Stop Calling Obama Aloof! - by Paul Begala

[DonViejo]

The president’s critics say he’s too detached, too arrogant, too disengaged. Paul Begala explores this ridiculous line of reasoning.

So the Beltway media (of which I am a card-carrying member) has decided President Obama is too aloof. And as a card-carrying member, I, of course, agree.

I mean, how could a president not know the level of scrutiny the Cincinnati branch of the IRS was applying to conservative social welfare organizations that sought tax-exempt status under Section 501c(4) of the Internal Revenue Act? How detached. How arrogant. How disengaged.

Believe me, George Washington knew exactly what the Tea Party was doing back in his day, and even though Cincinnati was just being settled as Washington became president, you can be sure the Father of Our Country knew what the Cincinnati branch of the IRS was up to.

And don’t get me started on the Associated Press subpoenas. A year ago, 31 Congressional Republicans sent a letter to President Obama demanding a tough, unsparing investigation. The GOP lambasted the President for being too aloof and casual about leaks that endanger national security. “Where is the outrage in this administration?” Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker asked. “Where is there any indication that within the Obama administration officials are outraged at the criminal leaks of classified information that put our agents and our friends at risk?” And so, the Obama administration went bananas, firing off subpoenas for the phone records of Associated Press reporters. Amazingly, President Obama was too aloof to know. This is aloofness (aloofosity? alooficity?) of an extraordinary nature. It’s not easy to both be too detached to investigate leaks and then also be too detached to care about an overzealous investigation of those leaks. But our President pulled it off.

full article
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/05/20/stop-calling-obama-aloof.html