One Scandal, Two Scandal, Red Scandal, Blue Scandal

If you are like many of us, each morning that you awaken, you stumble out of bed and head towards two objects in your house; the coffee pot and the television. You flip both on, starting your journey towards consciousness and inevitably if you turn on the news you listen to the reports about the myriad of scandals that are now plaguing the Obama administration and Congress. From the I.R.S. targeting conservatives to the N.S.A. wiretapping there does not seem to a shortage of issues that both sides of the political fence can scream about with righteous indignation. We are now even seeing rehashes of older scandals with certain members of Congress and the press trying to bring back golden oldies like Fast and Furious. Given that there is no shortage of issues and revelations to discuss it seemed only appropriate to examine some of the more popular among them and how they are affecting President Obama’s second term in office. 

Three polls were released today by some of the biggest names in research; CNN/Opinion Research, Gallup and Rasmussen. All three concern the President’s latest job approval rating and all three are bad news for the current administration. Gallup, being the kindest of the group, found the 47% of American’s thought that the President was doing a good job in office, down eleven points from earlier this year. Rasmussen found in their poll that 52% though that the President was not doing a good job, up ten points from earlier this year and CNN/ Opinion Research found similar results. What becomes obvious from these numbers and the pattern that emerges when tracking them over the last six months is that the scandals that are rampant in D.C. are definitely affecting the Presidents public image. 

So what exactly is the most important or damaging of the current field of bad press that President Obama and his administration have been facing? Polls released by major research firms last month showed that the I.R.S. targeting of conservatives was the most important to American’s. Given that just about everyone in the United States has a small fear of the I.R.S. this really came as no surprise. However, recently we found out that the N.S.A. has been collecting massive amounts of information on American’s and it seems as if the winds are shifting. Combined with the collecting of emails from reporters at the AP and Fox News, Americans more and more are looking at the White House with suspicion. Wondering how much of their personal lives does their government have access too? It would seem that the answer to that particular question is all of it. 

One thing is clear from the cacophony of scandals that have been coming out this year. That the President isn’t doing much about them. Whether he believes that they are nonsense as he has hinted in a few interviews and press conferences or he thinks that they will just go away, nothing has been done in any real sense. Roughly three weeks ago the first hearings about the I.R.S. began on the Hill. We saw testimony from Tea Party groups who were targeted and in what was truly a scandalous moment we saw Lois Lerner give a speech about her innocence and then refuse to incriminate herself by taking the 5th. Since these hearings began we have been told by the current administration that they are investigating this with a great seriousness. Is that really the case though? Just yesterday during a House Judiciary Committee hearing, F.B.I. Director Robert Mueller, testified that he didn’t even know the name of the lead investigator of the case; claiming that he didn’t know the specifics of the case. This can only lead a person to wonder how seriously the F.B.I. and the administration are taking this case. Given that the last time a President and his administration were accused of inappropriately using the I.R.S. you would think that this would be a top priority but this is not the case. Instead the White House and Department of Justice are more concerned with Edward Snowden, the N.S.A. leaker who is now hiding in China. 

Snowden, whom last week released sensitive information regarding the N.S.A. PRISM program, which collects massive amounts of information on United States citizen’s phone lines, is a top priority right now. The Administration claiming that it is because of the leaks and the fact that he broke the law. Can we really trust this reason, however, given that President Obama has shown an almost ruthless diligence in pursuing leaks and those responsible for them? It would seem that this has more to do with revenge over the embarrassment caused by the leak more than it does with any law being broken. What is clear about the Snowden situation is that it is far from over given yesterday’s live internet chat where he claimed that there was more to be told. 

Whether or not you support or dislike President Obama and his administration it would seem that just about all of us can agree on a couple of points. It is wrong to go after reporters and try to suppress the press. It is wrong to target people with government agencies because of their political beliefs. It is wrong to eavesdrop on American’s because there is a chance they can lead you to a terrorist. Given all the things that are wrong, I have to wonder how much is right inside the current White House and that is my mission to you. Use the comments link below to tell me what you think is good about the current administration. Or tell me what you think is the biggest of the scandals that are now plaguing D.C. 

Today I would like to give out a very special cookie to a congressional aide in D.C. That aides name is Nick Muzin and while eating at the Capitol Hill Club Thursday night, saved Representative Ted Poe’s life. Poe, who was eating popcorn, had a piece become lodged in his throat and was unable to breathe for several minutes according to witnesses. It was during this time that Muzin a former doctor rushed to the Representative and successfully performed the Heimlich on him. This may not seem like a big deal given all that’s happened in D.C. this week alone but saving a life is always noteworthy.