Sestak's Job Offer - Even The Lap Dogs Get Whiny

My goodness - not even the NY Times is willing to carry water for Team Obama on the brewing Joe Sestak job offer mystery:

For Sestak Matter, a ‘Trust Us’ Response From White House
By PETER BAKER

WASHINGTON — For three months, the White House has refused to say whether it offered a job to Representative Joe Sestak to get him to drop his challenge to Senator Arlen Specter in a Pennsylvania Democratic primary, as Mr. Sestak has asserted.

But the White House wants everyone who suspects that something untoward, or even illegal, might have happened to rest easy: though it still will not reveal what happened, the White House is reassuring skeptics that it has examined its own actions and decided it did nothing wrong. Whatever it was that it did.

...

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the “trust us” response from the White House has not exactly put the matter to rest. With Mr. Sestak’s victory over Mr. Specter in last week’s primary, the questions have returned with intensity, only to remain unanswered. Mr. Gibbs deflected questions 13 times at a White House briefing last week just two days after the primary. Mr. Sestak, a retired admiral, has reaffirmed his assertion without providing any details, like who exactly offered what job.

...

Even if the conversations were perfectly legal, as the White House claims, the situation challenges President Obama’s efforts to present himself as a reformer who will fix a town of dirty politics. And the refusal to even discuss what was discussed does not advance the White House’s well-worn claim to being “the most transparent” in history.

I'm sure that one reason the press is pretending to look is that they are confident they won't find anything.  On the other hand, Obama must be on some sort of a modern record-setting pace for fewest press conferences.  Maybe a press tantrum will get his attention, after which the expected fawning will resume.

Comments

[bgates]

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the “trust us” response from the White House has not exactly put the matter to rest.

Not so. I would have written that sentence like this:

"The “trust us” response from the White House has not exactly put the matter to rest - unexpectedly."

[Jane]

Don't miss the latest Travels with Daddy - Bejing part 2

[matt]

the most open and transparent administration ever!!!

[Jim Rhoads a/k/a vjnjagvet]

Even the Lap Dogs get Whiny

And they have much to be whiney about.

Last night, I saw dueling montages between Sestak saying in many venues and with carefully rehearsed precision, "I honestly answered (many times) that I did receive the offer, but that's all I'm going to say", and Robert Gibbs saying in many ways in his best Schultzian fashion "I know nossing".

What fun. Popcorn anyone?

[MarkO]

This is something that is clearly a winner if our side will push it. It may take some time, but the Obama response reminds me so of the Nixon White House. There is no reason to permit the perpetrators to investigate themselves.

On the other hand, there may be something to all of the procedures used by Obama, if we can apply them ourselves. First, I won't pay taxes until I'm appointed to a cabinet position. Second, the authorities will not enforce a law against me if I don't like the law. And, maybe best of all, when I do something clearly wrong, the only consequence will be to have the matter referred to the UN for consideration.

Vamos, amigos. Venceramos.

[BB Key]

I saw somewhere that DOJ had turned down Darryl Issa's request for a special prosecutor to look into the Sestak job offer.

DOJ noted that they where non-political and could do an investigation IF it was needed.

If the WH will not answer questions then who needs an investigation ?

[Jane]

Obama is sending 1200 troops to the border.

Weird.

He's also going to view the spill - cause37 days later seeing it will allow him to come up with the best way to fix it.

Your numbers really suck Mr. president, don't they?

[Old Lurker]

Don't know what else you want him to do, Jane. He already organized a committee.

[Old Lurker]

Wonder who those troops were ordered to protect?

[Jim Rhoads a/k/a vjnjagvet]

Jane -- I hope he's stubborn enough not to call for a mid course correction. In a few more weeks, he will be in a nose dive.

[Clarice]

1200 troops to the border, hmm.. Isn't that racist?

Too late I think. I believe the Dems raised the hot button immigration issue only to assure a good Hispanic turnout at the November elections and Arizona threw a wrench into that plan because Americans came to realize that he cares nothing about the defense of this country or that (to him) old fashioned concept of sovereignty. Only the really stupid will fall for this gambit which is barely a notch above well-publicized raids on border businesses who hire illegals.

[maryrose]

Axelrod just said to CNN that no job was offered making Sestak look like a liar!

[Jim Rhoads a/k/a vjnjagvet]

Sestak is being thrown under that formerly crowded bus? What a surprise.

[BobDenver]

"Wonder who those troops were ordered to protect?"

LOL

[Dave (in MA)]

1200 troops to the border

Is that to keep an eye on the AZ officials to make sure they don't do the Feds' job?

