Where's the Outrage? SOP: Divert, Distort, Deny
Sometimes I wonder if people are just walking around in a soma-induced haze. Walking comas, more like. Obama's administration is mired in three - THREE - scandals right now. We're talking Nixonian criminality, but you'd never know it.Consider, if you will:
1. Benghazi. Most people don't even know where Benghazi is, let alone that anything happened here. In a nutshell, it is a city in Libya where the US State Department had an diplomatic mission, manned by Ambassador Chris Stevens. On September 11 (spark any memories?), 2012, the mission was attacked. This lightly guarded outpost was attacked for hours - HOURS - and four Americans, including the Ambassador, died. Our esteemed leader sent out his talking heads to insist that this was a spontaneous occurrence related to some trailer to some movie that had sparked some pockets of outrage in the Muslim world. But...and it is a big BUT, in actuality, the White House, CIA and State Department knew that the attack had nothing to do with some silly movie, that it was a premeditated attack by Al Qaeda-linked militants. Move along here, nothing to see. But the criminality comes in the absolute fraud. You see, there was an election on, and it would have been politically perilous for Obama to admit a new attack by Al Qaeda, considering he'd been doing the victory lap on bin Laden's death since May 2011. He can't campaign as the ender of wars, the one who brought bin Laden to justice and win the election if there is inconvenient facts like a terrorist attack on US soil in the news. So...spin, spin, spin. The truth of what was known about the attack was redacted and edited out of the talking points. The attack continued to be blamed on that stupid movie. Here's what we know now: a) it was a planned terrorist attack, b) the CIA had warned that the area was becoming unstable with AQ-linked baddies in the vicinity, c) the anniversary of 9/11 was coming up, d) Stevens had made multiple requests for increased security in Benghazi that were denied by the administration, e) even after the attack had begun, no relief or aid was sent to the mission from nearby resources - in fact, personnel were geared-up and ready to go and then told to stand down. In the aftermath, Hillary Clinton asked what the big deal was. What's the big f-ing deal? FOUR AMERICANS ARE DEAD. President Obama's idiot mouthpiece, Jay Carney, says the scandal is ginned-up, a product of GOP desires to smear the administration. Only in Washington, DC will politicians and wonks say "so what?" to the death of Americans by terrorists. People should be outraged that our government knew or suspected, and did nothing. People should be outraged that the administration then tried to lie about it long enough to get past election day. PEOPLE SHOULD BE DEMANDING THAT HEADS ROLL OVER THE DEATHS OF FOUR AMERICAN PATRIOTS.
Take another dose of soma, then read on.
2. DOJ Goes Investigating Associated Press Reporters - The Department of Justice, headed by Eric Holder (the guy who wouldn't prosecute the New Black Panthers for intimidating voters and who stands at the center of the Fast and Furious debacle), decided to investigate a leak. Obama's administration leaks like a collander, donchaknow. Anyway, a terrorist plot was foiled and the AP got the news before the Obama Administration was ready to do the victory lap. So, the DOJ started investigating the leak. In so doing, they got the phone records of at least 20 AP staffers - without a subpoena or search warrant. And, those staffers were given no notice. So, essentially, the Obama Administration is investigating our free press in violation of the First Amendment and infringing the privacy of said reporters in violation of the Fourth Amendment. Talk about having a chilling effect on Democracy! But, here's the thing, the press is just taking it in stride. They don't care, whatever they need to do to carry water for Obama, consider it done. They are a bunch of weak-kneed cheerleaders, willing to bend over anytime the quarterback needs cheering up. Consider the difference between this and Valerie Plame - the press went bonkers and Judith Miller went to jail to protect her source (Scooter Libby was the leak), but these AP Reporters seem to say, "nothing to see here, move along." Had a Republican administration pulled this, there would be no other news. California could fall into the ocean and nobody would know for the cries of the press about the Republican villainy. But this is Obama, so they ignore the inconvenient truth. Divert, Distort, Deny. This is the change half of the electorate voted for. So, if you are checking your scorecards, the Obama Administration has attacked at least the First, Second and Fourth Amendments in this year alone.
3. IRS Targeting Obama Enemies List - Put this one in the list of news held until after the election...A culture of corruption reminiscent of Soviet Russia has taken hold at Obama's IRS. The IRS now admits that conservative groups were unfairly targeted in seeking tax-exempt status. Tea Party groups who believe in small government, groups wanting to hold government accountable, Pro-Life groups were singled out for investigation, buried in paperwork, queried on the intimate details of their members lives in an egregious and offensive manner that sought to stifle these groups. And you know what, it worked. Of course, the Administration would have you believe that this was the work of two rogue IRS workers. But, I've seen government workers, and if two people managed to hold up at least 500 different applications - well, let's just say that is a level of government employee productivity that I would categorize as SciFi/Fantasy. Ain't no way, folks. And, there is also no way that the higher ups didn't know exactly what was going on. Bureaucracy is bureacracy, folks. It isn't known for productivity or encouraging freedom of thought or action. These actions were directed, intended to menace. How high up does it go? Time will tell, but lest you think this is a new thing, or a one-off, let me remind you that the same treatment has been given to outspoken Obama Administration detractors and - to go back to the election - to a simple man with a simple question, Joe the Plumber. Outraged yet? By rights, you ought to be! Consider next that the same IRS that has been targeting political undesirables will soon also have access to your health records and even more information about your personal life.
Change We Can Believe In? Sure, if your idea of losing freedom and living in a country where it is dangerous to speak your mind, with government workers free to menace private citizens, where you have no right to protect your own life (if they get their way), where there is no more due process...go back to sleep, take some more soma. You know, add in a wood chipper and some secret prisons and you've got Saddam Hussein's Iraq.
I'm incensed, both at the Administration and Congress and at the rest of the public which seems to be happy to ignore what's going on.
