After getting the Benghazi and IRS stories completely wrong, pundits write off the president again

[DonViejo]

The pernicious myth of Obama’s “incompetence”

Months after getting the Benghazi and IRS stories completely wrong, pundits write off the president again

BY JOAN WALSH

Excuse me if I sit out this round of hyperventilating over President Obama’s alleged “incompetence” on matters ranging from the Affordable Care Act roll out to the NSA spying scandal. Because we just played this game last spring.

Five months ago cable news and the Web were aflame with charges that the Obama White House had reached either a new level of tyranny or ineptitude after supposed “new” revelations about Benghazi, the IRS non-scandal and the administration’s spying on journalists. In fact, the heavy-handed investigation of leaks targeting journalists in creepy new ways was the only story that merited serious coverage (and of course it faded more quickly than the other two.) Likewise, the revelations that the NSA is listening in on the cellphone calls of our allies, and reports that Obama didn’t know about it, is the story that really matters. But we’ve got wall-to-wall coverage of hearings on the ACA, with the NSA stuff thrown in to make all of the “Has Obama lost control of government?” (an actual chyron on CNN yesterday) hyperventilating more defensible.

So Richard Cohen hysterically declares the latest mess “a question of competence” (Obama’s, of course). If that sounds familiar, it’s because the National Journal’s Josh Krashaar wrote about “Obama’s crisis of competence” in the wake of the Benghazi/IRS/reporter-spying “scandals.” Declaring the president incompetent may be a new symptom of false equivalence and journalistic balance – OK, the right says Obama is evil (and a Kenyan Muslim usurper ineligible to be president), and we won’t go that far. The left says he’s being sabotaged by an extremist Republican Party that won’t accept his legitimacy; well, that’s a little shrill. Let’s find something in the middle; how about “incompetent”?

Over at CBS, conservative favorite Sharyl Attkisson told us in May that even her White House sources admitted to “incompetence” on Benghazi. “We’re portrayed by Republicans as either being lying or idiots,” said one Obama administration official. “It’s actually closer to us being idiots.” On USNews.com, Lara Brown derided “a clueless White House” while USA Today asked “Is Obama under siege?” and advanced the storyline that the administration was guilty of “incompetence” if not malice in the trifecta of alleged scandals.

full article
http://www.salon.com/2013/10/30/the_pernicious_myth_of_obama%E2%80%99s_%E2%80%9Cincompetence%E2%80%9D/

[SunSeeker]

1. K & R

[Proud Liberal Dem]

2. Predictions of imminent and terminal doom of President Obama/Democrats

everytime there is a (largely) media- and/or Republican-driven spate of "bad news" for the Obama Administration/Democrats is getting really tiresome, particularly when you consider the previous (mis-)Administration of George W. Bush, whose incompetence and/or bad choices actually, literally, harmed and killed lots of people. President Obama's missteps/mistakes have largely resulted in little more than bad publicity and/or inconveniences for some.