[Jane]

I'm sure Axelrod is telling the truth - after all the offer was: "If you quit the race, we will name you Secretary of the Navy". No one would mistake that as a job offer. After all, those come in letters.

It depends on what the meaning of "if" is.

[Old Lurker]

As DoT has told us, Sestak is a quirky guy. He might not take kindly to being called a liar by his lessers.

[David Axelrod]

"The “trust us” response from the White House has not exactly put the matter to rest - unexpectedly."

"The unprecedented “trust us” response from this transparent and historic Administration has not exactly put the matter to rest - unexpectedly, and due to racism."

Mr. bgates:

If you please, sir - leave bullshitting to the experts.

Sincerely,

[RJ]

I'd be willing to bet that the 1200 troops aren't issued ammunition, won't be deployed to actual migrant corridors, and will eventually be relegated to logistical support of water resupply points and protecting illegals from those racist, teabagging Arizonans.

[Tom R]

Sestak is a retired admiral. While I curious to know why a military officer would ever choose to become a Democrat, as a former Army officer myself I know that integrity is the most important trait a military officer can possess. I assume Sestak won't take it very kindly if Obama throws him under the bus and calls him a liar.

[BB Key]

John KIng CNN said that Durbin(Num 2 Chicago thug) is calling out Sestak.
'WH cannot respond until they know what Sestak is talking about.'
This all sounds strangely familiar to me.

[Rick Ballard]

Does Sestak own a blue dress?

[Appalled]

RB:

Care to ask him that in person?

[BB Key]

Rick,
Sestak might own a navy blue dress. He was an Admiral during DADT.

[Captain Hate]

'WH cannot respond until they know what Sestak is talking about'

Since Durbin never knows what the hell he's talking about, this is a rather strange statement.

[Bill in AZ]

I'd be willing to bet that the 1200 troops aren't issued ammunition, won't be deployed to actual migrant corridors, and will eventually be relegated to logistical support of water resupply points and protecting illegals from those racist, teabagging Arizonans.

The request was for minimum 3000 troops - so this will probably only cover day shift of those logistical support jobs.

[Rick Ballard]

Appalled,

I was referring to the level of proof required to refute the coming WH slime job. Obviously, Admiral Sestak is either a nut or a slut, unable to understand even simple communication.

Ask BOzo.

[Kazinski]

It's easy to spin the job offer as legal: "We offered him the job as _______, but we wanted to him to make a commitment to stay in the job at least 2 years. Running for Senate would have violated that commitment."

[centralcal]

hhhmmmm - per Politico on a closed door meeting Zero had with Republicans:

"The more he talked, the more he got upset," Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) said. “He needs to talk (sic) a valium before he comes in and talks to Republicans and just calm down, and don’t take anything so seriously. If you disagree with someone, it doesn’t mean you’re attacking their motives — and he takes it that way and tends then to lecture and then gets upset.”

Well, then, the Republicans need to keep up the pressure on this thin skinned buffoon.

[Tollhouse]

I don't know if it's a good thing that it appears that a bunch of impotent old white dudes can make the President of the most powerful nation on the earth crack so easily.

[Clarice]

In my opinion he's already falling apart.

[centralcal]

Also, I think it is pretty evident that, if the press was doing their jobs at all and asking tough questions about a whole host of things, Obama would more than implode - he would melt down before our very eyes.

[Janet]

Maybe our great - needs a Valium, legendary golfer, honorary Crow Indian President is having feelings of impending doom....because doom IS impending?!

[MayBee]

I don't know why this investigation isn't enough for people.
It worked when Greg Craig investigated the whole Blago mess. The results of the investigation were the same and everything.

[Clarice]

I agree completely. Deep down narcissists know they are frauds and when it is apparent the jig is up--s it surely is with him--they completely shatter because underneath it all, there's no there there and never has been.

[cathyf]

He does probably still own his navy dress blues...

[Rick Ballard]

Clarice,

He'll probably turn to his favorite chapter in the Good Book - the one about the inevitable historical imperative that leads the masses to paradise on earth...

[centralcal]

Ha! Exactly, MayBee!

[matt]

I think he's starting to fall apart. The LUN is secret footage of his reaction to Sarah Palin's nomination in 2008.

[Janet]

When Obama called for "the continued expansion of our moral imagination" maybe he meant for us to imagine a morality where bribes are a good thing.

