There are times people sincerely hope they are wrong when making a prediction. There were two things that reminded me of this last week.

I was listening to a geologist explain what would happen if the Yellowstone volcano were to erupt. It would plunge the northern hemisphere into a freezing hell that would last almost half a decade.

Will the volcano erupt again? "Absolutely," the geologist said.

The other reminder was the love fest which passed as President Barack Obama's inauguration.

To the point: Obama's presidency has a high probability of being one of the most corrupt in American history. I sincerely hope that I'm wrong, but here are the signs.

First: Liberals in power have a different standard of morality that puts normal cause and effect in reverse. Most people believe that their actions are more important than their stated beliefs. If I stole your property but I wanted the poor to have a better life, most people would still call me a thief.

In modern liberalism, if I want the poor to have a better life, I can't be a thief. If I believe in women's rights and especially if I "fight" for women's rights, then I am a moral person even if I abuse all the women in my private life.

Second: Modern liberalism also holds that "public service" in defense of whomever has been defined as needing the state's support this hour is so important that normal rules, tradition, and even laws can be ignored.

This is one of the reasons that the Constitution must be a "living document." In other words, it should allow us to do whatever we currently want to do when we want to do it. Government officials begin to take actions that they have no constitutional or legal authority to undertake.

Third: President Obama experienced his political origins, maturity and success through one of the most corrupt political systems in America.

Gov. Rod Blagojevich of Illinois seems to be unusual only in the fact that he was apparently caught. Even then he was curiously exposed by a prosecutor before any crime was actually committed, which seemed designed to protect others in the system who may have been swept up in a continuing investigation.

It is possible that none of this has rubbed off on Obama. It is also possible that I could have gotten a bachelor's degree and a Ph.D. from the University of Northern Iowa, taught at UNI until I became a full professor, moved on to other jobs because of my success at UNI and still have no connection or influence of UNI on me, my behavior, my thought process, or my choice of companions in my next job. It is possible, but highly improbable.

Four: So far, at least, the press and the Republicans seem unwilling to call Obama, or anyone associated with him, to account for any wrongdoing.

Part of this is media bias. To the elite media, Republicans are scoundrels and Democrats are saviors. After all, almost all of them are Democrats, or vote Democratic. I noticed this again last week. The mayor of Racine, Wis., was arrested. Evidently, he has a sexual fondness for children. None of the news reports mentioned his party. When I looked up his bio, the page that contained it had been removed.

That told me his party as surely as if it was lit up in neon. He is a Democrat.

Obama has selected Timothy Geithner as treasury secretary. Mr. Geithner, evidently, had forgotten to pay his taxes, let alone his nanny's taxes.

Scandal, weeks of highly publicized hearings, screaming headlines, breast beatings and pundits decrying the death of morality under this morally challenged administration; nope, the Washington Post predicted that Mr. Geithner will sail through the hearings. After all, "� senators have decided that times are too dire to be puritanical."

The new treasury secretary, who will oversee the IRS, didn't pay taxes on income that wasn't directly obvious to the feds, but, you know, this isn't the time to be overly moralistic, even, perhaps, puritanical.

Last: President Obama is very smart. He is surrounding himself with the "best and brightest." If these people actually buy into their own spin, then they will be overly ripe for corruption.

So there you have it. The perfect storm; the nexus of ideology, experience, lack of accountability, willingness to turn a deaf ear, and intellectual hubris creates a very high probability of corruption.