Yesterday, President Obama nominated a veteran of the Bush Administration to head up the FBI. There has been a lot of chatter about the choice–the nominee is apparently highly regarded on both sides of the aisle, something we don’t see much of these days. But I was struck by an observation posted to Maddowblog:
If the president and his team had any reason to worry at all about ongoing investigations casting the White House in a negative light — or worse — there’s simply no way Obama would choose a Republican lawyer with a history of independence to lead the FBI. Indeed… just the opposite is true — if Obama were the least bit concerned about any of the so-called “scandals,” he’d almost certainly look for a Democratic ally to lead the FBI.
But the president is doing the opposite — Comey is not only a veteran of the Bush/Cheney administration, he also donated to the McCain/Palin and Romney/Ryan campaigns, in the hopes of preventing Obama from getting elected. If the president thought the “scandals” might lead to the Oval Office, he’d never choose someone like Comey to take over the FBI right now.
Another indication that there is no “there” there.
The real problem with the persistent, ongoing hysterical efforts to prove that Obama’s Administration has done something criminal, of course, is that it has utterly distorted what ought to be the critique of this or any administration. Rather than focusing on the misplaced policies or bureaucratic inefficiencies that are always fair game, drummed up (and sometimes wholly fabricated) accusations simply feed the appetites of GOP partisans who want to believe the worst. That in turn generates knee-jerk defensiveness by Democrats who might otherwise disagree with administration policy.
Partisan pissing contests have taken the place of potentially productive conversations about how we might govern ourselves better, or how we might grow the economy or improve education or balance the right to privacy against the needs of national defense.
We are governed by two-year-olds.
How much time has been wasted by both sides complaining about this appointment? And McConnell admitted to the conservative think tank, American Enterprise Institute, that President Obama did NOT order the IRS Tea Party probes; how much time and money was wasted refuting these bogus accusations? How much time and how many millions of dollars have been wasted on 39 attempts by Congress to repeal the ACA? It is frightening because the possibility of war threatens us on all sides, 24/7/365, while these dumb asses do nothing but complain and try to control sex lives of others and womens vaginas. If the GOP believes the world is not watching this country and terrorists will not take advantage of these conditions, they could be in for another surprise the magnitude of 9/11. Remember the Boston Marathon bombing? Nero fiddled while Rome burned; the GOP is fiddly-farting around while this entire country is sinking into dispair.
We could tell what was coming back in 2008, when the red-faced John Boehner, with veins bulging in his neck and forehead, said in so many words that nothing from this President would get past this Congress!
Indeed we are governed (governed?) by two-year-olds!
Please do not cast two-year-olds in the same light, even metaphorically, as the Republican leadership, if that is what one wishes to call it, in Congress. Two-year-olds do not possess knowledge sufficient to understand their rants and tantrums are inappropriate. That is part of why they rant and have tantrums. The process is one of learning and maturation.
JoAnn Green always amuses.
She thinks the IRS treatment of Tea Party groups are bogus accusations, despite the trail of hard facts leading to the IRS in DC.
She constantly repeats the canard that there have been 39 attempts to repeal Obamacare, though there hasn’t been a single new up/down vote on the whole thing.
She complains that the Republicans complain too much, though “dissent is the highest form of patriotism”.
And she misspells despair.
Funny stuff.
Sheila amuses as well, trying to sweep under the rug any thoughts of misbehavior by Mr Obama. He only violated the War Powers Act by invading Libya…the only president ever to conduct a war on his own without even bothering to clue Congress in. Bill Ayers himself said a few days ago that Obama should be tried for WAR CRIMES.
OMG; I must be flogged for misspelling despair. You, Eugene, apparently have missed misspellings in my other comments. You, without fail, go against Sheila’s views and the views of the majority who comment on her blog. You are out of step. Whoever said “dissent is the highest form of patriotism” is obviously agreeing with my complaints. I love making people laugh; even you Eugene, with your always staunch Republican anti-human rights views. Sheila has spoken out when reviewing PRESIDENT Obama’s actions or non-actions. She has expressed disagreement and displeasure when she believes he is wrong; she has also expressed kudos when believing he is right. And, Eugene, please let me know of any other misspellings you find i my comments. Life is a learning process and none of us are through learning the lessons being taught in this 21st century with it’s crises.
The real problem is that both party’s have become two heads of the same beast, both party loyalist participate in the administrations of the other and have for years. All this arguing over non-issues is smoke and mirrors to deflect from the real issues…and corruption.
Same Bankers, same EPA, same SOC people through the years for both parties administrations.
Watch for the independent voices that appear to be working their way through the progressive arm of the Democratic Party. People Like Elizabeth Warren, Alan Grayson…and don’t forget the Independent Bernie Sanders.
We need to eliminate gerrymandering and have term limits on our Congress and Senate. There is no-way a life long congress critter should have more power than a president…but they do, simply by serving over years and years.