Right Wing World: If the Right is Hyping a Scandal, It's Probably Not Much of a Scandal

Let me predict something: if nothing comes of the IRS/Tea Party thing, the Justice Department/AP thing, and Benghazi thing, Right Wing World will continue to hype them through the end of President Obama's term, and beyond. Years after, when we have a Republican candidate caught in a scandal, you'll hear shrill cries of "Benghazi!!!!" and "Eric Holder was a traitor!!!"

Now, I'm not saying that nothing will come of these controversies, though I suspect there is far less to them than FOX "News" and Right Wing World are hoping for. Only that all it takes for them is an accusation. A patched together conspiracy theory. It can be completely debunked, and it will still be trotted out as though it is the Worst. Thing. Ever! And of course, grounds for impeachment.

So, they'll keep doing it. Truthiness is more important than truth. If it's bad, it's Obama's fault. If it's good, Obama is "spiking the football" if he claims any credit for it. It's all very weird, at least to anyone outside of the RWW bubble. Advice: don't poke your head in there if you don't have a strong stomach.

Image from source, TPM

[Excerpt]

Why GOP Scandal Mongers Can’t Have Nice Things

As Bill Clinton and John Edwards and Bill Jefferson and various others have made clear, Democrats do have scandals. Plenty of them actually. But here we have another good example of why Republicans so often have bad luck these days with bogus scandals they’re so hyped up about or ones that actually are legitimate scandals but which get overrun by so much hysterical nonsense that the actual scandal gets forgotten amidst a lava-like deluge of The Crazy. In a few words, most of the right-wing press is just astonishingly bad. . .

Read more at: Talking Points Memo

Scandal: Does it Matter That Bush Targeted Enemies with Gov't Agencies?

In politics, there are double-standards. For instance, if something pertaining to treatment of the president is perceived as racist, simply calling it that can be labelled "playing the race card," which is treated as an equal and opposite infraction. Similarly, if Party A is upset with something Party B has done--even though Party A has done precisely the same thing in the past that they're accusing B of--just pointing that out is seen as somehow out of bounds.

But this is my blog, and I really don't care about those dumb rules. The plain fact of the matter is, the various "scandal-ettes" as I'm calling them, the IRS/Tea Party one--the Justice Department/AP one and the Benghazi one--all have analogs to things in the Bush administration. And let's make this clear: all three of these controversies (umbrella-gate doesn't count) are merely alleged. There has been, as far as I know, no proven misbehavior by the President himself, or the executive branch on any of them.

Someone in this photo likely causes a visceral reaction in you, right?
Image from Alternet.

The same cannot be said of Bush and Co. Their politicization of every department of the government was legendary. They couldn't govern or conduct foreign policy for beans, but they played politics hardball well. Not good mind you, well. So, I think it's worth pointing out that even if each of these brouhahas, even if the go all the way to the top, has a precedent in the previous administration. And it's also worth pointing out that "impeachment was off the table." I always knew that Nancy Pelosi's diplomacy in that area was a bad idea that would never be repaid.

[Excerpt]

Bush Used the IRS, FBI, CIA and Secret Service to Go After Opponents -- Where Was the Fox and GOP Outrage?

As your kindergarten teacher probably told you, two wrongs do not make a right. But the discrepancy in reactions to wrongs does, indeed, show how Washington so often serves the interests of the political right. . .

Read more at: AlterNet

Scandal! Or, How to Over-hype a Scandal

Ugh. I'm really hoping that the scandal-ettes peter out this week. And not because I'm some lock-step Obama-bot. Because they're unrelentingly boring and overblown. The Benghazi one should be over and done with, beyond ensuring that such a thing is prevented in the future. The "scandal" was so bad that it got down to quibbling about talking points, and then the email that was based on turned out to be phony. Enough. I couldn't believe it was even still a point of discussion on the Sunday shows. Oh wait, of course it was. Psst! While you're all worried about Susan Rice having mislead the American public on Meet the Press and the rest, every Republican hyping these "scandals" has been misleading the American public on Meet the Press and the rest!

