Whataboutism

Many of us have observed that the trained hamsters in the main stream media, along with the vast majority of all Democrats, use a different set of behavioral standards, different rules for honesty, and certainly, a different view of what constitutes evidence of scandal when evaluating Donald Trump as compared to past presidents. When making those observations, progressives accuse us of "whataboutism." James Taranto describes "whataboutism" as "a slur against people who wish to hold President Trump to the same standards as his predecessors and his political opponents. It is one of the oddities of our era."

I have on many occasions been guilty of "whataboutism," and why not? After all, again quoting Taranto:

If the “resistance” really believes that Mr. Trump represents a unique threat to the republic, they should welcome comparisons with other presidents as the most straightforward method of proving their case.

Apparently double standards are more fun. But before applying them, perhaps the President’s critics [who threaten to boycott Trump's State of the Union address] should watch Mr. Trump’s remarks later this month and then compare them to those delivered by his predecessor at the same point in his presidency.

Some readers probably recall that on January 27, 2010, President Barack Obama —not for the first or last time—falsely described his signature domestic policy: “Our approach would preserve the right of Americans who have insurance to keep their doctor and their plan.”

But readers may not remember other portions of the speech that also proved to be untrue, such as when he claimed: “We will have all of our combat troops out of Iraq by the end of this August.”

But ... but ... but ... the #Resistance tells us that Donald Trump is uniquely divisive. Hmmm, at the same point is his presidency, Barack Obama said (not in a private meeting but in his first State of the Union address:

With all due deference to separation of powers, last week, the Supreme Court reversed a century of law that I believe will open the floodgates for special interests, including foreign corporations, to spend without limit in our elections.

I don’t think American elections should be bankrolled by America’s most powerful interests or, worse, by foreign entities. They should be decided by the American people. And I urge Democrats and Republicans to pass a bill that helps correct some of these problems.

James Taranto notes:

Georgetown law professor Randy Barnett wrote in the Journal that “the head of the executive branch ambushed six members of the judiciary, and called upon the legislative branch to deride them publicly... No one could reasonably believe in their heart that this was respectful behavior.”

But, of course, when Trump accuses a judge or a special counsel of wrong-headed decisions, it's a 'vicious attack of the American judiciary,' but when Barack Obama does it, it's perfectly acceptable to the media hamsters, even praiseworthy, because—Obama.

And then there was the past president's 2010 promise to reform the Department of Veteran's affairs (followed in subsequent years with the VA scandal) or his statement that he would rid the world of nuclear weapons (followed today by North Korea), or his mea culpa to the Muslim world that resulted in increased violence and discord throughout the Middle East for the remainder of his presidency.

Yeah ... all of this is "whataboutism." What about it?


A HUMBLE EXAMPLE
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When Donald Trump allegedly used the word "sh*thole" to describe the broken countries of origin for some immigrants, the many Democrats and their trained hamsters in the media labeled Trump a "racist." They also used it as an excuse to walk away from immigration reform.

WHAT ABOUT when a senior Obama administration official called Israeli Prime Minister, Bibi Netanyahu, "chickensh*t"? Following the same logic, that would make the Obama administration and by default, its leader, anti-Semitic, right?