Scandals They Are Not

The late Daniel Patrick Moynihan, a Senator from New York, once famously said, “Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts.”  In the past several weeks, the dominant news from dysfunctional Washington has been multiple supposed government “scandals.”  The news media has gone on non-stop in their never-ending quest for ratings (versus information).  Many Republicans have jumped on their individual soapboxes  seeking continual attention for themselves and preferential votes from their political base.  Goals of enlightened perspective and useful information are non-existent in the cacophony of all this verbiage.  And attention to the really pressing issues of our time has been diverted to this melodrama.  So what can one really say, and what have we learned, about these would-be scandals?

First, there is the killing of our four diplomats last September.  Over eight months ago.  A deeply regrettable scenario that has already been assessed in detail by previous and unending Congressional committees.  In addition, a State Department internal inspection team recommended numerous changes that are already being implemented.  Yet this pet issue of several Senators and Representatives will not go away, even though we have learned virtually nothing new with each new release of emails or witness testimony.  Our very respected Ambassador to the U.N. has been unfairly blamed and has taken the rap for “misleading the public” by simply reading “talking points” prepared by others (CIA and State) that were later proven incorrect.  (Republicans had no such need for distraught committee hearings when Colin Powell “misled” the public – and the world – about WMDs in Iraq based upon CIA-provided analysis.  Yet we went to war over those misstatements, costing thousands of lives instead of four.  Nor was much said when as many as seven or more embassies were attacked during the George W. presidency.)

Yes, in the confusing aftermath of the attack in Benghazi concurrently with violence occurring elsewhere in the Middle East, the CIA and State went back and forth for an announcement that would hopefully buy time against the politicization of this event – the same politicization that happened anyway, then and still through today.  Republican Congresspersons of short memory who today are most vocally chastising the administration for lax security are the same ones who voted against the State Department’s request for additional security funding.  When Senator Rand Paul concluded that main lesson from these committee investigations was that “Hillary Clinton is not fit to be President,” it revealed the truth of the pure politics driving this uproar.

The real scandal of substance here is our failure to recognize that diplomatic posts in dangerous countries are dangerous jobs, including in Libya.  Especially, as this Ambassador believed, if one ventures out into the people and places of one’s assignment rather than holding up behind the reinforced fortress walls of an embassy.  We can, and should, do everything possible to protect our diplomats.  But we cannot absolutely guarantee their safety and prevent against all potential tragedies from occurring.  It is time to move off of this issue.

Second, there is the supposed IRS scandal.  A small field office in Cincinnati that is charged with determining eligibility for non-profit status is accused of “targeting” conservative political groups for political advantage.  Most everyone hates the IRS as an institution, which always makes it an easy target for public outrage.  It is one of those thankless, no-win jobs that needs to be done but will never generate adoration.  In the wake of the disastrous “Citizens United” ruling by the Supreme Court that opened the floodgates of political money into our elections, a corresponding flood of PACs were hatched overnight.  Hundreds of new applications for non-profit status, mostly from groups with a conservative agenda, flowed into this IRS office with no increase in manpower to process them.  This was a whole new piece of business from wholly new constituent groups.

Given the current extreme abuse of “non-profit” status by religious organizations, and hospital and charities paying multi-million dollar salaries, and given that non-profit groups are supposed to be prevented from engaging in overt political activities, all those new applications demanded close scrutiny.  So it appears that the everyday working people in that office tried to do their job in this new environment as best as they could figure out.  Unfortunately, they adopted processes without vetting how their processes would appear in the short-form ticker-tape headlines we now live within – a vetting now seemingly required for every governmental action instead of vetting for substance.  Yet in the end, no legitimate group was denied such non-profit classification.  Once again, if one is looking for a scandal, look no further than the Supreme Court and its Citizens United ruling, and the law of unintended consequences.  And look at the scandal for what today passes for “non-profit” organizations and the many abuses thereof.  Look at the flagrant politicking by many “non-profit” groups.  These are our far greater issues for discussion.

Third, we have the capturing of call records and email traffic by the FBI in pursuit of the leaking of classified security information.  I have been an opponent of the misnamed Patriot Act since it was passed in the aftermath of 9-11.  I protest greatly the potential of government eavesdropping of private citizens.  I also believe that “whistle-blowers” are needed in both government and private corporations and are important to protect.  That said, when I first heard that a dangerous terrorist plot had been exposed by a CIA spy embedded in the terrorist leadership, I remember immediately thinking “why in the hell would you ever announce that?”  And sure enough, that spy’s value was ended, and others suffered subsequent harm.

The news media loves to talk about freedom of the press in as absolute terms as the NRA talks absolutely about 2^nd Amendment gun rights.  But none of our  rights is absolute.  A careful, case-by-case balance between legitimate national security needs and freedom of the press is always required.  From World War II up until Watergate, such a delicate balance of judgment worked out pretty well.  By all accounts it did not work out well here, and appropriately classified information was inappropriately revealed.  Once again, if one is looking for a true scandal, look at governmental over-classifying information as “secret” without meaningful discretion.  Look at a news industry that places misleading headlines and a rush to “scoop” above thoughtful, researched, and grounded reporting that leaves the public skeptical of the whole profession.  (Are you listening CNN?)

Too many people continually want to find a “scandal” where simple incompetency, stupidity, or error in judgment reign.  Watergate and Iran-Contra were true scandals – extreme, inappropriate, and illegal decisions and actions made on high in a continual and deepening sequencing of events with seriously destructive consequences.  Evidence of none of these conditions has been presented in our current litany of political stories.  Not every governmental misstep warrants a “-Gate” appellation.  And politicians and news commentators that were children during Watergate should not cheapen the serious meaning and impact of what a real scandal truly is.  We need to tune out these stories and rhetoric, America.  We have important work to be done that requires our real attention.