Given the nature of the scandals swirling around president Obama and his administration, it might seem strange to think that there is a growing counter attack in the media to both protect Obama and blame the Republicans, but it is there nonetheless. It is true that the source is the hard core partisan Democrats and their friends, but that is most of the media. There are articles decrying Republican "glee" over the scandals, even though the proper word is "anger" rather than "glee". There are articles announcing that the Republicans have no agenda and that scandals will not make up for this, even though the Republican agenda is quite clear. There are articles about how Obama is being forced to handle the scandals without being able to say what he really thinks; these even say that Americans could not handle the truth. There is even one, in Politico, that discusses how Dick Cheney would have handled these scandals and how Obama is doing better. (Of course, these scandals did not occur during the Bush years; George Bush would never have used the IRS against his enemies.)
The truth is that all of this counter attack is garbage. Obama is caught in a situation where the IRS was used to insure his re-election and the truth about the Benghazi attacks was covered up to insure his re-election. He is caught in a situation where the Justice Department run by Obama's henchman Eric Holder is secretly fishing through the phone records of scores of reporters supposedly to find evidence of a leak, a story that just does not hold up. (Since the records showed, at most, who spoke to the AP rather than what was said, there is no way to know which call, if any, mentioned the leak. It is just enough to chill the contacts between the government and the press.) The issue is Obama's culpability for all this, not the Republican reaction to it. No amount of articles pushing the false idea of evil Republicans celebrating the blow to Obama can change that.
These scandals are not ones that Obama can avoid through his usual means although he is already trying to do so. It is not enough to claim to have no knowledge. It will not suffice to announce how outraged he is at what has happened. This cannot be blamed on low level employees who "went rogue". In reality, there are just too few Americans who will believe these lines another time. Oh sure, there will be some, but they will not be enough. After all, we know that the White House lied to America about what happened in Benghazi (it was the video not terrorism, they said.) We know that the White House lied about how that first lie came to be told (the dishonest talking points were developed by the CIA with no White House involvement other than changing "consulate" to "diplomatic" post.) We know that the White House lied about when it first learned of the IRS scandal. (the White House counsel learned of the confirmed targeting of conservative groups by the IRS nearly a month ago; no one in his right mind believes that the lawyer who got this news kept it under his hat.) And we know that the Obama White House and Obama himself have lied to the country repeatedly on things like Obamacare (premiums will go down--they went up), sequestration (it was a Republican idea -- Obama proposed it), and many others. Obama's credibility is gone.
To make matters worse, even Obama's friends are undermining his credibility. David Axelrod said the other day that Obama wants to "go Bullworth", meaning he wants to say what he actually thinks rather than having to say what the political situation demands. Axelrod was seeking sympathy for poor president Obama who is forced by political needs to say things he really would prefer not to say. In reality, however, Axelrod was just confirming that Obama is a phony; he does not tell the truth.
The problem now for America is not Obama's lack of credibility. The problem is that we have an IRS that is rife with unfairness and illegal conduct. The problem is that we have both a diplomatic corps and a military that wonders about the ability of the country to respond to terror attacks. The problem is that we have a Justice Department that thinks that the way to plug leaks is to shred the Constitution. Those are problems with which we must deal. And the first step to dealing with these problems is to find out exactly what happened. We do not need more political spinning; we need the truth. If Obama really wants to say what he thinks, then let him start by telling us truthfully just where he was while the Benghazi compound was burned and four Americans were killed. Then let him tell us how his campaign co-chairman got secret IRS information that was used to attack Romney. Then let him tell us who made the decision to grab all of the AP phone records. Then let him order all of his administration to cooperate fully with the investigations. It may not turn out to his benefit politically, but it will be to the country's benefit. Just for once, let's hope that Obama can put the country's good ahead of his own.
The truth is that all of this counter attack is garbage. Obama is caught in a situation where the IRS was used to insure his re-election and the truth about the Benghazi attacks was covered up to insure his re-election. He is caught in a situation where the Justice Department run by Obama's henchman Eric Holder is secretly fishing through the phone records of scores of reporters supposedly to find evidence of a leak, a story that just does not hold up. (Since the records showed, at most, who spoke to the AP rather than what was said, there is no way to know which call, if any, mentioned the leak. It is just enough to chill the contacts between the government and the press.) The issue is Obama's culpability for all this, not the Republican reaction to it. No amount of articles pushing the false idea of evil Republicans celebrating the blow to Obama can change that.
These scandals are not ones that Obama can avoid through his usual means although he is already trying to do so. It is not enough to claim to have no knowledge. It will not suffice to announce how outraged he is at what has happened. This cannot be blamed on low level employees who "went rogue". In reality, there are just too few Americans who will believe these lines another time. Oh sure, there will be some, but they will not be enough. After all, we know that the White House lied to America about what happened in Benghazi (it was the video not terrorism, they said.) We know that the White House lied about how that first lie came to be told (the dishonest talking points were developed by the CIA with no White House involvement other than changing "consulate" to "diplomatic" post.) We know that the White House lied about when it first learned of the IRS scandal. (the White House counsel learned of the confirmed targeting of conservative groups by the IRS nearly a month ago; no one in his right mind believes that the lawyer who got this news kept it under his hat.) And we know that the Obama White House and Obama himself have lied to the country repeatedly on things like Obamacare (premiums will go down--they went up), sequestration (it was a Republican idea -- Obama proposed it), and many others. Obama's credibility is gone.
To make matters worse, even Obama's friends are undermining his credibility. David Axelrod said the other day that Obama wants to "go Bullworth", meaning he wants to say what he actually thinks rather than having to say what the political situation demands. Axelrod was seeking sympathy for poor president Obama who is forced by political needs to say things he really would prefer not to say. In reality, however, Axelrod was just confirming that Obama is a phony; he does not tell the truth.
The problem now for America is not Obama's lack of credibility. The problem is that we have an IRS that is rife with unfairness and illegal conduct. The problem is that we have both a diplomatic corps and a military that wonders about the ability of the country to respond to terror attacks. The problem is that we have a Justice Department that thinks that the way to plug leaks is to shred the Constitution. Those are problems with which we must deal. And the first step to dealing with these problems is to find out exactly what happened. We do not need more political spinning; we need the truth. If Obama really wants to say what he thinks, then let him start by telling us truthfully just where he was while the Benghazi compound was burned and four Americans were killed. Then let him tell us how his campaign co-chairman got secret IRS information that was used to attack Romney. Then let him tell us who made the decision to grab all of the AP phone records. Then let him order all of his administration to cooperate fully with the investigations. It may not turn out to his benefit politically, but it will be to the country's benefit. Just for once, let's hope that Obama can put the country's good ahead of his own.
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