets were lauding the vetting process the Obama administration was putting its people through. Yet that very same process somehow managed to miss that former Sen. Daschle and Geithner were tax delinquents, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson may be the Western version of Rod Blagojevich, and New Hampshire Sen. Judd Gregg is a Republican.

President Obama has begun to evince a fatal flaw: an attraction to people who have the potential to destroy him. We were introduced to this trait during the campaign as the sound clips and videos of his pastor Rev. Wright began to saturate the air waves. His relationship with convicted Chicago businessman Tony Rezko was another indication.

And now, as he undertakes putting in place what he has claimed will be the most ethical and transparent administration to run America, the people he is asking to help him run America are beginning to look very unethical underneath all this transparency.

At some point one has to ask. Is it the people Obama picks, or is that everyone at that level of government and politics is that morally debased?

There was a time when I thought thinking outside of the box was one of President Obama’s more enduring traits. Picking Republican Senator Judd Gregg, for instance, to head a Department that he had previously argued should not even exist – now there’s thinking outside of the box.

Bending over backwards to court House Republicans to vote for a massive expansion of government in the form of his stimulus plan, now that’s thinking outside of the box. Crafting a stimulus bill that would be palatable to Republicans only to have them gut it and refuse to vote for it – well, that’s just dumb, but I suppose we may still be outside of the box.

But when you invite the noisy, dysfunctional neighbors over for a dinner party, and they clog your toilet, steal your silverware, and break the urn you kept your mother’s ashes in, it may be time to get back inside of the box.

Republicans aren’t interested in being partners on fixing the largest issue we face – the economic crisis. Their obstructionist tactics are making it clear. They’re not here for the dinner party. They just want to steal the silverware.

President Obama has made attempts at bipartisanship a major part of his agenda. But why bother with bipartisanship when the other side is just plain wrong?

Of course, in politics, there are the wounds others give you, and the wounds you give yourself. Daschle and Richardson are prime examples of an ally’s ability to undermine your efforts. Geithner’s Tuesday announcement of the bank and financial services bailout plan was mournfully short on details – so much so that his announcement was greeted by a 5% plummet in the Down Jones Industrial average. Worse still, Obama’s fellow Illinois politician former Gov. Rod Blagojevich has done his level headed best to keep the media attention focused on the fact that, after 8 years of Republican corruption, any Democrat is just as good at being corrupt as any Republican

Once lauded as “No Drama Obama”, President Obama is watching his first few weeks in office turn into the most entertaining of political theatre. It’s a terrible shame, considering the accomplishments this administration has achieved in such short order, and the battles they have yet to fight.

John McCain and his fellow Republicans want us to believe that President Obama has had a bad start. I’m not saying it’s a definitive bad start. I’m just saying it’s kinda sorta starting to look like one.

Gerald Cox ([email protected]) is a Senior majoring in economics.