Lois Lerner’s Seemingly Spontaneous and Honest Admission of IRS Wrongdoing Was Planned; Questioner Was a Plant
But Lois Lerner couldn’t have planned the admission because it was in response to a question!
Um.
The veteran tax lawyer whose pre-arranged question to an IRS official at a panel last week prompted the admission that the agency had targeted conservative groups said in a written statement on Friday that she did not know what the answer to the question would be.
Celia Roady, a partner in the Washington D.C. office of Morgan Lewis and a member of the the IRS’ Advisory Committee on Tax-Exempt and Government Entities, said she got a call from Lois Lerner, head of the IRS’ tax-exempt organizations division, on May 9, the day before Lerner appeared on a panel at the American Bar Association tax section’s annual meeting.
If she had simply announced it, it would have looked like an announcement. So she planned it to look responsive to a question she didn’t know was coming, so the admission would look frank and forthright. But it was all a ruse.
Wow. Every day there is something that makes this all smell worse. Every day.
Plant? Of course it was. IRS, EPA, AP and every other “scandal” that might possibly take attention off the failure of Benghazi will be nourished lovingly by this administration.
The scandal is Benghazi and it goes to negligent homicide on the part of Obama. Never, ever lose sight of this.
creeper (ab9f80) — 5/18/2013 @ 7:33 amBack in 2008, I said American was entering its phase of being the world’s largest Banana Republic, but with a sense I also was exaggerating and responding with sarcasm more than dispassion.
Now, if anything, I think I underestimated the reality.
Mark (9ba6f2) — 5/18/2013 @ 7:37 am“Just two days prior to the planted question, Lerner was given an opportunity to address the situation at a House subcommittee hearing, but said nothing about any wrongdoing.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2013/05/17/lawyer-says-irs-question-was-planted/
But, …but didn’t the [former] Commish say he tried to tell the Ways and Means Committee but just couldn’t get on the calendar?
Illinois Republican Rep. Peter Roskam quizzed Miller about a phone conversation he said he had with Lerner about the planned disclosure, which Miller said was intended to coincide with a disclosure to Congress.
He agreed with Roskam, however, that Congress wasn’t told at the same time a question was ‘planted’ at the bar association conference.
‘We called to try to get on the calendar’ of the Ways and Means Committee,’ Miller said.
‘You called to try to get on the calendar?’ Roskam asked, incredulous. ‘Is that all you’ve got?’
Walter Cronanty (d16f1a) — 5/18/2013 @ 7:41 amhttp://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2326109/Congressional-hearing-turns-IRS-smackdown-disgraced-commissioner-Treasury-Inspector-General-face-tea-party-scandal-questions.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490
I don’t think this is a usual scandal; it’s transformational.
If we don’t change the structures of our institutions, we will go the way of every other banana republic. We need to abolish PEU unions, gut the Tax Code, and abolish many of the alphabet soup agencies that cause so much damage.
Patricia (be0117) — 5/18/2013 @ 7:47 amWith this gang, EVERYTHING is a political manipulation.
Icy (64e97d) — 5/18/2013 @ 7:53 amObama doesn’t play golf all the time — he plays chess, with his agenda as queen; and, if he deems it necessary, he will place every single pawn on the board in harm’s way in order to protect his queen.
Can you imagine how the media would handle this if it occurred during the previous administration?
The biggest scandal is the media’s lack of interest in the on-going scandals: IRS, Benghazi and AP.
AZ Bob (c11d35) — 5/18/2013 @ 7:54 amI was watching Jay Carney stumble and bumble his way through his first post-Benghazi hearing presser when I first heard the word about the IRS scandal, so I didn’t have the details about what elicited Lerner’s “apology.” Now that I see the way that it was planned, and consider the timeline, the question has to be asked: Why that moment?
It’s reminiscent of a 1970’s case in the Midwest. An investigation of a homicide was shunted aside when out of nowhere, a series of random bombings occurred in the city, one of which maimed a married couple, and ultimately leading to the husband’s suicide. Turns out the suspect in the homicide set the bombs, presumably hoping to derail the murder investigation. The homicide is unsolved to this day; the bomber served his time and is a free man today.
Yes, I went there. NO, I’m not suggesting a connection.
L.N. Smithee (4b560c) — 5/18/2013 @ 8:10 amWhat AZ Bob posted in #6. Teh media would be having an ongoing, collective sh*t hemorrhage about all this if Republicans were involved. Otherwise, it’s the cracking a few eggs/omelette BAU…
Colonel Haiku (c5a4e9) — 5/18/2013 @ 8:13 amAZ Bob: Yes the media are a bad joke. I saw the “Director” of CBS “News” this morning (Sat)being interviewed by a CBS “reporter”. (Wonder what a “Director” of news directs???)This was the same guy who a few weeks ago wrote a column saying this is the time for Obama to “pulverize” the GOP. Fair and honest, that.
The “Director” told his reporter that the IRS scandal won’t last because it can’t be linked to the White House…he better be a praying man.
Gotta wonder how Valarie Jarrett’s Saturday morning is going? She must be in emergency meetings with various lawyers and “detectives” to figure out how to keep the IRS stuff limited to a “few rogue agents in Cincinnati”.
Good luck Ms Jarrett…hope you don’t have to have too many people killed.
VoteOutIncumbents (569c1b) — 5/18/2013 @ 8:16 amAny one of the legion of these scandals would totally define and cripple a Republican President. From the Black Panther voter intimidation to the IG firing to Brian Terry to the SEAL exposure and losses to spike to OBL football to today’s problems.
And the GOP presidents know that. They understand that they will be made accountable to the American people if they cross the line. Democrats justifiably do not believe they will be made accountable, so we have scandals all the way from a fake voter registration to crushing Tea Party groups.
