What a ridiculous piece of crap this A1 article by Anne Kornblut is, proclaiming that Eric Holder is having a good week.
It parrots conventional wisdom about what a bad time Eric Holder has had–pointing to turf battles he lost, rather than matters reflecting on the success or failure of DOJ itself. And then proclaims that the arrest of Faisal Shahzad makes all those political battles disappear, at least for this week. For Anne Kornblut, it’s more valuable for the Attorney General to win the approval of a bunch of demagoguing political enemies than to get one after another terrorist to plead guilty and cooperate with the government.
Which sort of tells you about Kornblut’s judgment.
But it’s not Kornblut’s judgment that is most ridiculous in this article. It’s Rahm and David Axlerod’s:
Likewise, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel acknowledged that Holder had “a very good week,” comparing his ups and downs to those experienced by Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner. “A year ago, people were saying Geithner isn’t what he’s supposed to be — and now he has his mojo back,” Emanuel said Wednesday. “The same with Eric.”
David Axelrod, a senior adviser to President Obama, drew an identical comparison in a separate interview, saying: “Washington is a town of ups and downs, and there are other members of the administration — I think of Geithner, for example — who was in the barrel for a while. And it’s just the way this town works.”
So apparently Anne Kornblut felt her little theory that Eric Holder had a good week was important enough to ask the White House Chief of Staff about.
Really, Anne? That’s what you waste Rahm’s time with? Rather than, say, a question about the coordination between Janet Napolitano and John Brennan on terror strikes and oil spills, something that is not only part of the Chief of Staff’s job description but actually matters?
Apparently, though, both Rahm and Axe not only took her call to answer such an inane question, but they gave her … exactly the same answer. “Sure Anne, Holder has had a good week, but have you noticed what a good week Timmeh is having?” That is, both of them magically turned her inquiry about Holder’s mojo into a question to highlight what they claim to be Tim Geithner’s mojo.
Really, Rahm? Really, Axe?
Not only is it an absurd response, revealing not only that they’d rather not crow about Administration successes if it involves celebrating Holder, but also that they’re conducting a concerted effort to seed the conventional wisdom that people like Timmeh again.
Which is all the more absurd considering the Administration may face its biggest conflict with Congress if the amendment to audit the Fed passes. That is, the Administration may be placed in the very awkward position of vetoing a key oversight and transparency measure at least partly to protect Timmeh, whom those with a bit of knowledge suspect may be neck deep in the fraud that brought down our economy. Congress is attempting (and has widespread bipartisan support, even if it doesn’t pass the amendment) to target Timmeh and the culture of corrupt dealing he comes from, yet Rahm and Axe are telling journalists that Timmeh has gotten his groove back.
I guess they judged the relative skepticism of their audience well, though, cause Kornblut repeated it without guffawing or even snickering.
And all of this–Rahm and Axe’s juvenile popularity contest, their dubious claim that a guy involved in corrupt doings that are finally being exposed is somehow free from taint from those corrupt doings, and Kornblut’s incorporation of that dubious claim into a story measuring that popularity contest–got placed on the front page of the Washington Post.