Image from source, NewsCorpse

The Tea Party/IRS one is still failing to even register on my give-a-shit-o-meter. Why does this one matter at all? The Tea Party was singled out for extra scrutiny? As well it should have been! For multiple reasons! And--oh my god--they didn't even get denied! WTF is the scandal here? It ought to be that purely political organizations have been granted tax exempt status in the first place.

Ugh. Again. And I don't know about the AP/Justice Department one. If it turns out laws were broken, charge someone. If it was legal but oogey, change the laws. But just please shut up, I don't care. Sorry if I need a little flash or sex or skullduggery in my scandals, but I'm bored ovah heah! But you know who's not? FOX "News" watchers. Because all of the above have been cranked to eleven, irrespective of the facts! That's why every tea bagger you hear calling in to the radio, or writing on the internet seems to be coming out of left right field. They think President Obama popped some popcorn, stripped to his boxers, watched the whole Benghazi affair on an IMAX 3D screen, and gleefully watched people die. Then, he got on the horn to Eric Holder, and to the IRS and said "I wanna fuck with the Tea Baggers. Oh, and the press too. And where is my UMBRELLA???"

[Excerpt]

Roger Ailes’ Limp Dictum: Keep Flinging Scandals Until Something Sticks

Last week has been described by many in the press as the worst week yet for the Obama presidency. It was a week that saw purported scandals hyped furiously by Fox News and other right-wing media. They almost cheerfully segued from Benghazi to the IRS to the Associated Press, and then looped back for more of the same. . .

Read more at: NewsCorpse

Conspiracy Theorists Flummoxed in Face of Actual Scandals

I can't improve upon the actual headline of the excerpted piece below, so I outright stole it. Though I think the actual scandals are more like scandal-ettes at this point. Benghazi isn't a scandal, it was an attack on our people that is being used for political purposes. The IRS thing I'm still convinced was appropriate, except they should have declassified the Tea Party groups' tax exempt status. And the AP one I'm still unsure about. But all three of these scandal-ettes are actual things, and though I'm sure the conspiracy nuts have added their own brand of crazy to them, it's interesting that they haven't quite figured out what to do with them yet.

Crazy Eyes & the Fat Boy would make a good name
for a TV show, don't you think? Image from Salon.

[Excerpt]

Conspiracy theorists flummoxed in face of actual scandals 

If you spend every hour of your working life inventing new ways to attack Barack Obama or the government (or both), this is a very good week for you — or at least it should be. After trudging through the deserts of Benghazi and Fast and Furious for four years, trying to extract any tiny drop of scandal from stone, now suddenly comes manna from heaven, courtesy of the IRS and its misguided attempt to prevent political groups from taking advantage of the nonprofit tax code. Then, even before you could digest the first course, the Department of Justice snoops on reporters. Glory be to Ronald Reagan’s ghost! The Promised Land of Impeachment can’t be far off. . .

Read more at: Salon

C'mon Everybody, it's Scandal Time!

The Obama Administration has been relatively scandal-free for most of its run, unless you're a fan of conspiracy theories. But true to most two-term presidencies, there is seemingly a flood of potential scandals and scandal-ettes this week. As an Obama voter and a lefty liberal moonbat, my inclination is to not get too energized by whatever is driving right wing world crazy at any given moment. For one thing, they cry wolf too often, and their faux outrage is often over absolutely nothing. For another, they hate the president with a passion (and have since before he took office), and blame absolutely everything on him, regardless of reality. This is known as Obama Derangement Syndrome, and is the latest of its kind. George W. Bush caused a similar affliction on liberals, and before him, Bill and Hillary Clinton were the cause of the original strain in conservatives.

But is this latest batch of problems more akin to the ridiculousness inspired by Clinton Derangement Syndrome, like Socks the Cat's Christmas card list or the suicide murder! of Vince Foster? Or is it more like torture, and lying us into war, and shooting a guy in the face? Unknown at this time, but my take is thus, so far:

- IRS/Tea Party-gate - I think the real scandal is that the IRS didn't rule negatively against any of the tea party offshoots. They are primarily or exclusively political organizations, and shouldn't have tax exempt status. These groups sprang up by the thousands after Obama's inauguration, and after the Citizens United decision. They held anti-tax animus as their core concept. I know that President Obama and other Democrats are falling over themselves to both distance themselves from and condemn the actions of the IRS, but I don't see anything wrong with what the IRS did. Only the conclusions they came to. Ultimately, this could drag 5013 c regulations out into the sunlight, and start taxing the obviously political organizations. I mean Karl Rove's? C'mon. . .

