Posted on 05/23/2013 3:52:11 AM PDT by Kaslin
As the Obama scandals surround the White House, some conservatives are suggesting that -- finally -- the media are "getting tough" on Obama. Don't count on it. All our modern experience suggests tough reporting on a Democratic president is more of a temporary sensation than an ongoing trend.
The news media honestly believe they were tough on Team Clinton. It is simply not true. There was a seemingly endless supply of Clinton administration (and Clinton pre-administration) scandals, yet can you name one that was resolved? The floating FBI files. The illegal fundraising. Whitewater. On and on they went, and the media response was predictable: two or three days of tough coverage -- if at all -- and then, inevitably, political spin overtaking the hunt for facts. The search for truth became a discussion about "Republican overreach."
Bill Clinton committed a crime -- perjury -- but that story quickly dissolved, replaced by an expose on GOP excesses in pursuit of a Puritanical agenda over the Lewinsky affair. Almost overnight, the media target became Ken Starr, not Bill Clinton.
Already some in the news media are setting the stage -- at least trying to set the stage -- for a repeat of 1998, taking the bull's eye off the Obama administration and putting it squarely on the leadership of the GOP.
On May 16, NBC "Today" co-host Savannah Guthrie began the rush to question Republican zeal: "I read a headline yesterday that said Republicans see blood in the water. That they see a president who's very vulnerable politically. Is there a danger that they will overreach?" White House correspondent Chuck Todd agreed: "There is. I mean, that's what happened to Republicans in 1998 with Bill Clinton. And if all of Congress is focusing on hearings to do scandals, the voters will punish them. They've done it in the past."
This is historical revisionism. The actual results of the 1998 elections cannot be painted as "punishment" of any sort. The Senate remained unchanged with Democrats still in the majority. House Republicans lost five seats and retained control. At worst, the Republicans failed to capitalize politically on these scandals -- but they did not suffer. None of this matters, however. The media spin is that Republicans will suffer. Their wish is clearly that this will become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
ABC "Good Morning America" co-host George Stephanopoulos also pushed the revisionist line on May 17, asking reporter Jonathan Karl, "Are some leaders worried that some of the Republicans may be overplaying their hand?"
Minutes later, CBS morning co-host Charlie Rose asserted: "The Republicans are pushing forward on this. Is it possible they may overplay their hand and somehow squander what they think is opportunity?"
CNN even asked in a poll if the Republicans were overreaching. The early returns do not augur well for Obama or his supporters: a majority of responders felt the Republicans were acting appropriately in their investigating of these scandals.
What should trouble the public is any attempt by any news outlet to minimize the enormity of these scandals. If "overreach" is the word of the day, isn't there an unlimited amount of this coming from this administration? It should be obvious that "overreach" is better defined as the shameless attempt to blame a YouTube video for the Benghazi fiasco. "Overreach" can be defined as the IRS asking charities about the contents of their prayers, or the Justice Department conducting an overbroad investigation of AP phone records while shadowing journalists and accusing them of criminal activity for committing the act of journalism. This is the behavior of totalitarian regimes, and it deserves the undivided attention of our national press.
Some are doing their job. Others just can't resist the subtle jabs at the GOP, suggesting that nasty overreach. They don't come out and say it; the word choice implies it.
Paul Kane of The Washington Post began one story: "After two years of feverishly chasing any hint or suggestion of wrongdoing by the Obama administration, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) may finally be having his moment."
NPR's Carrie Johnson called Issa a "fierce critic" of Obama.
The Obama administration has demonstrated an astonishing tendency to use government agencies to reward their friends and punish their enemies. Reporters should be at least as bipartisan and serious about this political aggression as congressional investigators. Otherwise, the public should view them with contempt.
Certainly the Media will go back to it’s bootlicking, and so will the Faux-Republicans in the Congress.
A few might stick it out, but guys like McCain, Graham, Toomey, Hatch and others will be back to having lunch with their Dem friends before the week is out.
“A few might stick it out, but guys like McCain, Graham, Toomey, Hatch and others will be back to having lunch with their Dem friends before the week is out.”
Looks like McCain is already making love to Carl Levin as they plot to appropriate Apple Computer’s cash hoard for the public good.
No matter which party's scandal....the media always frames the Republicans as the bad guys somehow.....Its never over reach or politics when the Dems are ankle biters...They always get framed as protecting liberty or some other glorious cause...
A true comparison of the news stories from the past would be stunning if people saw them posted side by side in black and white
Go ahead... those of you that have given up all hope... and declare America dead... go ahead piss on the republic... fill this thread with defeat and despair. I will fight until I have no breath left... no food to eat... no water to drink... and then I will fight on even harder. America TODAY certainly lacks a Spartan attitude. Fire a million arrows into the air... hell I will just fight in the shade.
LLS
Where is the spirit?
The problem is the GOP-e is obsessed with getting Democrats to like them, and therefore they refuse to fight back on anything. Been that way ever since Reaganmleft the White House.
In this case the Obama administration is persecuting political opponents via the IRS and bullying reporters who don’t report the Obama line. It is the beginning of something larger, and if the GOP doesn’t fight back through the legal process, others may have to fight back by other means. It will be that, or the re-education camps.
Bravo my friend! I’m with you!
LLS
Never a doubt in my mind Rummy!
LLS
The line is asked and answered. There were a lot of questions asked(Paula, Cattle futures, Vince, Ron, Linclon Bedroom etc) but few, if any, answered. Right Betty?
The only 'overreach' that can be documented over the last four years has been perpetrated by Hussein and his flying monkeys.
The only thing remaining to be unraveled is how the continuing stream of marching orders were transmitted from the White House to the 300+ Soros organizations, public and private unions, welfare civil service career employees which legally and illegally campaign on behalf of Obama, and destroy his 'enemies,' 24/7/365.
As far as the boring whine of the progressives about things being 'politicized,' how childish and irrational can they get?
Why do you suppose it's called 'politics,' morons?
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