Today President Barack Obama criticized Republicans for, among other transgressions, “phony scandals.” Press secretary Jay Carney’s used the term multiple times this week. It seems Obama’s pals in the media like that theme.
On CNN Newsroom’s 2:30 ET segment, anchor Brooke Baldwin:
BALDWIN: Since the president's re-election we have had Sandy Hook and his failed push for gun control. We have had so-called scandals. We've had the push for immigration reform, crises overseas. So you might be asking where did the economy go as an issue? It's the be all and end all, right?
Two hours later on The Lead with Jake Tapper, host John Berman discussed efforts to keep Hillary Clinton from becoming president:
BERMAN: Tracy, let me start with you. Say she does run -- hypothetically, of course, Hillary Clinton running, hypothetically. She's got a lot of experience, she's been in the public sphere for a long, long time. But there are a lot of things, these scandals, so-called scandals that go back a long, long time. All the way from Whitewater to Benghazi. Will she have to address this?
So-called scandals. In the Whitewater investigation, the man described by Bill Clinton as his best friend and his appointee as associate attorney general, Webster Hubbell, went to prison. The Clintons' Whitewater business partners, Susan and James McDougal, both went to prison, with Mr. McDougal dying while incarcerated.
When Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans were murdered in Benghazi more than ten months ago, senior Obama administration staffers claimed they died because of a YouTube video. Liberal Congressman Steve Lynch (D-MA) said: “Well, it was scrubbed. It was totally inaccurate. There's no excuse for that. It was false information.” Apparently, Benghazi qualifies as a “so-called” scandal.
On the Internal Revenue Service’s targeting of conservative groups, the acting IRS commissioner resigned and CNN itself reported:
Announcing the resignation to reporters Wednesday, President Barack Obama said the agency's misconduct was "inexcusable."
"Americans have a right to be angry about it, and I'm angry about it," Obama said.
And, of course, there was no there there on reports that Obama’s Department of Justice examined Associated Press employees’ telephone metdata as well as the emails of Fox News journalist James Rosen. That’s why earlier this month DOJ issued new guidelines.
It's only some so-called scandals. Nothing to see here. Just move along.
