Barack Obama and the Politics of Lying

by: barrett kalellis | published: 10 30, 2012

After almost four years in office, it’s amazing to witness the American public become inured to the steady stream of finger-pointing, half-truths and palpable lies from the President of the United States and his appointed officials and minions in the media. This observation comes not from only listening to current Democratic campaign rhetoric and the television advertising that it spawns, but also from the arrogant style and high-handed governing that characterizes the Obama administration.

Far from following his 2008 campaign claims about transparency and openness, Obama has staffed the federal government at the highest level with activist ideologues who have revealed their true motives only after controversial regulations and policies have become public discourse.

Attorney General Eric Holder’s stonewalling and prevarications about the “Fast and Furious” gun-running sting, or the refusal to prosecute Black Panther voter intimidation in Philadelphia elections; EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson’s stealthy issuance of reams of onerous, unnecessary and sometimes fanciful industry regulations to further political agendas; and HSS Secretary Katherine Sebelius’ riding rough-shod over the Catholic Church’s desire not to fund contraception or abortions are only a few examples in which attempts to ramrod ill-conceived policies onto the public are made, using language that either obscures the truth, or shifts responsibility.

Obama’s modus operandi is to blame others – usually his predecessor George W. Bush, or the Republican Party – for his many policy failures in office, whether the disastrously poor economy, or the many missteps in foreign affairs.

The most recent, and most flagrant, case of presidential lying is the Benghazi consulate attack. Not only did Obama prevaricate on the true nature of the violence, but he had his highest administration officials perpetrate the same lies in public, blaming the cause on a YouTube video when they already knew it was a jidhadi attack: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, UN Ambassador Susan Rice and White House Press Secretary Jay Carney.

Add to this the many Democratic shills and surrogates that supported the lies with media talking points for weeks after the truth was finally outed at a Congressional hearing and by email and other internal leaks. This leaves Obama vulnerable to the charges of incompetence or cowardice, or both.

The unfolding disclosures are only the latest example, for all to see, of what pundit Michelle Malkin has called the “culture of corruption” in the Obama administration.

These political leaders assume that the American public can have the wool pulled over its eyes with impunity. They may be right in this, even as they squirm in the contradictions of their public utterances that dodge the truth.

What is most appalling is the ease with which they manipulate and control an obsequious and supine national media. Fifty years ago, the U.S. press and network news reporters would flay alive political figures that had the temerity to mislead the American people. They would be publicly exposed and humiliated, with calls for resignation (or impeachment) made loud and clear.

The reporters and pundits in today’s mainstream media turn away. They either promulgate the lies, or parse them in an exculpatory way, or just ignore them – except for Fox News, which has covered this scandal in great detail.

The partisanship of these news-gathering organizations has corrupted the institution of a free press in America. Formerly great newspapers like the New York Times and leading news networks like NBC have turned into partisan rags and lickspittles. The mainstream media tilts heavily to the left, and they reserve their most severe brickbats for conservatives or the Republican Party in general.

Under these circumstances, it is very difficult for the average American to gain objective news and an accurate coverage of events. MSNBC host Chris Matthews, formerly a respected newspaper reporter, has morphed himself into a slavish buffoon, a monkey on a leash while organ-grinder Barack Obama calls the tune. How can viewers obtain any honest reporting from such a person?

Will the American people rise up and vote this incompetent bounder out of office? Many now feel that he should have been impeached long ago. Sadly, too many Americans are ill-informed and irresponsible, and vote for any mediocrity that will offer them benefits.

Today, I suspect that the only long-term remedy is to earn the franchise and not have it an unqualified right, freely given. Some sort of minimal qualifications should be met, similar to what immigrants have to demonstrate to be naturalized. If our own citizens are too ignorant to learn about how their government is supposed to work—and what the founding principles are—then they should forfeit this right.

After all, one cannot drive a car unless a driver’s license test has been passed. Voting should have similar strictures. Don’t hold your breath.

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