As the Hillary-loving media predictably pile on embattled New Jersey Governor Chris Christie (R), they’ve completely forgotten how many scandals the current White House was involved in last year that the President claimed he had no knowledge of and his always dutiful press backed his play.
With this in mind, NBC Tonight Show host Jay Leno on Thursday began his opening monologue on the growing Bridgegate joking, “Pundits are saying this could hurt [Christie’s] 2016 presidential campaign. The ironic thing is now that Christie is denying everything he sounds even more presidential (video follows with transcript and commentary):
JAY LENO: A lot of news today. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie in the news, as you know. He doesn't know yet if he is running for president in 2016. I guess he'll cross that bridge when he comes to it. [Laughter]
Well, this has turned into a huge scandal. Apparently somebody in Governor Christie's office, as you know, was involved in that traffic lane closure at the George Washington bridge that clogged up a major artery. Caused a huge traffic jam. And the allegation is it was done in retaliation against the mayor of Fort Lee for not supporting Christie's re-election campaign. But Christie is denying any personal involvement. He said he was too busy clogging his own arteries at the time. So he didn't, he couldn't. [Laughter and applause]
Pundits are saying this could hurt his 2016 presidential campaign. The ironic thing is now that Christie is denying everything he sounds even more presidential, doesn't he? [Laughter] That's what presidents do. They deny everything.
Yes, they certainly do.
And when their name is followed with a “D” in parenthesis, their media dutifully tell the citizenry that a president can’t possibly know everything that’s going on in his administration and therefore can’t be held responsible for all the blunders.
The press nicely took this position when our consulate was attacked in Benghazi, Libya, in September 2012 resulting in the deaths of four Americans including our ambassador.
The same position was taken when it was revealed that the Internal Revenue Service was targeting Tea Party groups.
And when the administration was caught spying on the Associated Press as well as Fox News’s James Rosen.
And when a broader domestic surveillance program was reveal by National Security Agency leaker Ed Snowden.
In all those incidents, President Obama went before the nation and said he had no knowledge of the scandals, and his lapdogs in the media covered his play.
But let a popular Republican governor possibly looking to defeat the sainted Hillary Clinton for president in 2016 have a scandal in his administration, and the buck stops with him.
Sadly, the last time the press allowed the buck to stop at a Democratic president’s desk was Harry Truman.
Of course, they had to.
That was after all his motto.
