The “Fast and Furious” scandal downplayed by Obama loyalists in the media for the past several months is becoming a serious liability for President Obama, with Attorney General Eric Holder appearing to commit perjury during a House Oversight Committee hearing. Justice Department memos released this week contradict Holder’s sworn testimony.
How bad is this situation for the White House? Even CBS News has been forced to show an interest in the story!
The question asked by House Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) was trimmed from the CBS News report: “When did you first know about the program officially, I believe, called Fast and Furious?” Simple question. No ambiguity. Same goes for Holder’s response: “I’m not sure of the exact date, but I probably heard about Fast and Furious for the first time over the last few weeks.”
The CBS News clip above lets Holder slide with an incredibly weak line about not understanding the question, but I doubt the average citizen will be so willing to drop the issue. With Republicans on the attack, Holder sent a letter to members of Congress on Friday:
“I have no recollection of knowing about the operation, called ‘Fast and Furious,’ or of hearing its name prior to the public controversy about it,” Holder said in a letter to key Republican and Democratic members of Congress.
He added that before early this year, “I certainly never knew about the tactics employed in the operation, and it is my understanding that the former United States Attorney for the district of Arizona and the former acting director and deputy director of ATF have told Congress that they, themselves, were unaware of the tactics employed.”
Because this is Barack Obama’s Attorney General we’re talking about, Holder’s letter was also required to meet a minimum threshold for Stuff Blamed On Dubya.
The attorney general noted the flawed tactics employed in Fast and Furious “were actually employed in an investigation conducted during the prior administration.”
In review, Obama’s Attorney General hadn’t heard about Fast and Furious until this spring… even though he received several memos mentioning the program dating back to early 2010. So maybe he heard about the operation, but it was probably a different one – which he made no attempt to clarify in his testimony because… ? Holder definitely doesn’t remember knowing anything, and what he did know but almost certainly forgot is really Bush’s fault anyway.
How many mulligan-years are we supposed to give the Obama administration, and at what point do Bush policies that Obama continues become “Obama policies?” Is it unfair to expect that the Attorney General read the briefings deemed important enough to cross his desk?
The hate-filled rhetoric [...] was cruel, lunatic, and illogical — and helped demonize President Bush as some sort of monster rather than the center-right moderate who had pressed for No Child Left Behind and the Medicare prescription-drug benefit, called for religious tolerance, warned against anti-Muslim violence after 9/11, won two bipartisan congressional authorizations for wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and implemented the largest medical-relief plan for Africa in U.S. history.
The history of American politics is chock-full of incivility, and Dubya is a prime example of the double standard at play. Obviously leftists get a pass on President Bush, because Progressivism is the vibrant, passionate antithesis to all the terrible things George W. Bush represents. Never mind that he represented those things because of the left’s unwavering belief in its own rhetoric. Today’s pleas for civility are an effort to silence opposition, plain and simple.
VDH’s mention of Bush and the leftist bile he endured reminded me of the only time I sent a letter to the school paper while I was at Miami. It was a couple weeks before the 2004 election, President Bush’s daughters had just visited campus for a campaign event, and the College Republicans were bringing Ann Coulter to Oxford.
Witty Op-Ed
Mean Conservative Response
The Miami Student, 10-22-2004, page 13
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The Miami Student, 10-26-2004, page 10
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Who’s more “civil” – the hatemonger conservative, or the hipster journalism minor? A trivial example, sure. But even though Miami is a relatively conservative campus, The Miami Student‘s editors saw fit to print a sex fantasy attacking a conservative pundit and, for good measure, objectifying the president’s daughters. Imagine if we pulled a few autumn 2004 editorials from the student papers at Berkeley, Columbia, or NYU!
This is one of the great things about freedom of speech. Give a complete jackass ten minutes or a slot on the Opinion page, and he’ll say something closely resembling, “I am a complete jackass.”
“America and Islam are not exclusive,” he said, “and need not be in competition. Instead, they overlap, and share common principles of justice and progress, tolerance and the dignity of all human beings.”
All the right people are taking notice of the pretty things President Obama says and the pretty ways he says them.
“There is a change between the language of President Obama and previous speeches made by George Bush,” said Fawzi Barhoum, a spokesman for Hamas.
This from a Hamas representative. Hamas, whose charter includes such gems as “Allah is its target, the Prophet is its model, the Koran its constitution: Jihad is its path and death for the sake of Allah is the loftiest of its wishes.”
