To answer the question, “No” – the president is responsible for Bowe Bergdahl’s release. But he could never have done so without an assist from the American press. It’s been no secret that we’ve never before seen an administration where rather than act as watchdogs the press have played willing lapdogs. Actions that had they taken place under George W. Bush that would have seen screaming headlines and dominating news show top stories for weeks get buried, if they’re covered at all. If you’re reading this you don’t need a list of the many scandals that our press help President Obama sweep under the rug.
We’ve seen embarrassments, like the CNN reporter asking the president if Republicans are “Uninformed, Out Of Touch, Or Irresponsible?” Or Candy Crowley in the debates jumping in to lie to help her candidate.We had the president joking that “Most of you covered me; all of you voted for me” him being greeted with a few uncomfortable chuckles from his loyal minions.
One event in particular stuck out in my mind where a few months ago the president got up in front of a room full of journalists and had threw in their faces his problem with the “phony scandals” that were being trumped up. There’s nothing even remotely phony about the scandals, and the fact that the journalists simply sat there and took that kind of insult was absolutely mind blowing. The best analogy I can think of is a fairly tasteless one, but I can’t think of a better one. My apologies in advance if I offend and if you have a better one please throw it down in the comments.
The press suffers from Battered Wife Syndrome with President Obama. They let themselves become so infatuated with him that they never were willing to ask hard questions about the actions that backed his words, or how he treated them. I’ve seen too many leftists so blinded by what they wish the president was that they can’t see the man for who he truly is. As a result when the president fails rather than ask the tough questions as to why he failed they simply assume it’s someone else’s fault and throw blame elsewhere. This is why instead of challenging Obama the many times he has been dead wrong the press have acted as his guardians, promoting whatever spin the White House spoon fed them to send to the masses. So when the president had the nerve and gall to use the phrase “phony scandal” it came across like an abusive husband keeping his battered wife in line.
You could almost picture Obama sitting in his chair wearing his stained white tank top and jawing to his buddies in the room, “Yeah, those were just a bunch of phony scandals, right?” as he turns his head toward his spouse and waving his near empty can of Natural Light at her to tell her to fetch him a fresh beer.1 Meanwhile, the press nervously touches her fat lip and fading shiner and just says “of course, dear” and runs to the kitchen. You could try to have an intervention, but you know the press will just keep saying “You don’t know him like I do – he’s really sweet!”
Drudge summed up this Stockholm Syndrome at the end of 2103 with this gem:
Note how none of the yearender ‘lists’ rank IRS scandal as a top story. Reporters and editors are scared s***less…
Which gets us to where we are today, even if the press has showed occasional signs of life.When the VA Scandal broke, President Obama assumed he could just blow it off and delay it while his friends in the press covered for him until it could become “dude, like two years ago”. Unfortunately, this time the press actually did its job and pushed back on the White House as the scandal grew. Which led us to Bowe Bergdahl. Again, the White House just seemed completely off guard, and absolutely out of touch with reality that they were surprised that there was a backlash over trading five top ranking terrorists for a soldier who is at best a deserter, and at worst guilty of treason. As stupid as this move was, it looks like something that was done in haste without any thought as to how the public might view it, not to mention an assumption that any criticism could be brushed aside with buzz words like “partisan”, “witch hunt”, etc.
It’s almost as if the president was a stereotypical Millennial and had been given “A” grades and gold stars just for showing up, regardless of lack of accomplishment and now is being challenged for the first time in his life. Now that he’s handling adversity where he can’t have sealed divorce records opened or a press that’s ready to deploy whatever talking points he sends them to attack his opponents he has no idea what to do. Luckily for the president allowing Iraq to fall apart on his watch is taking Bergdahl out of the news, and he can stoke up the “Blame Bush” refrain that works so well for distracting the left. And rising oceans, and minimum wage, etc. Would this have happened under President Bush? Would Obama have been more careful than to make a hasty move if he didn’t feel confident that the press would cover for him? We’ll never know, but it would have been interesting to see what the Obama presidency might have looked like had it been given proper scrutiny from day one. Of course, if at so many stages of his career President Obama been given proper scrutiny by the press there could never have been a President Obama in the first place.
One side note as I wrap this up – Remember back in 2013, during the shutdown and the budget negotiations where leftists were calling Republicans terrorists? They were also crowing about how the president shouldn’t negotiate with terrorists – They all seem to have gotten quiet over this point.
1. Obama feeds mercury to baby.
2. Man complains.
3. Journalists, en masse, to man: “What do you have against feeding babies?!” #Bergdahl
— Will Antonin (@Will_Antonin) June 3, 2014
Follow Brother Bon on Twitter @brother_bob
1. This is not meant as a slight against cheap beer. Even though I’m at a point in my life where I’m no longer grabbing the cheapest beer on the shelf, I’ll still happily throw down a Busch Light tall boy. That said, Natural Light is a vile substance that, to borrow an old 80’s tag line for some non-alcoholic beer, “It’s what beer drinkers drink when they’re not drinking beer”. Even if you’re on a budget there’s no excuse for drinking this beer-like substance. If you don’t have the sense to grab better swills like The Beast, Old Mildew or one of the non-toxic alternatives you deserve some flak.
