If last week was the president’s worst week in office the polls show absolutely no indication of it. Perhaps that is because the president isn’t supposed to interfere in criminal investigations or direct the IRS’s decision-making process on tax-exempt applications. CNN seems somewhat baffled by the results of their polling, which join Gallup in showing a slight uptick in the president’s numbers. But it shouldn’t be that surprising. A majority of the people reelected the president and all they’ve seen since is stupid opposition and stupid reporting.
If this is the worst the media and the Republicans can do, perhaps last week was their worst week of this presidency?
It simply hasn’t occurred to them that the public is on to their game. One might think that 1998 would have made that clear to them, but their lust for power (on the GOP’s part) and scandal (on the media’s) overwhelms their meager capacity for reason.
Nothing more than a few farts in a mason jar … They’ll have no lasting impact. The GOP is on the ropes; it has become a collection of loons who can’t govern and can only make a lot of noise. Encourage it and the Red Staters to continue to marginalize themselves…it’s the greatest service they can offer the Republic.
According to the twitter, this isn’t surprising because the same thing happened to Nixon’s ratings at the beginning of Watergate. I am assuming that means as we uncover the true evil of Obama’s Benghazi/IRS/DoJ scandals.
The problem here, is that the oldest of the DC MSM Villagers, all cut their teeth on Watergate.
SCANDAL!!!
Then, they let Reagan slide on the hostages being released at the same time as he was being inaugurated.
“WTF?” See – nobody asked that question.
And they let him, and Bush “The Not Stupid” I, go after something far worse than Watergate – Iran-Contra.
Scandal?
Feh… He’s old, he’ll be out of the Oval Office soon, let the old feller retire in peace – forgetting that Bush was surely the brains behind the operation(s), ’cause Ol’ Ronnie was never accused of bein’ any too bright.
Then, along came the DC Kiddy Korp, and oh how they tried with Whitewater to make that into a SCANDAL! – until, finally, their generation cut their teeth on the stain left on a blue dress, and the Republican impeached Bill Clinton in the episode I call, “The Blow Job Heard ‘Round the World!!!”
Bush “Yeah, THAT One!” II, and his VP, “Dickey Does Death” Cheney, were one impeachable scandal after another, but the MSM let them slide – probably not just because they’re cowards, but because they were compliant, if not complicit, in everything that happened after the WTC towers fell, and Rummy had to vacate The Pentagon, pronto.
So, along comes our first Black President, who they know, like Jackie Robinson, can’t fight back, so he won’t, and they’ve been helping the Republicans add the suffix “gate” to everything except his bowel movements.
Why?
Because they ain’t-a scared of him, none!
The biggest problems in this country, are:
There are reasons the American public is stupid, and/or ignorant:
A lot of people pay, and others GET paid, a lot of money to make and keep them that way.
All the more reason that we need Obama to come to the table with rational, reasonable plans for improving our country. Sure, we all hate chained CPI, but if the GOP refuses to even listen to him then we’ve lost nothing.
The President looks sane and the GOP looks like a bunch of petulant children.
Now, we just need to capitalize on that during the mid-terms.
It all comes down to the midterms. Really if we could get 2 years of Democratic control of House, Senate, and WH we have a chance at getting critical things accomplished.
I honestly believe that 2014 is the most important election yet. And it is a huge challenge for the left because historically it is not the left that turn out in midterms. So we really need to fight for this one.
And as 1998 taught us, the best chance for the incumbent party to pick up seats in the year six midterms is for the opposition to dramatically overreach while pursuing a scandal.
Are we getting closer to that time yet when the remaining reasonable Republicans in Congress decide they’ve had enough and bring down Boehner like you suggested in a post a couple months ago? If all the House Republicans are going to do is pursue these silly non-scandals, then maybe that common-sense caucus will make their move.
Common sense caucus in the House? In the GOP? Hahahahahahahahaha!!!!!
What is this “common-sense caucus” you speak of?
I hear tell that there are certain members in the House who are Republicans who are sick of all this nonsense and want to govern. I believe the President has been courting these folks in both Chambers to try to move things forward. Boehner ignoring the Hastert rule required some cooperation from these people to pass what has been done so far in the 113th. These folks have been referred to as the Common-Sense Caucus.
And yet, Congress’ approval is having trouble hovering and if anything is slipping a smidge, still and again. In there somewhere is the story of how the polled Americans refuse to give their trust to Congress and Fox.
And yet most Congresscritters get re-elected.
However there were two stories that for me finally, I think, made me disappointed in the president and administration. (It’s amazingly hard to write this given I actively supported him from late 2006.)
The AP wiretap case, despite Holder and other justifications for it, makes no sense to me. Secret wiretaps on the media, even the lousy media we have today, isn’t acceptable. (I thought about how I would have reacted if the Bush administration had done the same thing — I wouldn’t have been happy, to put it mildly.)