Golly, this Barack character must be a top-notch thinker, if he can warm the cockles of even a Hamas spokesman’s heart. Whereas famous quotes from President Bush include*, “There ain’t no Muslims in Am-uhr-ica,” and “We’s gonna bomb them thar Islamics,” President Obama is a beacon of enlightenment for his countrymen. Being a Muslim is not the same as being a terrorist! Not all Muslims participate in or condone violence as a means of enacting sharia law!
Now that we’ve worked those things out, it’s just a matter of getting the jerk-bag Israelis to quit whining about “Muslim extremists” suicide bombing their “women” and “children.” Why, just because the Palestinians have used every new piece of land as additional rocket launching ground, the Israelis think they have a right to stop giving Palestinians land!
But as he presses Netanyahu for concessions, Obama has to be looking over his shoulder toward the powerful Israeli lobby in the United States and the many deeply conservative Christian organizations that back Israeli policy without question.
Emphasis mine. Doggone Christians, supporting The Jews (cue scary music) without thought or hesitation. They could learn something from the populations of the world’s free, competitive, advanced Muslim countries!
* Oh wait, President Bush mostly said the same things President Obama is saying, minus the constant preening about how magnificently multicultural he was for saying them.
The United Auto Workers union would appear to be the big winner in the Chrysler bankruptcy saga, having exercised its considerable political muscle to win a 55 percent stake in the country’s third-largest automaker.
You win …a company that you’ve helped run into the ground. I so wish President Bush had been a less compassionate Conservative and let the UAW’s house tumble around them. Sure, the union bosses wouldn’t be the ones getting screwed, but a few more years’ union dues later and most of the hourly employees will be out of work anyway. The lifeline Bush threw was long enough that now President Obama gets to act tough about saving us money while arranging juicy deals for the UAW and framing poor fuel economy as the reason for all woes.
On the bright side, the German and Japanese carmakers can hire more American workers using all the advertising money they no longer need to spend. With 2/3 of domestic manufacturers run by the unions and the federal government, competition won’t exactly be at an all-time high.
The slow demise of General Motors (GM) is visibly intertwined with the inefficient labor contracts that the United Auto Workers (UAW) secured in decades past. Regular media stories showcasing problems at GM and Delphi send a potent signal to other U.S. workers that big labors ideal business model is a bust.
The UAW started making concessions during 2007 contract negotiations and that helped in negotiating the stakes they stand to gain now. At the time, both GM and Chrysler had huge labor cost disadvantages compared with Japanese automakers, mainly because they have far more retirees and had agreed to pay their health care bills.
For GM, the health care tab is projected to total $46.7 billion over the lives of about 350,000 retirees and spouses. At Chrysler, it’s $10.9 billion for around 82,000 retirees.
The UAW pushed GM and Chrysler towards bankruptcy to score political points and maintain control of their constituents by “guaranteeing” unsustainable benefits. Hmm…. why does that sound so familiar?
I’m one of those clueless Midwestern rubes who thinks most reporters are ridiculously biased towards Democrats. You could view as an example anything about Obama’s first 100 days in office that wasn’t produced by Fox News, The New York Post, or the Wall Street Journal. Joe Klein’s contribution in Time, for instance:
But in prose that was spare and clear and compelling, the President proceeded…
And,
The combination of candor and vision and the patient explanation of complex issues was Obama at his best and more than any other moment of his first 100 days in office, it summed up the purpose of his presidency: a radical change of course not just from his predecessor, not just from the 30-year Reagan era but also from the quick-fix, sugar-rush, attention-deficit society of the postmodern age.
Press coverage of President Obama – like coverage of Obama the candidate – is glowing and supportive because reporters agree with Obama. No conspiracy required. The premise we’re supposed to accept from Fox News and CNN alike is that reporters can talk about politics objectively day in and out. False.
Joe Klein doesn’t even have the excuse of talking for hours a day on some 24-hour cable news channel. But he can’t help using a first and a second and a third complimentary adjective when reporting on Obama’s speech. Even when he suggests the possiblity of Obama’s policies being wrong, it’s only to jab at President Bush:
Whether you agree with him or not whether you think he is too ambitious or just plain wrong his is as serious and challenging a presidency as we have had in quite some time.
