( CNN ) -- When an official from the Internal Revenue Service decides to take the Fifth before a congressional committee and is then put on administrative leave , as Lois Lerner was recently , hearts on the political right surely beat a little faster . Does this mean that at least one of the controversies swirling around the Obama administration in recent weeks will gain strength , perhaps enough to pull him under ? So far it appears that the administration 's trio of troubles -- the IRS 's scrutiny of the tea party , the Justice Department 's investigation of journalists , and the State Department 's handling of the Benghazi attacks -- lack some of the key ingredients required to brew a strong scandal , the kind that does some serious damage , that produces widespread public interest and intense emotional involvement , and stains an administration , leaving its mark on history . The IRS controversy and Lerner drama stokes the sense of crisis in Washington . But Americans are hardly alone in discovering troubling developments in high places . The world is awash in scandals , partly the result of new technologies . In countries where people have long felt they had no voice , the powerful are feeling new public scrutiny . The most resonant scandals take an already-existing concern and turn it into a concrete story , one that gets the popular blood boiling . To gain traction , it must demonstrate a clear-cut example of abuse of power that is part of a pattern , not just an isolated instance of incompetence , stupidity or poor judgment . It must lead directly to a powerful individual , and must represent a problem that is viewed as having serious implications , even if the case itself is not necessarily consequential . Of the three controversies brewing in the U.S. , the IRS affair has the greatest potential to get the public emotionally involved , because the tax agency has power over everyone . Bureaucratic overreach feels potentially threatening to all . A higher-stakes example can be found in the case of the impoverished Tunisian street vendor Mohammed Bouazizi . In 2010 , after a municipal employee confiscated his produce , Bouazizi , despairing at the injustice and his own powerlessness , set himself on fire . His case resonated . It was a minor instance in the larger scheme of corruption and dictatorship , but it sparked a revolutionary fire that keeps burning to this day across the Middle East and North Africa . In Mexico , an incident that in the past would have passed without notice spread rapidly over the Internet , ultimately requiring presidential action . The daughter of the head of the consumer protection agency showed up at the trendy Maximo Bistrot in the capital without a reservation . When she could not get a table , she threatened to have the place shut down . Officials from her father 's agency , known as Profeco , promptly raided the establishment . `` Lady Profeco , '' as Andrea Benitez came to be known , became the personification of the super-entitled member of the elite , a character Mexicans know well and have long resented . Benitez 's image , holding a cell phone to her ear and wearing fashionable sunglasses , spread in online parodies . Last week , Mexico 's president fired her father . In the U.S. , the unfolding storylines are raising hopes among the president 's critics -- and fear among his supporters -- that they will derail his presidency or at least snuff out his second-term agenda . They involve unquestionably important issues : The government undermines the First Amendment when the Justice Department spies on reporters . If the IRS is targeting groups because they oppose government policies , that is a clear and egregious abuse of power . And the disaster in Libya raises important questions about security and transparency . And yet , Americans as a whole do n't appear to view these cases as emblematic of a particular problem with the current presidency . Polls show most Americans -- 58 % -- still view Obama as `` honest and trustworthy . '' An even greater number , 79 % , consider the president likable . That explains why even though most Americans consider the cases `` very important to the nation , '' the approval rating for Obama has not suffered . This presents a challenge to those who want to see the scandals demolish the Obama presidency and shut down his agenda . A scandal loses some of its power to demolish when it is viewed as a political game . All this , of course , could change . An official 's decision to invoke the right against self-incrimination certainly adds to the air of suspicion . But when the president 's image does not fit neatly with the revelations in a potential scandal , then the facts of the case , the continuing drops of new information , must have the power to redraw that image . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Frida Ghitis .
Frida Ghitis : Controversy over IRS official gives hope to those hoping for an Obama scandal . She says new technology today helps unearth , stoke scandals globally . Recipe for scandal : high official in clear-cut story that bears out suspicion of power abuse . Comment: Obama still popular ; `` scandal '' is n't quite sticking to him .