That's what the GOP is banking on at this point. It seems that we're now in the shady realm of scandal mongering at this point. Understand that fanning the flames of scandal is not the same thing as wanting to the get to the truth.
We've seen this on Benghazi since the tragic attacks last October. Ever since it has been the GOP's favorite hobby horse. Yet often they have seemed uninterested in getting at really happened much less what is needed to be done to prevent the next attack
" Republicans showed little interest in relenting to explore what happened at the consulate, what might be done to prevent future such attacks and what political calculations went into rewriting talking points the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, used on news shows the Sunday after the attack."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/12/thomas-pickering-benghazi_n_3263073.html
They'd much rather make political statements:
"One Republican eyeing a White House run, Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, told an audience in Iowa that he thinks the Benghazi attack "precludes Hillary Clinton from ever holding office."
The issue is not getting at the facts but scandal mongering. There's two reasons for this.
1. They have no positive agenda for the country at all beyond defeating the President and this is desperate ploy to harm him.
2. However, it's become more and more about Hillary Clinton rather than the President himself lately. This adds to their benefits in scandal mongering exponentially in trying to damage her as she is at present a strong front runner for 2016.
The IRS issue of monitoring Tea Party groups is another hobby horse they'll no doubt trying to maximize mileage from. Again, I agree that if the IRS-or at least some local offices-broke the law of did anything ethically wrong that should be investigated. However, this is not about getting to the truth but simply mongering a scandal.
The early returns don't suggest a scandal that touches the White House. However, it's clear that Issa and friends don't want a narrative that implicates just local IRS officials.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/13/irs-targeting-conservative-groups_n_3265387.html
They'll no doubt wallow in this as they have done in Benghazi without any real interest in either prevention/remedy or even getting at what really happened.
The key to a scandal getting-political-traction is keeping the narrative incendiary yet vague.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-05-10/benghazi-will-be-hillary-clinton-s-2016-whitewater.html
Jamison Foster has a great illustration of the way it's al about being vague.
https://twitter.com/jamisonfoser/status/332976418986270721/photo/1
I see that Greg Sargent is making a point I made on Friday: that we need to proceed with a lot of caution here-I'd say extreme caution. The GOP is not about a good faith investigation aimed at the truth. It never is.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2013/05/13/the-morning-plum-time-for-caution-in-scandal-coverage/
http://diaryofarepublicanhater.blogspot.com/2013/05/on-irs-tea-party-scandal-one-word-of.html
http://diaryofarepublicanhater.blogspot.com/2013/05/is-benghazi-all-about-hillary-clinton.html
If nothing else, it's vital to keep that in mind.
P.S. Darrell Issa has said that his goal is a different hearing ion the President every day of the week. Again, there is no disinterested search for truth here.
We've seen this on Benghazi since the tragic attacks last October. Ever since it has been the GOP's favorite hobby horse. Yet often they have seemed uninterested in getting at really happened much less what is needed to be done to prevent the next attack
" Republicans showed little interest in relenting to explore what happened at the consulate, what might be done to prevent future such attacks and what political calculations went into rewriting talking points the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, used on news shows the Sunday after the attack."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/12/thomas-pickering-benghazi_n_3263073.html
They'd much rather make political statements:
"One Republican eyeing a White House run, Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, told an audience in Iowa that he thinks the Benghazi attack "precludes Hillary Clinton from ever holding office."
The issue is not getting at the facts but scandal mongering. There's two reasons for this.
1. They have no positive agenda for the country at all beyond defeating the President and this is desperate ploy to harm him.
2. However, it's become more and more about Hillary Clinton rather than the President himself lately. This adds to their benefits in scandal mongering exponentially in trying to damage her as she is at present a strong front runner for 2016.
The IRS issue of monitoring Tea Party groups is another hobby horse they'll no doubt trying to maximize mileage from. Again, I agree that if the IRS-or at least some local offices-broke the law of did anything ethically wrong that should be investigated. However, this is not about getting to the truth but simply mongering a scandal.
The early returns don't suggest a scandal that touches the White House. However, it's clear that Issa and friends don't want a narrative that implicates just local IRS officials.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/13/irs-targeting-conservative-groups_n_3265387.html
They'll no doubt wallow in this as they have done in Benghazi without any real interest in either prevention/remedy or even getting at what really happened.
The key to a scandal getting-political-traction is keeping the narrative incendiary yet vague.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-05-10/benghazi-will-be-hillary-clinton-s-2016-whitewater.html
Jamison Foster has a great illustration of the way it's al about being vague.
https://twitter.com/jamisonfoser/status/332976418986270721/photo/1
I see that Greg Sargent is making a point I made on Friday: that we need to proceed with a lot of caution here-I'd say extreme caution. The GOP is not about a good faith investigation aimed at the truth. It never is.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2013/05/13/the-morning-plum-time-for-caution-in-scandal-coverage/
http://diaryofarepublicanhater.blogspot.com/2013/05/on-irs-tea-party-scandal-one-word-of.html
http://diaryofarepublicanhater.blogspot.com/2013/05/is-benghazi-all-about-hillary-clinton.html
If nothing else, it's vital to keep that in mind.
P.S. Darrell Issa has said that his goal is a different hearing ion the President every day of the week. Again, there is no disinterested search for truth here.
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