Copyright © 2011 by P. A. Ritzer

29 September 2011

Invested as heavily as they are in the Obama presidency and in all things Democratic, the old establishment media (OEM) (aka mainstream media) has surprised many by pursuing the erupting Solyndra scandal with some degree of tenacity rather than dismissing it or covering it up as has been their wont with Democratic scandals. Some believe it is because they wish to see President Obama, who is fast becoming a liability, replaced by Hillary Clinton as the Democratic candidate for the presidency in 2012. Rush Limbaugh conjectures that it may just be the press’s way of letting President Obama know that he had better not abandon the left-wing ideology, or that perhaps it is just a “random act of journalism.”

Cartoon ©Benjamin Hummel of PolitixCartoons.com

As more and more of the Solyndra mess comes to light, it is apparent that the scandal reaches well beyond Solyndra and that the green-jobs and clean-energy nonsense was even more of a scam than we skeptics thought, “creating jobs” that are costing us taxpayers hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars a job, the money going to these foolish if not fraudulent projects sponsored by donors and bundlers for Obama’s 2008 campaign who would then be in good shape to donate to him again in 2012. There’s a great use for “stimulus” dollars, one for which we taxpayers, and our children and grandchildren, are going to be paying heavily. There was a time when the OEM could have controlled the story, but with the plethora of new-media outlets in existence today, they can no longer do so. As newspapers shut down and the OEM loses market share to competitors who actually seek to uncover the news rather than an angle favorable to Democrats, it may just be that the OEM is being forced to cover the story as they ought just to compete in their industry. It would help explain the Democrats’ attempts to regulate broadcasting and the internet.

But there might be more to it. As President Obama’s radical policies make him and the Democratic Party ever more unpalatable to the average American, could it be that the OEM is helping uncover this scandal so as to dump it in the laps of the Republicans. The president’s popularity is falling hard, and he is dragging the party down with him: witness Scott Brown, Chris Christie, Bob McDonnell, the mid-term elections of 2010, and New York 9, as well as the talk of replacing him with Hillary Clinton. But does the Democratic Party, especially given its racist past, want to dump the first African-American president?

Would it not be better for the Democrats if they could rid themselves of a growing liability and do so in such a way that would leave the Republicans holding the bag? Though it is unimaginable that someone would consider impeaching the first African-American president, could it get to the point where that possibility “’tis a consumation devoutly to be wish’d” by Democrats? And if there is overwhelming evidence of corruption, if not criminal activity, can the Republicans in the House look the other way? It need not go all the way to impeachment. Investigations and hearings might fill the bill for the Democrats. They could saddle the Republicans with the dirty work, all the while standing by their man and secretly hoping the Republicans do enough damage to require them to run an alternative candidate. And if the Republicans fail, the Democrats might be able to turn it all back on the Republicans and play the victim card for the president to rally support for him, the candidate they would be stuck with.

Just something to keep in mind as we learn the stories behind Solyndra and Crescent Dunes and Tonopah Solar and First Solar and SolarReserve and SunPower and Abengoa Solar and Steven Chu and Argonaut and George Kaiser and Steve Mitchell, and then there’s ‘Fast and Furious’ and Obamacare and ACORN and the NLRB.  .  .