I see dead people. Well, not all the time. However, every time I see President Obama, particularly in the wake of Benghazi, the abuse of power by the I.R.S. in targeting conservative groups, and the latest revelation, that the Obama Justice Department engaged in massive gathering of phone records from the Associated Press, I am beginning to see one dead person in particular — Richard Milhous Nixon. It seems his ghost has become a frequent guest in the White House and the Oval Office. Nixon is probably not a good guest to have if you are a second-term President struggling to fend off scandal after scandal. For, with the ghost of 37th President lurking about, the White House fiction of the most “transparent and ethical administration in history” will soon give way to the truth that the Obama Administration more and more resembles a Democrat version of “Tricky Dick.”
It’s been quite a week for President Obama. Of course, it’s not the kind of week that any politician — much less the President of the United States — ever wants to experience. But, when your hubris causes you to act in such a way that you believe you are above the law, then great will be the fall when it comes. And, it’s coming. After all, the Good Book tells us that “pride cometh before the fall.” What so many fail to realize is that Nixon and Obama are cut from the same cloth when it comes to the way they engage in politics. Could those who knew the history of Richard Nixon really been that surprised at Watergate? Likewise, can those who have studied Barack Obama’s meteoric rise — first through the Chicago and Illinois’ Democrat political machine and then as United States Senator — really be that surprised by how he has governed as President?
Some people, including not a few at AP, are nevertheless surprised that Obama’s Justice Department would engage in an “massive and unprecedented intrusion” into a news gathering organization:
“People are pretty mad — mad that government has not taken what we do seriously,” one reporter said on Tuesday. “When the news broke yesterday … people were outraged and disgusted. No one was yelling and screaming, but it was like, ‘Are you kidding me!?’”
I get that these journalists are outraged and disgusted. However, if these same journalists at AP and other Mainstream News outlets would have done their jobs from the beginning, they would not be looking quite so foolish today. But, what can one expect from a sycophantic and compliant press corps? For all their bluster of “speaking truth to power,” the Mainstream Media has, until these past few days, acted more like the proverbial monkeys associated with the Japanese proverb, “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.”
With the damn about to break, causing a major flood in the West Wing, the Press Corps has been forced to confront the abuse of power that is becoming more and more the modus operandi of this Administration. Sooner or later, though, the lies begin to twist back around on themselves. It’s at that point — which the Obama Administration now finds itself in — that Jay Carney and others will channel their inner George Costanza:
George Costanza: “Jerry, just remember, it’s not a lie if you believe it.”
In light of the lies that have been told and re-told by Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice, White House Spokesman Jay Carney and perhaps even President Obama himself, this quote from “Seinfeld” should be tweaked to read: “Just remember, it’s not a lie if you want to believe it.” It is obvious that many “pass the buck” Democrats wanted to believe that an internet trailer (not even the movie) for “Innocence of Muslims” was responsible for provoking an Islamic terrorist attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya which resulted in death of Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans on the 11th Anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. What a coincidence that a movie trailer released in July would lead to a “spontaneous” attack that just happened to fall on September 11.
I’m not sure if Clinton, Biden and the President are still in denial over the horrific loss of life in Benghazi and their incompetent cover-up or if their hubris knows no bounds when it comes to staying in power. Clearly we are witnessing a return of Nixonian mendacity which goes to the very top . . . (Obama, Nixonian Mendacity & Pass the Buck Democrats, October 16, 2012 )
With each passing day, it would seem that the ghost of Richard Nixon has taken up permanent residence in the White House. Whispering in the ear of President Obama, the former, disgraced President keeps telling him: “All is well. Keep doing what you’re doing. Admit nothing. Become indignant. Never show weakness and, above all else, never show humbleness or contrition, no matter what!” That strategy didn’t work for Republican Richard Nixon because the Press hated him. The strategy may very well work with this President because the Media love him. The only way that it will fail is if and when the Media begins to see — like Haley Joel Osment in The Sixth Sense — the apparition of a dead politician named Richard Nixon standing beside Mr. Obama, whispering sweet nothings into his ear!
I was in elementary school during the watergate hearings and watched them every day when I got home from school. I was a weird kid as I found them fascinating and developed a crush on John Dean. Also, my dad would ask us questions about it later to see if we were keeping up. So even I knew part of the then proposed impeachment points was using the IRS to target groups. Surely Obama had someone in his admin who knew this historical fact? Of course, but the press would agree with targeting conservative groups. Just call them a “tea party” group and guaranteed to have media agree. I heard Harry Reid spinning that one today. And I thought….churches are next.
It is hard for folks to wrap their heads around Obama being like Nixon. The difference is that Nixon was deeply paranoid from experience. Obama is simply “entitled” as one who understands the game from being a community organizer. He is untouchable because of political correctness, though.
I am one of those who believes that Clinton basically changed the structure of our society in terms of situational ethics being more broadly accepted. He got away with it in many venues, not just morality but also government. And his wife was rewarded, too. What’s not to like? I think Obama is quickly building on that change to the structure of our society in such a way it will be harder to fix if it ever is fixed. I have spent a few minutes mourning our trajectory but have accepted that few Americans care to be informed. A product of socialized education? I think so.
Lydia,
You and I have lots in common. I, too, remember coming home from school and watching the Watergate Hearings that were playing on the one television we had in our house. I think it was color at that point, but only 19″ (could have even been 13″). Can’t say as I had a crush on John Dean 🙂 but my mom loved reading “Blind Ambition” when it came out. I’m not sure that President Obama is not a little paranoid at this point as well. There’s no question that his community organizer background, along with his legal background, have produced an entitlement culture in the White House. I think that President Obama and his aides are allowing power to corrupt. When you think you have absolute power — see the AP phone records story — you begin to go down a dark, Nixonian road. Unfortunately, you are also correct that most Americans simply don’t care. They are apathetic and don’t see the big picture of where the Clintons — and now the Obamas — are taking our society. One can only imagine what will happen when Hillary Clinton gets elected in 2016! Thanks and God bless,
Howell
So you think that Obama was personally involved (as was Nixon) with directing the IRS activities?
Bennett,
Sorry for the delay in responding. I don’t think that President Obama was personally involved, but I don’t know. If he was or he wasn’t, the facts should reveal that. Regardless, the President, at some point in his eight years in office, must begin to acknowledge that the buck does stop at his desk. While he may not have personally directed the IRS to target the conservative groups, how he leads does send signals to subordinates about what could be considered acceptable by the President. Although I have made comparisons to Nixon and, while those maybe premature, there is no doubt in my mind that President Obama exhibits some of the same tendencies that Nixon did. Thanks and God bless,
Howell
Make no mistake, this IRS scandal is huge. To Bennett’s question, one has to wonder how high this went. That is, who within the Obama Administration knew about this and how high up were they. It doesn’t seem likely that the President was personally involved, but I’m afraid that those in the highest levels of our government may have known and that is deeply troubling.
Milton,
I think that the facts will eventually reveal just how up the chain the IRS and the AP scandals went, not to mention Benghazi. Let the facts speak for themselves because I think that on all three scandals they will be damning enough without Republicans or conservatives piling on. While it doesn’t seem likely the President was personally involved, as I shared with Bennett, at some point President Obama is going to have to take responsibility for the actions of HIS administration. Either the buck stops at his desk or it doesn’t. And, George Bush is no longer in the Oval Office, although the ghost of Richard Nixon might very well be 😉 Hope you have a great day and God bless,
Howell