Maureen Dowd today:
The president should try candid; wistful and petulant aren't getting him anywhere. The Republicans who are putting partisan gain above solving the country's problems deserve a smackdown.Interesting advice from a person who has one of the most high-profile commenting gigs in America, and who's written thirty columns so far this year, but hasn't once published the same kind of "smackdown" of the Republicans that she's recommending to the president.
Dowd has written this year about Bush and Cheney, and Cheney again, and then the whole Bush family, and (of course) Hillary Clinton twice; she's written about Hollywood historical fiction and The Great Gatsby and the golden age of newsmagazines; she wrote a column about Annette Funicello, Lily Pulitzer, and Margaret Thatcher, in that order.
Oh, and this is the third column she's written urging Obama to be tougher on the Republicans -- here are the first two -- as well as one urging Obama to be nicer to the Republicans.
Smackdowns of Republicans putting partisan gain ahead of the national interest? I'll let you know if I find one in Dowd's archives.
Dennis,
ReplyDeleteMaybe there is a real scandal, and maybe there ain't.
All I'm saying (and I just said it in the last comment string), is, let things play out.
And, again, not to condone what Obama did by comparing it to W, but you know what was a legitimate cover-up scandal during a reelection campaign?
The W administration asking the NY Times to hold off on publishing their "Warrantless Wire-tapping" article, until AFTER the reelection.
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2008/03/the_education_of_a_911_reporter.html
If Obama directed the IRS situation, then it's a legitimate scandal.
Did he know, and he had someone cover it up while they investigated it, that may very well be a legitimate scandal.
If he didn't know, and he should, since he's in charge, then it's probably not a scandal - just an oversight problem.
And I find it hard to believe that the IRS Commissioner, who was appointed by W, and only left at the end of last year, would allow the President to direct a "witch-hunt" against Tea Party groups, and not, at least, say something, to someone.
Personally, I'd have investigate them, too. AND Liberal groups.
I HATE IT, that most of these groups that get a "Social Welfare" tax exemption, are nothing more than places for rich people to throw untraceable money to influence elections.
We need to fix those tax laws, that make naked politicking, tax exempt - for BOTH sides.
THAT'S the scandal!
Dennis, this is not your blog. You are wearing out your welcome. You want to post links, get your own damn blog. Don't come here and be a parasite.
ReplyDeleteExcellent critique of Dowd. Former Obama press secretary Robert Gibbs would agree. He said on "Morning Joe" today, "I don’t normally read Maureen.... I don’t largely because it’s sort of largely the same column for the last, like, eight years."
ReplyDeleteRe: commenter Dennis, he's telling a one-sided story, one that doesn't even comport with what Darrell Issa has said. Issa told Bloomberg News last week that he knew what the White House knew when the White House knew it. And, as Steve Benen of the Maddow blog points out, Issa knew about the IG investigation last summer -- in fact, he says it was he who asked for the investigation -- & did nothing at the time because, um, the IG hadn't done his investigating yet.