I have teenage kids. They are famous for saying “whatever” to either me or my wife when they’re being told some kind of truth they don’t want to hear. It’s right up there with “oh you just don’t get it, Dad!”
Such behavior is expected of teenagers so it doesn’t bother me (that much).
But one would expect the “smart” administration to be able to explain themselves better in light of their failures. Granted, the Obama administration has moved from failure to failure like pieces on a board game moving to new squares. However, nothing personified the administration’s contempt for oversight and separation of powers more than Kathleen Sebelius when testifying about the administration’s ineptitude in rolling out Obamacare.
In an exchange with Representative Greg Harper of Mississippi, the following was said:
Rep. Greg Harper: The president ultimately is responsible. While I think it’s great that you’re a team player and you’re taking responsibility, it is the president’s ultimate responsibility, correct?
Sebelius: Um… You clearly… Uh… Whatever. Yes he is the president. Yes he is responsible for government programs.
Whatever.
Sure, we rammed this ridiculously expensive legislation through, not bothering to involve Republicans in the discussions. Sure, we passed this behemoth without actually reading it to know what was in store for our constituents. Sure, we made the stupid promise to people that it would lower premiums and offer people “affordable” coverage plans. Sure, the roll out has been a disaster and, aside from the crappy website, enrollment has been poor because of the high prices. Sure, the bulk of the people who have signed up are largely getting Medicaid.
But, whatever.
In 1961, John F. Kennedy set a goal to have the United States have astronauts land on the moon before the end of the decade. He didn’t live to see it, but that dream was realized.
Today, we have an administration that can’t even build a functioning website with $600 million and 3 years development time.
Sebelius’s “whatever” comment is a reflection of the man who heads up this administration, President Obama. With a deadly mixture of vanity and hubris, this president has turned passing the buck into an art form. Here’s how:
1. Nothing is ever his fault. Ever. Never. Ever. Five years into his Presidency, the economy stinks and he is still blaming President Bush. Or he’s blaming “phony scandals.” He flat-out lied to the American people about how they could “keep their health care plan” and when that didn’t happen, he blamed the insurance companies. His foolhardy “red line” ultimatum with Syria? The world was to blame for that, not him.
2. He never knows about anything. He didn’t know healthcare.gov was going to be such a disaster. He didn’t know about the Justice Department gathering AP phone records. He didn’t know about the IRS targeting Tea Party groups. He didn’t know the NSA was spying on Angela Merkel. He didn’t know about the Justice Department snooping through James Rosen’s emails. But he sure was involved in every single detail of that Osama bin Laden raid, wasn’t he?
Should anybody be surprised? The same press that now continually whines about a lack of access and contempt from this administration were the same ones tripping over themselves to proclaim Barack Obama the “transformational President” when he was elected. He received pass after pass for the first several years of his presidency, and we were lectured to by pundits and his celebrity worshipers that he was “trying his best” and had the best of intentions.
Everybody is given pats on the back in the media for reporting on Obama’s whopper about people being able to keep their plans and their doctors. That tall tale received 4 Pinocchios from Glenn Kessler.
But the question has to be asked: why wasn’t the media looking into that claim when the President was repeating it over and over again? Obama and his minions accused Republicans and conservatives of engaging in “fear mongering” for suggesting that anybody would lose their coverage or be forced to get a new doctor — and the media was happy to play along.
One would think that after 5 years of empty promises, failed policies, lies, a total lack of transparency and just plain incompetence that the media would have realized, “This guy really is not a very good President.”
Their failure to do that is what has given us the “Whatever Administration.”
Have we finally reached a point where the press will act as skeptics rather than stenographers?
We’ll find out soon enough.