It’s disturbing, and sadly it hasn’t ended. The only reason any of this is being discussed in the MSM is because of the AP leak investigation. They are punishing the administration, but they are still on the same side.
And of course, ask a random person on the street about any of this, and they will not understand any of these issues. As a society, the most populous places are culturally focused on stupid things, like a Brave New World.
There are many people in this country who really do care about these scandals, and had they been allowed to organize, perhaps 2012 would have been different. The Tea Party didn’t seem to show up in 2012, and I think we have a better understanding of why.
Dustin (2da3a2) — 5/18/2013 @ 8:26 am‘You called to try to get on the calendar?’ Roskam asked, incredulous. ‘Is that all you’ve got?
Thank you Walter. it is good to see people reacting with appropriate indignation instead of “reaching across the aisle”.
In one way, none of this should really be surprising given the fundamental facts.
We have a bunch of people who take instructions from someone who admired the devil. Now, that seems so absurd who could believe it? No, not the guy painted red with horns and a pitchfork, but the one who deceives and causes all manner of evil and suffering while promising god-like status. (To Lucifer, the first radical, or some such; too similar to “To Serve Man”)
C. S. Lewis (an ancient writer and popular theologian/philosopher) said that one could make two mistakes about the devil, either be too preoccupied with him, or tricked into thinking he doesn’t exist. The NYT even liked the book, back at the time. (The Screwtape Letters) Of course, that was back in the day not long after WWII, and in the days just after the Holocaust people believed in evil.
Obama said he thought our Constitution was fundamentally flawwed. He said to bring a gun to a knife fight. He made it clear that all of his talk of a post-partisan DC was a ruse.
One thought comes to mind. In my oft-repeated tale of woe of being on a Philly jury in a criminal trial, it was clear that one person who was quite opinionated and outspoken, was never, no never, ever going to admit she had made a mistake…she had to “be allowed” to come to a new conclusion “on her own” to save face.
So, maybe instead of becoming animated and pointing, “See!! See!!!”, we should try to stay quiet with a few strategic questions.
MD in Philly (3d3f72) — 5/18/2013 @ 8:31 amThe MSM tried like hell to link Abu Ghraib to Cheney or Bush, all the while suggesting that the mistreatment of Islamist POWs would result in circumstances to Americans. Why, they might do something cray-cray, like hijack a jet and fly it into skyscrapers in Manhattan.
L.N. Smithee (4b560c) — 5/18/2013 @ 8:35 am‘Nothing to see here;
http://dailycaller.com/2013/05/16/irs-lois-lerner-humane-society/
narciso (3fec35) — 5/18/2013 @ 8:37 amAs said by various folks in various posts, yes, it is time to ponder the future plight of the US. When our government thinks it needs to ask Christian groups what they pray about and at the same time go out of their way to protect blatant anti-US, anti-West, anti-Judeo-Christian calls for violence, and a significant number of citizens, if not the majority, think nothing of it, there is a problem, Toto.
MD in Philly (3d3f72) — 5/18/2013 @ 8:40 amClearly, somebody wanted/needed this IRS story out there. But I don’t understand the timing, the motive, the aesthetics or the optics of the “planted” disclosure by Lois Lerner-at all. To those who say it is meant as a distraction from Benghazi–maybe it is– but right now I don’t buy it. For the average citizen what happens at the IRS is much more personal and understandable and scary than some dead people in Libya, or covert CIA actions, or a dud ex-SOS who wants to run for President or a talking points queen who will be named NSA. If there was actual provable treason on the part of the administration how will this IRS distraction prevent it from being exposed?
If it was meant as a shot across the bow to any and all critics of the administration or Obamacare to show just how much power the IRS can wield and has already wielded, then it does not seem to be playing out all that well even in the press.
If, as some posit the IRS deal is supposed to be a shiny object distraction from the immigration follies to get a bill passed while no one’s looking I guess I still don’t buy that one either. Immigration reform is not a hot button for the average American nor do I see the House caving. To many people the government IS the IRS. On the heels of the government’s obvious inability to manage the IRS the public will yawn that they’re suddenly going to be capable of managing all the attendant processes of amnestisizing millions of immigrants and implementing Obamacare?? Or if the whole thing’s a cynical precursor to the next debt limit battle, after this, are congress and the American taxpayers going to want to give the government authority for still MORE money to misuse in the bureaucracies?
Man, I do not understand this at all.
elissa (6dd12f) — 5/18/2013 @ 8:41 amThis whole “set-up question” stinks. First note that it was the “last” question to be asked. Was the ABA moderator in on the set-up, or was it just coincidence that Ms. Roady was called upon to ask the last question?
“The fateful question came from a tax lawyer, in a room filled with dozens of them. It came at the end of a Friday morning panel, on the second day of the American Bar Association tax section’s big annual meeting at the Grand Hyatt hotel in Washington D.C. The moderator had announced that it would be the panel’s last question.”
Second, people were baffled by Lerner’s answer/admission. Some thought it might have been planted. But when questioned privately, Ms. Roady displayed the same respect for the truth as the Obama administration:
“But back at the Grand Hyatt on Friday, Lerner’s words were met with surprise and bafflement. The fact that the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration had a report on the issue just days from release was not yet widely known. Audience members couldn’t understand why Lerner had chosen that panel as the venue in which to make her admission. While Lerner’s remarks have since been referred to as a “slip” by lawmakers and media reports, several people in the audience on Friday said they saw Lerner refer to notes when answering the question, as if she’d prepared the response in advance. The whole thing was so strange, some even speculated that the question itself had been a plant….It’s not unheard of for questions to be planted at events like Friday’s, but no one TPM talked to believed that Roady’s question had set up in advance. Both Aprill and Streckfus said they had asked Roady directly about the issue. Roady denied any arrangement.”
