Mr. President, I apologize. I sincerely apologize for my mistaken beliefs. Color me contrite, for I have been living a delusion. A delusional belief that there have been numerous scandals within your administration.
This week, you kindly made me, and the whole country, aware that these were false scandals. False scandals invented by the Republican Party intended to divide our nation. False scandals intended to dull that shiny beacon of light that is your presidency.
I want you to know Mr. President, that I listen to everything you say. I consider it a responsibility as an American to do so. I always have, and I always will. It is in deference to the office of the President that I make it my business to listen to the words and the message of the leader of our nation, whether I voted for him or not.
It is because of the respect that I have for the office of the President of the United States of America, that I gave your words about "phony scandals' some serious consideration. I have thought back on the numerous scandals that have seemed to plague your administration in the past couple years.
I have also taken the time to listen again to two of your most historic speeches, and tried to take your words in those speeches, and compare them to your words today. I remember your victory speech in Chicago, in 2008. There were folks crying. There were the chants "yes we can." You spoke about hope, and you spoke about change.
I also took the time to once again listen to your 2009 inauguration speech. It was a thing of beauty. A speech for the ages. Jefferson, Roosevelt, & Kennedy had nothing on you. It was historic. A speech for the ages. People cried.
So here we are, almost five years, and a reelection later, and there are these scandals. There are these awful things that have happened on your watch, and I have been critical of you, and your administration because of them. I have been blaming the folks you put in positions of power, and ultimately, I have been blaming you, because as Harry Truman so famously put it, the buck stops at your desk.
Luckily, you went on a tour of our country this week, though, and cleared the whole issue up. I have been getting all worked up over "phony scandals." I've been mad at Eric Holder, Jay Carney, the IRS, the DOJ, the State Department, Hillary Clinton, and a whole host of alphabetic agencies, and their functionaries for no good reason. They were all involved in "phony scandals" not real scandals.
I can see how someone could get that mixed up, and that is why we pay you the big bucks, so that you can clarify these things for us, the unwashed masses.
So thank you, and I apologize for getting all worked up.
You see, I thought that whole Fast & Furious thing was for real. I was under the impression that our Department of Justice under the leadership of Eric Holder actually let arms be sold to Mexican drug cartels on purpose. I thought that ATF agent Brian Terry was actually killed with a gun that our government purposely sold to drug cartel members. Maybe I am being overly critical because Brian Terry is from my home state of Michigan.
I also thought that a couple hundred innocent Mexican citizens were also killed with the thousand or so weapons that our government purposely sold to Mexican drug cartels. I even mistakenly thought that a Mexican police chief was recently murdered by one of these weapons.
Thankfully Mr. President, you have cleared the matter up for me. This was nothing but a "phony scandal" made up by Republicans to sully your good name. I'll make sure to pass this along to Mr. Terry's Mom & Dad, I'm sure it will make them feel much better about losing their Son . Again, I apologize for my misunderstanding.
Speaking of dead Americans, I was just thinking of the Fort Hood massacre. Remember that one? A guy named Nidal Malik Hasan killed 13 people and injured 30 more? They were almost all military personnel, soon to be deployed to the Middle East. Remember?
What really makes me mad about this, is that you have steadfastly refused to call this a terrorist act. You call it workplace violence. OK, the Department of Defense is calling it workplace violence, but Mr. President, you know darn well that you could make one phone call and change that designation.
It's not that changing the designation from workplace violence to a terrorist attack would bring back any of the dead to their Moms, Dads, Wives, and kids, but one thing it would do is allow for more medical benefits to the wounded soldiers, and also allow for medals such as Purple Hearts for the wounded and dead. They were already signed up to serve our great nation in a combat zone, when the military facility they were in, turned into a combat zone, so I have to admit Mr. President, I was in complete disagreement with your administration's workplace violence designation.
What furthered my dismay was the fact that upon investigation, it became clear that Nidal Malik Hasan had been communicating with Anwar al-Awlaki. Remember him? He is the guy that you called the senior talent recruiter, and motivator for al-Qaeda. He was an American citizen until you droned him. That of course caused a furor because there are many that say you violated the Constitution by killing an American without bringing charges against, or allowing a fair trial. You rationalized this by calling him a terrorist.
So my mistake was thinking that if Anwar al-Awlaki is a terrorist who was justifiably killed by our military, and he was in contact with Nidal Hasan, who shot over 40 military personnel at Fort Hood, it must have most assuredly been a terrorist attack, and not workplace violence that was responsible for the deaths of 13 of America's soldiers.
