Patterico's Pontifications

5/13/2013

How Media Portrays One Party Targeting Another

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 7:52 am



The answer is: it depends, doesn’t it?

When a Republican targets Democrats, the story is how the Republicans took advantage and the Democrats have been victimized. When a Democrat targets Republicans or conservatives, the story is how the Republicans will take advantage politically and how the Democrats will thereby be victimized.

And that is how we get I.R.S. Focus on Conservatives Gives G.O.P. an Issue to Seize On:

House Republicans have vowed to begin their own hearings and investigations. And Republicans fanned out on the political talk shows on Sunday to express outrage that is only likely to grow. Senator Susan Collins, Republican of Maine and a prominent moderate, said on CNN that the singling out of conservative groups was “absolutely chilling.”

Since last year’s elections, Republicans in Congress have struggled for traction on their legislative efforts, torn between conservatives who drove the agenda after their 2010 landslide and new voices counseling a shift in course to reflect President Obama’s re-election and the loss of Republican seats in the House and the Senate.

But the accusations of I.R.S. abuse are sure to fuel an effort that appears to be uniting dispirited Republicans and their conservative political base: investigating Mr. Obama and his administration. Republicans are pushing a portrayal of an administration overreaching its authority and punishing its enemies.

It is as predictable as day following night.

BY THE WAY: This was all going on as early as 2010.

27 Responses to “How Media Portrays One Party Targeting Another”

  1. “White House spokesman Jay Carney released a statement on Sunday saying that the president “is concerned that the conduct of a small number of Internal Revenue Service employees may have fallen short”

    Says the representative of the man who won his first two elections by getting opponents’ sealed divorce records opened.

    Mike K (87eb3a)

  2. Teh One wl condemn this in the strongest terms, say it was isolated to low level staffers, not political, and then Stonewall investigation.

    JD (ee8414)

  3. Well Jeez Louise; I look at a painting and see an overreaching government abusing its powers to abuse the citizens. The New York Times looks at the same painting and sees The Lightworker spreading goodness and alms to a public that doesn’t fully appreciate or deserve the wonder of him.

    What does the painting mean? I dunno; but I do know that most of the folks at the New York Times suffer from either cranial rectal insertion or a severe case of Von Hirshprung’s Disease. With maybe a little bit of Von Munchausen Syndrome thrown in.

    Comanche Voter (29e1a6)

  4. The trick used to be that they would investigate if there were complaints or something – and left wing groups, who knew about this were in league with the political people at the IRS,. always made complaints..

    But the standard was facially neutral.

    I’m not 100% sure this was the IRS but it was something.

    Sammy Finkelman (d22d64)

  5. Maybe it was the Federal Elections Commission.

    Sammy Finkelman (d22d64)

  6. Maybe it was complainace with federal campaign finance laws.

    Sammy Finkelman (d22d64)

  7. National Soros Radio takes the exact

    same

    tack

    As if the Obama administration’s conservative critics didn’t have enough fodder with last year’s attacks on a U.S. Consulate that killed four Americans, now comes Friday’s startling revelation that Internal Revenue Service workers between 2010 and 2012 singled out groups with “Tea Party” and “Patriots” in their name for extra scrutiny of their applications for tax-exempt status.

    this is because like good little sluts they write what they’re told

    http://www.npr.org/blogs/itsallpolitics/2013/05/10/182940489/irss-tea-party-scrutiny-adds-to-conservatives-case-against-obama

    happyfeet (8ce051)

  8. When conservatives have lost the New York Times they have lost …. Darn if I can think of anything. Anybody?

    nk (875f57)

  9. Memories: I always thought the number of Bill Clinton enemies audited by his Internal Revenue Service was a bit high to be coincidental.* When Clinton accuser Paula Jones was audited in 1997, Clinton’s press secretary Mike McCurry denied White House involvement:

    ”None whatsoever” … “We may do some dumb things from time to time but we are not certifiably insane,” Mr. McCurry said. ”The I.R.S. and the I.R.S. solely is the one that makes decisions about the enforcement of tax laws.”

    We now know, of course, that you don’t need direct White House involvement to politicize the IRS, at least for Democrats.** The underlings know what to do! The idea that they are apolitical professionals was always a myth.*** It’s even more of a myth now, in the era of Daily Kos and Greg Sargent. I wonder if McCurry, now safely through the revolving door, would like to revisit his statement. …

    P.S.: According to a Judicial Watch filing, the Clinton enemies audited included

    Clinton paramours Gennifer Flowers and Liz Ward Gracen, sexual assault accusers Paula Jones and Juanita Broaddrick, and fired White House Travel Office Director Billy Dale.

    as well as these organizations:

    The National Rifle Association, The Heritage Foundation, The National Review, The American Spectator, Freedom Alliance, National Center for Public Policy Research, American Policy Center, American Cause, Citizens Against Government Waste, Citizens for Honest Government, Progress and Freedom Foundation, Concerned Women for America and the San Diego Chapter of Christian Coalition.

