Okay, people, I watched Bill Maher Friday night. Andrew Ross Sorkin, S.E. Cupp, and Michael Moore were on the panel. I have admired Andrew Ross Sorkin and considered him an educated journalist. He is a person more on the left than the right, I'd say. S.E. Cupp: Republican and proud of it. Michael Moore is far left Democrat. Bill Maher brought up the first of Obama's "scandals," the AP and White House leaks. Even Andrew Ross Sorkin misspoke and led people to believe that they were recordings of AP conversations. What???!!!! No one made the correction. Not Bill, Michael, S.E.!!! They weren't recordings, okay. I have read a ton over the weekend. They were the phone records. See the word is very similar but the accent is on a different syllable. Big difference. If the White House was wiretapping over 100 AP reporters that would be far more scandalous, but they collected the phone records to see if they could find who was the White House leak on a very sensitive National Security matter. Not a scandal here. Not really. Yes, I understand the First Amendment and the right of reporters protecting their sources, but after 9/11, National Security trumps everything. Do I agree with that? Not sure. Don't think there can be rules set in stone about anything here. I don't think this is a scandal, not given the known facts. If we find out that the phone records were used for personal reasons...that's a scandal.
Now, the IRS "scandal." Again, I don't feel it's scandalous. I haven't even heard one reporter/talking head explain why tax exempt status would be expected by any political leaning group. Tea Party or not. Lest we forget, they took the name Tea Party to pay homage to a group of overtaxed citizens that were revolting against taxation. Not exactly a good fit for the IRS. I have said this before; I don't really understand why so many organizations should not have to pay taxes. I think only good deed-doers should get tax exempt status. So to take this ultra-paranoia and turn it into scandal? I don't think so. Again, not given the facts so far.
And finally, Ben-Ghazi, Libya. What a f**king waste of time and tax dollars. There's no part of me that believes that Darryl Issa and his gang are looking to better the safety and security of diplomats around the world. They are like dogs to a bone, but there's no bone there. A terrible tragedy happened to four Americans. Could it have been avoided? Maybe yes. Maybe more military to protect our Ambassador and consulate workers, but who cut spending? Isn't it more important for Congress to focus on making things better and safer for all Americans working in dangerous lands? Why is making it a political scandal better for the American people? Better would be to get the facts, assess the facts, make the necessary changes, and not make a mockery of tragedy!
So where is Obama in all of this? I keep waiting for him to get "mad as hell and not going to take it anymore." It's BS, all of it. There is no credibility since Republicans went into his Presidency wanting to make it a failure. If the Republicans were willing to be reasonable from the start, it would have been so much more tolerable. Look, other than Joe Scarborough, I never hear a Republican on TV or in political office say anything that could be misconstrued as negative towards a Republican. Too many Republicans say the most absurd to untruthful things and not once has John Boehner or Mitch McConnell said, "whoa, wait a minute." Not once. How are they never misinformed or wrong? Really? Seriously?? Democrats everywhere criticize Obama and the Democrats in office. That may be part of the Dems problems. We do not walk in lock step. It doesn't make them better but it does give them more credibility. Did you see Mitch McConnell on Meet the Press? He can't go off script no matter what. He's unbearable. There's plenty of blame to go around, but can't "we" wait until all the facts are known before making political hay?
So, where does that leave the American people? Right now, not in a good place. The Tea Party isn't the revolution we need. Things must change, but not sure how or when. I'm all ears to hear ideas people. Come on, what's the path?
Sidebars: Billboard Awards last night. Best performance of the night was the opening with Bruno Mars. Some lip-synching going on with some performances. I want to make a declaration that if it's a live show, only people that are able to sing live get to perform. I think that is fair. Taylor Swift was the big winner with 8 awards. Justin Bieber got booed; that made me smile. SNL season finale was a bit amusing, but not great. Ambiguity on who is leaving or staying. The only one officially gone is Bill Hader. The Knicks are toast. The Warriors also didn't make it. So now the semi-finals are Miami Heat vs. Indiana Pacers for the East and San Antonio Spurs vs. Memphis Grizzlies for the West. I'm sure there is more, but for now...the sun is out and I got to get me some.
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