On Sunday, Val Jarrett went on CNN to defend her pal, President Obama. Hmm, I wonder if the president prides himself on the fact that his administration hasn't had a scandal and that he hasn't done something to embarrass himself?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, CNN, JAN. 1)
VALERIE JARRETT, OBAMA ADVISER: The president prides himself on the fact that the administration hasn't had a scandal and that he hasn't done anything to embarrass himself.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
Now, that's a low bar for achievement, he hasn't embarrassed himself. But it's true, no one on his staff was caught in bed with a giraffe -- yet.
But to agree with Val, you've got to ignore the IRS, the DOJ, Benghazi, Secret Service, Bowe Bergdahl, and the secret server that led to the orange crush.
And now, technically it's a scandal telling America you can keep your doctor, a callous deception that hurts millions. And it's a scandal to deny a toxic doctrine fomenting apocalyptic violence. And it's a scandal to ignore the modern black death, a plague currently crippling Chicago.
Obama's tenure had more dirty linen then Charlie Sheen's hamper. But when your heart's in the right place, doing the wrong thing is always forgivable, and maybe scandal was just so common we got used to it.
But that's not the point. If I were Obama, I'd gladly take a messy scandal over the moral catastrophic failure of the last eight years. It's the corrosive ambivalence about who we are as a nation as we switched pride for shame. We became our own villains rather than assessing the bigger challenges that threaten all of us.
So yes, congrats on a scandal-free reign. That and a dollar will get you four quarters.
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