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2013/05/lois_lerner_irs_scandal.php
Nothing this administration does is as it seems. Too many institutional toadies willing to do favors.
Walter Cronanty (d16f1a) — 5/18/2013 @ 8:46 amelissa, to me the explanation that there was an IG who was really going to issue a negative report, even if giving little actionable information, and they wanted to “get in front of it” makes sense, and it may not be directly related to anything. This way they can give the spin that “Oh, we already told you about that” as a way to try to deflect it.
MD in Philly (3d3f72) — 5/18/2013 @ 8:52 amCould be wrong, but I think that fits this situation.
It could be that the burden of keeping so much wrongdoing under cover just ran out of cooperating enablers. I mean, a couple of honest and brave people out of 100,000’s of thousands is plausible.
LN, very good point.
at narciso’s link (that one should always follow):
The HSUS has been accused of sending less than one percent of its funds to animal shelters, a charge that a spokesman in 2012 would not deny. According to IRS filings, the group took in $148,703,820 in revenue in 2010.
Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2013/05/16/irs-lois-lerner-humane-society/#ixzz2TexRkWlz
Obviously this is just one claim, but it would help explain why there are so many independent cat and dog rescue shelters and organizations in the Philly area. never thunk it.
MD in Philly (3d3f72) — 5/18/2013 @ 8:54 amThe catapult has been greased for Ms. Lerner’s departure. COngressman Joseph Crowley (D-NY) is tight with Hillary. He was outraged yesterday about Ms. Lerner’s failure to answer his question last week, only to see her answer the same exact question with the plant while claiming she ahd never been asked the question.What ever you think of Hillary she is several steps ahead of The One.
Ultimately the bureaucrats will get the heave ho, Obama and Hillary will skate. But some inner circle people are going to face some fire, may be burnt to a crisp. The career CIA people cannot wait to take a torch to the likes of Valerie Jarrett and Eric Holder(aka new MC tag- AG I DON’T KNOW). Both of these hacks richly deserve a jail cell, we may at least see them forced out in disgrace. Pretty clear both are very close to The One; he might cry or seek the warm embrace of Reggie Love.
And we can hope for a chastened electorate and a Cruz/Rand Paul box exacta in 2016 instead of another braindead GOP nominee.
Bugg (b32862) — 5/18/2013 @ 8:57 amelissa,
Obama is a transformational President and his goal is to make the US more socialist with permanent Democratic leaders. Immigration reform (amnesty) is a tool to that end, and he will try anything to make it happen.
You are thinking of likelihood. He is shooting for the stars. It may seem unlikely that he can succeed but ObamaCare seemed unlikely, and look what happened with that.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 5/18/2013 @ 9:11 amMotive of planting may have been ethical considerations. Ms. Lerner planted the question herself as she was troubled by the wrongdoing but had not easy way to end it other than by whistleblowing.
Perhaps Ms. Lerner is the hero in this scandal.
Thomas One (1e2546) — 5/18/2013 @ 9:32 amAll these people will be granted a pardon by President drip.
mg (31009b) — 5/18/2013 @ 9:38 amDRJ@20–who was Speaker of the house and what was the composition of the House when ACA was passed there? Think back to that really big gavel. (Yes, I know I’m being a smart a*s.) 🙂 Who is Speaker now?
Of course I understand the purpose and goal of immigration amnesty. Do you think any version of it can pass the House after all this? I am rather dubious it can. Do you think it is likely that the Dems will retake the House in 2014 to be able to complete Obama’s second term star-shooting wish list? (Even if a liberal money bomb buys the L.A. Times out from under the Koch brothers?) I am dubious about that, too.
elissa (6dd12f) — 5/18/2013 @ 9:39 amThe Republicans (and hopefully some actual conservatives) need to go all in and run on these scandals as well as the impending Obamacare clusterfuck in 2014. I wish it was a perfect world in which good policy won, but the average idiot might respond to this stuff.
notsomsm (04f0de) — 5/18/2013 @ 9:40 am“Ms. Lerner planted the question herself as she was troubled by the wrongdoing but had not easy way to end it other than by whistleblowing.”
Thomas One – Except the wrongdoing was going to come out very shortly through the issuance of the TIGTA Audit Report.
daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 5/18/2013 @ 9:47 amMs. Lerner planted the question herself as she was troubled by the wrongdoing but had not easy way to end it other than by whistleblowing.
Yeah, that’s why two days earlier, when she was testifying before a Congressional subcommittee and had a chance to be “whistleblower” she said nothing. I’m sure that was for ethical considerations, too.
Walter Cronanty (d16f1a) — 5/18/2013 @ 9:48 amLerner has put out disinformation about the cause of this scandal, lying that the agency was overwhelmed with applications when it was actually receiving fewer (not to mention this solution to that fake problem is insane).
These folks knew about this scandal months before the election, and their response was designed to push accountability until after the election because this outrage would probably have led to the GOP winning in 2012. Now they can release the information, and still find a dishonest way to do so.
It really is good timing, then. So many scandals at once means even politics junkies can’t keep up with all the details of all of them. Soon they will all be old news, and I imagine the vast majority of 2016 voters will not remember much about this. In fact, many democrats will claim they solved the problem and deserve credit and trust because of this scandal. I suspect Hillary Clinton is not unhappy the IRS, the AP leaks, and the like have sucked the oxygen out of the Benghazi scandal. When Benghazi is mentioned, it’s usually as a snide ‘at least the IRS scandal is legitimate unlike Benghazi’.
