Observation: scandal is hardly new. Hence that old idiom => A skeleton in the closet.
Since President Donald Trump defied everyone’s expectations and became the Republican Party’s nominee for the presidency, he has been the target of accusations. With unrelenting fury, Democrats and never-Trump Republicans have sought after their own personal holy grail, a verifiable skeleton in Donald Trump’s closet. The legacy news media’s neutral and wholly unbiased “investigators” have, of course, repeatedly “found” what they were looking for. Hence, the Trump administration has been “proven guilty as charged” more than once, and the concerned reader and viewers of these “investigators” have demanded that Trump’s supporters abandon him so that they remove the supposed scoundrel from the office of the presidency.
To put the legacy news media’s unending stream of accusations in proper perspective, I posted REVIEWING WHAT WE KNEW ABOUT THE SORRY STATE OF AMERICAN POLITICS. That post focused on Hillary Clinton. Here we change the focus to former President Barack Obama.
Remember this from the closing days of the Obama administration?
Obama’s closest adviser says president has been scandal-free (nypost.com)
Scandal, what scandal?
President Obama has been squeaky clean, according to his closest adviser, Valerie Jarrett.
“The president prides himself on the fact that his administration hasn’t had a scandal and he hasn’t done something to embarrass himself,” Jarrett said in an interview broadcast on CNN Sunday. (continued here)
Well, some were happy to agree.
- Obama’s Gift to Hillary Clinton (slate.com): This actually appeared in Slate in 2015.
- ‘An amazingly scandal-free administration’ (msnbc.com): In 2015 MSNBC even managed to find a “Conservative” that agreed that the Obama administration had been amazingly scandal-free administration.
- We Can’t Forget All The ‘Scandals’ Of The Obama White House (huffingtonpost.com): This article belittled the critics with satire.
Some, however, do not think the Obama administration was scandal.
- The Biggest Obama Scandals Are Proven and Ignored (theatlantic.com): A Liberal Democrat’s list.
- Top adviser claims President Obama ‘hasn’t had a scandal’ – to ridicule from critics who point to ‘rap sheet as long as my arm’ (dailymail.co.uk): A UK perspective.
- The “remarkably scandal free” Obama administration and Top adviser: Obama had no scandals while president (hotair.com): The first article links to a column by David Brooks and has a bit of fun with it. The second notes Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett claims about a scandal-free administration and Obama’s popularity in the polls.
- Obama Administration Scandals (powerlineblog.com): Still have to find time to peruse all the links here.
- 9 Controversies Obama Didn’t Mention When He Denied Any ‘Major Scandals’ (dailysignal.com): Note this quote.
“Here’s a guy who called my administration perhaps the most corrupt in history, despite the fact that actually, we have not had a major scandal in my administration,” Obama told Democratic donors.
- Stop Pretending The Obama Administration Was ‘Scandal Free.’ It Wasn’t (thefederalist.com): Video collection of scandal-free quotes. List of five major scandals.
- 18 Major Scandals in Obama’s ‘Scandal-Free’ Presidency (breitbart.com)
- ‘Conservative’ praises ‘scandal-free’ Obama (wnd.com): This goes back to 06/2015 after New York Times columnist David Brooks spouted off about Obama’s scandal-free administration.
- Scandal free? C’mon and Gutfeld: What Obama’s ‘scandal-free’ reign really got us (foxnews.com): To satisfy those who accuse me bias, I have to have links from Fox News. Would not want to disappoint anyone.
What is the truth of the matter? Perhaps the biggest scandal is the legacy news media’s utter blindness, but that’s another post for another lifetime. Who cares anymore? What is clear is that the Obama administration and its supporters are so shameless they can even lie about the absence of scandals. Scandal-free? Really? Even to state such a thing is Orwellian.
So what should we do? Prayer would be a good start. Without the help of God we are not going to repent and fix this mess.
What does the Obama administration’s assertion that they were scandal-free demonstrate? We don’t elect humble politicians. What do the scandals demonstrate? Once we elect enough politicians who think winning is everything, scandals proliferate.
