At What Point Does Truth Become Relevant in Politics? What is the White House Example?

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It is after Labor Day and politics in America will reach a crescendo over the next 6 weeks as both political parties inundate the airways with political propaganda in the form of TV ads. Of course the TV stations and networks will run every ad booked regardless of the accuracy of content because the media needs the money more than the truth.

There was once upon a time when the media was required to review the ads to make certain the truth was being told but once upon a time is no more. Now anything goes no matter how far it strays from the truth. Since both political parties and special interests have filled their campaign coffers with astounding amounts of cash we are in for a real avalanche of double talk.

You can count on the candidates and parties to follow the lead of the Obama White House as he is leader of the Democrats and will set the standard of truth for all to meet. Unfortunately the standard being set by President Obama, and his top staff David Axelrod, Political Director, and Robert Gibbs, Press Secretary leaves much to be desired.

Over the weekend all three stated emphatically that the Republicans, all Republicans to hear them say it, are committed to returning to the policies of George Bush over the past 8 years. In plain English as Harry Truman used to say, that is a lie. No Republican has said they want to return to the George Bush policy of the past 8 years. Why do our political leaders seem compelled to tell lies? Especially those leaders at the top of the Democratic party?

While we should always be suspect of what the political parties say as they are all about self-preservation it is not normal for the White House and the president of all the people to join in the tall tale derby as we can usually get some modicum of truth from our highest elected official. This year seems to be the exception and does not bode well for America as blatant lies foreshadow a willingness to distort the truth and there should be no doubt that our president tells the truth.

If the president cannot be believed on the campaign trail then how can he be believed when talking about health care, Wall Street, domestic and foreign affairs or any aspect of our government? All that is gained in the interest of political expediency by distorting the truth is undermining the credibility of government which has already reached the lowest levels of credibility ever recorded.

If it continues it will be a sad legacy of the political attitudes in place today and the principal motivation for people to want to throw them all out. The politics of deception has no place in a democracy built on truth and honesty.
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Friday the 13th and What a Week in Obamaville

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This was one wild week in the land of Oz, or Obamaville, whichever you choose to embrace.




The Democrats Corruption Scandal:


First on our list of highlights or low lights was the Charlie Rangel and Maxine Waters ethics cases. Good old Charlie first ruined Nancy Pelosi's House vote on the "teacher bailout", or "let's make a deal vote Washington style" when he used an obscure House rule to take control of the press filled chamber to seek dignity over his treatment on ethics charges.


It was a passionate plea for something and an invitation to his birthday bash on Thursday night at the most expensive place in New York City, the Plaza Hotel. Not exactly the image one might want when fighting charges you stole money from the taxpayers but Charlie was able to get over his blues at the party while a handful of Democrats and NYC Mayor Bloomberg shared the night.

The ethics panel set his trial for the day before the fall election, November 1 which was a bit strange unless you were Pelosi and wanted to make sure it was too late to impact on the Obama referendum which it is. So at least she won that battle. Preacher Sharpton made his case to canonize Charlie after his resurrection which was a nice Biblical way to disguise corruption and he pleaded the case for dignity. I am a little confused on how someone who stole hundreds of thousands of dollars while presiding over the taxation of all American citizens deserves dignity but the Democrats seem to have a different way of looking at the world.


As for Maxine, she is intent on more discussion of her charges and seems content letting the probe focus on what her chief of staff, her son, did and how she was not aware. If she wants to throw her son under the wheels of the ethics bus that's okay but I worked for several congressmen and it is the job of their staff to keep the congressman informed of everything good and bad going on. You would think she had better communication with her own son unless his role was to insulate her from prosecution.


The Teacher Bailout Bill:


In the meantime Pelosi did get her $26 billion teacher bailout thus rewarding the teachers unions for their campaign support but the explanation for how it was paid for this year with food stamp money from 2014 and why she did not let the governors decide how to use the money instead of telling them what to do makes George Bush, Sr. and his "voodoo economics" seem lame by comparison. When the Obama spending spree is measured by an increase of trillions and trillions of dollars in our national debt, what is $26 billion more.

Obama Press Secretary Gibb's Meltdown:


This week also saw the meltdown of Gibb's during a White House interview. During an interview with The Hill in his West Wing office, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs blasted liberal naysayers, whom he said would never regard anything the president did as good enough.