This isn’t all some hyper organized plan, but it’s working out nicely for democrats given all they have done. A lot of people who belong in prison are probably not going to go there. They will simply have to change jobs (only to become lobbyists or return to government in a short while). And the fruits of this corruption… the Tea Party organizations that were snuffed out, the possible monetary gains for liberal orgs given the corruption at the IRS, the dishonesty about Benghazi being hidden until after election day… these guys got a ton of mileage out of their actions.
If you went back to May 2012 and offered the Obama administration this future, they would happily have taken it.
Dustin (2da3a2) — 5/18/2013 @ 10:00 amLerner and testimony before Congress…
Is lying by omission an indictable and/or an offense subject to disbarment?
askeptic (2bb434) — 5/18/2013 @ 10:13 amComment by Patricia (be0117) — 5/18/2013 @ 7:47 am
(Gasp)
Patricia, are you actually calling for a return to a government limited to its enumerated powers?
Oh, the Humanity!
askeptic (2bb434) — 5/18/2013 @ 10:15 amto ask Christian groups what they pray about
Now, I’m as much – or more – cynical about our current government as most, but when I saw reports of this in the IRS scandal, I was truly shocked.
askeptic (2bb434) — 5/18/2013 @ 10:23 amWhoever put there signature to that demand letter needs to be contemplating the surface texture of paint on the inside of a prison cell.
That question is so fundamentally wrong, it beggars belief.
The IRS wants to know the content of people’s prays.
That is between me and God.
AZ Bob (c11d35) — 5/18/2013 @ 10:26 amWhat happens when some panelist on a board overseeing your insurance coverage has only enough money to spend and has to choose? Will they cover you? What happens if they start asking what you pray, or if you are demanding a balanced budget or even the end of their panel?
I guess maybe these panelists will be extremely ethical and fair despite the temptation to be corrupt.
Dustin (2da3a2) — 5/18/2013 @ 10:30 amThe contents of my prayers are between me and God (and John Browning), whom do you want to question?
askeptic (2bb434) — 5/18/2013 @ 10:32 amTwo won’t be talking!
the more immediate worry Mr. Dustin is whether people who decide to pay the obamacare tax cause they can’t afford insurance can expect an audit from the gestapo, particularly if one of the piggy piggy irs thugs decide that in their minds the Citizen should be able to afford a state-sanctioned policy
happyfeet (8ce051) — 5/18/2013 @ 10:36 am“27.Lerner and testimony before Congress…
Is lying by omission an indictable and/or an offense subject to disbarment?”
Think Roger Clemens (lying to Congress) or Scooter Libby (lying to a federal officer). Ms. Lerner’s lies are
Bugg (b32862) — 5/18/2013 @ 10:47 amcertainly more important than either of those.
That’s a smart observation, feets.
And the aura is out there. We all fear an expensive audit. Now we fear one directed at those who disagree with Obama’s policies. So will this impact a lot of people’s choice to obey the Obamacare mandate? Probably. That’s how corrupt governments work. A common refrain is that if you don’t have anything to hide, it shouldn’t matter. After all, Nakoula had something to hide. Maybe some of these Tea Partiers had something to hide too. So it’s OK.
Anyway, I’m more worried about what we don’t know. I used to be skeptical of conspiracies of rampant corruption. Now I’m skeptical of the government’s ability to even have an agency free of Larners or Sherrods running wild.
Dustin (2da3a2) — 5/18/2013 @ 10:55 amelissa,
You are working from a different rule book — the rules that govern how things used to work in Washington. Obama follows this set of rules. Rules 8 and 11 are the ones that seem most relevant, because it’s not about the odds of success. It’s about applying pressure to the right places at the right times.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 5/18/2013 @ 11:30 amAnd yet, DRU, applying pressure at the right places and right times is dependent on a non-vigilant and unaware or apathetic receptor. That’s the heart of control, or I should probably say, abdicated control.
Dana (292dcf) — 5/18/2013 @ 11:36 amOops. DRJ….
Dana (292dcf) — 5/18/2013 @ 11:37 amI’m not sure I understand, Dana. Are you saying the recipient of pressure has to be susceptible or unaware?
DRJ (a83b8b) — 5/18/2013 @ 11:38 amPut it another way: Obama’s approach is basically to play offense instead of defense. Conservatives can sometimes win playing defense because our goal is to restrict government power. But liberals want to expand government power so they never win playing defense. They have to play offense, even if sometimes it doesn’t work.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 5/18/2013 @ 11:42 amDRJ–On one level (as one can probably tell from my comments on this site) I am cynical and deeply pessimistic about the long term odds of our nation being able to thrive and continue along as the founders dreamed and planned for us. Yet, I think that the scandals and recent mis-steps of this administration have in the short term left a permanent mark on the administration’s “sanctity” and hence have lessened Obama’s ability and power to get things done in the remainder of his term.
In my opinion we do not have quite the same public or the same media or the same congress to act as oblivious and willing receptors to the president’s charms and threats this morning that we had even a few short months ago. I think the president is now viewed with a bit of skepticism and in more human– less messianic– terms, and apparently it has become OK to gently criticize him in the media and the halls of congress, and analyze his personality and his related management failures. The words “administration incompetence” have actually been uttered in the mainstream media. And, as a few in the media have cracked open that journalistic door to have a look-see both at themselves and the administration, a few more have stepped through, too.
All this is another way of saying I think he’s in deeper doo-doo than you apparently do.
elissa (6dd12f) — 5/18/2013 @ 12:31 pmIcy, Obama is the Queen. It’s Valerie Jarrett who’s sacrificing the pawns.
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/348591/strange-goings-white-house-john-fund
Krauthammer observed yesterday that the mere fact Lerner decided to play-act at appearing to give a spontaneous answer to a question she planted and then delivered a prepared response is proof the IRS is intrinsically dishonest.
