“I think people will judge him [Barack Obama] on the totality,” David Axelrod tells CNN’s Candy Crowley about the rash of scandals in the Obama administration, “not these transient stories.” Crowley, however, doesn’t let Axelrod off the hook:

CROWLEY: So if this were happening in a Republican administration, would you be one of the first guys out there going, “Hey, this guy’s in charge”? AXELROD: Maybe, although I have to say that the stories that stick are the ones that are really reflective and emblematic of an administration.

Maybe? Isn’t this the same guy who attacked Romney for the way he traveled with his dog in 1983? Talk about transient stories.

Meanwhile, on Meet the Press, Axelrod compared John Boehner to Robespierre, or something:

Republicans have engaged in a “reign of terror” on Capitol Hill, forcing their members into lockstep opposition to President Obama – even Republicans who “know better” – Obama senior political adviser David Axelrod said on Sunday.

Axelrod was trying to explain how “good Republicans” would work with Obama in a second term to pass comprehensive immigration reform — an effort that Obama didn’t bother to pursue when he had near-supermajorities in both chambers of Congress for two full years. That’s an absurd statement, and National Journal calls Axelrod out for his hyperbole:

Students of history may associate the “Reign of Terror” with fates far worse than partisan politics. It often refers to the blood-soaked French Revolution, when thousands died at the blade of the guillotine.

No one has ever accused this President and this administration of being students of history.