Last Wednesday, the Washington Times ran a story by Matthew Mosk that shed light on special White House access that the Democratic National Convention has given to some of its top donors over the last nine months. These extras have included private briefings, special invitations to important events, as well as other benefits that if nothing else border on the absurd. Per the internal DNC documents obtained by the Times, one top contributor received as a thank you for his donation, use of the White House bowling alley for his family. Another described being given a birthday visit to the Oval Office.

What is this, Chuck E. Cheese? Fun for the whole family! Bowling and birthday cheers at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue? Did Rahm Emanuel sing to Mr. Munn E. Bags? Did they set the cake on the Resolute Desk? These are all questions that keep me up late at night. Now I know why President Obama doesn’t lose any sleep over Fox News - he’s too busy taking tickets at the in-house theater while Sasha and Malia are making popcorn. He must be making money hand over fist while renting out perhaps the most famous residence in all the world.

To what level are we as a nation now stooping? Nothing seems to be sacred anymore.

With a tinpot, knee-jerk move, years ago professional sport’s franchises sold completely out and began renting the name of their arenas and stadiums to the likes of every conglomerate and consortium worldwide. Now instead of the Boston Garden, we have the TD Banknorth Garden. Out in Colorado, there’s Coor’s field. The Nascar Cup Championship changes names so often with the sponsorship that I can’t keep up anymore.

With the news now in the open of these farcical freebies being doled out down the hall from the East Wing, it wouldn’t surprise me one bit to see the names of buildings in Washington, D.C. begin to change completely.

If the economy continues to lag through 2010 and the president stays on the same path of campaigning rather than governing, would it be any shock at all to see him sell the rights of the White House name to General Electric? Instead of the White House, we might all have to start calling it the GE/NBC House.

With all the money we owe to China who’s to say that in ten year’s time the Senate Building won’t be called the Lenovo Building? Maybe others could get in on it too and we could rent out the Supreme Court’s name. The Sony Supreme Court? The Caterpillar Court?

World superpowers just don’t behave like that, but as each day passes the current administration finds new lows to cheapen and discount the history, tradition, and pride upon which this nation was founded.

Granted, I’m sure that other administrations on both sides of the aisle have made similar concessions in the past; however, I suppose I expected far too much from all of President Obama’s promises of transparency and culture transformation in our nation’s capital.

With soldiers dying in Afghanistan at an unprecedented rate, the dollar’s value plummeting by the minute, and our leader’s rushing headlong into hyper-liberalism and corruption, I long to see someone or something in government that is no longer for sale.

Send comments to Michael Andrzejewski at preacher@mbcportugalmissions.com