I don’t know what makes me madder, the constant lies from the Obama administration or the national media abetting him. The final straw is the events of the last two weeks.
First is the Benghazi attack of 9/11/2012. You know, the attack that led to the deaths of the U.S. Ambassador to Libya and three people trying to protect him. Wait, maybe you don’t know unless you happen to watch Fox News. Until last week the rest of the media, with the exception of one ABC reporter, treated this attack as a non-event.
That ABC reporter was severely stifled in her attempts to cover this issue. Her bosses essentially said that her reporting bordered on “advocacy.” They certainly should recognize advocacy when they see it. As Greg Gutfeld, Fox host of “Red Eye” and co-host of “The Five” said, “The press is like a giant condom protecting Obama.” I will leave the unsaid conclusion of that up to you.
Briefly, three very credible witnesses testified before a Congressional hearing and essentially confirmed what the informed sector of the American public already surmised, that the Obama administration lied through its teeth about the cause of the attack and the non-actions taken by the administration in providing protection both before and during the attack. Sorry Hillary, when you told Congress you were ultimately responsible I don’t think you expected such credible people to expose the lies.
What is most disturbing to me about the actions taken is the callous disregard for American lives to gain political points. Why would anyone tell a Special Forces group who were ready and able to launch a rescue mission to “stand down?” That kind of order had to come from very high in the administration. Stay tuned (to Fox, you might not hear it otherwise) for Phase Two as more questions are hopefully answered.
Benghazi is a bad situation, but you could make a very broad argument that no laws were broken. It was simply a case of poor judgment. Not so with the next issue. Last Friday the IRS announced that since 2010 it had singled out non-profit groups with “Tea Party” or “Patriot” in their names. It has also been revealed that they targeted a pro-Israel group, and that information gathered from these applications was given to a liberal media group. The initial reports said that it was actions of “low-level” employees. Further investigation shows that the orders originated in Washington, D.C., certainly not low level. Obama said he didn’t know anything about it until it hit the news wires. That is really strange, because the administration was advised of it in April. Is his staff incompetent, or just him?
Using the IRS as a bully is nothing new. It was one of President Clinton’s favorite tactics. The access of information by the Obama administration and the release of IRS data to private groups IS new, and this is where Obama has a problem. Those activities are illegal, even for a President. That is an impeachable offense if it can be traced back to him. I have no doubt he knew and condoned the practice, but can it be proven?
The final blow to the administration is the announcement that they monitored phone record from 20 telephone lines at the Associated Press, including some used by anonymous sources. This one caused Eric Holder to recuse himself from the investigation, maybe because he authorized it? I don’t know the legal ramifications of this action, but it seems to me that it might have caused the giant press condom to break. It makes no sense to me to tick off the group that has covered your rear for over five years. While it is deliciously ironic that AP has been hoisted on their own petard, it is disturbing that the administration believes they can get away with it.
The media has ignored issue after issue with Obama, never seriously vetting him prior to his first election. That gave rise to several “birth certificate” issues, his religion and other issues. Those pale against recent events, starting with Fast and Furious and progressing to today. He appears to have gotten so arrogant that he now thinks he doesn’t need the press to cover his rear. Nothing will make the press madder than to be trivialized. Combine that with the latest string of lies and Obama has a real problem on his hands. Hopefully honorable people from both parties will call for investigations.
Tom Riggins’ column appears every other Friday in Perspective.