Check out A hero only to a lynch mob (washingtontimes.com).
None was more efficient than Harry Reid, the U.S. senator from Las Vegas and the majority leader of the Senate in 2012, when he declared, without showing anything remotely like evidence, that Mitt Romney, the Republican nominee for president, had not paid his federal income taxes for 10 years. The only way he could have learned that was from a leak at the Internal Revenue Service, presided over at the time by a Barack Obama man, so we know that couldn’t have happened. Mr. Reid, a onetime boxer who knows all the ways to take advantage of an opponent in the clinches, had to make it up. He was eventually exposed as a liar, and a reporter asked him after the election whether his lies smacked as McCarthyism.
“Well,” he replied, “they can call it anything they want. Romney didn’t win, did he?” (from here)
When sufficient numbers of us fail to hold the people we elect accountable, our leaders don’t have the power to hold each other accountable. Did high officials in the Obama administration go to jail? Could be wrong, but I don’t recall any. Nevertheless, the Obama administration was riddled was scandals. No one went to jail because Democrats would not hold the Obama administration accountable, and everyone knows it. So Republicans did not bother to pursue impeachment charges even when they should have done so.
Now Democrats, with hypocrisy every bit as vast as that of a right-wing conspiracy, complain Republicans refuse to hold President Donald Trump accountable.
Is there a vast right-wing conspiracy? To do what? Are politicians conspiring to run every last detail of our lives? Is it not obvious? Don’t these same politicians react indignantly when told enough is enough? Half of our paycheck is not enough?
Donald Trump may not be humble, but the hopeful audacity with which he has sought power over others does not come close to that of Hillary Clinton’s or Barack Obama’s. Therefore, we should not abandon him to a lynch mob just because the legacy news media and a bunch of lying Liberal Democrats are having a hissy fit. They have lied too many times. They have destroyed their credibility. They are just not believable any more.
Citizen Tom 
The problem is arrogance to a mind-bending degree. We used to refer to that a pride.
Enough arrogance, and there is no limit to what one will do, and simultaneously excuse oneself for, and truly believe those excuses in one’s heart. Neither Obama nor Clinton are capable of shame, so no scandal!
Yep!
Just a thought… maybe “we” need to define exactly what makes a scandal.. or how to define it. There are some events on some of these link lists that seem pretty benign as a typical scandal. Many seem simply like normal violations of process, intent, or operational authority by specific people employed in the Obama administration that pretty much occur within any administration over time. Case in point.. that troublesome Phoenix VA hospital forcing vets on some waiting list. It’s hardly a reflection on any administration itself; if anything a quality control problem that’s the responsibility of the VA director. It’s not like it was across the entire VA. You might call it a local scandal perhaps.
To me I would presume a “scandal” would be a collapse of process or exceeding or abusing authority or resources or even some immoral performance , that would have broad impact to an elected individual’s ability to perform their job (a personal scandal) or across governmental entities to suggest a lack in overall leadership or poor policy. Scandals tend to stick around and many times end up as extended investigations. On the other hand… a scandal could be defined as simple as some event the press picks up on and doesn’t let it go.
I suppose declaring the Obama administration “scandal free” is subjective.
@Doug
When people are dying waiting for health care because of the ineptitude of the government, that’s not a scandal?
=> https://www.cnn.com/2015/09/02/politics/va-inspector-general-report/index.html
=>http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/40-veterans-die-va-hospital-secret-wait-list-report-article-1.1767284
The VA is s jobs program operated for the benefit of government employee unions. Instead of using a government-run hospital system, vets should be subsidized so that they can go to the same decent hospitals everyone else’s uses.
Again… quit the emotion and define scandal. Personally I think Trump becoming president is the greatest scandal of this young century thus far. But that’s just me.
I will let the list of charges speak for themselves. Many of them have effectively been proven.
“Just a thought… maybe “we” need to define exactly what makes a scandal.. or how to define it. There are some events on some of these link lists that seem pretty benign as a typical scandal. Many seem simply like normal violations of process, intent, or operational authority by specific people employed in the Obama administration that pretty much occur within any administration over time.”