- Justice Department/AP-gate - I don't think we know enough about this one yet. It may have been completely legal, and possibly justified. Maybe not. I think it may lead to a re-examining of post 9/11 government overreach, and that could be a good thing. The funny thing about this one is, having conservatives upset about the rights of the mainstream media.

- Benghazi-gate - This one is the most obvious partisan witch-hunt. As the prez said, there's no "there" there. It was an attack on us, not a conspiracy/cover-up by us. I find the obsessive/compulsive focus on Susan Rice's later disproved talking points on Sunday shows to be puzzling, and pointless. And this one has the opposite problem the first two have. The IRS and Justice Department potential scandals deal with overly powerful, overstepping, secretive government entities. And with Benghazi, the focus seems to be on why the government wasn't all-powerful, working behind the scenes to stop every potential attack, send in troops anywhere on a moment's notice, get the bad guys instantly, and not only know, but be willing to say publicly, instantly, exactly what happened.

Of these three, none--so far--leads obviously "all the way to the top." You've got the State Department, Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service, any of which could have been operating under their own authority. I wonder, if in addition to all of the other issues these "scandals" bring up, if there will ever be a discussion about how many divisions of government we have, and whether or not they are too autonomous, and too powerful. Ultimately, I'd like to see us get to the truth on all of them without ridiculous conspiracy theories and political theater obscuring everything.

Justice Department Secretly Obtains AP Phone Records

President & CEO of AP Gary Pruitt, from Yahoo!

Ever hear a headline, instinctively think it's a bad thing, but not really know how to put your hands around it? That's this one, at least so  far, to me. Over all, I think we've lost a lot of privacy since September 11, 2001, and I don't like that. On the other hand, we've willingly given up a lot  of it as a people. And I have to tell you, that with the Patriot Act, the various government entities with massive powers, the glossing over of warrentless wiretaps, and the like, I'm not sure what's legal anymore.

Unlike the Benghazi "scandal" (which I think is pure and simple a scalp hunt), and the IRS/Tea Party thing (which I think is completely justifiable), this one could turn into something. I don't know if it goes all the way to the top, but I can see it shaking up the Justice Department. But I also think it's too early to make snap judgements before we know why it was done, and what Justice's. . .um. . .justification? is.

[Excerpt]

Gov't obtains wide AP phone records in probe

The Justice Department secretly obtained two months of telephone records of reporters and editors for The Associated Press in what the news cooperative's top executive called a "massive and unprecedented intrusion" into how news organizations gather the news. The records obtained by the Justice Department listed outgoing calls for the work and personal phone numbers of individual reporters, for general AP office numbers in New York, Washington and Hartford, Conn., and for the main number for the AP in the House of Representatives press gallery, according to attorneys for the AP. It was not clear if the records also included incoming calls or the duration of the calls. . .

Read more at: Yahoo! News

Could Recently Released Torture Document Lead to Justice?

Image from source, TPM Muckraker

For those who like to whine, "Give it up, Bush isn't President anymore!" it is worth reminding you of something. While you may not believe it to be true, many people believe that the previous administration is guilty of breaking several laws. International laws. Serious stuff. While this blogger has nearly given up on any serious retribution, I still believe it is important that somebody try.

I feel sort of sorry for Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton, actually. Look at the crap they went through for--by comparison--pretty dinky crap. I doubt we'll ever know the extent of Bush Era crimes. But I'm glad someone is looking into it. I'm just not going to hold my breath to see if it comes to anything.

[Excerpt]

Dems Urge Holder To Allow Torture Probe To Go Further

Some top Democrats are expressing disappointment with Eric Holder's announcement of a probe into Bush-era torture, and specifically with Holder's apparent decision to ensure the probe doesn't look at the Bush officials who authorized the policy. . .

Read more at: TPM Muckraker