“I hear these people saying he’s like George Bush. Those people ought to be drug tested,” Gibbs said. “I mean, it’s crazy.”


The press secretary dismissed the “professional left” in terms very similar to those used by their opponents on the ideological right, saying, “They will be satisfied when we have Canadian healthcare and we’ve eliminated the Pentagon. That’s not reality.”


Of those who complain that Obama caved to centrists on issues such as healthcare reform, Gibbs said: “They wouldn’t be satisfied if Dennis Kucinich was president.”


Gibbs said the professional left is not representative of the progressives who organized, campaigned, raised money and ultimately voted for Obama.


Since he is as close to Obama and Rahm Emanuel as anyone we must assume he was parroting their attitude toward the left. So now they have alienated the far left and much of the Democrats base for support not to mention the Independents and Republicans w3ho supported Obama..

Obama Vacation Mania:


The first family is still stinging from the criticism over Michelle Obama's "private" vacation with her daughter to Spain for a few hundred thousand in tax dollars and no one has explained why she was vacationing at a five star Spanish resort instead of being with Barack at his birthday party in Chicago. Of course why they needed ten vacations this year might also be a good question.

The Colorado Primary:


Several states held their primary elections this week and in Colorado it was an Obama boy against a Bill Clinton boy in the race for Senate. Obama won and the Washington media declared the fall election over, that Obama was now going to beat back the challenge. Fat chance though the Republicans sure have not earned the right to wallop Obama. Luck for them they happen to have lost two straight elections to the Democrats. The people, as I discussed in two previous articles, will do what the politicians and news media will not, they will clean out the swamp in our nation's capitol.


Why the News Media is on Life Support:


Finally, if you want to see proof the news media is long past it's prime consider this strange sequence of news coverage. At the beginning of this week we learned that ten humanitarian workers were executed in Afghanistan including six Americans. The slaughter was done in one day. People who had dedicated their lives to help others and were volunteers in the war zone gave up life to serve.


Yet by Monday night Charlie Rangel's rant on the House floor was the headline. Come Tuesday little boy JetBlue stole the show by mouthing off to passengers, stealing a couple of beers and jumping down the escape slide of an airplane, making him the new media folk hero.


His story carried the media until Obama's non-victory in Colorado Wednesday, then back came the sky pilot Thursday and Rangel's Plaza party Thursday night and Friday. This is what dominated the news this week in America.

Here are the ten people who died in Afghanistan and whose story was lost by the stupid entertainment stories in the national news.


-- Mahram Ali, 50: Wardak, Afghanistan


Ali worked as a watchman at the National Organisation for Ophthalmic Rehabilitation's (NOOR) maintenance workshop, a position he had held since 2007, the mission said. "He stayed behind guarding the vehicles in Nawa when the rest of the team walked over the pass into Nuristan." He is survived by his wife and three young children.


-- Cheryl Beckett, 32: Ohio, United States


Cheryl Beckett had been working in Afghanistan since 2005 with a focus on nutritional gardening and mother-child health.


As a student at Indiana Wesleyan University, Beckett, a minister's daughter, developed a global passion for justice and love during her travels to Honduras, Mexico, Kenya and Zimbabwe, according to her obituary.


The IAM said she was a Pashto speaker who had been asked to assist the medical team in translating for women patients. She had been working in Afghanistan since 2005 with a focus on nutritional gardening and mother-child health. She worked in a clinic in Pul-e Charkhi on the outskirts of Kabul. She is survived by her parents and three siblings.


"Cheryl loved and respected the Afghan people. She denied herself many freedoms in order to abide by Afghan law and custom," said a statement from her family released by the Woodlawn Christian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee, where Beckett's father is pastor, according to CNN affiliate WVLT.


"She was honored to be included in this most recent three-week medical journey to the remote populations of Northern Afghanistan. ...Those who committed this act of terror should feel the utter shame and disgust that humanity feels for them."


-- Daniela Beyer, 35: Chemnitz, Germany


Beyer was a linguist and translator in German, English and Russian who also spoke Dari and was learning Pashto, the IAM said. She worked for the organization between 2007 and 2009 doing linguistic research and joined the eye camp so she could translate for women patients. She is survived by her parents and three siblings.


-- Brian Carderelli, 25: Pennsylvania, United States


Carderelli was a professional freelance videographer who worked with a number of Afghan development and humanitarian organizations throughout the nation, the IAM said. "Brian quickly fell in love with the Afghan people and culture and hoped to stay within the country for another year."


