Posted on 07/04/2014 6:51:24 AM PDT by Kaslin
Editor's note: This column originally appeared in the July issue of Townhall Magazine.
Despite President Obama’s promise of an “unprecedented level of openness in government,” the American people have unfortunately become accustomed to a new normal over the past six years: incompetence, scandal, and misconduct. When news breaks about freshly exposed corruption, the reaction of far too many is, “Unbelievable, but I’m not surprised.”
Since Obama took office in 2009, we’ve witnessed Operation Fast and Furious, Benghazi, Department of Justice spying on reporters and their families, IRS targeting of conservatives, the HealthCare.gov debacle, the GSA conference scandal, Solyndra, veterans dying as a result of secret wait lists within the Department of Veterans Affairs, and many, many more.
As a result of Fast and Furious, hundreds of Mexican citizens and U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry are dead. Benghazi left four Americans, U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens, Navy SEALs Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods, and Information Officer Sean Smith, dead. And at the VA, at least 40 veterans have died waiting for medical care.
Obama’s White House has not weathered these storms through luck alone. They have a well-thought-out, well-used playbook designed to lie to the American people, protect administration officials, and to avoid accountability or criminal prosecution.
Step 1: Play Dumb
The president and his political appointees knew nothing about what happened while it was happening and only learned about (insert scandal here) for the first time in the newspaper or on cable television. The president is mad as hell if the allegations are true and promises to hold someone accountable.
“I heard on the news about this story,” Obama told CNN in March 2011, “that— Fast and Furious, where allegedly guns were being run into Mexico, and ATF knew about it, but didn’t apprehend those who had sent [the guns].”
Step 2: Investigate Yourself
The president is deeply angry about the misconduct/incompetence demonstrated in (insert scandal here) and he will work hard to investigate what happened and hold those responsible accountable.
“The inspector general at the VA has launched investigations into the Phoenix VA and other facilities,” Obama announced in May, “I know that people are angry and want a swift reckoning. I sympathize with that. But we have to let the investigators do their job and get to the bottom of what happened. Our veterans deserve to know the facts. Their families deserve to know the facts. And once we know the facts, I assure you—if there is misconduct, it will be punished.”
Step 3: Blame Two-Bit Bureaucrats
The president is in no way responsible or in any way connected to those responsible for (insert scandal here). The culpable parties are just low-level employees in a small office far, far away from the White House and nobody in Washington knew anything about what happened. The federal government is really big and Obama can’t be expected to be held accountable for everything that goes wrong.
“Well, look, it’s an interesting case study, right, because if you look at the Inspector General’s report, apparently some folks down in the, bureaucracy, ya know—we have a large government—took it upon themselves to shorthand these applications for tax exempt status in a way that, as I said, was idiotic,” David Axelrod, former-senior adviser to the president, told MSNBC about the IRS scandal. “Part of being president is, there is so much beneath you that you can’t know, because the government is so vast.”
Step 4: Attack the Investigation
The president is trying really hard to work with Congress to get to the bottom of (insert scandal here). But those evil Republicans in Congress are not interested in good governance or the truth. We can’t possibly comply with their subpoenas.
When the House Energy and Commerce Committee subpoenaed the White House for documents relating to the al- most $400 million in taxpayer money lost on Solyndra, White House counsel Kathryn Ruemmler refused, writing, “The committee’s extremely broad request for documents—now a subpoena— is a significant intrusion on executive branch interests.” Ruemmler added that the investigation “was driven more by partisan politics than a legitimate effort to conduct a responsible investigation.”
Step 5: Pretend the Scandal Never Existed
The president is trying to move on and do the business of the American people, but these pesky Republicans keep focusing on a fake scandal that is now old news.
“Dude, this was like two years ago,” former-White House National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor told Fox News’ Bret Baier when pressed to explain his involvement in the Benghazi cover-up. “We’re talking about the process of editing talking points. That’s what bureaucrats do all day long.”
Obama has used this playbook with ruthless precision. As time goes by, the scandals go away. Nobody is fired and questions remain unanswered.
Saul Alinsky’s book “Rules for Radicals” may have inspired a generation of progressives, but Obama and his administration have clearly added a chapter of their own. •
Looks like Katie forgot to put the word “phony” in the header.
Frankly, when I see or hear the Obama Administration’s reactions or explanations about anything, I remember back to the time when I watched some black comedian’s monologue about “you gotta stick with the lie no matter what...”
I see reaffirmations of this nearly every day on Maury when some guy is confronted with DNA or lie-detector proof - “it ain’t true, baby - they wrong... I luvs you, b!tch.”
They are missing “Create a fake local scandal, then blow it into a national scandal”; this nonsense about Chris Christie and the George Washington Bridge is STILL in the news, and has never been connected to him. Even if it could be connected to him (and it won’t be), they are keeping up a steady barrage about ACCESS ROAD LANE CLOSURES. When they were criticized for ignoring originally Benghazi, and subsequently the VA and illegal “minors” scandals, they simply tried to look around (unsuccessfully) for someone (preferably an inferior-per-government-policy minority) who had died awaiting an ambulance caught in the resultin traffic jam.
We are living in frightening times; be prepared. The left has Hitler’s playbook.
Until the GOP gets some guts, nothing will be done. They think this election cycle is going to put them on top. Not gonna happen. They are fighting themselves. Political scene looks like a fire in a movie theatre. Everyone running away but no idea where they are going.
“Until the GOP gets some guts, nothing will be done. They think this election cycle is going to put them on top. Not gonna happen. They are fighting themselves.”
At this point it seems irrelevant; George W Bush expanded government and gave us the Patriot Act, MediCare drug benefit, the open border...
The whole two-party system is simply theater, with differing constituencies claiming the upper hand at different times but they are all being suckered.
Yes, and three-party allows you to be ruled by a minority (plurality)
Step 0: Call your media buddies to coordinate the narrative.
“Yes, and three-party allows you to be ruled by a minority (plurality)”
The European parliamentary system (which we mocked until we ended up with the same high taxes and unemployment) creates governments that are more responsive to citizens. Instead of being stuck for years with bad election choices, the government simply folds at any time and elections are held.
“Ask a potential GOP presidential candidate whether they support states banning contraception drugs. While the candidate is floudering to understand what the question actual was, claim that the GOP is still having a War on Women.”
The party has certainly wavered/lost focus on their core issues of twenty years ago.
Step 5. What difference does it make anyway? Nobody is going to do anything about the traitor.
Obama's playbook is based on having the press in his pocket... thanks to the suck-ups at the New York Times....
Step 5: Commit some other treasonous act that will distract the public from the preceding treasonous act. When anyone brings up the preceding treasonous act, declare that it’s old news, has been investigated and dismissed as strictly a partisan attack, and that we’ve moved past it and are getting on with the business of running the country (into the ground).
How about no-party, as George Washington advocated?
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