This Is No Ordinary Scandal

Political abuse of the IRS threatens the basic integrity of our government. 

 (By Peggy Noonan, Wall Street Journal) - We are in the midst of the worst Washington scandal since Watergate. The reputation of the Obama White House has, among conservatives, gone from sketchy to sinister, and, among liberals, from unsatisfying to dangerous. No one likes what they're seeing. The Justice Department assault on the Associated Press and the ugly politicization of the Internal Revenue Service have left the administration's credibility deeply, probably irretrievably damaged. They don't look jerky now, they look dirty. The patina of high-mindedness the president enjoyed is gone. 

Something big has shifted. The standing of the administration has changed.