"I once got in trouble for mocking people who thought that blowjobs were a scandal worth legal investigation, but torture was not. Given that Jonathan Alter is the so-called liberal who, weeks after 9/11, affirmatively embraced torture, I'm not surprised he still falls in the former group. On Thursday, he wrote a Bloomberg piece sycophantically wondering how Obama managed to have such a scandal-free Administration."
"Obama certainly lies: about his commitment to the public option, his opposition to telecom immunity, and even his belief that no one is above the law. But what Obama does more is spin-spending months claiming that the deficit is the biggest threat to our country, claiming that a bank settlement is necessary to get the housing market back on track. That kind of spin requires real analysis to catch. Which, I guess, Alter isn't up to."
An allegedly liberal commentator embraced torture after 9/11 while trivializing sexual scandal coverage compared with torture. The Obama Administration has deployed legal maneuvers to protect prior torture policies and to shield financial institutions from consequences. Administration rhetoric often portrays honesty despite repeated lies about key policy commitments and legal principles. Spin framed as fiscal necessity obscures decisions like opposing telecom immunity and structuring bank settlements. Reliance on elite media front-page coverage as the threshold for scandal narrows what counts as a scandal and helps conceal serious abuses and legal erosion.
Read at Emptywheel
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