Right-wing blogs are up in arms over an “EXPLOSIVE” audio clip of a conference call involving progressive artists, the National Endowment of the Arts, and the White House Office of Public Engagement, claiming the call proves an Obama conspiracy to use the NEA for partisan gain. AL lowers the temperature:
In terms of optics, it was certainly not a good idea for the NEA communications director to participate in such a call (which is probably why he is not the communications director anymore). That organization is not supposed to be involved in political advocacy. But unless Breitbart’s got a lot more, this is the political equivalent of jaywalking. Neither the NEA nor the White House organized this call and the staffers on the call basically gave boilerplate cheerleading remarks. There is nothing in the call that suggests that NEA money or grants were being funneled to progressive artists or anything of the sort. And the White House is of course free to participate on calls with supporters and encourage them to be pro-active. That’s what the Office of Public Engagement does.
What’s ironic (though not at all surprising) is that the very kind of allegation that is being leveled here was repeatedly proven to have occurred during the Bush administration, and in far more significant contexts. Monica Goodling was hiring and firing prosecutors, both U.S. Attorneys and DOJ line prosecutors, based on political criteria. Lurita Doan used the General Services Administration to “help” GOP candidates for office (and was eventually forced to resign). There were many other such examples, and the reaction to all of them by the Andrew Breitbarts of the world was a collective yawn.
Torture-defender Andy McCarthy doesn’t disappoint:
At Powerline, John Hinderaker has a superb analysis, including consideration of the question whether criminal statutes (such as the Hatch Act) have been violated. […] We’re about to see (yet again) how serious the Pelosi/Reid Democrats are about all that “rule of law” stuff they spout.
Ah, yes. “The rule of law”. I wondered how long it would take the true fanatics on the right to remember they are supposed to stand for that.
The Dish 