And the new administration plan for the Arctic, which favors oil drilling and the rest of it really told me that they have the wrong priorities, especially given the briefing the president apparently got recently about how much worse climate change and the Arctic situation are.
Both of these are situations where little to no blame rests with congress and are things that matter a lot in the long run.
Correct me if I’m wrong, buti thought the DOJ didn’t wiretap the AP at all. They obtained phone records which would have said what phone numbers reporters called and at what times. The DOJ didn’t wiretap anybody in the sense that they didn’t listen in on any conversations.
That may still be a bridge too far for you. I’m just saying it’s not a wiretap.
Sorry, you’re right — phone records not wiretaps. Wrong term. That’s still too far for me, because the entire purpose there is to find out who the AP has been talking to.
Maybe we’re totally used to that sort of thing now, but it seems wrong to me. (It might also be of value for the Justice Department and other branches to go on record that they haven’t done real live wiretaps either on any media organization.)
As for the Arctic policy, I guess you don’t disagree?
Did it seem wrong to you when Patrick Fitzgerald was trying to find out who Robert Novak was talking to about the Valerie Plame leak?
Judith Miller spent 85 days in the clink as the Department of Justice attempted to find who leaked the classified information that blew up Ms. Plame’s covert operations.
What’s different this time?
Ah, but isn’t that supposed to be how it works? Maybe I’m being a bit old fashioned about this, but the way I remember it usually working is this:
a) Newspaper reports on classified information X
b) Administration demands knowledge of who leaked X
c) Newspaper / reporter refuses
d) Administration openly takes the case to court and obtains a judicial order (of some variety) to get records to determine who leaked X
e) Newspaper / reporter still refuses
f) Reporter is held in contempt and / or other violation and is sent to jail for some short sentence
And again, the more important (and perhaps inarguable) of the two things I mentioned is the Arctic policy…
I think if it had been a case of whistleblowing where there had been malfeasance or corruption that is one thing. This is a case of a leak to the press damaging an active intelligence operation to disrupt a plot to blow up civilian aircraft.
I agree that the process was flawed, and this sort of thing should go through a court, but that’s not what you said in your comment.
What you said was, “That’s still too far for me, because the entire purpose there is to find out who the AP has been talking to.”
That the purpose, just as in the Plame case, was to find out who leaked to the press is not a problem at all. Finding out who leaked classified information, wrecked an ongoing operation, and put people in danger is a perfectly legitimate, appropriate thing to do, in both the Plame case and the Yemen case.
do you have a link to the Arctic policy? haven’t heard anything about that
Sorry for the delay, just saw this. Here’s a link:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/earth-insight/2013/may/17/obama-arctic-energy-security-climate
There were no wiretaps on the media. These were phone records, not recordings or listening in on phone calls.
What number called what number, when, and for how long? That was the information gathered under the subpoena.
I have a problem with the rampant use of anonymous sources, especially those that leak confidential, misleading, or information is that is just flat-out wrong.
If your source cannot go on record, then they should not be providing information.
How is Obummer to blame when the investigation is in the hands of a independent prosecutor?
the whole point of an independent prosecutor is independence (ie no strings to the oval office).
I don’t think it’s that he’s made of Teflon, but that these are just more Incredibly Shrinking Scandals. There is no “there” there with any of them.
When was the last time you heard someone mention Solyndra? How about Fast and Furious?
Umbrellagate is totally going to be Obama’s downfall.
Arguably, umbrella-gate is an ever bigger scandal that New Black Panthers-yndra.
Umbrella Gate will make or break the legacy of his administration.
Someone on another blog had a pretty good suggestion which was to append “-ghazi” to every manufactured scandal that gets relentlessly pushed despite having no actual wrongdoing at heart. For example, the right wing wurlitzer is currently trying to push Umbrellaghazi.
good idea. and ghazi is much more 21st century
You know, I still don’t know what Fast and Furious is about. And I’m a political junkie. The GOP has cried “wolf” so many times that no one takes them seriously on this stuff anymore. For good reason.
When was the last time you heard someone mention Solyndra? How about Fast and Furious?
five minutes ago. commercials for the opening of Fast and Furious 6 are running non-stop.
the teflon metaphor implies that there actually exists something to not stick to him.
that is a lie.
there is nothing but republicans and the media making up false stories.
Exactly right. This is the most scandal free administration in my 59 years.
Amazing thing to have a Prez and administration with some actual integrity, ain’t it? The media can’t understand it because they don’t have any themselves. It’s like a mirage to them.
The fact that the republicans are declaring that they want to take an unrelated scandal and connect it to the white house is a good way to take all the wind of their sails. They just can’t help themselves, it’s too damn obvious.
If they had any scruples – I know, imaginary situation here – they would launch an inquiry on the AP phone record seizure. But since that’s exactly what they would want to happen, you’re not going to hear anything about that from the loyal opposition. And hardly more from their stenographers.