NY Times: 'The administration has now lost all credibility'

Facebook and Twitter lit up Thursday as a line in a New York Times editorial many never thought they would see was posted over and over like wild fire.

"The administration," the Times wrote in the opinion piece titled President Obama's Dragnet, "has now lost all credibility."

Reactions were swift and nationwide, and by Friday morning the line had been edited to read, "The administration has now lost all credibility on this issue."

Politico's Dylan Byers noted the change in wording that quietly took place Thursday night and, as he noted, "No correction or explanatory note was appended."

On Friday Byers wrote about the change and why it doesn't lessen the damage to the Obama administration:

"The change was for clarity's sake," Andrew Rosenthal, the Times editorial page editor, told POLITICO on Friday morning. "It was clear from the context of the editorial that the issue of credibility related to this subject and the final edit of the piece strengthened that point."

The "issue" in question is the Obama administrations' oft-repeated claim that an overreach of power -- from secret orders to kill an American suspected of terrorism to the subpoenas of reporters phone records to the collection of Americans' phone and now Internet data -- is required in order to keep Americans safe.

To the Times' critics, and to Obama's, the change may seem like an attempt to soften the blow. It shouldn't: The Times is still unequivocal in its condemnation of the president's abuse of his executive power. That is the important point, and it remains unchanged.

"The administration has now lost all credibility...."

Fired Inspector General fires back

Barack Obama is proving that anyone who gets in his way is gone. The latest casualty is Inspector General Gerald Walpin whose reputation is now being smeared after he blew the whistle on someone who ended up being a big Obama supporter. Powerline reports:

Fired Inspector General Gerald Walpin has responded aggressively to new claims by the Obama administration that he was fired from his job because he was "confused," and, perhaps, senile. Byron York records Walpin's response, which is, to say the least, coherent, much more than we can say for Obama's ever-shifting stories about why he fired an Inspector General who caused trouble for a prominent supporter of the administration. Byron himself notes that Walpin exhibits no sign of any "confusion:"

The White House suggestion that Walpin, who is 77 years old, is somehow mentally not up to his job and cannot perform his duties has caused great skepticism among Republicans on Capitol Hill. GOP investigators have talked to Walpin and found him entirely sharp and focused. "

He has been collected and coherent," says one investigator. "What the White House described is not the experience that we have had in dealing with him." (That is also my own experience, having talked with Walpin for a total of about two hours since the weekend.) In addition, Walpin has also performed well in recent high-profile media appearances.

This is classic Obama: an Inspector General investigates how a non-profit in Sacramento uses AmeriCorps funds and finds that the head of the organization, a prominent Obama supporter, used a lot of the money to pay recipients to wash his car, run errands for him, etc. The Inspector General blows the whistle, and promptly finds himself in Obama's crosshairs.

Since the mainstream media is not questioning Obama's moves, the hope is citizen journalists and conservative talk show hosts will continue investigating the many questionable decisions coming from the White House.

H/T to Connie

Unemployment rate highest in 25 years

Jerry Fuhrman at From On High hits the nail on the head with this post. Job losses are higher than they've been in 25 years ... Obama-mainstream media continue to try and put a hopeful spin on it.

The positive spin of the MSM was MIA during the Bush years when there actually was something to be positive about. 'Nuff said.

Vice President Blabber-Mouth

A shining example of the Obama Administration ... yet another gaffe.

Update: Check out the photo of Joe Biden at Yankee Philip.

H/T to Glenn Beck