Jim and Greg discuss new e-mails showing the White House spin machine after Benghazi, a bad economy in Q1, and a $1.3 million fraud in Philly.
Why the Benghazi Email Still Matters
But the reason the lie still sticks in the collective craw of the American people is that the falsehoods helped reelect President Obama. As Rhodes's communication makes clear, the White House's No. 1 concern at that moment seemed to be more about the American people thinking that al-Qaeda was reviving than the fact that the terror group and its affiliates had done it. The attempt to convince Americans that a video was at fault (for which the administration wrongly issued a profuse apology to the Muslim world) was no innocent mistake. With the assistance of the mainstream media (remember CNN Candy Crowley intervening on behalf of the president when he was pressed on the issue by Mitt Romney?), Obama was able to maintain his stance that al-Qaeda was as dead as Osama bin Laden.
The point is Rhodes's email reveals that Rice's false story was not an innocent mistake. It was a cynical attempt to divert public attention from the revival of Islamist terrorism at a moment during a competitive reelection when the president was basing his reelection in no small part on the notion that he was a strong leader who had vanquished that movement.
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All roads lead to...
Besieged Carney Claims Newly-Released WH Emails... Weren't About Benghazi
Greg welcomes guests Dean Cain, Sonnie Johnson, and Ambassador John Bolton.
How Obama Lost the Millennial Generation
Barack Obama inspired a generation of young Americans to shed their apathy and cynicism to vote in record numbers and transform Washington, where government service would become a noble calling. Or at least that was the 2008 spin.
The reality is pathetically different.
A comprehensive analysis of 18- to 29-year-old Americans - the "millennial generation" - paints the Obama presidency as a squandered opportunity to convert enthusiasm for community service into political commitment.
According to Harvard University's Institute of Politics, millennials' lack of trust in American institutions continues to drop, even below historically low numbers recorded a year ago. The institute's latest poll shows declining faith in:
- The presidency (32 percent, down 7 points since 2013);
- The U.S. military (47 percent, down 7);
- Congress (14 percent, down 4);
- The Supreme Court (36 percent, down 4);
- The federal government (20 percent, down 2).
Obama's election briefly renewed young Americans' faith in the presidency and other institutions, Della Volpe said, but those ratings are now as low as they were under President Bush in 2006.
Also read: The 'War on Women' Failed in 2012
Jim and Greg discuss bad approval numbers for President Obama, Rand Paul's doubts about repealing ObamaCare, and the strange case of N.Y. Rep. Michael Grimm.
Sinking Poll Results Debunk Dem Optimism
Earlier this month Democrats were sounding more optimistic about their political prospects than they had been in more than a year. Though their credibility was doubtful, the ObamaCare enrollment figures were enough to cause the president to do not one, but two separate touchdown dances over the fact that the government had managed to cajole several million Americans to sign up on the Healthcare.gov website. All this was enough to cause many left-leaning pundits to rethink their pessimism about the Democrats' chances of retaining control of the Senate.
But, like the upbeat stories about ObamaCare that will look pretty silly once the delayed unpopular mandates are put into place and insurance costs start skyrocketing, the liberal happy talk about 2014 was always bound to crash and burn sooner rather than later. As the new Washington Post/ABC News poll published today illustrates, the administration is actually more unpopular than ever.
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That ABC/WaPo Poll Is Even Worse For Dems Than It Looks
Getting Repeal Right
Greg welcomes guests Mike Baker and Bernard McGuirk.
It's Official: At Dartmouth, The Word 'Fiesta' Is Racist And White People Can't Use It
Dartmouth Greeks cancel fundraiser for cardiac care over concerns its fiesta theme was racist
Another ridiculous politically-correct brouhaha has broken out at Dartmouth College, America's most hopelessly and disturbingly fragile Ivy League school.
This time, the fracas is over a fundraiser for cardiac care that the Phi Delta Alpha fraternity and the Alpha Phi sorority had planned to jointly sponsor, reports Campus Reform.
Problems arose because a single student, junior Daniela Hernandez, was offended by the party's theme of "Phiesta."
As a result, the soiree, which was scheduled for Saturday, has been canceled by the presidents of the respective Greek organizations.
Had the party happened, it would have included a live band as well as virgin piña coladas and strawberry daiquiris. There would also have been burritos, chips and salsa, and guacamole.
The cash raised at the event would have gone to benefit cardiac treatments.
However, Hernandez's deep offense about racial insensitivity was enough to call it off.
Greg welcomes guests Boomer Esiason and Jill Dobson.
Paul Ryan Takes McKay Coppins To Church
For a year or so, House Budget Committee Chairman and possible 2016 presidential candidate Paul Ryan has been making trips to the inner city to help understand urban poverty and how the federal government can help fix it.
The trips have been kept mostly hush-hush, but in the wake of a recent controversy about remarks Ryan made about generational poverty, he allowed a reporter to tag along for the first time. That reporter? BuzzFeed's McKay Coppins.
The results are predictable. Ryan comes across as a deeply awkward millionaire paralyzed by political correctness as he struggles to identify with a black church congregation in Indianapolis, Indiana. In one particularly embarrassing moment, Ryan corrects himself from uttering similar language to that which got him in trouble, only to nervously search for something more appropriate and settle on a comically bland statement that the Romney campaign wanted to "try for everybody's vote."
Another painful anecdote is a joke Ryan told about how early he was meeting with the group at the church. "Usually when I get up this early, I get up to kill something," Ryan said. He was referring to hunting, but no one in the audience understood him until he clarified it.
In the wake of Coppins' piece on Donald Trump in which he described the real-estate mogul as a con-man perpetually pretending to run for office to bask in the attention that came from the ruse, some GOP operatives warned Republican flacks not to let Coppins anywhere near their bosses. Looks like Ryan didn't get the memo.
Also read: Utah House Race: Mia Love Clinches GOP Nomination
Jim and Greg discuss the media defending Obama less and less, John Kerry's statement that Israel is on the brink of becoming an "apartheid state," and House GOP leadership's idiotic strategy of campaigning to "reform" ObamaCare while going all-in on promoting amnesty.
Politico: By the Way, Healthcare.gov is Still Missing 'Massive, Critical Pieces'
Heather highlighted this story over the weekend, but it merits additional play. The Obama administration has mastered the art of Friday "news dumps" -- and although Politico's piece wasn't a traditional dump per se, the White House is certainly hoping the media will mostly ignore this story, which was published on Friday evening. Since the disastrous Obamacare launch in October, we've followed the troubled website's progress. We've noted testimony from administration officials that much of Healthcare.gov's so-called "back end" was still under construction, threatening to wreak untold havoc on consumers and providers. Now that some of the most dysfunctional state exchanges are weighing whether to fold their operations into the federal system -- with shambolic Cover Oregon being the first to take the plunge -- how is said federal operation holding up? Ahem...
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Three House Republicans signal new push on immigration reform is coming
Rand Paul: Let's face it, it's going to be difficult to repeal ObamaCare at this point
