Where DId They Get That Idea?

The DOJ, DoS, IRS and NSA all seemed to hit on the same brilliant idea in the past few years: we can do whatever we want, and just lie like a rug to Congress and the public to cover it all up when we get caught.  The media?  Eh, they'll do their job and make sure that they spin the story as whatever we say the story is.

I wonder where they got the idea that was acceptable behavior?

Well, Time To Go Out In Front Of A Bunch Of People And Lie To Them

By Jay Carney, White House Press Secretary

Well, it looks like we’re about ready. The reporters have taken their seats, the photographers have set up their equipment, and everyone in the briefing room is waiting for me, the White House press secretary, to walk up to the podium and address the American public’s most pressing questions. And all that means only one thing: It’s time for me to go out there in front of all those people, take a deep breath, and then completely lie to their faces for about an hour.

Good grief.  I'm going to have to add a post label just for poor Jay.

Speaking of which, I wonder where Mr. Carney gets off thinking he can pull this off, day after day?

A major part of what I’m about to do comes in the preparation. Long before I mislead the media, I work closely with the president and his staff to make absolutely sure I’m disseminating the appropriate lies on all the hot-button issues—government surveillance, the economy, Syria, the IRS, whatever.

Oh... yeah.  Right.

Well, at least the media watchdogs will call him out on it, thankfully!

And I almost forgot to mention the craziest part about all of this: When I go out there and deceive these reporters, it won’t end there. Sure, I might start out spinning lies in front of the 50 or so journalists who actually attend the press conference, but then these people go back to their offices and write stories that circulate my lies—pretty faithfully, I might add—to their millions of readers. And then, in turn, these fictions are repeated again and again throughout the public discourse until they eventually attain a level of societal acceptance that ensures the actual truth remains hopelessly obscured, along with any semblance of executive transparency on the issues. Pretty wild, huh?

You know what?  Never mind.  Just... never mind.