I agree. Yet there’s irony here since you jump on every whiff of potential scandal without even evidence…if it pertains to Trump. The media loved Obama and still does. By contrast, they absolutely hate Trump. And they largely control the news and the way information is relayed.
“Case in point.. that troublesome Phoenix VA hospital forcing vets on some waiting list. It’s hardly a reflection on any administration itself; if anything a quality control problem that’s the responsibility of the VA director. It’s not like it was across the entire VA.”
Actually the problem did span the entire VA (and elsewhere). When the government shut down and “only essential personel” showed up to work for a time….those folks who process the financial paperwork (to approve procedures/accept new patients, ect) are considered “non-essential”. With no one to process the paperwork no one could be admitted (nor new procedures approved). Once the machine started up again it took months to catch up…too long for a lot of elderly patients to stay alive.
Just to add, it’s not like the VA was ever an efficient machine…take an inefficient process and then stop it up for some weeks as the bureaucratic paperwork continues to build up, it becomes a nightmare. I know because our paycheck after the shutdown was about two months late.
@anon
The Founders made Federal Government inefficient by design. That’s why we have all the checks and balances. They did not want the Federal Government to do all that much. What no one anticipated, however, is that limited government is relatively efficient. That is because there are some things we all believe the government should do, and we don’t fight like cats and dogs over those things. Unfortunately, once some people saw government could be made relatively efficiently, they got the 16th Amendment passed and started taxing and spending. Then government started to balloon. Ever since then it has become increasingly unmanageable.
Are you a Medal of Honor family??
My spouse is currently active duty.
The Tricare tiered system is pretty convoluted and changes pretty often.
I’m not sure what “Medal of Honor family” means at present?
I was speculating from a previous post where you said you and hubby had a visit with the President.. and then receiving a check from the VA.. which usually means some measure of disability.. so I just tried adding it up. Certainly a Medal of Honor recipient must include by extension the immediate family as they are the support system.
Just thinking further…you’re likely referring to our “check being late”.
He was a reservist that year (TR, meaning traditional reservist) so he had active duty orders. Those orders needed to be processed…hence, the long delay in payment. With the TFI (total force initiative…reservists, guard, active duty all kind of mixed), government shutdowns have a more significant impact on military readiness than before.
It’s a long explanation (and I only have a rudimentary knowledge, experiencing it second hand). It all has to do with different budgeting/different piles of money, slated for different things.
Gotcha.
Oh, sorry I’ll explain a bit.
He was the acting commander in charge of the base at the time.
They were vacationing, and it was not supposed to be a public affair, so as a courtesy (to my knowledge) they tried not to publicize anything (there is an entourage of security necessary whenever the president does anything…including clearing all air traffic, et al).
I didn’t hear about it until after they’d left the state a day or two later (that’s when my husband told me the anecdote that he was impressed). I’ve always believed that the measure of a person is more what they do when they don’t think anyone is looking…how they treat the waiter, for example. By that measure Obama passed the test (as does Trump, from what I’ve heard…and the Bush family did as well).
Trump brings it all onto himself… the press needs to do nothing but report on it. Free press. Trump lies… responsible media calls him out on it.
…and somehow the VA issue was Obama’s fault? Of course the expose happened under his watch and the buck stops there… but there’s a reality on what constitutes a scandal.
Why is the VA issue the only one you have chosen to mention?
😀
Brevity.. and the fact of all on a list I read there the VA thing seemed the least “scandalous” in general… the press didn’t cover it for every long.. and it was totally a procedural mismanagement thing and not someone trying to skirt the law for money and power nonsense.
People dying needlessly? That’s does not qualify as a scandal?
🤔🙄😮😣
Well, I dunno.. what’s the definition of a scandal?
See the dictionary.
Oh.. and there was no sexual componant involved. 🙂
You may wish to look up scandal in the dictionary.
There aren’t a lot of really informative military blogs anymore…I used to read a few but they’ve kind of gone away (sign of the times, cost to gains equation doesn’t figure, sadly). Back in the day I read Neptunus Lex (formal Naval pilot, RIP), Abu Mugawama (became a beltway warrior, RIP), and Intel Dump.