[Clarice]

Hi,MayBee..*waving frantically*

[bgates]

don’t take anything so seriously

We could be hours away from full-scale conventional war on the Korean peninsula (if not a nuclear exchange), months from an Iranian nuclear weapon, we're in two shooting wars, facing the worst unemployment in 30 years and the worst housing and banking crises in 70, Europe is cracking up, Obama's attempt to destroy the historical relationship between citizen and state in this country is imposing levels of debt which historically collapse governments, and this piece of shit says "what's the big deal?" What's the matter with Kansas?

(Part of what's the matter there and everywhere else is nepotism: when Roberts first ran for Congress he was an aide to the Congressman whose retirement opened the seat. That Congressman was Keith Sebelius, the father-in-law of the woman who became governor and is now HHS Secretary.)

[Jane says obamasucks]

What's the deal on Obama losing it with republicans today - did I read that here?

[Clarice]

From Politico..4:10 post,Jane.

[Manuel Transmission]

That Congressman was Keith Sebelius, the father-in-law of the woman who became governor and is now HHS Secretary.)

Not to mention that Sec. Sebelius is the daughter of Ohio Governor Gilligan, a worthless POS that stagnated that state for too long.

[matt]

the MSM smear continues. I guess they found a Tea Party candidate who lifted parts of his speech from Obama, and who was endorsed by Palin. AP Headline: "Scandals rock Tea Party" . It's on the front of Yahoo news naturally.

Of course nothing on the Sestak case, or Kwame Kirkpatrick, or any of 20 or 30 other Dem scandals.

[Clarice]

Obama lifted a Bush joke when he addressed West Point grads..Is that also a scandal?

[Extraneus]

Well, then, the Republicans need to keep up the pressure on this thin skinned buffoon.

Amen.

[lyle]

Isn't Barry the One who predicted that his descent to Earth would, inter alia, "stop the oceans from rising..."?

Why hasn't he used his protean powers to stop the hundreds of thousands of gallons of oil from doing the same thing?

[lyle]

I'm a little disillusioned, here.

Didn't Evan Thomas assure us he was almost a god?

'Cause I think we could use a little deus ex machina here.

[bgates]

I guess they found a Tea Party candidate who lifted parts of his speech from Obama

I wasn't clear on that - did he steal from the stuff Axelrod wrote for Patrick before Obama used it without attribution, or from the stuff Ayers wrote for the books that Obama used without attribution?

[Captain Hate]

Yeah I find a hard time believing that a purloined BOzo prepared speech wouldn't have the entire audience nodding off at trying to count the misconjugated verbs, instances of "a" and "an" used incorrectly and mispronunciations. I'm sure I'm missing plenty of other howlers but those were the first that memory produced.

[Clarice]

Thanks for clearing that up,bgates.

[Porchlight]

'Cause I think we could use a little deus ex machina here.

Obama is all machina and no deus.

[Porchlight]

I wasn't clear on that - did he steal from the stuff Axelrod wrote for Patrick before Obama used it without attribution, or from the stuff Ayers wrote for the books that Obama used without attribution?

I think it was the stuff Neil Kinnock wrote before Biden used it without attribution.

[hit and run]

matt:
Of course nothing on the Sestak case, or Kwame Kirkpatrick, or any of 20 or 30 other Dem scandals.

Oh yeah,speaking of Kwame...from the archives:

[Extraneus]

Was that the workout where Obama curled 70lb dumbbells, sets of 30?

[Extraneus]

I worked out with Obama! (Reporter gushes, says O curls w/ 70 lb. dumbbells)

“My name’s Judith” I reply. "I’m Barack Obama, nice to meet you!” he says, and puts his arm across my shoulder. I put my arm around his hip – wow, he didn’t even sweat! WHAT A MAN!

[MarkO]

There is sufficient evidence to charge the person to whom Sestak spoke and much more than was available when Libby was charged.

Don't you love criminal justice?

[MikeS]

So, what's the problem? Baghdad Bob Gibbs looked into the matter himself. He spoke to unnamed individuals who had looked into the matter themselves.

They reassured him that the Administration's behavior in the matter had been so open and above board that there is no sense in the White House answering any questions about it.

[WDHK et WDHKI? That's not his birthplace.]

Special Prosecutor, not Fitzie. Maybe Mukasey. Oops, stench of SDNY.
========

[matt]

it's not over hit, until the reporter's leg tingles....

[Rorschach]

Hmm "trust us" sounds a lot like Nixon's "I'm Not a Crook!" or Clinton's "I did not have sexual relations with that woman!"

Gee, I wonder why it didn't mollify them....