A Stream of Scandal

I admire Obama for his outreach across the political aisle (he had dinner with conservative columnists, and met with Republican congressmen.) But what I don't understand is the steady stream of people that he is appointing, that is simply not meeting the standard. Richardson backs away because of a corruption scandal that seems more serious than he lets on. Geithner, a man that will have power over our money, admitted to underpaying taxes (and he was approved!). And now we have Tom Daschle, who has done the exact same thing. And while Richardson had enough sense to back down, the other two are still in line for Cabinet offices. In my opinion, the last two should be going to jail (and we shouldn't even be talking about Cabinet positions for them.) Is committing a crime that would get any ordinary American thrown in jail excusable if you have enough political connections? Is this the change that we can believe in?

Disclaimer: That is my personal opinion, and while you can feel free to criticize my opinions and the opinions of others in this thread, please do not criticize the person making the argument.