That was on full display yesterday when former IRS commissioner Miller lied through his teeth to Congress. At one point amid all the things he preposterously claimed not to remember Miller said he couldn’t remember if he had notes relevant to the question at hand (which gives him the excuse not to provide them if they’re subpeonad). Later Rep. Roskam was questioning Miller and Miller said he couldn’t remember the answer and would have to refer to his notes. Roskam shot back and demanded how he could refer to his notes since he didn’t remember if he had notes. Miller actually had the gall to say that despite the fact the IRS targeted only those groups that opposed the President’s political agenda (and by extension an ever larger, powerful, and more intrusive IRS) the IRS division that did so had no political motives. Miller denied it was political thus demonstrating the entire IRS is so politicized its own former commissioner can go before Congress and attempt to spin the scandal politically to minimize the political fallout.
The IRS scandal is going to get worse, which will be good for the country. For instance the IRS didn’t fulfill FOIA requests by claiming it had no documents relevant to the request, but due to the IG report we know for a fact they had such documents.
But I think what the GOP needs to do is focus on the fact that in all these cases the normal processes of government aren’t happening. The IG reported to the no. 2 man at Treasury about the investigation into the tax exempt organization’s political targeting of Obama’s political enemies by mid-2012. So the no. 2 man didn’t pass it the no. 1 man. Or if he did, the Treasury Secretary and Cabinet member didn’t tell the President.
The WH counsel is informed. The WH counsel doesn’t counsel the President. The Secretary of State doesn’t know about security deficiencies in Benghazi even though she is statutorily required to have signed the waivers to excuse those deficiencies. Over at DoD apparently all US forces are taking 9/11/2012 as if it’s an American holiday now. So nothings available to respond. And when the attack in Benghazi occurs in Benghazi the President goes to bed instead of to the WH situation room. The CSG isn’t activated. The FEST isn’t dispatched. The phone calls between CIA, State, DoD, and the WH aren’t made.
And the ARB that looks into what happened at State doesn’t even talk to Hillary! because as Pickering said they already knew where the responsibility laid. Where it always does in the Obama administration; below the political appointee level.
I won’t even go into how AG Eric “I dunno” Holder never knows what’s going on at the DoJ.
It occurs to me that conspiracies have somehow gotten a bad name. I don’t wear a tin foil hat and imagine that the Bilderbergers or the Joooos are secretly pulling the strings at the Obama WH. But there are conspiracies; the DoJ prosecutes people for conspiracy all the time. It sure looks like we have a conspiracy of silence in this administration. The meetings, face-to-face conversations, phone calls, briefings, and emails that normally would take place in an administration aren’t taking place in this one. The committees that would normally be triggered automatically by events in previous administration are not triggered in this administration. And everyone seems to have given at least implied consent not to ask why.
Of course it may just appear to be a silent conspiracy, as we know EPA officials such as Lisa “Richard Windsor” Jackson and DoJ officials such as Tom Perez were using personal emails and devices in violation of the Federal Records Act as well as federal security regulations. And then these agencies (like the IRS) lied to Congress about why those violations were necessary as if the federal government doesn’t have protocols or provide secure devices if someone needs to work off-site or after hours.
I keep going back to the wave of prosecutions of CEOs like Skilling at Enron or Ebbers at Worldcom. “I don’t know” wasn’t a defense when they should have known, they had the means to know, and in fact it was their job to know. But in this administration Obama and his administration are actively dismantling the apparatus and evading the safeguards that provide a President with the means to know what he should know and is in fact is his job to know.
It seems to me that’s a conspiracy in plain sight.
Steve57 (9b1cdb) — 5/18/2013 @ 12:43 pmelissa @41, as Iowahawk wryly observes now that the story about DoJ seizing AP phone records has broken we now know Obama has spent more time investigating the MFM than the MFM has spent investigating him.
The MFM has battered wife syndrome. They’ll go back to Obama. As a matter of fact some of this scandal coverage may be a trap that the GOP would be wise to avoid. Remember the debate when Democratic media operative George Stephanopoulos planted the Obama campaign’s question about contraceptives out of the blue? Then all of a sudden no on in the propaganda wing of the Democratic party wanted to ask any questions other than why the GOP candidates wanted to prevent women from getting contraceptives. Then the story became the GOP is obsessed with women and contraceptives. Bingo! War on Women!
The same thing is happening now. The media is asking Republicans such as Rep. Chaffetz questions about the possibility of impeachment. I like Chaffetz but somebody needs to put him on a leash. He was asked about impeachment by a Democratic media operative, and he answered that impeachment wasn’t off the table but that wasn’t the purpose of these investigations or the GOP’s goal.
Naturally the MFM reported it as “GOP representative says ‘impeachment not off the table.'” Just like with the war on women propaganda the MFM is setting up the narrative that the GOP is obsessed with impeaching Obama. That will fit the overall propaganda effort to claim there’s no “there there” (and if there is they won’t report it; see the LAT as exhibit A) and all these things currently in the news are as Jay Carney insists purely political “faux scandals.”
What Boehner needs to do is appoint a select committee and make sure they focus only on finding the facts and that no one on that committee mentions impeachment no matter how hard the propaganda arm of Obama’s permanent campaign tries to shape the narrative. And that none of the other members of his caucus talk to the press about anything concerning the select committee.
If Boehner doesn’t appoint a select committee then he’s in on the cover-up.
Steve57 (9b1cdb) — 5/18/2013 @ 1:17 pmAnother appearance of time traveling ‘Amalgamated Lone Wolf IRS agents
http://directorblue.blogspot.com/2013/05/busted-complete-irs-scandal-timeline-in.html
narciso (3fec35) — 5/18/2013 @ 2:51 pmBenedict Boehner should have already appointed the committee.
mg (31009b) — 5/18/2013 @ 3:07 pmThere is absolutely nothing to be gained by attempting to impeach The One. He will play the sympathy and race card to the hilt. The MFM will make him a martyr.He would embrace the part. He would in fact turn the tables on the GOP. The GOP will be back on their heels as they were with Clinton.
