Delusional Obama Did Not Have a Scandal
Upon hearing that  former President Barack Obama  recently boasted that  he  had a scandal-free administration  my first thought after regaining my faculties was: How can I possibly cram all the evidence refuting this in a little bitty column?
Then I read that what  he  actually said was  "We didn't have a scandal that embarrassed us." At first blush  that sounds better  right? Because I assume  he  doesn't mean  he 's incapable of being embarrassed. After a little more thought  though  it occurred to me that this construction just highlights the real reason  he  has apparently deluded  himself  into thinking  he  served eight honorable years: The liberal media had  his  back the entire time  even when  he  treated them like dirt.
In fact   Obama  was a perpetual power-abusing machine.  He  was so routinely high-handed and selectively contemptuous of the rule of law that people were beginning to think presidential authoritarianism was the new normal. How ironic that so many of  Obama 's enablers are now projecting these sins onto President Trump  who — to this point  at least - hasn't actually crossed the line into flouting the Constitution. The left believes — and acts on the belief — that the ends justify the means  and so  it naturally assumes we will do the same.  Obama  was hell-bent on fundamentally transforming America as founded  and  he  was willing to scratch  bite  kick  steal and flush the rule of law to accomplish it — and  he  did  like no president before  him . In other words   Obama 's lies were OK because lies are sometimes necessary for the greater good.
For your review  let me just give you a list of examples  many of them snatched from my two  Obama  books  which chronicled his two disgraceful terms. Not all technically qualify as scandals  but enough do.
— Benghazi: In addition to the scandalous betrayal and death of our people   Obama  and  his  cohorts concocted and disseminated the lie that the attack on our consulate was caused by an anti-Muslim video. Later  Judicial Watch obtained a smoking-gun email from top-level  Obama  aid Ben Rhodes  sent to a dozen members of  Obama 's inner circle  that contained talking points to prepare then-U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice for the Sunday talk shows. Three of the four main bullet points Rhodes was advising Rice to convey were patently false  including the lie about the video. They knew  because the CIA made it clear  that the attack was not the result of a spontaneous protest to an anti-Muslim video but preplanned by al-Qaida. The  Obama  administration manufactured this canard to insulate  Obama  from criticism two months before the November 2012 election  as he had boasted that he had al-Qaida on the run.
—  Obama 's IRS conspired to target conservative and pro-Israel groups for discriminatory treatment in acquiring tax exemptions.
—  Obama  and then-Attorney general Eric Holder's Justice Department was never held to account for its actions on the gunrunning scandal known as Operation Fast and Furious  in which an American was murdered with weapons this administration deliberately put into the hands of Mexican cartels.
— The  Obama  administration flagrantly defied a federal court order on his moratorium on offshore drilling when his interior secretary  Ken Salazar  said he would just reimpose the moratorium based on information that wasn't fully developed earlier.
—  Obama  rigged the playing field to secure for  his  labor-union friends a bigger stake in  his  new General Motors than was warranted by their actual ownership interest.  He  robbed secured creditors of their preferred-creditor status and the value of their investment by using the power of  his  office to strong-arm a restructuring of the company. When Democratic Party donor and super-lawyer Tom Lauria opposed this plan on behalf of his client  according to Lauria  the White House threatened to destroy his client's reputation.
— Then  there's the Iran nuclear deal   Obama 's unprecedented federal land grabs;  his  dismissal of a voter-intimidation case against the New Black Panther Party that had already been won;  his  bullying of doctors and insurance companies when it served  his  purposes;  his  endless stirring of the racial pot;  his  bullying and fact-starved attack on BP that culminated in  his  authoritarian command  "Just plug the damn hole";  his  stable of unaccountable "czars";  his  war on Fox News  which preceded Trump's battles with the press that Democrats find so horrifying; the Department of Veterans Affairs scandal; the Solyndra scandal; the deliberate targeting of the coal industry; the shakedown of banks; the massive redistribution scheme disguised as an economic stimulus program; the federal commandeering of the student loan program; his public dressing down of the Supreme Court; his whispered hot-mic pledge to Russia to be more flexible on missile defense; his cavalier treatment of Arizona and its immigration laws; and gobs more.
Upon hearing that  [TGT]recently boasted that  [TGT]  had a scandal-free administration  my first thought after regaining my faculties was: How can I possibly cram all the evidence refuting this in a little bitty column?
