Remember when President Obama lectured the nation on civility in
its political discourse?
In January 2011, following the shooting of then Congresswoman
Gabrielle Giffords, President Obama told
an audience at the University of Arizona in Tucson, “It’s important
for us to pause for a moment and make sure that we are talking with
each other in a way that heals, not a way that wounds.”
Unfortunately, his words ring hollow. President Obama’s counsel
was not directed at himself or those who work at his behest. The
rules of civility as decreed by President Obama (and enforced by
the mainstream media) apply only to conservatives and to anyone
else who has the temerity to disagree with the Obama
Administration. It is a classic case of “do as I say, not as I do.”
When it comes to civility, President Obama has granted himself, his
administration and his re-election campaign a waiver.
Amongst those covered by Obama’s civility waiver is Stephanie
Cutter, his Deputy Campaign Manager. During a conference call with
reporters late last week, Cutter spoke about the Obama’s campaign
dispute over when Mitt Romney left Bain Capital. Cutter
said:
Either Mitt Romney, through his own words and his own signature,
was misrepresenting his position at Bain to the SEC, which is a
felony. Or he was misrepresenting his position at Bain to the
American people to avoid responsibility for some of the
consequences of his investments [such as layoffs and
outsourcing].
Does Ms. Cutter have evidence that Romney committed a felony
offense? If she does then she should submit this evidence to the
SEC and to the Department of Justice. If she doesn’t then she
should do all of us a favor and shut up.
Oh! How uncivilized of me to tell Cutter to shut up. But anyone
who publicly accuses someone of committing a crime without the
evidence to back up that claim deserves to be severely admonished.
Since President Obama won’t admonish Cutter, then I will.
Indeed, not only has President Obama not taken Cutter to task
but in an interview with Charlie Rose on the CBS This
Morning, he
proclaimed that his campaign’s attacks on Romney are “entirely
appropriate.”
During an appearance on CNN’s State of the Union, David
Axelrod told
Candy Crowley that Cutter didn’t call Romney a felon but rather
that he may have committed a felony. And what word is commonly used
to classify someone who has committed a felony?
For her part, Cutter did not repeat her claim when she appeared
on CBS’ Face the Nation. However, she did not apologize
for asserting that Romney had committed a felony and
called upon Romney to “stop whining.”
So let’s review. President Obama and his campaign staff don’t
know for certain if Mitt Romney has committed a felony. Yet this
uncertainty has not prevented them from asserting that Romney might
have committed a felony. Despite not having a factual basis for
these assertions, why would they take this uncivilized tone towards
Romney? Well, let consider something else Axelrod said during his
interview with Crowley:
Now it may be that he’s misleading people now when he says I had
nothing to do with it. So I am willing to give him the benefit of
the doubt and say those documents are accurate and what he’s
telling the American people now is not. I’ll give him that. But
neither is a recommendation to be President of the United
States.
So when it comes to Mitt Romney, the Obama campaign is talking
to the American people in a way that wounds, not heals. The Obama
campaign is clearly trying to wound Mitt Romney by suggesting he
has committed a crime. By making that suggestion they make the
further suggestion that Romney is not fit to be President of the
United States.
Politics is, of course, a rough and tumble affair and always
will be. As long as there have been elections there have been
candidates have been willing to say about anything to prevent their
opponent from being elected to office. This is where President
Obama finds himself. After 3½ years in office, he has accomplished
little and what little he has accomplished is not to the liking of
the electorate. Mitt Romney has a solid, stellar reputation and
that is a threat to Obama’s hold on power. So the only way
President Obama can secure re-election is by destroying Mitt
Romney’s solid and stellar reputation.
But the Obama campaign isn’t going to be content with merely
wounding Romney’s solid and stellar reputation. As one Democratic
strategist aligned with the Obama Administration
put it last August, “Unless things change and Obama can run on
accomplishments, he will have to kill Romney.” Well, nearly a year
has passed. Things haven’t changed for the better and Obama still
can’t run on his accomplishments. Operation Kill Romney has been
launched and is operating at full speed with no signs of slowing
down.
Stephanie Cutter is right about one thing. Mitt Romney can’t
whine. All he can do is fight back more assertively and more
forcefully. If Obama hits Romney then Romney has to hit back ten
times harder. Romney will also have to go on the offensive. When
they do hit back or launch an attack of their own, look for the
Obama campaign to bemoan Mitt Romney’s lack of civility. After all,
Romney isn’t eligible for Obama’s civility waivers.