Better idea-get it all out,committee by committee, hearing by hearing, drip, drip drip, from now through 2014 and 2016. Show him and his adminstration to be a calamitous joke. Show him to be an incompetent nincimpoop. And there will be plenty of ads in the future geating AG IDK-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdJ2trGelbE
Bugg (b32862) — 5/18/2013 @ 3:27 pmThe real key to the committee will be who is the General Counsel.
askeptic (2bb434) — 5/18/2013 @ 4:08 pmBugg, there is nothing to be gained by impeaching Obama. At least not at this point; if evidence of real criminality were to show up then that would change. But I don’t see that happening. Frankly, I’m glad Obama and his politburo of SGT Schultzs have settled on this conspiracy of silence. Because it reinforces a theme that oddly enough David Axelrod articulated in attempt at defending Obama.
Government is just too big. It is an odd thing for a man who thinks it should be bigger with an ever growing budget to attempt to defend his old boss by pointing out it’s already too big for anyone to manage. But hey, I’ll take it. Everything that’s going on right now is a feature of a government that’s too big to manage. The corruption, the lawlessness, the political intimidation and harassment of groups that are opposed to the policies that enrich public employee unions and their members, etc.
Since each scandal is in reality just one aspect of Leviathan it really needs to go to a single select committee. A second reason is as these hearings drag on through multiple committees the narrative will be that the GOP is so obsessed with Obama that most of the House’s time and too many of its committees are doing nothing else but trying to get Obama. Obama and his Democratic handmaidens in Congress and in the MFM will portray them as fevered, crazed partisans who do nothing but senseless scandal-mongering.
So of course there’s nothing to be gained by impeaching Obama. What’s to be gained is the destruction of his agenda and then more importantly the destruction of the governing philosophy behind that agenda. But only a single select committee can hope to accomplish that.
Steve57 (9b1cdb) — 5/18/2013 @ 4:10 pmelissa #41,
I agree with your premises that the electorate has changed and that it will be hard for America to thrive as it is now governed. Where we part company is your conclusion that the current scandals will make people rethink their affection for or confidence in Obama. Some may and I hope many do, but I think it’s more likely that people who have stuck with him this long will redouble their efforts to excuse him from responsibility for the scandals.
In other words, it won’t be enough for the media to publicize Obama’s scandals. Even before 2008, there were stories about Obama’s ideology, extremism, and corruption but Americans elected and re-elected him despite those stories. I submit it’s because they didn’t want to believe them. Furthermore, human nature is such that most Obama voters won’t want to admit they made a mistake, so they will grasp like a drowning man on any reason to excuse him now. Ultimately, so will most of the media.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 5/18/2013 @ 4:30 pmI hope Issa has nothing to do with this committee.
mg (31009b) — 5/18/2013 @ 4:33 pmAnother thought: I sincerely hope the House of Representatives holds the line on immigration reform. If I bet on politics (how foolish would that be!), I would bet they will.
But I also know the House members serve 2 year terms and, as a result, they are always running for re-election. That makes them responsive to their donors’ desires, especially businesses and businessmen that tend to be some of their biggest supporters. Many businesses are open to immigration reform.
Also, Obama can threaten blue and purple state representatives with being primaried by candidates who will get significant support from the Democrats and their affiliates. He can threaten red state representatives with opponents with similar support. That won’t have an impact in areas where the electorate opposes immigration reform, but how many of those places are there today? And how many representatives are willing to take that chance?
DRJ (a83b8b) — 5/18/2013 @ 5:01 pmOn a Select Cmte of this type, the Chairman of the Oversight Cmte will certainly be a member.
What I want to see is an Independent Prosecutor of the stature of Andrew C. McCarthy.
askeptic (2bb434) — 5/18/2013 @ 5:05 pmYes, he’s conservative, but he’s good and fair.
If, as a conservative, he doesn’t bring charges, the Right won’t be able to say that he was bought off.
And, because he’s good at his job, when he does bring those charges, the Left won’t be able to say it’s partisan.
…well, they can say it, but very few except the Journolisters will believe it.
askeptic (2bb434) — 5/18/2013 @ 5:06 pmDRJ,
I’m not as optimistic as elissa but I’m definitely not as pessimistic as you. At this point BHO is essentially a sideshow. In a way he always has been, which is why I nickname him President Prom Queen. He’s not involved in organizing it, running it, or cleaning up afterward. His job is to look pretty and read from a script. I’m tempted to believe that the people who tell him what to say and don’t really involve him in the decision making process unless the WH photographer is going to be there, too.
He’s just the front man for the liberal project, and these scandals are liberalism in action. The liberals turned the IRS as the opposition research and enforcement arm of the Democratic party. And the arrogance of the former director of the IRS was on full display yesterday. Based upon what we know now he, his predecessor Schulman, and Lois Lerner lied repeatedly in Congress. And Miller was smug in the knowledge there isn’t much if anything they can do about it. Holder isn’t going to prosecute him. One of his chief assistants Tom Perez violated the Federal Records Act and his department admitted as such. But they sent a laughable letter to Congress essentially saying they don’t care. But what do you expect from an AG who’s in contempt of Congress.
And Hillary! lied repeatedly to Congress and her department (and Kerry continues) had a policy of obstructing Congressional investigations. And still does as they hide the DSS agents who can provide testimony that will contradict their ongoing BS.
The fact is the apparatus of the executive branch isn’t too big to manage. It’s just to big to be held accountable, it knows it, and it’s acting like it under Obama. I don’t think the majority of Americans will look away once the totality of the lawlessness and malice is exposed because the IRS aspect brings it home. It can turn on them, too.
