Another new rule

Media Matters just reported on Michelle Malkin's new book, the title of which pretty much sums up the argument: Culture of Corruption: Obama and His Team of Tax Cheats, Crooks, and Cronies. Now, considering the people Obama has around him, it's not like she has nothing to work with. But still, this bit struck me as hilarious:

Barack Obama[, Malkin writes,] owns this cabinet of tax cheats, crooks, and cronies. It is his and his alone. In the era of "new politics," judge him as you would judge other mere mortals. Judge him not by the company that preceded him.
Judge him by the company he keeps.

Which, you have to admit is quite funny as it amounts to an admission that "the company that preceded him," which Malkin slobberingly adulated, was actually so very bad that this group of "tax cheats, crooks, and cronies" looks good by comparison.
Which means it's time for another addition to my list of rules of rightwing arguing:

Rule #15: Seize control of the Clock of History. Insist that all events outside the time frame most advantageous to your argument are irrelevant and must not be considered.

Footnote: There was also a variation of Rule #11 about continuing to use debunked claims. Dave Neiwert notes how the overall form of Malkin's argument - the corrupt president and the wife as behind-the-scenes manipulator - is the same as was wielded against the Clintons. If the GOPpers recycled everything like they recycle claims, the environment would be a heck of a lot cleaner.