The fact that Nidal Hasan will be allowed to act as his own counsel, and cross examine men and women whom he personally shot made me even more furious, but thankfully, you cleared things up for me, by informing me that this is nothing more than a phony scandal, and that the dead and wounded at the Fort Hood massacre are being represented, and taken care of, in the best possible way by our nation's government. I apologize for my misunderstanding of the situation.
Let's talk about the "phony" IRS scandal.
Mr. President, you said at your 2009 Inauguration: "Those of us who manage the public's dollars will be held to account, to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day, because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and our government."
So let's fast forward to 2010 and an IRS that unfairly, and most likely, illegally targeted conservative non-profit groups. Your IRS target Pro Life groups, Tea party groups, and groups with the word Patriot in their name. That is a fact.
Your IRS also gave Malik Obama, (your half brother & best man at your wedding) his non-profit status 3 weeks after he applied. and made it retroactive to the day he started it. It was personally handled by Lois Lerner, who took the 5th when called in front of Congress to testify about her actions.
You said the behavior by IRS officials was reprehensible, and that you would get to the bottom of it, and those responsible would be held accountable.
Statements were made by people representing your government that a lone wolf in Cincinnati was solely responsible. As it turns out, those statements were absolutely wrong.
Then Congress got involved, and the head of the department involved, Lois Lerner, pleaded the 5th. It would seem to me that if it were just some rogue IRS agent, she would not have to seek protection against self incrimination by pleading the 5th.
As more information came out, it seems that the IRS was wasting tons of taxpayer money with government credit cards. Lavish vacations, expensive meals, and even internet porn were charged to those credit cards that are of course paid for by the US taxpayers.
Well, without getting into the many more accusations that are currently standing about the behavior of senior IRS officials, I would just say that it had me scared to death that the IRS, which is the most powerful arm of the US Government outside of the military, could do such terrible things to folks that were on the wrong end of the political spectrum.
When you told me last week about the phony scandals, I wondered if this one was included. Your spokesman, Jay Carney confirmed in a press conference yesterday that you do in fact, consider this a "phony scandal." Whew! That's a relief, because I would hate to think that any of this is really happening. Thank you Mr. President for clearing that up for me, and I apologize for buying into that phony scandal. Silly me.
Just one more question before I move on to another "phony scandal."
The other woman in charge of the Tax-Exempt Office when all of this "reprehensible behavior" was taking place was Sarah Hall Ingram. You stated that those responsible were going to be held accountable. It is my understanding that she was put in charge of the IRS Affordable Care Act Office, which is the division that will be in charge of enforcing Obamacare. Was that her punishment for this mess? The buck stopped at her desk, and that was your version of holding her accountable, or was that simply a phony punishment? OK! Enough! I am sorry, it's just that there are still some lingering questions, but based on your statements last week, I'll just leave the whole IRS thing alone.
Move along. nothing to see here.
Benghazi. Remember Benghazi? Last week you called it a "phony scandal." You didn't label Benghazi specifically in your statement, so the question was asked yesterday to your spokesman. "Was Benghazi one of the phony scandals the President talking about?" I was stunned to hear your spokesman Jay Carney confirm that yes, you consider the whole Benghazi attack a phony scandal.
Lets look at the basic timeline:
It is late summer of 2012, and you are campaigning. You state that al-Qaeda has been decimated. "Bin laden is dead, and Detroit is alive" was one of your favorite lines.
September 11 2012: On the anniversary of the World Trade Center attack, the American diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya was attacked by a heavily armed group. This attack happened at night, and the next morning, a second attack took place at the CIA Annex a mile away. US Ambassador Christopher Stevens was killed during this attack. He is only the second US Ambassador ever killed. Three others were killed as well. Their names are: Sean Smith, Tyrone Woods, and Glen Doherty. Eleven were also wounded in this attack called the Battle of Benghazi.
In the days and weeks after the attack Mr. President, you told Americans that this attack was the result of a mob that was angered over a YouTube cartoon made by a man named Nakoula Basseley Nakoula. You had Ambassador Susan Rice go on 5 Sunday news shows and state that this YouTube cartoon was the reason this so called protest that got out of hand, took place.
You yourself Mr. President stated that other religions should not be discriminated against, and you denounced the video. It seemed to me, that you were apologizing to the very people who killed our people in Benghazi.
On September 27th you arrested and perp walked the maker of this YouTube cartoon. He was sent to jail, and hasn't been seen or heard from since. Poof! Vanished!
