The Psychology of a Scandal

Dignitas News Service ^ | June 5, 2014 | Lauren Thomas

[dignitasnews]

This week, we learned that the President of the United States made an unprecedented and illegal decision to retrieve one soldier held captive as a POW, who most have dubbed a deserter, for five high-ranking Taliban Guantanamo prisoners, as some have pejoratively labeled the “Dream Team.” In a reckless and what can only be labeled a political move, the President violated the law by allowing the release of Guantanamo prisoners without notifying Congress thirty days in advance, as per the law that Obama, in fact, signed. This is an unconscionable act, which has grave consequences for our nation, since we cannot be sure that the individuals that were released to the Taliban won’t make an attack on our country in the future. As we delve into the psychological aspects of these Obama’s scandals, we see another example of the lawless runaway executive branch, and its increasingly cavalier attitude towards Congress and the Constitution.

Forget for a moment Bowe Bergdahl’s questionable status as a soldier, and the fact that he allegedly wandered off of his post, or the arguments going around on whether or not he should have even been saved or traded. The tendency of the media to get caught up in one part of the narrative and forgets the other parts of the equation. Focus instead on the fact that we have now completely forgotten another horrific situation that was all over the news last week: the VA scandal.

The VA scandal, which resulted in the actual deaths of veterans while they waited endlessly for care, was a scandal so notable, that even the mainstream media got around to covering it. Of course, that included somehow blaming Republicans for lack of funding for the VA, though the VA’s budget has exploded in the past ten years, and it really has nothing to do with the bureaucratic mess and corruption that exists inside that department. Like the abject failure of the public schools, so-called progressives in Washington continue to blame straw men like lack of funding, or the so-called rich for the incompetence that exists inside these agencies. The liberal solution to any problem is more time and more money, which sounds great rhetorically, but is a hollow excuse to justify programs that simply don’t work.

While we were talking about the VA scandal, consider what we aren’t talking about as a nation? The economy, for one. The economy retracted this quarter, which some in the liberal press laughably blamed on such dubious excuses as the weather. CNN even had a headline which actually said, “The Economy Shrinks, but it's not a Big Deal”. We also weren’t talking about the new, radical EPA regulations, which have been in the works for some time, but were officially released this week, and the fact that they seek to reduce carbon emissions over a period of time by 30%, which has been an extremist environmentalist position for as long as we can remember. Few talked about the devastating effect that the new regulations would have on businesses, or the consequences on our energy independence as a nation, or how costs would necessarily skyrocket as a result of these new regulations being spewed out by the most rogue agency that is the EPA.

We also haven’t discussed the fact that Obama and his cronies let 38,000 illegal aliens go that were being held in prison, some with severe felony convictions like rape and murder. Oh sure, conservative talk radio yelled about it, but Old Media shrugged their shoulders. After all, the mainstream press agrees with what Obama is doing in regards to immigration, so why would they report on it extensively? We also haven’t heard much about illegal alien children flooding the border, thanks to the irresponsible rhetoric in Washington, coupled with Obama’s fiat Dream Act he enacted. These children are being dumped into Arizona, in what some call a ‘revenge’ move based on Arizona’s prior immigration policy that simply mimicked Federal law, and had liberals pulling their hair out with screams of “racism."

Then of course, we haven’t been talking about the IRS scandal, which included the targeting of Tea Party and conservative groups, which we now know Democratic senators like Carl Levin allegedly had something to do with. We weren’t talking about the laughable failure that is Obamacare, and the fact that 2 million Medicaid enrollees haven’t been able to fully enroll yet because the federal government is requiring more information from them. Finally, we weren’t talking about the new Benghazi select committee, save the liberals in the press who use snark and sarcasm to dismiss it as a phony scandal. Have we gotten to Fast and Furious yet?

The fact of the matter is that none of this is being done by accident. Those who claim that Obama is merely an incompetent buffoon who doesn’t know what he’s doing are naive, which is the primary problem with the Republican Party today in Washington. The Establishment Republicans, who serve more as a reactor to radical leftism, rather than an actual movement with a bold agenda, don’t know what to do with Obama. When is the last time, for example, you heard Boehner actually make the case to the American people for limited government, low taxes, and essentially, liberty? You don’t. And Obama knows this. He knows there is no chance of impeachment, no chance of being held accountable. Save for a few heroes such as Cruz, Paul, and Lee, the Republican Party today is mostly worthless. What exactly, do they stand for if they stand for nothing?

Then we come to the crux of the issue, which is the continuous cycle of scandals, which are purposely being afflicted on the American people. When we found out about Bowe Bergdahl this week and the Taliban prisoner exchange, was any real conservative surprised? As a matter of fact, was anyone surprised at all? Of course, we are initially shocked, dismayed, and heartbroken by the reckless corruption that exists inside Washington. But once that faded, we terrifyingly realized that we are used to it. We are apathetic.

There’s so many scandals, so much cronyism, all of which is dismissed by the liberal media as “phony”, that we often feel like we are losing our minds. Orwell stated that “Freedom is the freedom to say that 2 plus 2 equals 4”. But if nobody cares that it’s 4 anymore, instead of 5, then as Hillary Clinton would say, “What difference, at this point does it make?”

Until we, as a nation, stop tolerating corruption, and force the Republican Party to actually fight for something, this cycle will continue to happen. Next week, it will be something new, and we, as a nation, will be chasing our tails around trying to figure out what to do. “Catch me if you can,” is Obama’s motto, and he knows that nobody will ever do anything about anything he does. So who’s going to stop it? Who’s going to use that dreaded “I” word? Who’s going to fearlessly make the case to the American people without cowering in the face of the liberal media, who will never like us conservatives regardless of what we do?

It better be somebody, soon. If not, our country will continue to decline in a sea of corruption and apathy. We are quickly becoming psychologically conditioned to accept scandal as a natural function of government. Soon, we will be waiting in lines for government rationed toilet paper, as they are in Venezuela, without even a thought in our minds as to why we are doing so, or how we got there.

By Lauren Thomas, Dignitas News Contributor

[originalbuckeye]

Bergdahl was NEVER designated a POW by the Pentagon. Someone needs to tell the truth for a change.

[autumnraine]

This needs to be repeated often and loudly.

[oldtech]

Thinking we need to hold someone’s feet to the fire on this....and not just until it starts to hurt a little.

[Misterioso]

Thank the Lord for Dignitas News. Now my FR experience is complete.

[uncitizen]

"CNN even had a headline which actually said, “The Economy Shrinks, but it's not a Big Deal”.

Sums up the entire old, lame, washed up, bought-and-paid for "media".

[upchuck]

Good article Lauren. Needs to be spread far and wide.

IMHO, you need a proof reader or an editor.