    Kaus reminds us of the rules.

    http://dailycaller.com/2013/05/12/what-about-clintons-irs/#ixzz2TBogWkx3

    Dana (292dcf)

  10. The Daily Caller reminds us of Frank VanderSloot, a Romney contributor who was attacked on Obama’s website and then found himself audited. Once by the IRS and once by the Labor Department.

    There is clearly more to this.

    Kevin M (bf8ad7)

  11. Does anyone believe the NYT would take the same tack if, in 2005, it was discovered that low-level IRS employees in Ohio had audited local MoveOn! chapters and thwarted their plans to be involved in the 2004 election? Impeachment would have been the least of their suggestions.

    Kevin M (bf8ad7)

  12. It’s kinda like Obama just said to his court: “Who will rid me of these turbulent pests?” He didn’t actually say “audit them!”

    Because that would be wrong.

    Kevin M (bf8ad7)

  13. Well just recall how they treated the SWIFT terrorist finance tracking and the TSP, does that give you an answer.

    narciso (3fec35)

  14. Sammy – the FEC made the IRS do it? Really?!

    JD (ee8414)

  15. An interjection…..
    Watched (painfully) yesterday’s opening segment on FNSunday with Mike Rogers and Adam Smith, and have got to say that Cong. Smith (D-WA) is ably carrying on in the tradition established by his Washington State colleague James McDermott of lying through his teeth by claiming to not be aware of …..
    A total disgrace to his position, and to the voters of his state, but a logical extension of the politics we see in the Greater Sea-Tac area which he represents (Progs and Unions).

    askeptic (b8ab92)

  16. I think it’s fitting this administration has a spokeshole named Carney. Because a carny is someone who works a booth at a carnival and tries to talk you into wasting money at their tourist trap.

    As an aside, if eight months is a long time ago, ancient history, can I knock up a girl and then eight months into the pregnancy claim questions regarding paternity should be disregarded because the sex was a long time ago?

    “Well, we may never know who fathered this child and should pay to support it…”

    Steve57 (9b1cdb)

  17. Any gov’t, and particularly an IRS, employee who initiates an investigation of a political opponent of the administration should be sentenced to a prison term of not less than 20-years, plus loss of all government benefits and pensions, and prohibition from ever occupying a position in government at any level for life.

    askeptic (b8ab92)

  18. Can we check the backgrounds of these “low level” IRS employees?
    Would they be the same people that were dismissed from the OH civil-service for their harassment of Joe the Plumber?

    askeptic (b8ab92)

  19. Sayeth Teh One – Benghazi controversy is a political circus, a sideshow.

    JD (ee8414)

  20. You are of course correct, JD. We must not let ourselves lose sight of what’s important in the cirque du Obama that is 21st century America. I believe in a moment it will be Sandra Fluke’s sex life in the center ring, sponsored by extortion money from the Salvation Army and the Catholic Church. Followed by a morality play about how we’re all supposed to pay for Julia’s next kid, brought to you by a forced contribution from the Baptists.

    So says the carny. Jay Carney.

    Steve57 (9b1cdb)

  21. Boston Marathon incident give Islamophobes issue to seize on.

    CrustyB (69f730)

  22. Lets’s dub the Obama Presidency as the Lost Presidency. Integrity – lost. Transparency – lost. Gravitas – lost. After-tax income – lost. Privacy – lost. Freedom – lost. Etc., etc.

    LTMG (9a1240)

  23. Where is the political intelligence that was collected by these unidentified rogue bureaucrats? Who accessed it? How many times? and with whom was it shared? Oh yeah, and what groups make up the other 75% that were targeted? If this was limited to a few bad apples the administration would have quickly thrown them out. The fact that they’re still on the payroll and have yet to be dealt with speaks volumes.

    crazy (d60cb0)

  24. 2nd look at abolishing the IRS?

    Ghost (2d8874)

  25. There will always be a need for some form of the IRS.
    What we need to abolish is the 16th-A, and confine taxation to a strict interpretation of Art-I, Sec-8/1; particularly that “all Duties, Imposts, and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States”.

    It is time for a fundamental re-thinking of the tax structure of the USA.
    That can be done by only allowing each level (Fed/State/Local) to be financed by one type of tax which is exclusive to that level:
    Federal Gov’t: A National Sales Tax;
    State Gov’t: An Income Tax;
    Local Gov’t: A Property Tax.

    Let the discussion begin…..

    askeptic (b8ab92)

  26. The DK kids, Center for American Progress, Talking Points Memo, etc; are calling out that this is only fair play since the Bush administration IRS investigation of some CA liberal church that called out Bushitler for war crimes during a sermon by a preacher.
    Yet, google-fu and use of Bing says that this is the only incident of malfeasance.
    Also, “Joe the Plumber” has been saying remember what the liberals in Ohio did to my private records like tax statements?

    Charles (491f81)

  27. Collins has no morals, her response must be based on fear of losing her next election if she fails to take a position against this.

    dunce (15d7dc)


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