Posted by Tina
Last week deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes made a name for himself when he enthusiastically admitted to intentionally misleading Congress and the public about the Iran nuclear deal. If the Weekly Standard has it right, the Obama administration plans on leaving office with an adolescent flip of the middle digit:
It’s hardly any wonder that Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes has a “mind meld” with his boss, the president. According to a David Samuels New York Times Magazine article to be published Sunday and already posted to the website, Rhodes, like Barack Obama, is contemptuous of “the American foreign-policy establishment.” What Obama calls the “Washington playbook” dictating the sorts of responses available to American policymakers, Rhodes calls the “Blob.”
The Blob includes “editors and reporters at The New York Times, The Washington Post, The New Yorker,” etc. It also encompasses, according to Rhodes, Obama’s former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, and the administration’s first defense secretary Robert Gates. Presumably Leon Panetta, former Pentagon chief and CIA director, who goes on the record to criticize Rhodes and the president, is also part of the Blob, alongside “other Iraq-war promoters from both parties who now whine incessantly about the collapse of the American security order in Europe and the Middle East.” In other words, the emotion driving the administration’s foreign policy is contempt—contempt for allies, colleagues, and the generations of American policymakers who built the post-WWII international order, ensuring relative global stability, and peace and prosperity at home.
Due to secrecy issues surrounding the process and the utter insanity of the final product Congress planned to hold hearings on the Iran Deal. The White House cited “constitutional concerns” when it informed Congress that Rhodes would not be testifying. The Free Beacon reports:
…lawmakers are pressing Obama to fire deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes following revelations he and other officials “spearheaded the charge to mislead elected lawmakers and the American people about the Iran nuclear deal and the negotiations that led to this agreement,” according to the letter.
Rhodes will skip a Tuesday hearing before the House Oversight Committee as it investigates claims he and other senior White House officials waged a misinformation campaign to garner approval for the contested Iran deal, according to sources who spoke to the Free Beacon.
The White House kept congressional sources in the dark until late Monday afternoon, when officials finally disclosed that Rhodes would not testify as the result of “constitutional concerns,” according to conversations with congressional insiders and a letter sent by the White House.
Something needs to be done about the ease with which our leaders and their underlings avoid being questioned and manage to blow off Congress or the FBI when suspected of or having knowledge of wrongdoing. What is the point of having laws when those who serve us aren’t held to account even when the evidence against them is compelling…even when they BRAG about that wrongdoing?
This nation is sick; the current administration should be cut out before the patient dies. Unfortunately impeachment takes to long, and a weak congress has no stomach for, the obvious constitutional solution.
Clowngress has sat on their collective hands regarding shenanigans from multiple members of the Obumble admin for the last 7+ years, so why are they upset now?
They’ve been lied to even under oath before – Eric Holder and John Koskinen – but did absolutely NOTHING about it!
If you think Obumble & Company’s lying is bad, it’ll be at least 10 times worse should $hrilLIARy take the white house.
So much for the “most transparent administration ever.”
The Hill:
Th wheels keep turning but we never seem to arrive, I suspect in part because of public ignorance and tolerance for such behavior.
I’ll put this on the front page when something comes of it.
Agreed J, a Hillary presidency would be riddled with secrecy and deceit.
Sacked by whom? He works for Obama, who is very pleased with his work.
Once upon a time, Congresspersons had staff who could do independent research on this sort of thing. Can you say: Sequester?
Once upon a time the Wall Street Journal had the resources to look into this sort of thing themselves. Can you say: Rupert?
Short-sighted “conservatives” (and this is supposed to be a contradiction in terms) in concert with rapacious capitalists are ruining this country, and our chief defense, the Congress, you defund, after you’ve packed it with imbeciles.
Does this make any sense?
Congress has the power to impeach Koskinen.
However, if he follows the pattern that’s become all too familiar with the left since the Clintons in the 90’s, he will delay and pretend ignorance until his time runs out after which he will retire with full benefits and probably a bonus for his outstanding work.
The research has been done. The process has been stifled and blunted by the accused who try to hide emails and even drag their feet when court ordered. The corruption runs deep.
“Short-sighted “conservatives” (and this is supposed to be a contradiction in terms) in concert with rapacious capitalists are ruining this country, and our chief defense, the Congress, you defund, after you’ve packed it with imbeciles.
Does this make any sense?”
NO! Congress has never been “defunded.” At best they have been forced to live with a smaller increase…the budget ALWAYS gets bigger whether it’s actually needed or not.
The imbeciles responsible for most of the deficit spending and debt live on the left…you know that, big government is your bag! Spending others people’s money is your bag.
And capitalism, dearie, has been blunted and stifled for almost eight long years. The country is dying a slow death because of the man in the big house who acts as a dictator and denies congress it’s voice…then like a true liar complains about them not doing their work.
God willing that will all change very soon. Then you’ll see that capitalism works and we can leave the long socialist nightmare in the rear view mirror.
