We've seen this play before.

Act 1: A scandal breaks out, such as the IRS allegedly targeting Tea Party groups.

Act 2: President Obama tells a reporter that he read it in the newspaper.

According to CBS News, here we go again:

President Obama only learned of Hillary Clinton's private email address use for official State Department business after a New York Times report, he told CBS News in an interview.

CBS News senior White House correspondent Bill Plante asked Mr. Obama when he learned about her private email system after his Saturday appearance in Selma, Alabama.

"The same time everybody else learned it through news reports," the president told Plante.

Sorry, but this insane.  Is he that detached, or is he playing dumb? I don't think either one is befitting of the president of the United States.

First, we are talking about the secretary of state, the nation's top diplomat and someone having confidential conversations with the president.  It is not unusual for the president and the secretary to exchange information about U.S. military secrets, spying activities, or even strategies for dealing with threats or the world's personalities.  Didn't someone at the White House notice that there was something different about Secretary Clinton's e-mail address?  Don't we have systems in place to protect the integrity of our conversations?

Second, who is briefing President Obama, and what are such people briefing him about?  It looks to me as though he's kept in the dark about scandals, or as though he plays dumb when a scandal breaks out.  

Third, what else is he in the dark about?  What else is he going to learn over coffee when he is reading the front page of his favorite newspaper?

My guess is that this is all a cute strategy to shield the president from any accountability.  However, he is accountable whether he understands it or not.  It's getting old, very old!

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