But the first step is a select committee combining all the investigations into one. Because there wasn’t just something wrong here or there, in Benghazi or at the IRS, but the whole thing is going rogue. I don’t even think a lot of the press would want to try to defend the monster. These hearings can not and should not be about Obama, because at this point he’s the bearded lady in the sideshow.
Steve57 (9b1cdb) — 5/18/2013 @ 5:29 pmMany businesses are open to immigration reform.
If by “reform” you mean a permissive approach to illegal immigration, and if you’re referring to companies that need and thrive on cheap labor — and glom onto that no matter what, no matter the consequences — then such businesses are really no different from the greedy, short-sighted people of generations ago. The ones who glommed onto the “peculiar institution” known as slavery and forever changed the history of this nation.
Aspects of this society today (eg, the never-ending dysfunction that roils parts of urban America) still are haunted by — and will be forever haunted by — those people’s fateful, contemptible decisions.
Mark (9ba6f2) — 5/18/2013 @ 5:39 pmWell I’ve seen this picture before, Steve it’s as bad as the Star wars prequels. They covered for Clinton, as they have tried to contextualize the Carter snafu
narciso (3fec35) — 5/18/2013 @ 5:40 pmAccountability is the secret definition of “Bastille”.
askeptic (2bb434) — 5/18/2013 @ 5:41 pmI know…I denounce myself.
Patricia (be0117) — 5/18/2013 @ 5:42 pmNo it is working like the way, they intend it to be, with some isolated pockets of resistance, like in the Imperial Senate.
narciso (3fec35) — 5/18/2013 @ 6:06 pmI think at this point they will. Because at this point the Democrats know their only hope is to import and amnesty an entire new third-world population that won’t be paying taxes, is used to corrupt governments, and in fact likes corrupt gangster government as long as the gangsters are going after the rich whom they’ve been brought up to hate. If you think Obama is bad, the Democrats want to import and legalize the kind of electorate that would make Hugo Chavez president for life.
I think the GOP knows it, too. And I think a majority of the electorate knows it. Most American voters are opposed to amnesty for illegal aliens. Now with the IRS scandal breaking open can anyone claim they trust the government to actually enforce the law equally or indeed enforce the security provisions at all without laughing?
Steve57 (9b1cdb) — 5/18/2013 @ 6:07 pmEven if the House rejects immigration reform (and right now I think it will), how is losing on immigration reform a loss for the Democrats? Nothing has changed but Democrats could point to a specific vote to prove to Hispanics and liberals that “Republicans hate Hispanics” or “Republicans hate immigrants.”
Obama wants this vote and I doubt he cares whether he wins or loses. Democrats win if they get immigration reform through the House and the Senate, and it becomes law. But Democrats also win if it passes in the Senate and gets scuttled in the House, because then it’s the GOP’s fault … forever.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 5/18/2013 @ 6:19 pmThus, the point was to at least get it through the Senate, and is there any doubt that the Obama scandals made that more likely?
DRJ (a83b8b) — 5/18/2013 @ 6:20 pmnarciso, let them cover for Obama. I’m saying the GOP shouldn’t lift a finger to go after Obama. They shouldn’t even glance in his direction.
Let him keep saying he didn’t know what his Treasury Dept., Justice Dept., EPA, State Dept., Labor Dept., etc., was up to until he saw it on TV. It’ll make the people like Tingles and Sharpton look ridiculous when they say racists can’t stand having a black man in charge are out to get Obama when Obama is defending himself by claiming he wasn’t in charge of anything.
More importantly Obama isn’t the main problem. These out of control political appointees are. True, they’re his political appointees and they wouldn’t be out of control if the Obama administration was able and more importantly willing to provide adult supervision. But this is your government on autopilot, doing what comes naturally. And it does need to get rolled back.
Steve57 (9b1cdb) — 5/18/2013 @ 6:20 pmHe is the donkey in the room, the actions by the IRS, is the representation of his feelings about certain ‘folks who cling to their guns and religion’
narciso (3fec35) — 5/18/2013 @ 6:22 pmthe ones he calls ‘teabaggers’ with full knowledge of their connotation,
Obama sticking around makes a every good point for small government conservatives-if this supposed “genius” ( a very dubious and false idea, but one the MFM has pushed at every turn) cannot run this collection of pointless and dangerous acronyms then government is clearly too damn big. The best possible strategy; make Obama the poster boy for out of control government overreach. 4 people are dead because nobody in State nor the NSA nor the Situation Room knew what FEST was or even cared. Nobody is responsible, nobody is answerable, nobody takes responsibility.The only people who benefit are the cronies. W’re closer to the end of the Roman Republic with a dash of Putin’s kleptocracy.
Bugg (b32862) — 5/18/2013 @ 6:24 pmDRJ, all the House GOP needs to do is stay on message and make it about bureaucracies that can’t be trusted to perform their jobs honestly or fairly. The IRS is one example of that, but HHS has been doing its out of control bit, too. Sebelius has been shaking down the companies her department regulates to contribute cash for purposes Congress hasn’t appropriated money for. Which as Sen. Grassley has pointed out is a violation of the law.
The Border Patrol association has pointed out that the Senate immigration bill gives Napolitano virtually unlimited power. Now is not the time to give the DHS secretary virtually unlimited power, the GOP must say, when we already know these federal bureaucracies can’t be trusted with the power they already have. The IRS being a shining example.
That’s a message that would resonate with tea partiers, social conservatives, fiscal conservatives, and anybody who has flown recently or even gotten a letter from the IRS.
