Obama Response to VA Scandal Slammed on… CNN?
“I was a little caught off-guard by what apparently is a disconnect.”
CNN reporter Drew Griffin has been at the front of the VA scandal and was asked for his opinion of Obama’s response on Jake Tapper’s program. He was less than impressed.
Andrew Johnson of National Review has the story…
CNN Reporter Scolds Obama for Inaction on VA
Drew Griffin, a CNN reporter who has followed and broken several stories regarding the Department of Veterans Affairs scandal, was in disbelief over President Obama’s inaction following his private meeting with Secretary Eric Shinseki. The president indicated that the administration would continue to look into the situation before doing anything.
“I was a little caught off-guard by what apparently is a disconnect by what’s happening out here in the country and what the president is talking about,” Griffin said after the president’s briefing. “I hate to be curt, but these GAO reports, these Office of Inspector General, these memos dating back to 2010 to 2008 — this problem is real, it exists, it really doesn’t have to be studied as to what’s going on.”
“The government has done its job studying these issues,” he continued. “To say that you are going to now wait for yet again for more studies to come back and more fact-finding to come back, I would think that the vets I’ve been talking to wanted much more direct action of what actually is going to happen going forward instead of, ‘Wait and see, and then we’ll decide what’s going to happen going forward.’”
It’s worth noting that Mr. Griffin seems more disappointed than angry about Obama’s response to the scandal. As if Obama was going to do something more than feign outrage and then appoint some embedded government crony to investigate.
Those of us who have been following Obama’s many scandals know better.
Here’s the video.
Featured image via YouTube.
DONATE
Donations tax deductible
to the full extent allowed by law.
Comments
This is the “heck of a job, Brownie” moment for this administration.
“Those of us who have been following Obama’s many scandals know better.”
Yes, but sadly that doesn’t include most of the MSM. They haven’t had time to pay attention to Obama’s other scandals because they’ve been too busy dismissing those scandals as “phony” or making up excuses for why it’s really all Bush’s fault.
If only the VA would adopt a single payer system… Oh, wait… Never mind.
Drew Griffin is about to learn more then he wants to about the IRS
This one is a “real” scandal because Griffin and CNN were the ones pushing it hard from the beginning rather than Fox.
One of the first things the administration did when it settled into office in 2009 was to delegitimize Fox News. They knew that Fox would probably be the most aggressive news organization at holding them accountable. So when Fox would report a scandal – whether it was Fast & Furious, Benghazi, or the others – the administration, Democrat strategists and Media Matters would tell the rest of the media not to pay attention. It’s not a real story. It’s just Republicans playing political theater and they’re using Fox to promote it. It’s just a “Fox story”, not a real scandal.
CNN and Griffin have been leading the coverage of the VA scandal. Not Fox. So the media has finally found something it can call a “real scandal”.
My thoughts? As a vet using the VA for all my medical needs I sincerely doubt it would make any difference who reported these incidents of “murder by bureaucratic control”. The VA will not change, other than superficial cosmetic changes.
Obama Logic:
Veterans tend to vote Republican.
Republicans are Evil.
Therefore, withholding medical care from veterans is Good.
Likewise:
Bureaucrats tend to vote Democratic.
Democrats are Good.
Therefore, taking VA money and giving it to Bureaucrats rather than using it to treat veterans is Good.
Now, find the smoking gun that indicates this.
I do not “blame” the president for the issues at the VA. They far predate the administration. What I do hold him to account for was that he knew the issues and other than throw money at the problem, did nothing to hold the bureaucracy accountable. The career managers are as safe as tenured professors. The GSA scandal should clue us in as to how difficult it is to fire someone. Especially if the head of the government is an “academic” type who craves for big government. What the administration fears is that the American people will realize that VA healthcare IS government healthcare in its most complete form. Drug formularies are limited. Wait times are high and tests are few and far between. I have personally experienced this so I know it is true.
Obama: “‘Dang, I did know’ about the VA problems all along. But I was gonna wait and see what the TV had to say, before I came out with my SOP disconnect speech. Dang, dudes.
I’m soooo busy playing golf. Where’s Axelrod to give me political cover on this?”
Ace had a pretty astute observation about this approach: This administration’s entire policy seems to be driven by what is trending on Twitter.
The VA scandal has been brewing for years and this administration doesn’t take corrective action until it blows up in their faces. Boko Haram isn’t a terrorist organization because “We’re winning the war on terror” needs to trend for an election year, but now “bring back our girls” is making the rounds. A few thousand people die from chemical weapons in Syria is a crisis but hundreds of thousands dead from artillery is not… all because #warcrimes is a trending topic.