Obama Not Pleased With Antics in Colombia
The White House may have confidence in the director of the Secret Service, Mark Sullivan, but that doesn’t mean they’re excusing what happened in Colombia. On Meet the Press, David Axelrod expressed President Obama’s frustration with the alleged prostitution scandal involving Secret Service agents. “We’ve made a big effort to cut waste, inefficiency, fraud," Axelrod said. “So this was very enraging to him.” The Obama senior adviser also took time to address polls indicating that Romney has an advantage over the president when it comes to improving the economy. While Axelrod agrees that Romney’s “businessman” moniker may help him in the beginning, eventually, he says, “people are going to say, we’ve seen this movie before.”
Rubio’s VP Dodgeball
It’s a yes or no question. Marco Rubio has officially endorsed Mitt Romney as the GOP presidential nominee and continues to speak highly of the probable Republican nominee’s qualifications to be commander-in-chief. The one thing Rubio won’t discuss is his potential candidacy as Romney’s running mate. When prodded on State of the Union about whether he would accept the offer to be veep, the Florida senator stayed mum. “I’m not going to discuss it anymore,” Rubio said. “Now there’s a real process in place and I want to be respectful of the process that he’s working on.”
Lieberman on Agent Scandal: ‘Troubling.’
Turns out the Secret Service isn’t so good at keeping secrets. After 11 agents were accused of involvement in a prostitution scandal while on duty in Colombia, a 12th agent is now under investigation. Sen. Joe Lieberman told Face the Nation, that he finds this additional investigation especially concerning. “We don’t know, at this point, what that 12th agent is being charged with,” Lieberman said. “But now you’re into the hotel where the president was going to stay. And it just gets more troubling.” The chairman of Homeland Security also suggested that the White House launch their own internal review to make sure that no one was involved in the same sort of “inappropriate” behavior.
Olbermann on the Secret Service
On This Week, the panel had a serious debate on whether the Secret Service scandal reveals a bigger flaw in government agencies. Donna Brazile, a longtime government employee herself, argued that the problem isn’t the system, but the individual. “We have a few rotten apples,” Brazile said. “It’s an opportunity for the president to show that he’s cleaning house. Keith Olbermann agreed that this incident has little weight in determining the quality of the Obama administration. “The GSA has been a problem for a long time,“ Olbermann said. “ I don’t’ know if it indicates necessarily a growth or a decrease in the quality of government.”
Daniels: ‘Obama is Out of Touch’
Millionaire Mitt has received a lot of flak for being out of touch with the everyday American. Not buying the hype? Mitch Daniels, took to Fox News Sunday to defend Romney and his relationship with “real” Americans. “He’s been face to face with the really serious lingering economic difficulties America faces,” Daniels said. “If anybody is disconnected from where jobs and wealth come from, it’s our president.” The Indiana Gov. took a few more jabs at Obama, criticizing the president’s efforts to revive the economy. “The president did inherit a mess, but that is not the first time it’s ever happened,” Daniels said. “He’s done less with that mess than anyone else ever did.”
Is Andrew Sullivan Unfit to be an American?
It was a case of double discrimination. On Fareed Zakaria GPS, Andrew Sullivan shared his rocky road to American citizenship, highlighting the federal government's refusal to accept his green-card application because he was married to another man. “American citizens, I don’t think ever thought that the right to the pursuit of happiness did not include the right to marry the person you love,” Sullivan said. Sullivan also revealed the pain of learning that his HIV diagnosis in 1993 would prevent him from gaining U.S. citizenship. “The thing that I grieved most about that day was the fact that I had to withdraw my green-card application,” Sullivan said. “I was more crushed by being excluded from America for that, than I was fearful of dying.”
Should Romney Embrace the Media?
Will Mitt Romney show the “liberal” media a little love? During the GOP primary, Romney severely limited his interviews with the media. However, with the general election approaching, will he be forced out of his comfort zone? On Reliable Sources, the panel discussed the presidential hopefuls selective media habits and how it may play a role going forward. Jennifer Rubin from The Washington Post thinks restricting his media appearance is a mistake for his campaign. “He should be more accessible,” Rubin said. “He’s a pretty good spokesman for his own cause.”