When it comes to investigative reporters, how do you change a bulldog into a lapdog? Easy: change the occupant of the Oval Office from a Republican into a Democrat.
Witness Carl Bernstein's pitiful performance on today's Morning Joe. The man who teamed with Bob Woodward to bring down Richard Nixon now credulously claims that he "can't imagine" that President Obama is possibly involved in the IRS targeting of conservative groups. Bernstein instead blames the "hyper-partisanship" in Washington. Yeah, cause politics were so kumbaya in 1972, Carl. View the video after the jump.
JOE SCARBOROUGH: You, obviously, were part of an investigation that led to the downfall of a president who used the IRS. Nobody is making -- Lisa Myers earlier said that we have zero evidence right now there is any connection between President Obama and the IRS. Just talk generally about how disturbing it is when the IRS.
. . .
CARL BERNSTEIN: Lisa Myers' point is correct. In the Nixon White House, we heard the President of the United States on tape saying use the IRS to get back at our enemies. I'd be very surprised --
SCARBOROUGH: That is what you would call a smoking gun, right? If you have it on tape!
BERNSTEIN: We know a lot about President Obama.
SCARBOROUGH: Buchanan was right. They should have burned the tapes! But go ahead.
BERNSTEIN: We know a lot about President Obama and I think the idea that he would want the IRS used for retribution, we have no evidence of any such thing. I think we also got a look at all of these events in the last couple of days in terms of the poisonous hyper-partisanship and ideological warfare in Washington that is making governance impossible.
. . .
WILLIE GEIST: Just to be clear, you're not saying, you said before we know President Obama, we can't make any connection: we're not saying because you like the guy that we should take his word that we should go on faith. This deserves a full hearing.
BERNSTEIN: Absolutely. Look. In fact, some people high up in the IRS and if there is anybody in the White House which I cannot imagine but if it turns out to be the case, there ought to be a full investigation of this. There also is a problem --
SCARBOROUGH: Can I ask you about that? You just said something interesting, you can't imagine anybody in the White House would know. Isn't that the benefit of the doubt that perhaps Democratic administrations get that Republican administrations do not get because you get this sense that the press has not been as aggressive on Benghazi because of the people that have beating the drum on Benhazi from the very beginning?
BERNSTEIN: I don't think that's so. I think that the press all around has been quite aggressive on Benghazi.
