Wednesday, January 15, 2014

The Scandal That Isn't There (vs. One That Is)

Scandal! Scandal! It's time for a new haute faux scandal. And this time, it's (again) coming from Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates. And this time, it's (again) targeting Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D).

So what happened? Long story short, Robert Gates decided to release a book that throws plenty of shade at the Obama Administration. Why? President Obama dared to question the wisdom of indefinite extension of the Afghanistan War and look for a full spectrum of options on Libya (in 2011). Apparently, Robert Gates didn't like President Obama asserting his constitutional authority as Commander-in-Chief.

And now, Gates is digging further back in time to try to read Senator Reid. No really, he's taking to the media to rehash comments the Senator made nearly 7 years ago on the Iraq War. Of course, he fails to mention that Senator Reid has been proven correct on Iraq.

We can't help but wonder why Republican politicians are chomping at the bit to see more of Robert Gates throwing political punches at President Obama, Senator Reid, and other top Democrats. Is it because they hope Gates' comments can revive their meme of #ObamaFAIL? Is it because they still refuse to acknowledge the Obama Administration's foreign policy successes? Is it because they want to use Gates' recent comments as ammo in their battle against President Obama & Senator Reid on Iran policy?

Or could the motivation behind the "Gates-gate" hype lie closer to home? Just as "Gates-gate 1.0" was starting to hit its stride in the media, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie (R) screwed it all up with the emergence of his own (very real) Bridge-gate scandal. Might "Gates-gate 2.0" just be a clumsy G-O-TEA attempt at diverting media attention from the scandalicious slow motion implosion of Republicans' "Great White Hope for 2016"?

Whatever the motivation(s) behind "Gates-gate", it just seems like there's no there there. And we should keep this in mind in case someone decides to manufacture a new "Harry Reid SCANDAL!!!"

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