Drip, Drip, Drip

Obama’s initial response to criticism about not notifying Congress regarding the negotiations about the exchange for Bergdahl was that his health was endangered and it was necessary to move very rapidly. He went into considerable detail about how the soldier appeared in videos with weight loss and such, and that his concern as Commander in Chief required him to move swiftly to rescue one of the men who served under him.

Congress, however, remained angry and unconvinced, continuing to insist that they should have been informed before the exchange was finalized.

Then, after almost a week, the administration informed us that there was also a death threat involved in the process. CBS initially reported it as an issue of speed, saying that the Taliban threatened to kill Bergdahl if the exchange was not finalized immediately. Then we heard that it actually more directly had to do with the failure to inform Congress; that the Taliban had threatened to kill Bergdahl if the negotiations became public. The spokesman who released this information was not named.

The Obama administration has a way of releasing the details of an issue in bits and pieces over a significant period of time, often with conflicting facts. If the public is not buying the initial offering, they run a different flag up the flagpole and see if the public salutes that one. That makes it very difficult to believe anything the White House says.