Business As Usual

Jennifer Rubin on Tim Geithner’s tax troubles:

Geithner and the Obama team are betting that the mere invocation of the word “mistake” is enough to get by this snafu. Maybe it is. But there is something odd indeed about his inability or unwillingness to explain in a satisfactory way how this came about. Is he dishonest? Sloppy? We don’t know. All we know is that he is evasive.

Really, no surprise here. When a candidate hasn’t been tested by the media during the campaign, the best he or his people are going to have to offer is Nixon’s modified limited hangout, only lamer.

The media is supposed to try and ruin presidential candidates — otherwise Congress, domestic competitors, foreign enemies, or the pressures of the office will do the job instead. The media have failed us on this one, and unless something changes, then Team Obama (or, rather, all of America) will pay the price for at least the next four years.