-- Jawed, 24: Panjshir, Afghanistan


Jawed was a cook at the Ministry of Public Health's Eye Hospital in Kabul, and had been released in order to attend the Eye Camp as the team's cook. He also assisted with dispensing eyeglasses, the IAM said. He is survived by his wife and three young children. "Jawed had been on several eye camps into Nuristan in the past, and was well loved for his sense of humor," the organization said.


-- Dr. Thomas Grams: Durango, Colorado, United States


Grams was a dentist and a friend of team leader Tom Little, the IAM said.


He had been working with Global Dental Relief for 10 years, and had been to Afghanistan several times, as well as in Nepal, said Katy Shaw, an administrator with the group.


He was a general dentist who gave up his private practice to do relief work, Shaw said. Grams started as a volunteer with the group, which provides dental care for impoverished children, but later became a team leader.


-- Glen D. Lapp, 40: Lancaster, Pennsylvania, United States


Glen D. Lapp, 40, of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, worked for a charity that provides eye care and medical help.


On Sunday morning, Lapp's family received confirmation of his death from the U.S. Embassy, said the Mennonite Central Committee. Lapp worked for the International Assistance Mission, the Mennonite Central Committee's partner organization, which provides eye care and medical help in Afghanistan.


Lapp was trained as an intensive-care nurse and had worked in Lancaster, New York, and Supai, Arizona, the IAM said. He also was a response worker after hurricanes Katrina and Rita struck the Gulf Coast. He came to Kabul in 2008, and worked at the IAM headquarters. After five months of Dari language training, Lapp began working with the National Organisation for Ophthalmic Rehabilitation. He was responsible for organizing mobile eye camps in the remote areas of Afghanistan.


-- Tom Little, 61: New York, United States


Tom Little, here with his wife Libby, had recently become involved in a program to eradicate preventable blindness.


Little, the team leader, was an optometrist who was affectionately known as "Mister Tom" among staff at the National Organization for Ophthalmic Rehabilitation, the IAM said. He arrived in Afghanistan in 1976 with his family and worked as NOOR's optometrist and manager, setting up clinics and workshops.


"He was much loved by both foreigners and Afghans, and was the inspiration for other IAM team members coming to Afghanistan," the IAM said. He is survived by his wife, Libby, and three daughters.


Little's wife, Libby, confirmed the death. She said she knew the worst had happened when she didn't hear from her husband after 24 hours. She described a system they established years ago -- he would give her a short, 30-second call every 12 hours to let her know he was okay. When two cycles went by without a call from her husband, she said she knew something was wrong.


Little had recently become involved in a program to eradicate preventable blindness by the year 2020, his wife said.


"He would come back to the States and get throw-away optical equipment, then refurbished it, then would send it over to set up a little optical manufacturing factory, so they could make their own eyeglasses there," Libby Little said about her husband.


-- Dan Terry, 63: Wisconsin, United States


Terry came to Afghanistan in 1971, the IAM said, and "had a heart for the rural areas of Afghanistan." He worked for many years in the Lal-wa Sarjangal district of the country. "Dan specialized in relating to local communities and liaising with aid organizations and the government to improve services in remote areas," IAM said. He is survived by his wife, three daughters and one granddaughter.


-- Dr. Karen Woo, 36: Britain


The British Foreign Office confirmed Woo's death Sunday. The IAM said she was a general surgeon who joined the Nuristan Eye Camp to be the team's doctor and to help promote maternal health care in Nuristan communities.


Woo's friend, Firuz Rahimi, confirmed her death to CNN and said his friend gave up a comfortable life in London to work in Afghanistan.


Rahimi said he spoke with Woo three weeks ago, while she was packing for a trip with the assistance mission to Nuristan province.


He told CNN that Woo had medicine and medical equipment procured after a period of fundraising. Woo was excited about the trip but was fully aware of the risks she faced making this kind of journey, he said.


MAY THEIR SUPREME SACRIFICE FOR OTHERS NOT GO FORGOTTEN!


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Obama Presidential Spending Spree Continues - Despite Denials $4.45 million spent on polls

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It is a time worn mantra of the White House regardless of who is sitting behind the Oval Office desk, that the president does not pay attention to polls but does what is right for the country. Do you buy that?

Both president Obama and press secretary Gibbs have consistently denigrated the media for having an obsession with political polls to measure the mood of the public. Their denials of being influenced by the polls makes for good political fodder but the truth tells an entirely different story.



