Three too many

It began last Friday,with a revelation that brought the Republicans long-running investigation into the attack on the US consulate in Benghazi thus far a sideshow to centrestage. A reporter said he had accessed the administrations emails in the aftermath of the attack,which purportedly emphasised the need for intervention on behalf of the state department,contrary to White House claims. Later that day,it was reported that the Internal Revenue Service had targeted the Tea Party and other conservative groups,without subjecting organisations on the left to the same scrutiny. With the White House already under fire,Mondays disclosure that the justice department had conducted a massive sweep of Associated Presss phone records has transformed a bad news cycle into the story of a presidency in crisis.

Separately,none of the stories would have caused much damage. Indeed,by Tuesday,the Benghazi story had begun to collapse. It could also be that the IRSs misdemeanour is more an agency scandal than an Obama one. There also appears to be little White House involvement in the AP brouhaha,and it is likely that without the impetus provided by

Benghazi and the IRS,the Republicans would have ignored the story. Yet,the political damage has been done. How far it will extend remains to be seen.

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