You gotta feel a teeny bit sorry for Holder and Obama
Yes, I’m being sarcastic.
But still—the boycott by at least half the press of Holder’s attempts at off-the-record damage control must have come as a huge shock to Holder/Obama (Holdama?), and rightly so. After all, for well over five years (if you count the 2008 campaign) the press has been not only carrying their water, it’s been allowing them to piss on everybody’s boots and helping them call it rain (to extend the water metaphor).
Why on earth would Holder/Obama not think this happy state of affairs would continue indefinitely? Even despite the fact that some members of the press were the targets in this particular “scandal”? It’s the very definition of hubris on the part of Holder and Obama, I suppose, but it’s a hubris solidly based on previous experience. The administration had every right to expect cooperation.
The real question is whether this marks some sort of turning point for the press, or whether they will limit their defiance and skepticism of the administration to this one topic. I think, unfortunately, it will be the latter. But I’m willing (nay, eager) to be proven wrong.
“Why on earth would Holder/Obama not think this happy state of affairs would continue indefinitely? ”
I agree that this probably was one of the primary motivators for the overreach in the first place. They could do what they please and the possibility that they could have been choosing poorly never occurred to them in the first place.
Black Swans, by definition, show up where and when one least expects. Hubris begets Nemesis, indeed.
“The real question is whether this marks some sort of turning point for the press, or whether they will limit their defiance and skepticism of the administration to this one topic.”
Events appear not to be allowing the press to “limit their defiance and skepticism of the administration to this one topic”.
“Publicly released records show that embattled former IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman visited the White House at least 157 times during the Obama administration, [far] more recorded visits than even the most trusted members of the president’s Cabinet.”
It seems highly probable that this is going to result in Shulman being recalled to answer, under oath, lots of questions regarding these visits. They all took place after the IRS attacks began.
In comparison, Pres. Bush’s IRS director met with Bush ONCE in four years.
Shulman is supposed to report to his boss at Treasury, who BTW only visited the WH 48 times. Add to this that in prior testimony Shulman stated that he only recalled visiting once during an the Easter egg hunt. That’s perilously close to perjury, certainly its misleading and highly suspicious. I think it likely that he’s going to take the fifth too but if he does, the caca is going to hit the fan because that action by Shulman regarding WH visits would directly implicate Obama.
On the DOJ scandal there’s this new development; “AP CEO Gary Pruitt informed staffers Wednesday that the Department of Justice monitored, not one, not twenty, but “thousands and thousands” of phone calls made by reporters and editors.”
Drip, drip, drip. Does anyone imagine that it was just the AP and FOX that the DOJ was illegally monitoring?
In addition, the NYT, CNN, the AP and even the Huffington Post have refused to meet with Holder in an “off-the-record” briefing to discuss guidelines for handling investigations into leaks to the news media.
Finally lets not forget Benghazi; “The Republican National Committee announces that it’s filing a Freedom of Information Act request for the release of all “Benghazi Emails Between Obama’s Reelection Campaign and State Department.”
Somebody knows something and has tipped off the Repubs that proof of collusion is to be found in those emails.
“We certainly hope political considerations didn’t come into play when the administration decided what to tell the American people, but the administration’s changing answers certainly raise valid concerns that we don’t know the full story. Assuming there was no contact between the State Department and the campaign, this should be an easy request to fill,” said RNC Chairman Reince Priebus.”
Any stonewalling will be a huge red flag.
So some of the press declined to take their off-the-record feeding. How does that even matter to the Obama administration? Some weak sisters revealed themselves, but the administration can still claim that they provided adequate explanation, and it had to be off the record to protect sensitive investigations or national security or intelligence. No cause for sweat on their part.
In and of itself it isn’t significant for the Obama administration. However, its highly significant as a barometer of the fading support for Obama. They’ve reached the end of their willingness to carry his water and much of his effectiveness has been because of the MSM’s assistance.
So I can’t agree that there’s no cause for the Obama WH not to sweat. Too much coming out and clearly its the very tip of the iceberg. Eventually the camel’s back is going to break. Holder and Sculman are in real trouble. Blatantly lying under oath in a publicized committee hearing cannot be ignored or swept under the rug. Blatantly lying, taking the fifth, all of this implies collusion, they didn’t act in a vacuum.
These are very highly placed officials just a layer or two below Obama himself. Obama claiming not to know makes implicit, at the least extreme incompetence. If he’s exposed as lying and was deeply involved, then undeniably impeachable offenses have occurred.
The longer this goes on the less likely that Obama can escape unscathed. The greater the corruption and illegality revealed, the more fatal the threat to Obama’s Presidency.
I wonder, is Obama gonna get all wee wee’d up?
(Nice summary, GB.If you’re not right, it won’t matter. All conservatives will either be in re-education camps or euthanized.)
Here is girding for the “gird yourselves AND BE BRAVE MEN” commandment:
http://pjmedia.com/victordavishanson/let-me-be-perfectly-clear/?singlepage=true
I’m gonna have me some VDH!
Although I don’t credit many in the MSM with an over abundance of ethics, many of them must now deeply distrust Obama. He’s made them look like chumps. No one who is paying attention can possibly believe Obama was unaware of the false talking points, the assault on the MSM, the IRS abuses, and HHS shaking down corporations (the Chicago Way writ large) to support Obamacare. IMO these scandals are not going away and the longer the WH continues to prevaricate the deeper the whole they dig. Someone, several someones in fact, need to take one for the messiah. Meanwhile, its wonderful to see the Barry’s ship take on water.
First we take Schulman, then we take Holder.
http://tinyurl.com/mnk7hy6