Joy Reid

You just knew this was bound to happen. Some on the left are trying to blame George W. Bush for Obama's IRS fiasco.  Take for example Mediaite's resident Obama apologist Tommy Christopher, who wrote a much ado about nothing post on May 16 insinuating that this egregious abuse of government power stems from former Bush appointed IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman – and that credit for clearing this whole thing up will go to Obama. 

Christopher penned this piece using Martin Bashir’s May 16 broadcast, which featured Joy Reid of the Grio and Republican strategist Ron Christie.  During the exchange, Christie was forced to admit the Shulman was a Bush appointee, but so what? This scandal happened under Obama. The IRS executed this plan in 2010, and Shulman –and his successor Steve Miller– knew about it since the spring of 2012.  There is no doubt the agency lied about their knowledge of their employees’ malfeasance, and it happened under the Obama administration. Nevertheless, Christopher dutifully wove his spin, concluding:

Christie continued to argue that the IRS is not independent, because the President was able to fire Miller (or to demand his resignation), but that’s the key difficulty that the President’s opponents will have with this scandal, going forward. In order to argue that the misconduct was the result of an administration culture, they have to pin this on George W. Bush, but the credit for fixing it will all go to President Obama.

Earth to Christopher: this isn’t a partisan issue.  In fact, Democrats and Republican alike are furious over this bureaucratic nightmare.  It reeks of Nixon, which has left a sour taste in the mouth of liberals.  So, when Christopher says the President’s opponents, he really means the American people.  This simply cannot be spun with a straight face.

What's more, Christopher seems to forget that the administration possibly could’ve held onto Shulman to give the shamelessly false veneer that the president is concerned with bipartisanship and competent administration of the tax code.  It's impossible to imagine Christopher spinning the same nonsense if this happened under George w. Bush and a Clinton IRS holdover.

Here's a classic from the Obama playbook: Whenever you're in trouble, find a way to blame George W. Bush for it.

That concept was in play on Thursday afternoon's edition of MSNBC's Martin Bashir program, when the liberal host and contributor Joy Reid were able to convince their guest, GOP strategist Ron Christie, to admit that Steven Miller, the former acting director of the Internal Revenue Service, was appointed by “the previous administration,” a phrase used to describe Bush.

On Thursday's The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell, MSNBC contributor Joy Reid claimed that Republicans are going after Obama administration scandals because "the only thing that really unites conservatives and Republicans at this point is hatred of Barack Obama. So they're going to play it for all it's worth."

Host Lawrence O'Donnell had begun the discussion by reading from a National Review article cautioning Republicans against depending too much on scandal for electoral victory rather than pushing an agenda. O'Donnell suggested going after corruption in the Obama administration would hurt Republicans politically:

On Tuesday's The Last Word on MSNBC, substitute host Alex Wagner and MSNBC contributor Joy Reid rejoiced over the prospect of Republicans "alienating" minorities as Wagner devoted a segment to the disagreement between former Senator Jim DeMint of the Heritage Foundation and Senator Marco Rubio over the economic impact of immigration reform.

As Wagner welcomed Reid as a guest, the two mocked Republicans:

Liberal MSNBC anchor Chris Matthews and his guest lobbied for aggressive gun control on Monday. Matthews wasn't very subtle when he interrupted Joy Reid of the Grio.com to wonder, "You mean kill these gun shows? I'd love to see that."

Lamenting the existence of part of the Bill of Rights, Matthews ranted, "We've got a Second Amendment. I don't know what other country has anything like the Second Amendment but we darn well have it." The host continued, "How do we live with it and also live through it?"

During his special post-debate Hardball,  Chris Matthews's panelists -- with the exception of Republican Michael Steele -- praised moderator Bob Schieffer’s ability to get Romney “to be quiet.”  Apparently it’s the job of the moderator to keep the Republican docile during debates in the minds of liberals. 

Matthews also liked the format of Monday's debate because it denied Romney from being exhibiting "flagrant disrespect" towards President Obama.

After Secretary of State Hillary Clinton accepted the blame for the avoidable tragedy that occurred in Benghazi last month, one would think the media would be a little more critical of an administration that initially tried to cover it up with misinformation. While this sounds like a logical presumption, it hasn't been the case. Clinton was applauded for "falling on her sword" and taking responsibility for failing to protect those who were killed in the attack on the consulate.

MSNBC's Martin Bashir and his contributors didn't seem to think an apology was necessary however, blaming the Republicans in Congress for imposing cuts on foreign aid and embassy protection instead. In other words, it was all their fault and the Romney campaign has no right bringing it up. [ video below, MP3 audio available here ]

UPDATE AT END OF POST: O'Donnell responds.

It's really becoming difficult keeping track of all the things the liberal media claim are code for racism these days.

On MSNBC's The Last Word Monday, host Lawrence O'Donnell accused conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh of being racist for saying Barack Obama smoked weed and snorted coke (video follows with transcript and commentary):