Thanks to work by the Center for Responsive Politics the Obama White House has SHATTERED THE RECORD for presidential spending on polls, spending channeled through the Democratic National Committee that is the chief beneficiary of Obama fund raising efforts.

The Obama gang has spent an astounding $4.45 million on polls performed by seven different companies in just the first 18 months in office. During the same time period the Republican National Committee spent just $1 million on polls.



For comparison, during the first 18 months George Bush was president the RNC spent about $2.3 million, about half of the Obama expenditures. It is one thing to admit to spending the money, but the White House publicly scorns polls so there is no admission. Truth is a much harder pill to swallow.



Two White House aides, Rahm Emanuel, Chief of Staff, and David Axelrod, Political Director, are obsessed with polling and market research according to NBC White House reporter Chuck Todd but both have cleverly avoided making any statements about polls.

Of course there are no laws being broken since Obama attends $34,000 per ticket fund raisers for the DNC to pay the bills but isn't it about time they at least be honest with the people? Breaking spending records is a hallmark of the Obama administration while presiding over the worst economic crisis in our history ever since he spent nearly ONE BILLION DOLLARS to be elected president.



Rather than deny the polls are being ordered by and circulated throughout the White House, just admit it and then read them and perhaps they will finally understand the pulse of the general public who are mad, upset with the direction of the country, and feel alienated by the White House.

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The Oil Crisis in the Gulf - For Once Can't the White House Stop Acting Like the Junkyard Bully?

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Last night White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told the press that the White House would "keep the boot on BP's neck," in yet another shallow and disparaging remark to corporate America. He was echoing the earlier reference by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar when in two separate Sunday TV appearances he used the imagery of a Wild West bar fight to describe how the administration was dealing with the company.



"Our job is basically to keep the boot on the neck of British Petroleum," Salazar said, who often sports a Stetson and who four months ago stirred the ire of the oil business by saying unlike his predecessors in the George W. Bush administration, oil companies would no longer be treated like "kings of the world."



Of course this is the same Ken Salazar who, when he was a senator, had to apologize after calling Christian conservative leader James Dobson "the antichrist of the world." Press Secretary Robert Gibbs made clear yesterday that the step-on-the-neck image had the White House seal of approval.



The White House thugs keep trying to distance themselves from big business and Wall Street as they secretly continue shaking down the corporate PACs and executives for campaign contributions to try and save the Democrats who supported their legislative program, a program in sharp contrast to the will of the people of America.



The Chairman of BP previously stated the company was going to pay for the cost of the clean up. BP is also the only oil company on television promoting energy independence through a combination of alternative and conventional energy techniques, the only logical way for America to break our dependence on foreign oil.

So what is to be gained by the strident language and threats from the bully boys? No matter how tough the White House gang tries to be, they were the darling of Wall Street, pharmaceutical companies, big banks the housing and health companies and even Goldman Sachs. Calling corporate America on the carpet while stuffing their pockets with campaign contributions from them is demeaning.



If they were really sincere in beating up corporate America they would give back the hundreds of millions of corporate dollars they spent and the tens of millions they are raising this election cycle to keep the Democrats from becoming an endangered species in Congress. Fat chance the White House will give back to the fat cats the even fatter campaign bankrolls they collected from them.

Goldman was of course Obama's largest contributor. Obama was also the recipient of the most BP money getting three times as much as McKean. But then Obama was recipient of the most money from the most corporations of any Democrat in history so what do you expect?

So back off on the hypocritical criticism of corporate America White House people. Your campaign bank accounts were filled with money from those bad guys. We know how toothless your criticism of the big boys has been based on what you did to the crooks in housing, on Wall Street and in health care. Making idle threats while doing nothing behind the scenes is a bit ludicrous in this age of transparency.



Right now BP is trying to do the right thing. Stop slamming them for it. If they successfully cap the oil leaks it will be a historic technological event as never before have leaks 5,000 feet underwater that are covered with over 32,000 tons of debris been capped.

BP was pioneering deep water drilling and production four times deeper than ever done in history. If they can successfully stop the leak and isolate the cause of the engineering failure, most likely resulting from pressure 1000 times stronger than surface pressure, then they will make a giant leap forward in our desire for energy independence. Our energy freedom lies on the ocean bottom, not in alternative or conventional energy techniques.