(Of course we will still be stuck with some of the programs…need to work on that)
As an FYI, I no longer read TheHill. Was getting posts deleted and couldn’t figure out why since I don’t use profanity and try to stay on facts. So, I tried a very non-political short comment and found it was deleted within minutes of posting. Can only conclude that TheHill deletes specific commenters who don’t agree with whatever agenda they’re pushing that week.
Smells a lot like the FakeBook blockings. My days of giving credibility to TheHill are over.
J for me the source works when few, if any, are bothering to even report.
I can only think of a couple of reasons other than Fakebook syndrome, one would be volume and the other redundancy of comment. Some sites get thousands of comments. Maybe they don’t have the space for all of them. I’ve noticed that many newspaper sites no longer post comments (they are linked).
I never have time to comment elsewhere. It’s enough to keep up with my work on PS and sometimes I don’t get that done. Glad you (all) post here, makes my job easier.
LOL! The chant, “Obama lied and people died,” keeps playing in my head.
Obama won the WoPo Liar of the Year award to sell ObamaCare. Jonathan Gruber was exposed as a liar because he figured everyone was too stupid to figure out the truth. He was half right since only the Dems fell for his lies and the ACA passed without a single Republican vote.
What’s good for the goose is good for the gander. I’m going on a campaign to make sure Obama’s liar chant goes viral as much if not more than Bush’s. Wonder if there’s list of all the lies he and his staff have told. It could be a very long chant.
There are several monitors, some of these are old and so incomplete. The first is comprehensive analysis. Take your pick:
Politifact (Page 1 of 4)
Western Journalism, “Ten of Obama’s Worst Lies”
Might find a few more in these scandal lists:
Investment Watch Blog, “The Complete List of Barack Obama’s Scandals, Misdeeds, Crimes and Blunders”
The New American, “Top 10 “Most Corrupt” List Dominated by Obama Administration”
Good luck Peggy!
Off topic, but info that needs to be shared—
http://defense-training.com/2016/beware/
http://chicagoboyz.net/archives/52633.html
Pretty ominous stuff RHT447.
It will be interesting to see what happens if/when Trump is elected.
Obama has created a weak image for America. This ‘long, hit and miss, lack of strategy” approach has made the enemy stronger and bolder, screwed up several nations, created a credibility problem with allies and enemies, and more. What will happen when a strong, true, red, white, and blue leader takes the helm? Will it be as dramatic as the election of Reagan and Thatcher? Who knows but it will make a difference. I look forward to seeing whatever plan our Pentagon already has put in play. It’s a complex problem, much more so than when Bush left office.
Trump should be able to get a tax package passed fairly quickly so that our economy can begin to move again. The entire world depends on a thriving American economy. The demand for energy has slowed to a crawl, economies are collapsing, debt is through the roof…ain’t socialism grand? How soon we will see a full recovery is kind of a mystery…in many respects, we’ve never been here before. But any improvement will be a welcome site.
The oil giants will survive but look what that means…Obamanomics creates big monopolies, the exact opposite of what we want to keep prices low, jobs plentiful, and producers honest.
Good article here.
The political alliances that have formed as the result of Obama/Hillary/Kerry could mean anything…pray, if you’re a mind to.
File this one under lessons learned. The hard way.
http://takimag.com/article/surrendering_to_death_gavin_mcinnes/print#axzz491T7MM9g
Awesome interview!
One paragraph caught my eye in terms of those who stand in the gap against such an enemy:
A natural warrior.
“What will happen when a strong, true, red, white, and blue leader takes the helm?”
Are you implying Trump is such a leader? He isn’t strong, Tina; he just says he is a lot, like a posturing third grade bully, and only extremely weak-willed people believe him. Strong people don’t pretend to be their own spokespeople so that they can brag about how strong they are. Weak losers do that.
Oh, Tina … you poor thing. This alternate reality you’ve created, does it make you happy? I don’t think it does.
And it scares the hell out of me.
What? Can’t handle a warrior, Libby? They’re real you know…but you probably won’t find them in your circles.
But don’t be scared, unless you start wearing a shirt that goes BOOM he’ll leave you alone…might even protect your sorry butt, not that you’d appreciate it.
Yeah, I get it, Chris. You don;t like his style. I’m not fond of the type that brags generally but I can recognize talent when a man spends almost nothing and manages to capture the attention of the nation and control of the narrative. I can respect the people, including women, who speak of his abilities and his equal treatment of both men and women under him. I can admire a man who has educated and trained his kids well enough to put them in charge of his businesses while he runs for president (and for year thereafter if he wins). I can also imagine a man who can temper his style when appropriate, and who knows how to negotiate and win, leading this country better than the last guy.
Criticize away…it might be that you are dead wrong.
“only extremely weak-willed people believe him”
You just can;t help yourself can you?
Both Bill Clinton and Obama are KNOWN for the use of the word “I.” You don’t seem to have a problem with them.
But we are not talking about Bill or Barry.
We are talking about Donald. From where do you get the idea that bringing them into it constitutes an argument in support of Donald?
You do this ALL the time. Mostly I just ignore it, but, come on, how about we start seeing some expanding of rhetorical technique here?
You speak from a weak (broken really) platform. Live with it!
You (Your party) also started this crap…live with that too.