Then I read that what  he  actually said was  "We didn't have a scandal that embarrassed us." At first blush  that sounds better  right? Because I assume  he  doesn't mean  he 's incapable of being embarrassed. After a little more thought  though  it occurred to me that this construction just highlights the real reason  he  has apparently deluded  himself  into thinking  he  served eight honorable years: The liberal media had  his  back the entire time  even when  he  treated them like dirt.
In fact   [TGT]was a perpetual power-abusing machine.  [TGT]  was so routinely high-handed and selectively contemptuous of the rule of law that people were beginning to think presidential authoritarianism was the new normal. How ironic that so many of  [TGT] 's enablers are now projecting these sins onto President Trump  who — to this point  at least - hasn't actually crossed the line into flouting the Constitution. The left believes — and acts on the belief — that the ends justify the means  and so  it naturally assumes we will do the same.  [TGT]was hell-bent on fundamentally transforming America as founded  and  [TGT]  was willing to scratch  bite  kick  steal and flush the rule of law to accomplish it — and  [TGT]  did  like no president before  [TGT] . In other words   [TGT] 's lies were OK because lies are sometimes necessary for the greater good.
For your review  let me just give you a list of examples  many of them snatched from my two  [TGT]books  which chronicled [TGT] two disgraceful terms. Not all technically qualify as scandals  but enough do.
— Benghazi: In addition to the scandalous betrayal and death of our people   [TGT]and  his  cohorts concocted and disseminated the lie that the attack on our consulate was caused by an anti-Muslim video. Later  Judicial Watch obtained a smoking-gun email from top-level  [TGT]aid Ben Rhodes  sent to a dozen members of  [TGT] 's inner circle  that contained talking points to prepare then-U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice for the Sunday talk shows. Three of the four main bullet points Rhodes was advising Rice to convey were patently false  including the lie about the video. They knew  because the CIA made it clear  that the attack was not the result of a spontaneous protest to an anti-Muslim video but preplanned by al-Qaida. The  Obama  administration manufactured this canard to insulate  Obama  from criticism two months before the November 2012 election  as he had boasted that he had al-Qaida on the run.
—  [TGT] 's IRS conspired to target conservative and pro-Israel groups for discriminatory treatment in acquiring tax exemptions.
—  [TGT]and then-Attorney general Eric Holder's Justice Department was never held to account for its actions on the gunrunning scandal known as Operation Fast and Furious  in which an American was murdered with weapons this administration deliberately put into the hands of Mexican cartels.
— The  [TGT]administration flagrantly defied a federal court order on his moratorium on offshore drilling when his interior secretary  Ken Salazar  said he would just reimpose the moratorium based on information that wasn't fully developed earlier.
—  [TGT]rigged the playing field to secure for  [TGT]  labor-union friends a bigger stake in  [TGT]  new General Motors than was warranted by their actual ownership interest.  [TGT]  robbed secured creditors of their preferred-creditor status and the value of their investment by using the power of  [TGT]  office to strong-arm a restructuring of the company. When Democratic Party donor and super-lawyer Tom Lauria opposed this plan on behalf of his client  according to Lauria  the White House threatened to destroy his client's reputation.
— Then  there's the Iran nuclear deal   [TGT] 's unprecedented federal land grabs;  [TGT]  dismissal of a voter-intimidation case against the New Black Panther Party that had already been won;  [TGT]  bullying of doctors and insurance companies when it served  [TGT]  purposes;  [TGT]  endless stirring of the racial pot;  [TGT]  bullying and fact-starved attack on BP that culminated in  [TGT]  authoritarian command  "Just plug the damn hole";  [TGT]  stable of unaccountable "czars";  [TGT]  war on Fox News  which preceded Trump's battles with the press that Democrats find so horrifying; the Department of Veterans Affairs scandal; the Solyndra scandal; the deliberate targeting of the coal industry; the shakedown of banks; the massive redistribution scheme disguised as an economic stimulus program; the federal commandeering of the student loan program; [TGT] public dressing down of the Supreme Court; [TGT] whispered hot-mic pledge to Russia to be more flexible on missile defense; [TGT] cavalier treatment of Arizona and its immigration laws; and gobs more.