You want to bully, go to New Jersey where they will put you in your place. Long ago Jersey people learned the difference between working up a steam and operating in a fog, where you seem to be lost. As our White House reps, you owe all Americans a little respect and common decency. Even big oil companies like BP can be doing good by pioneering deep water drilling and production.



We should use this critical time to encourage their engineering to resolve this potentially dangerous problem, to acknowledge their efforts to successfully drill at 35,000 feet which would move America a giant step forward technologically toward energy independence, and to thank them for taking responsibility for the accident.

Come to think of it, maybe the White House should try taking responsibility for something sometime. They can't go through all four years blaming everyone else for their trouble and making excuses for their mistakes. The people of America know we are all in this together. If we are going to overcome this potential disaster and save the coastal areas it will take the efforts of everyone, including BP, to get the job done right.

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Obama - America's Perpetual Presidential Candidate - Turns Governing over to Campaign

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President's Job Stimulus Saves Campaign Workers & Contributors Jobs

As if his 2008 billion dollar campaign was not enough politics for America to stomach Barack Obama has turned his presidency over to his campaign team. throwing aside any pretentions of serving all Americas, and refuses to acknowledge there are any Independents, Republicans or Americans sick of politics as usual.

In preparation for his State of the Union an army of Obama campaign workers took to the airways to pave the way for his first State of the Union message telling long, tall tales of how Obama saved millions of jobs for America, how everything that went wrong since he was elected was caused by George Bush, how the American public is confused and deluded about the facts, and how he is going to help all those Democrats who are the old time politicians in the upcoming campaign.



With all government spending, policy, hiring, stimulus, communication and knowing what is best for an uninformed electorate safely in the hands of his old campaign team and out of the hands of an experts in their field, the Obama campaign fraternity has taken control of America in a way never seen before in politics.



Gone are the voices of cabinet members, except the Treasury Secretary who was also part of the campaign team. The only people authorized to speak for the president and his policies are those who were part of the Chicago gang who got him elected including the campaign manager David Plouffe who doesn't even work for the government, David Axelrod Senior Aide, Robert Gibbs, Press Secretary, Valerie Jarrett, Senior Aide, and the head of his campaign transition team Raul Emanuel, Chief of Staff.



I have been following politics for a lot longer than most of the media people except Larry King who I think came to America with Christopher Columbus, and I have never seen a president rely on his campaign team to run the nation. A year after getting elected Obama only relies on his campaign team for spending, policy, appointments, strategy and every word his speaks.



According to the White House appointment records he also relies on the people who financed his campaign as well including Wall Street executives, insurance executives, union bosses and others who invested millions in getting their guy in the White House.



So now they promise a feisty president who will fight for what he knows we don't know. These are the same speech writers and policy specialists who gave us the bank bailouts, insurance and auto bailouts, the economic non-stimulus program and more national debt than any president in history including Bush.



They also promised an open presidency, total transparency, negotiations with enemies, a new role for the US in world affairs, bipartisan governing, the elimination of terrorism and prisons and all that other stuff his circle of '60's radicals, big mouthed preachers and Wall Street manipulators told him to say.



After a year of failing to deliver on anything for the good of the people the wagons have circled the president and the same advisors who view promises as statements of political expediency with no need to worry about being truth are back, in control, once again telling Obama what to say.



What is good for the frat pack in Chicago has little relevance to all Americans. They have not learned a thing since taking over the presidency. They refuse to accept responsibility for anything he does as president. They are still running a campaign based on half truths and deception, whatever it takes to get elected, and let the public be damned.



The State of the Union should be a real interesting speech as long as the teleprompter keeps running. We might actually discover more promises for a yet to be determined future. But we will never know the real truth, the real agenda, and where they intend to drag America before they are done bankrupting the nation and gutting the government. It will most surely be an interesting display of motivational hyperbole and transparent objectives, more of the same.

The Washington Post is Right for a Change

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It is not often that I find a political article in the Washington Post that makes a lot of sense but today Post reporter Dana Milbank wrote about a White House Press Briefing that gave credit to legendary White House reporter Helen Thomas and her exchange with Robert Gibbs, Obama press secretary. Rather than tell you what she said here is the article.

The Washington Post

White House That Acts With All Deliberate Deliberation

By Dana Milbank
Friday, October 2, 2009

Helen Thomas is 89 years old and requires some assistance to get to and from the daily White House briefing. Yet her backbone has proved stronger than that of the president she covers.

