Obama's Bergdahl Spin Just Gets Worse and Worse

Update: But what difference does it make?

We’re in farce territory now.

The Obama White House failed to inform Congress about the Bergdahl-for-terrorists swap until it had already happened. That violated federal law, and the White House has come up with a couple of attempts to justify why it broke the law to swap terrorists for Bergdahl. First, it was his health — he was so sick that we had to get him back as soon as possible by whatever means were necessary. The Taliban’s video of the exchange proved that wrong. He’s undernourished but not malnourished, and looks about as healthy as his captors. Obama used that talking point again today, but it’s a dead letter. He’ll have to walk it back somehow. Or pretend that he never said it, and you’re a political meanie if you bring it up!

The collapse of that talking point has led to a new, even more absurd, one. And this one comes with an added feature — it’s dangerous to American rule of law.

BREAKING: Officials: Congress not told of swap because Taliban threatened to kill Bergdahl if it leaked .

— The Associated Press (@AP) June 5, 2014

That talking point is already somewhat undone by another, which is the White House’s claim that it informed Sen. Harry Reid before the swap. Did the Taliban give the ok for that? The logic that it creates also cracks it more than a little bit. The Taliban can’t order the President of the United States to break federal law. They can tell him to do whatever, but it’s still up to him to jump.

And it’s undone by the fact that the Taliban had run around killing people for five years, but had not killed Bergdahl when they had him in their clutches. They obviously had some use for him. He was, at least, a bargaining chip. Had they killed him, they had reasons to expect a drone would be on its way to retaliate. In fact, the Taliban apparently warned the US that some of our drones nearly killed Bergdahl more than once. The Taliban were going out of their way to keep him alive. They had been wanting to deal him out for years. So, they would kill him if Dianne Feinstein or Ted Cruz suddenly started talking about a swap? Really? Does anyone believe this other than the most feverish Media Matters videobot?

I join Ed Morrissey in mocking this latest talking point for the nonsense that it is. These people are going to have to come up with a new lie. Which, rest assured, they will. There is some reason that they keep telling one ridiculous lie after another. The truth they’re covering up must be even worse than most of us speculate.

More: By the way, when Obama and his minions aren’t smearing the military who did their duty, he’s infantilizing them.