Because nothing about 9/11, al Qaeda, Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, etc prompted seriousness from President Bush. If Joe Klein wants to assert that President Bush was unserious about a number of domestic issues, I’d agree with him there. But not for the same reasons, if I were to make a wild guess.
The piece continues as expected – Obama’s first 100 days as wonderful as FDR’s, unlikeable Republicans, glorious post-Dubya diplomacy – and nothing else seems worth mention until the end.
There are those who mistake his quiet, deliberative style for softness. There is the fear that he won’t have the strength to stand up to the Israelis (or the Iranians) or to the left wing of his party on health care or to the porkers on the defense budget.
Emphasis mine. This sentence sums up so much of what’s wrong with Progressive thinking. Who in their right mind lists a failure to stand up to Israel as a concern, and then lists Iran as an afterthought? As for “the left wing of his party” – Dear Joe: Obama is obviously the left wing of his party, if you pay a little less attention to his words and a little more attention to his actions. Oh, and the defense budget! Earmarks and special interest funding by the billions in the stimulus and domestic budget are no concern, but America’s doomed if we buy too many F-22As!
Joe Biden, Vice President and Ever’day Guy, is still fired up about that awful President Bush and everything he wrecked. Don’t worry, there’s a new sheriff in town, and his assistant is helping with PR in what’s shaping up to be a neverending campaign:
Mr. Obama also ordered the closing of the secret overseas detention program for Al Qaeda that the C.I.A. created after the 2001 terrorist attacks.
Mr. Biden said the new presidents actions reverse the policies that in my view and the view of many in this agency caused America to fall short of its founding principles and which gave Al Qaeda a powerful recruiting tool.
How long can Obama and Biden fiddle this tune? The economy is bad because that Dubya, he deregulated things. Arabs hate us because, didn’t you know, President Bush had Marines knocking random doors throughout the Middle East and hauling off whoever answered! Why, before the United States started imprisoning foreign terror suspects, Al Qaeda had nothing but the Muslim Brotherhood, Saudi funding of Wahhabist extremism, wrecked economies, uneducated populations, jealousy of the West, and a generally hopeless Middle East to ease recruiting!
If things don’t turn around in Afghanistan, I’m sure it will be because President Bush cooked up those concerns about Saddam, who everybody knew was no big deal. If Iraq’s young democracy fails, it will be because President Bush was too stupid to let the Ba’athists have their playground. If Iran nukes Israel, look no further than President Bush and his childish snubbing of the annual March Madness with Mahmoud tournament pool and cocktail mixer.
So remember, any time you’re wondering, “Why is ____ such a mess?” the answer is, “Because George W. Bush ruined ____.” Lest you forget, President Obama will be providing reminders in every press conference and public address for the next 8 years. No need to dwell on the mistakes of Congressional Democrats or overgrown bureaucracy when the solution to every problem is to spend more money and speak more eloquently than your predecessor!
Obama poured scorn on Republican critics who said the stimulus bill lacked enough tax cutting measures and pointed his finger at the polices of his Republican predecessor George W. Bush for dragging the country into recession.
“We can’t expect relief from the tired old theories that, in eight short years, doubled the national debt, threw our economy into a tailspin, and led us into this mess in the first place,” Obama said.
“We can’t rely on a losing formula that offers only tax cuts as the answer to all our problems while ignoring our fundamental economic challenges.”
The MoveOn.org tone is unbecoming. How long will we have to listen to this fairytale where President Bush harmed the country by being insufficiently progressive? More spending! More regulation! More taxes! We have a lot of making up to do after 8 years under that deregulation-crazed, tax-cutting cowboy!
This whole situation has been a perfect opportunity for Obama the Centrist, if only he existed. Every bill Nancy Pelosi supports and every statement she makes provides new nonsense he could position himself to the right of. Why not encourage the idea of spending an assload of money on liberal pet projects while paying lip service to trimming the most ridiculous features and letting Americans keep more of their money? Because Obama is Pelosi with a better speaking voice.
When it comes to our relations with Palestine, no news is good news – especially while Israel is bombing ‘em. For as long as I can remember, when America steps in to “encourage dialogue” or “build a roadmap” it’s a boon to Hamas, the Palestinian Authority, or whatever rabid creatures are running the Palestinian territories at the time.