On Thursday afternoon, Thomas gave a clinic in fortitude to President Obama's spokesman, Robert Gibbs, during the briefing. "Has the president given up on the public option?" she inquired from her front-row-middle seat.

The press secretary laughed at this repetition of a common Thomas inquiry, but this questioner, who has covered every president since Kennedy, wasn't about to be silenced. "I ask it day after day because it has great meaning in this country, and you never answer it," she said.

"Well, I -- I -- I apparently don't answer it to your satisfaction," Gibbs stammered.




"That's right," Thomas snarled.

"I -- I'll -- I'll give you the same answer that I gave you unsatisfactorily for many of those other days," Gibbs offered. "It's what the president believes in --"
"Is he going to fight for it or not?" Thomas snapped.

"We're going to work to get choice and competition into health-care reform" was Gibbs's vague response.

Thomas took that as a no. "You're not going to get it," she advised.
"Then why do you keep asking me?" Gibbs inquired.

"Because I want your conscience to bother you," Thomas replied. The room erupted; Gibbs reddened.

Actually, conscience isn't the problem for Gibbs and his boss; it's spine. Thomas's question got at an Obama administration trait that is puzzling opponents and demoralizing supporters: Why isn't the president more decisive and forceful? On many of the most pressing issues -- the public option in health reform, troop levels in Afghanistan, sanctions against Iran -- the administration has hewed to hemming and hawing.

The area in which Obama has been most forceful recently has been, of all things, his effort to win the Olympics for his home city of Chicago, which caused him to fly off Thursday evening on a quick lobbying trip to Copenhagen. The first lady announced that the Olympics campaign was a "take no prisoners" mission.

On Pennsylvania Avenue outside the White House on Thursday, environmental activists were demanding to know why Obama wouldn't, as they put it, "show the same foresight and commitment to our climate that he's showing to Chicago with this emergency trip to Copenhagen for the 2016 Olympics." They dressed up in green track suits, put on Obama masks, and carried a banner with the Olympic logo and the message "Obama: Climate Change Is Not a Game."

Gibbs had been scheduled to give his daily briefing at 1 p.m., then pushed it back to 1:15. At 1:27, the public-address system gave a "two-minute warning" for the briefing. Gibbs walked in 10 minutes later. The extra prep time was probably unnecessary, because the answers ranged from namby to pamby.

The topic of the day was the meeting with Iran near Geneva, and Reuters's Matt Spetalnick pointed out that the meeting "appears to have given Iran more breathing space, several more weeks at least."

"Today's meeting was a constructive beginning" was Gibbs's noncommittal comment.
CBS's Chip Reid tried anew to see whether the White House would give anything in the way of deadlines and timetables for Iran's compliance; he failed. "We've worked this methodically," Gibbs said.

And that was one of the bolder positions the White House spokesman took. Negotiating with Republicans on health care? "I'm not going to get ahead of the bill." The Fed refusing to release the names of banks that received government funds? "I'm not going to get into discussing an active legal case." Gasoline sanctions against Iran? I'm not going to get into the pluses and minuses." Predator missile strikes in Afghanistan and Pakistan? "Not going to get into discussing that," Gibbs said with a wave.

Neither could the press secretary commit to allowing the top general in Afghanistan, Stanley McChrystal, to testify before Congress. Gibbs's reason: He had not "seen the comments" requesting the general's testimony.

Sometimes, of course, the refusal to take a position is a tactic to thwart opponents, or reporters. But the reluctance to be forceful has emboldened Obama's opponents -- a fact pointed out to Gibbs on Thursday by the Wall Street Journal's Jonathan Weisman.

Weisman noted that the right wing had already forced the resignation of environmental adviser Van Jones and arts official Yosi Sergant and was now alleging that Kevin Jennings, who runs the Education Department's Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools, had failed to report statutory rape in an incident 21 years ago when he was a teacher in Massachusetts. "Do you have anything substantive to say about what they are saying about this guy?" the reporter asked.

Gibbs did not. "I think the Department of Education had a statement on this," he said, allowing that "it's a shame" to watch conservative critics go after administration officials.

"Some in your camp would say that the White House has the power to stop it simply by no longer pushing these guys out of their positions," Weisman pointed out.
Gibbs's bold answer: The two officials "resigned on their own volition."
Can he say that with a clean conscience?

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