Opinion By J. Gordon Mills
[a/k/a commenter from TMV]
:
I blame Woodward and Bernstein.
Well, almost.
Since those two intrepid reporters latched onto a story – a real story – about corruption at the highest levels that led to the unprecedented resignation of a President, journalistic hacks have been attempting to duplicate their success. If you could find a story – real or otherwise – that brought down a sitting President you could write your own ticket.
Ever since, the goal of less than reputable reporters (and not a few reputable ones) has been to find their own “-gate” to launch a career upon. At first there were some genuine stories available for the taking. I mean, the Reagan administration really did make shady deals with terrorists and circumvent the law to ship arms to other terrorists and why was that not an impeachable offense, again?
Anyway, when the Clinton years rolled around, the idea of attaching the word “gate” to any scandal and bringing down the President really gained steam. The budding infotainment industry breathlessly reported on every “scandal” exposed by the ‘Perpetual Committee to Find Something with Which to Impeach the President,’ and by gum, they finally found something!
Next thing you know we’re all struggling to explain to the kiddos what “semen” is and why it was so important to running the country. Way to go, journalism!
A few years later the rush to find a “-gate” ensnared no less a personage than Dan “Did I Mention I Got Roughed Up At The Democratic Convention In 1968?” Rather when he “exposed” that George W. Bush’s National Guard service was less than heroic.
We knew that, but ‘ole Dan backed it up with lousy sources.
Obama has been a tough nut to crack. The birth certificate thing quickly became as radioactive as a crashed saucer at Area 51; he’s apparently never even thought about cheating on his wife; and as much as the right wing would like to think otherwise, most people have never heard of Saul Alinsky.
Then along comes September 11th. Not THE September 11th, mind you, but a terrorist attack on that same date where almost as many Americans died as were killed on the previous September 11th.
Not THE September 11th, mind you, but the number of Americans killed on September 11th 2011. In traffic accidents. In any major city.
But anyway, “Benghazi-gate” sure sounded great, didn’t it? Somebody made a mistake in the middle of an attack in the middle of a country that was undergoing a violent revolution and some American soldiers contractors were killed along with an ambassador and… wait… is this the impeachable offense we’ve been looking for?!
Holy crap let’s investigate!
So now we come to Lara Logan. “Full disclosure: I have at times given the reporter in question the benefit of the doubt because she’s a pretty blonde lady who went into places in the Middle East where pretty blonde lady reporters are not exactly welcome.
I admit I was seduced, yet as it turns out, she’d seemingly been seduced by the siren call of Presidential-destroying “news” stories, and in my opinion, couldn’t resist the temptation to maybe put one on her resume’. She’d found her “-gate,” and apparently ‘the truth’ fell by the wayside.
Bob and Carl, what hath thou wrought?