Over the weekend, it seemed like Dubya and the State Department were content to sit back and let Israel defend herself. No more:
At a briefing for reporters in Crawford, Texas, where President Bush is spending the holidays, White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said U.S. diplomacy is aimed not at a cease-fire in name only that could break down in days or weeks – but one that is lasting:
“We have got to get a commitment from Hamas that they would respect any cease-fire and make it lasting and durable,” said Johndroe. “And, so, until we can get that assurance – not the United states, but until Israel can get that assurance from Hamas -then we’re not going to have a cease-fire that is worth the paper it’s written on.”
When has any agreement with Hamas been worth the paper it’s written on? When has any Palestinian group respected a cease-fire for longer than it takes to replenish their rocket supply?
It’s no surprise that CNN downplays the random rocket fire endured by Israelis month after month, while lamenting the plight of ravaged Palestine. It’s no surprise that the UN and European Union rush to tut-tut Israel’s “disproportionate” response to ongoing terrorism. And sadly, it’s no surprise that the President and the State Department can at best be relied on for a few days of silence before pitching in another $85 million and pleas for useless diplomacy.
It’s disappointing that President Bush gave in to all the hubbub about bankruptcy for GM and Chrysler bringing Earth to a screeching halt. What many pundits have said about the relatively small amount of money indicating Bush is punting the issue to the Obama administration comes as no relief. If you weren’t convinced this whole mess should be sorted out by bankruptcy courts instead of the President and Congress, look no further:
No matter the steps Mr. Obama takes, he is likely to seek a range of opinions. That is what happened in June 2006, when he invited a group of environmental leaders to meet with him to discuss legislation that would increase fuel economy.
At the time, none at the meeting knew that Mr. Obama planned a presidential bid, said Mr. Becker, who was then representing the Sierra Club.
He said that Mr. Obama told them: If you guys think this is helpful, then I want to go ahead and push this. But if you dont think its helpful, Ill drop it. I dont have to do this.
Excellent. I’ve always said the Sierra Club and other “environmental leaders” should have more influence over our auto manufacturing companies. This is why my feelings on the car industry meltdown have been and remain to be let them burn. Insistence that we “bail out” GM, Chrysler, or anyone else with taxpayer funds is based on the inherently broken assumption that the companies as they are can be rescued, if only Washington had more control.
Even in the New York Times story there are a few blips of common sense:
Mr. Obama said he would provide up to $3 billion to Detroit auto companies and their suppliers to retool their factories in order to produce smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles. Still, with gasoline prices falling again, it is unclear whether consumer demand will shift so dramatically to small cars.
Emphasis mine. Luckily, not much time is wasted considering market influences in a story about the myriad ways government can fix the industry. More money for ethanol! Higher CAFE standards! And –shoot, that’s the extent of the Obama Plan for Hippy-Happy Cars. I will be surprised (and pleasantly so, to be sure) if the end result is anything but a slower “meltdown” with billions of taxpayer dollars thrown after what GM and Chrysler have already blown.
Surely by now you’ve seen the clip of the Iraqi reporter throwing his shoes at President Bush. As with everything else for the better part of a decade, it’s clearly a sign that Bush wrecked America’s former homecoming queen status in the Arab world. You’ll also learn, if you skim the comments (and sadly, some of the contributors’ content) on posts at Politico, the Washington Post, etc, that this proves:
President Bush is ruining the lives of John and Suzie Q. Iraqi!
President Bush’s security is terrible because of how incompetent he is!
President Bush is Saddam times ten!
Other, even less coherent truths that are obvious to everyone except The Neocons!
When I saw the clip, it seemed like a perfect summary of Bush’s presidency. Something gets thrown at his face; he smiles, ducks, and returns to what he was doing. Byron York noted several wonderful quotes from an Air Force One press conference following the incident:
THE PRESIDENT: Okay, my opening statement: I didn’t know what the guy said, but I saw his sole .I’m pretty good at ducking, as most of you will know
And:
THE PRESIDENT: I don’t think you can take one guy throwing shoes and say this represents a broad movement in Iraq. You can try to do that if you want to. I don’t think it would be accurate.
QUESTION: Well, then, separately from him
THE PRESIDENT: That’s exactly what he wanted you to do. Like I answered on your question, what he wanted you to do was to pay attention to him. And sure enough, you did
[There was a noise on board the plane.]
THE PRESIDENT: The other shoe just dropped. Look, I’m going to be thinking of shoe jokes for a long time. I haven’t heard any good ones yet.
Isn’t one of the President’s daughters still single? I’m holding out hope.
Saturday, 10-08-11, 07:00:28am 
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