Francis A. Avila Jr.: Now we know how Obama sold Iran deal to gullible reporters

David Samuels of the New York Times must be feeling like Toto in the Wizard of Oz for having pulled back the curtain on the Obama administration, revealing Ben Rhodes operating the levers of power. Bad dog. Bad, bad dog.

According to Samuels, the Obama administration was “actively misleading” the nation by asserting the nuclear deal was made possible with the election of Hassan Rouhani in 2013, a supposed moderate. This claim was “largely manufactured,” by Rhodes to sell the deal to the American public despite the fact the “most meaningful part of the negotiations with Iran had begun in mid-2012.” He did this by manipulating the media into publishing stories supporting the White House position. He made use of “legions of arms control experts” who became “sources for hundreds of clueless reporters.”

The reporters promptly became cheerleaders for the deal since they “were saying things that validated what we had given them to say.” The august members of the Fourth Estate are not happy to learn the White House considers them little more than ventriloquist dummies.

This is how the most consequential arms control treaty of late was sold to the public by the Washington press corps.

This story was originally published May 31, 2016 at 2:05 PM with the headline "Francis A. Avila Jr.: Now we know how Obama sold Iran deal to gullible reporters."