Intel Dump was unusual as it was written by an Army JAG named Phil Carter, and had a more liberal bent to it than the others. It was informative, and Phil Carter had served a number of years to include a year’s stint working with the Iraqi police as an embedded advisor in Baqubah.
Phil campaigned heavily for Obama, and was ecstatic when he was elected.
Carter was appointed the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Detainee Affairs, and the chief architect of the Obama administration plan to close Guantanamo Bay. He was appointed in March and resigned a mere eight months later “for personal reasons”.
Then he went ghost.
We know what happened to that plan (and Trump was right to scrap the whole thing) and I always suspected Carter must’ve encountered a very harsh and frustrating lesson as reality smashed his dreams.
People don’t know what they don’t know.
So I tend to give folks a lot of leeway when it comes to military decision making.
We’re all working with incomplete data.
Aside from his appointments (SoS goes without saying, but military leadership too was a disaster with Ash Carter, Deborah Lee James, et al), I wasn’t a real Obama critic. But at the end of things he did some things that were actually bad for the country, and I think he had to have known it…so he must’ve had purely political motives. Which made little sense to me at the time.
One of the things was rescinding NSEERS in a way that would make it impossible to immediately start up again by taking away all the regulating framework which had been put on hold in the event that it might be needed again. I believed it to be a political move, because he knew it (or something similar) would have to be reinstated again…but it placed Trump in the hot seat from the get-go and forced him to make an immediate executive order.
Another thing Obama did was approve transgenders in the military during the few final months of his presidency…ensuring whatever problems they’d befall the next president, not him, though he was assured a legacy. Those who have squawked about Trump’s rescinding this (only a few months old) policy “without guidelines” should note Obama instated the policy with no guidelines whatsoever.
@anon
Frankly, the Obama administration’s policies were awful. When the Obama administration implemented any policy, the results were also awful.
Ask a Liberal Democrat what Obama did right. What’s the answer? Good intentions? Isn’t that the road to Hell?
Looking forward to tracking down all these links, Tom! Thanks so much for your ever thorough analysis!
I’m not a conspiracy minded person, but I do believe in the power of tribalism and that it is the cause more than anything else for otherwise good people to not see or smell the enormous pile of poop their favored politicians have amassed. This trend favors Democrats because they have the support of the media and Hollywood, which soared to absurd levels during the Obama era. The Right suffers from it too though.
It is a big problem, but I can’t think of a time when it wasn’t. Praying is a good suggestion Tom as well as being diligent and wise in our voting choices. Having a strong voice to point out when our guy or gal does wrong is essential too.
@Tricia
Conspiracies happen, but there are usually simpler explanations.
What does a conspiracy look like? C. S. Lewis wrote a speech that I think provides a good description: => http://www.lewissociety.org/innerring.php.
HEAR, HEAR!!!
The eye has significant meanings related to wisdom in many cultures since ancient times.
Examples.
Contemporary idioms and song verses:
“Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder”
“I was blind but now I see.”.
Ancient
The moon god Sin was termed “the Eye of Heaven and Earth.” Despite their frightening appearance, the gods could nonetheless extend a kindly eye toward some people: “The kindly eyes of the god will seek out the man again and again.”148
What-s My Point?
In my opinion, Obama has been blessed by the kindly eye of the mass media throughout his two terms.
Not too certain how he will fare with the Godsin time.
Not too certain he has a good mirror in his house either.
As in water face answereth to face, so the heart of man to man.(Proverb 27:19)
As in water face answereth to face,…. As water is as a looking glass, in which a man may behold his own face and another’s; or as the face in the water answers to the face of a man, and there is a great likeness between them. All things through water appear greater, as Seneca (m) observes, and so more clear and plain;(Gils Commentary)
Source link
6. “The Pupil Of Your Eye”: God’s Eye And Our Perception
https://bible.org/seriespage/6-pupil-your-eye-god-s-eye-and-our-perception
Regards and goodwill blogging.
@scatterwisdom
Thank you for such a thoughtful comment.