There are those who say that you had the means to send help to our people in Benghazi in the several hours that the attack was happening. There are also those that say that the Fast Response Team, whose sole mission was to be an effective force, ready to respond to the very kind of attack that happened to Benghazi, was told to stand down. Some say Hillary Clinton gave that order, and still others say it came from you. The fact remains that the Fast response Team was told to stand down.
People are mad. There has always been an unwritten rule, a code of honor, that when an American serving in a foreign land is in trouble, he or she can know for certain that they will not be left alone. They will not be left behind. They will know that the cavalry will be called and that they will show up.
Obama 2009 referring to our nations military: "For us they fought and died in places like Concord, Gettysburg, Normandy, and Khe Sanh."
As the evidence and testimony continued to pile up, it became certain that the mission in Benghazi did indeed ask for more security. They warned of an imminent attack. They told of people taking pictures of their complex. They called for the cavalry, and their request for more security in war torn Libya was turned down by Hillary Clinton's State Department. They begged for help on the day and night of the attack, and their request for help was turned down. The cavalry will not be coming. Stand down was the order that day and night.
So after the bodies were brought home, and after Hillary Clinton stood in front of 4 flag draped caskets and blamed the video again, we buried our dead. Christopher Stevens, Glen Doherty, Sean Smith, and Tyrone Woods were laid to rest, and then your administration began the task of trying to lay to rest the political fallout of this attack which happened on the anniversary of the World Trade Center attack.
It seemed to me that you were more concerned with getting elected than you were about our dead Americans Mr. President. I was absolutely appalled that you would go to Las Vegas for a fundraiser the day after we were the victims of a terrorist attack. We lost an Ambassador, the second one ever, and three good Americans, and you got on Air Force One, and went to a fundraiser and campaign rally in sunny Las Vegas.
Over the time left before the election, you and your administration continued to dodge the questions, and change your statements. You and your administration actually misled, and in many instances lied about what happened in Benghazi, and the things that led up to the attack.
It seemed to me that you were just trying to keep the truth buried long enough to get reelected, and then at that point, nothing would matter anymore. You wouldn't have to get elected again, so to borrow a phrase from Hillary Clinton, "what difference does it make."
Another of your statements Mr. President: "I will always be honest with you about the challenges that we face. We rise or fall as one nation, as one people."
Have you been honest with the American people about Benghazi?
We are coming up on a year after the attack that killed Ambassador Stevens and three other brave Americans and you have not done one thing to bring those responsible to justice.
On September 12, 2012 you said: "We will not waver in our commitment to see that justice is done for this terrible act. And make no mistake, justice will be done."
We are coming up on a year and CNN was able to interview Ahmed Abu Khattala, who is thought to be the mastermind of the attack for two hours. CNN interviewed this guy, and the US Government did nothing.
We are coming up on a year and you Mr. President haven't done a damn thing to bring those responsible to justice. The mastermind is on CNN and you are traipsing about the country talking about "phony scandals."
As I said earlier, I have listened to all that you have said over the last 5 years or so, and I am going to list a few of your more notable quotes.
Obama 2008 Victory Speech: "And while the Democratic Party won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility, and determination to heal the divide that has held back our progress."
Obama 2008 Victory Speech: "To those who have wondered if America's beacon still burns as bright. Tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity, and an enduring hope."
Obama 2009 Inaugural address: "On this day we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas that for far too long have strangled our politics."
Those were three pretty powerful statements Mr. President. Those statement were received with huge applause. There were actually people in the crowds that were crying. So what happened in the next four and a half years?
Do you think that your administration has been humble in their leadership? Have you been humble in your leadership?
2010 mid-term campaign speech about the economy: "We don't mind Republicans joining us, they can come for the ride, but they gotta sit in back." Is that the humble leadership you were talking about?
Have you put and end to petty grievances and false promises? Recriminations and worn out dogmas?
Have you furthered the cause of Liberty?
Mr. President, you secretly subpoenaed the phone records of about a hundred AP news reporters and their editors. You did the same to Fox News reporter James Rosen AND his parents. His parents? Really? This was a "phony scandal" too right?
Obama in 2013: "With this endless parade of distractions and political posturing, and phony scandals, Washington has taken it's eye off the ball."
Mr. President, are you calling the IRS abuse political posturing? Is Benghazi and Fast & Furious a distraction in your view? Phony Scandals?
Mr. President, I respectfully take back my apologies to you. Upon further review, I do not consider these things "phony scandals." I do not consider the death of ATF agent Brian Terry a distraction, and I damn sure don't think the four body bags flown home from Libya should be considered a "phony scandal."
Actually, Mr. President, in the end, I think the only things that have been phony in the last 5 years, have been your words...
