A week ago, the Washington Post editorial board felt compelled to remind its readers that "the press must have the ability to ask questions." That editorial was in reaction to two known occasions when the Department of Justice accessed the phone records and emails of journalists who did dare to ask questions. The Post was defending the constitutional right of journalists to conduct investigative journalism, even if it causes discomfort to the most powerful man on Earth. Of course, if the Post and its liberal news media brethren hadn't allowed this right to atrophy over the last five years, then its editors wouldn't have had to remind people that freedom of the press still exists. Press harassment was just one of myriad scandals that have erupted in recent weeks. In the meantime, Barack Obama sandwiched Scandalpalooza with two speeches in which he argued for Americans yielding ever more control of their lives to an all-powerful federal government whose benevolence should not be questioned/Michael Costello, Lewiston Tribune. More here.

Question: How long will the scandals now dogging the Obama administration hinder its effectiveness? Or have the scandals hindered it at all?