The spectacle of the elite media — CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN, The New York Times, etc. — hiding their collective eyes to the increasingly outrageous scandals coming out of the Obama administration, must remind Vladimir Putin of the good old days when he was a KGB thug and his fellow Russians got their information from a small handful sources such as the official Soviet newspaper, Pravda (Russian for "Truth").
Where are Woodward and Bernstein, who brought down the mighty and notorious Richard Nixon over a simple campaign scandal called Watergate? Where are these brave journalists now to dig for the facts about all the "gates" of the Obama administration: Solyndragate, Fast and Furiousgate, Amnesty by Executive Ordergate, and National Security Leakergate, not to mention all the other Obama administration corruption that Bob and Carl and their cronies seem to be ignoring?
It would appear that outside of Fox News, talk radio and the conservative blogosphere, there are few in the media who will address the rotten odor emanating of this administration. Retired Lt. Col. Ralph Peters, a former Army intelligence officer and current Fox News analyst, is rightly incensed over the biggest of these scandals, the recent administration leaks of highly classified information. He contends that it is beyond obvious that these leaks are coming out of the White House.
"I think back to Watergate, which is our benchmark scandal in Washington," Peters said in a recent interview. "That was a clown show operation, and yet a lot of people went to jail, and deservedly so. This pattern of grave national security leaks in the Obama administration is vastly more serious than what happened at Watergate. But I will tell you, unless a number of people go to jail, nothing will change.
"Every leak we've had," he continued, "has been to Obama's advantage, trying to portray him as a macho macho man, which is kind of like portraying Woody Allen as Conan the Barbarian… Everything has been to portray Obama as a real stud, or — this is really shameful — to undercut Israel…This administration hates Israel."
Peters went on to list the sorry litany of administration leaks: the details of the bin Laden raid, revelations that led directly to members of Seal Team Six being killed by our enemies; the information that Israel had been authorized to use Azerbaijani air bases for a strike on Iran; the release of the name of the Pakistani doctor who is going to jail for 30 years for helping us; and the leaked information about a cyber attack that planted one of the world's nastiest computer virus into Iranian computers in order to slow down the their nuclear program.
"The bottom line is this," Peters said, "National security information isn't a joke. The things that have been leaked can kill people."
In a "methinks he doth protest too much" moment, delivered in those icy tones of his, Obama himself told a press conference that any suggestion anyone in "my White House" would leak sensitive national security information for political advantage "is offensive."
I couldn't agree more. It is one of the most offensive displays I can recall since Bill Clinton wagged his crooked finger at us and declared that he "did not have sex with that woman, Miss Lewinsky," when the world knew he had.
There is a sickening feeling among many that Barack Obama and his campaign/White House team (indeed, it has become impossible to distinguish between the two) couldn't care less about the collateral damage they are creating, as long that the president's image is burnished and his re-election chances enhanced. It is a disturbing thing to believe about your president, but one that is increasingly difficult to avoid.
Doug Patton was s a freelance columnist who has served as a political speechwriter and policy advisor to conservative candidates, elected officials and public policy organizations.
