Your crime? Perhaps nothing. Perhaps the talking points memo clusterfuck after the Benghazi attack was nothing more than a pissing contest between the CIA and State; perhaps the IRS scandal will end with a few over zealous officials being fired, nothing more; perhaps there was a legitimate reason why the Department of Justice "obtained" phone records of AP reporters; and perhaps none of this will have legs and will eventually blow over in due time.
I wouldn't count on it.
For the first time in your presidency, your opposition hasn't had to fabricate a story about you. This one stands on its own two feet. The blood in the water is real and it's yours. What's worse, the wound is self inflicted. This isn't some bogus death panel canard, sir; it's legitimate and it's a beaut.
Do I think you had anything to do with a cover up? Of course not. Are the Republican attack dogs politically motivated? Is the Pope Catholic? And let's get one thing straight: this isn't Watergate, no matter how many times Fox News says it is.
That's hardly the point. The issue at hand, Mr. President, is that once more your inability to get on top of a festering issue, define it and prevent it from becoming a crisis is threatening to bring down your administration.
Think I'm overreacting? Maybe, but consider this. Bill Clinton got impeached for lying about getting a blow job in the Oval Office. If you don't think a Republican Party that is ten times more "out there" and loathes you even more than they did Bubba, is capable of impeaching you, then you're delusional. Infidelity is nothing compared to the deaths of four Americans, let alone the contempt people historically have had for the IRS.
Honestly, I don't know how this plays out. The damage maybe too much to overcome. But this much I do know. You need to get out front and do some damage control fast. Jay Carney's just not cutting it; not even close. Every time he takes that podium, the hole gets deeper. Right now, you're about a hundred feet from Beijing.
If you have any hope of leaving a lasting legacy in your second term, this must be put to bed. Your press conference was a nice start. But much more is needed. Defending the honor of Hillary Clinton and Ambassador Pickering is nice but ultimately superfluous. It's not their honor that's at stake here, and, with all due respect, if there's one thing we know about the Clintons, it's that they can take care of themselves. A few "heads will roll" would be appropriate right about now.
You need to take charge of this situation before it deteriorates any further. Whether your finger prints are on the weapon or not is irrelevant; you own it by virtue of the fact that you're the commander in chief. Due mainly to your own incompetence, the wingnuts on the Right have become super charged like never before. If they can get all ramped up over bullshit like birtherism, imagine just how rabid they will get over a real story.
Imagine the Republicans not only holding the House in 2014, but taking back the Senate. That would be the definition of a nightmare scenario. Each day you fail to effectively deal with this issue brings that scenario one day closer to reality.
For four years the GOP has tried to stop you in your tracks. They have lost at the ballot box and in the court of public opinion. It would be the crime of the century to hand them this victory virtually uncontested.
Shame on you, sir, if that happens!
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