The Conservative Media Smells Blood in the Water

I saw a bit of Sean Hannity last night. It was a rather unremarkable show. After all, Hannity railed on Obama's czars, his radical associations, and the lack of vetting that put a lot of these people too close to power. There's nothing new here. That's what Hannity talks about nearly every single night. The only thing that's new is just how effective this is becoming.

We're going to look back at the Van Jones resignation as a watershed moment for the Obama administration. That's because that will become the initial symbol for everything that was wrong with Obama's administration policies in general. It's remarkable how many different angles the Jones saga opens up. There's the issue of radicals that are near the president. You can count Cass Sunstein, Dr. Zek Emanual, and Jon Holdren in that group. There's the issue of vetting. There's been way too many nominees and advisers with problematic pasts that came out after their nomination or approval. Then, there's the issue of czars. Their constitutionality is dubious. No one thinks it's a good idea to have so many, and no one knows just how much power each has. Of course, the conservative media is there to pick up the ball and run with it. Of course, they were handed a gift over the weekend when this video of Reverend Jeremiah Wright surfaced.



Conservatives have always been amazed by how little the rest of the country cared about Obama's relationship with Wright. The man is a racist. There's no ifs ands or buts about it and Obama sat in his pews for twenty years. More than that, Obama claimed that the most incendiary comments that we heard...



were an anomaly. Yet, time after time, Reverend Wright is caught making the kind of remark he just made. So, it becomes more and more clear that in fact what we heard weren't the anomalies but the rule. Furthermore, the conservative media said that radicals like Wright were the norm not the exception for Obama, and that his White House is going to be full of them.

Now, we have an opportunity for the conservative media to drive this narrative home and to make it stick. This is another example of the drip, drip effect. This isn't about Van Jones. That's exactly what Glenn Beck says. That's because Jones is one of many that people like Beck refer to as "radical". Beck, Hannity, Rush, Laura Ingraham and a cast of thousands have been hammering on statements from the likes of Jon Holdren, Harold Koh, Cass Sunstein, and Dr. Zek Emanual.

The other angle is the proliferation of czars. Obama is so vulnerable here because even most Democrats don't defend his usurpation of power into czars. That's because it's an end run around Congressional power. This story line is nearly endless. After all, there are over thirty czars. No one knows how much power each has. No one knows how fully vetted they were. The White House admitted that Jones wasn't vetted very well. So, how many more are there that haven't been vetted? How many radicals are sitting in positions of power near the President?

These are the questions that the conservative media will now begin to ask in earnest. Now, to be fair, they've been asking these questions all along. The difference is that with the resignation of Van Jones, these questions become more relevant. Their exploration takes on a whole new context. The likes of Beck, Hannity, et al will hammer away at each and every radical and czar until the country has a clear idea of who they are what their powers are.

So, what we have is an endless opportunity for analysis and hyper analysis. None of this analysis will look good for the president. The president doesn't shine well when day after day media is pointing out goofy and radical statements of any number of his advisers. It is only beginning and it will go on his entire presidency. As the health care debate heats up, this endless stream of questions will only further erode his standing and credibility. The conservative media can smell Obama's blood in the water and their claws are out.