Monday Open Thread [5.20.13]

This has all happened before and it will happen again.

The president “has just weathered one of the worst weeks of his time in office,” according to Chris Cillizza. I don’t know Chris, I think death, destruction and obstruction (Boston Marathon Terror Attack, West,TX Explosion, Senate Background Check failure) trump three non-scandals that have been blown up by the media and the GOP as being worst than Watergate.

The network news ratings were down, so they gladly accepted the lies of the GOP (see Jon Karl) as news and proceeded to hyperventilate. But once again, as in the 1990’s, the American public are not fooled. The President’s approval ratings have actually improved over the last month, according to the latest CNN poll and Gallup polls.

According to the survey, which was conducted Friday and Saturday, 53% of Americans say they approve of the job the president is doing, with 45% saying they disapprove. The president’s approval rating was at 51% in CNN’s last poll, which was conducted in early April.

“That two-point difference is well within the poll’s sampling error, so it is a mistake to characterize it as a gain for the president,” says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. “Nonetheless, an approval rating that has not dropped and remains over 50% will probably be taken as good news by Democrats after the events of the last week.”

The CNN poll is in-line with Gallup, which also indicated a very slight rise in Obama’s approval rating over the same time period. And Gallup’s daily tracking poll also indicated a slight upward movement of Obama’s approval rating over the past week. But as with the CNN poll, it was within that survey’s sampling error.

Greg Sargent analyzes the numbers:

The IRS scandal

: Among overall Americans, 61 percent say what Obama has said about the matter is mostly or completely true, versus only 35 percent who say it’s mostly or completely false. Among Republicans, 68 percent say what Obama has claimed is false, and among conservatives, 56 percent say this. But independents believe what Obama has said is true by 58-36, and moderates believe this by 71-25.

Meanwhile, among overall Americans, 55 percent say the IRS acted on its own in targeting conservative groups, while only 37 percent say the White House ordered it. Among Republicans, 62 percent say the White House ordered it, and among conservatives, 54 percent believe this. But independents believe the IRS acted on its own by 53-36, and moderates believe this by 65-29.

The Benghazi story

: Among overall Americans, 50 percent believe early statements about the attacks by Obama officials reflected what the administration believed at the time, while 44 percent believe they intentionally misled. Among Republicans, 76 percent believe they intentionally misled, and among conservatives, 65 percent believe this. But moderates believe the statements reflected the administration’s beliefs by 60-35. (Among independents this isn’t as pronounced, but still, a plurality sides with the White House, 47-44.)

This has all happened before and it will happen again. Please, Republicans, try to scandalmonger. Try to impeach him. All it will mean is we win back the House.

Sarah Jones with this bombshell about ABC’s Jon Karl:

Karl came to mainstream journalism via the Collegiate Network, an organization primarily devoted to promoting and supporting right-leaning newspapers on college campuses (Extra!, 9-10/91)—such as the Rutgers paper launched by the infamous James O’Keefe (Political Correction, 1/27/10). The network, founded in 1979, is one of several projects of the Intercollegiate Studies Institute, which seeks to strengthen conservative ideology on college campuses. William F. Buckley was the ISI’s first president, and the current board chair is American Spectator publisher Alfred Regnery. Several leading right-wing pundits came out of Collegiate-affiliated papers, including Ann Coulter, Dinesh D’Souza, Michelle Malkin, Rich Lowry and Laura Ingraham (Washington Times, 11/28/04).

As we know now, Karl peddled a GOP lie concerning what the White House Benghazi emails. At first, we thought Karl was just made to look the fool by the GOP Hill staffer who invented the lie. Now I am convinced, given his background, that Karl willfully participated in the lie. He must be fired by ABC.