Besides the Hispanic vote isn’t the key; the demographics just aren’t there. If the GOP tries to pander to get the Hispanic vote they’d have to get 90% of it to make up for the white vote they lost since 2010. Which really was just a small percentage but a larger total number of voters. The GOP needs to win back that vote, not chasing the diminishing returns of trying to get a larger percentage of the Hispanic vote.
Steve57 (9b1cdb) — 5/18/2013 @ 6:34 pmOf course he’s the 2000lb donkey in the room, but the GOP has to make the case about the actions of the IRS, not Obama’s feelings about the bitter clingers.
If anyone is going to make the case against Obama, let it be his own people. Some of whom ultimately may not want to quietly fall on their swords for him.
Steve57 (9b1cdb) — 5/18/2013 @ 6:47 pmThey have no such qualms even when the truth doesn’t support them;
http://dailycaller.com/2013/05/16/did-the-irs-give-romneys-tax-returns-to-harry-reid/
narciso (3fec35) — 5/18/2013 @ 7:16 pmO/T but related because like Lois Lerner’s planted question and prepared answer it concerns a piece of Obama administration performance art.
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/348677/10-pm-phone-call-andrew-c-mccarthy/page/0/1
Like me, Andy McCarthy believes the evidence points to the fact the video lie was in fact concocted by the White House. I was not aware of the 10:00pm phone call, but I am positive it was part of the conspiracy to lie to the American people that had been formed earlier in the day concerning events in Cairo. Not only did they lie about a video to conceal the fact the jihadists were in fact protesting and attempting to assault the embassy over the blind sheikh and others, but as I and others have noted since September 2012 one of the most prominent jihadist organizers was Mohammad al Zawahiri. Hello, the AQ leader’s brother! Do you really think the administration wanted to acknowledge that connection?
The entire executive branch is now a full-fledged criminal conspiracy to defraud the American people under this President. Proving it in a court of law is another kettle of fish, but I think enough people can be persuaded as a practical matter to come around to that conclusion once the evidence comes out.
Steve57 (9b1cdb) — 5/18/2013 @ 7:33 pmSteve57,
I agree pandering on immigration reform is a mistake but that doesn’t mean Obama and the Democrats won’t demagogue the issue, especially once the immigration reform legislation is front and center. I hope the House holds firm and, if so, it will appeal to conservatives. But it will probably alienate liberals, many Hispanics, and others because the Democrats and the media will portray the GOP as heartless anti-immigrants.
Is it true? No, but that won’t matter if it becomes the narrative.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 5/18/2013 @ 7:33 pmnarciso, their allegiance isn’t to the truth but to their ideology. That too needs to come out. It’s why they keep repeating demonstrable lies.
Steve57 (9b1cdb) — 5/18/2013 @ 7:34 pmYes, the tape they are focusing on, doesn’t really matter, the one that does from the Al Faruq (sic),production group, which would give the game away doesn’t figure into th official narrative,
narciso (3fec35) — 5/18/2013 @ 7:47 pmDRJ, I agree the Democratic narrative will appeal to certain groups. But then the narrative you describe has always been their narrative, and the groups you describe have always found that narrative appealing.
The IRS scandal weakens that narrative, and the facts I believe can come out during an investigation into that as well as other serious abuses of power that have been occurring before our eyes under this administration can fire up enough other voters that might sit on their hands to provide the margin of victory for the GOP in 2014.
The GOP just has to avoid overreach and start low and work up. But then that was also my recommendation for investigating Benghazi. Start with the commanders of the units stationed around and in the Med the night of the attack, as well as the watchstanders (and get their logs) at the operational and intelligence nodes that would have watched events in Benghazi unfold in real time. Then work your way up to the politicos inside the Beltway after you’ve eliminated their wriggle room.
Those politicos in and out of uniform will turn on each other in all of this to save their own skin. The GOP won’t have to make any case against the political appointees and rent-seekers. They’ll make it themselves.
Then let the DNC run on the narrative Republicans are voting against giving this crowd more authority because they claim conservatives hate Hispanics.
What’s going on is truly a disaster for the country and that’s the important point about getting to the bottom of everything. But the ugly truth is you can’t fix it if you lose elections, so the GOP does have to keep the politics of the situation in sight. But there really is a “there there,” despite Obama’s insistence to the contrary. In fact, if there was no “there there” then he wouldn’t mind one bit if the GOP wanted to chase phantoms. He wants his party to take back the House in 2014 and if the House GOP was truly making a fool of itself more the better for his chances of getting what it wants.
But he’s worried because he knows there is something there for the House GOP to find. That’s why his authorized anonymous leakers went to Sheryl Atkisson of all people and confessed to being a bunch of idiots. When an administration is willing to admit to being a bunch of dumb s***s to make the investigations and the pain stop that’s your hint to keep digging.
Steve57 (9b1cdb) — 5/18/2013 @ 7:53 pmMeanwhile some targets were obvious;
http://www.breitbart.com/InstaBlog/2013/05/18/IRS-Rep-Told-Dr-James-Dobson-His-Application-Was-Rejected-Because-He-Had-Been-Critical-Of-President
narciso (3fec35) — 5/18/2013 @ 8:03 pmnarciso, James Taranto had a good “Best of the Web” take on this yesterday. He noted that when John Dean began testifying before Congress 40 years ago this week he called the scandal “a cancer on the presidency.”
Taranto observed that if the President didn’t order IRS agents to go after people like Dobson who had been critical of the President that’s far worse. Taranto termed it a “cancer on the federal government.” It means the agents have so thoroughly internalized the ideology of people like Obama they don’t need orders. Sort of like gang members who’ve been steeped in the gang code. No leader needs to tell them to jump into a fight to protect their gang brother, they know that’s what’s expected.
Which mirrors my view on the subject. And is why I say the investigations need to be about the out of control executive branch departments and agencies, not Barack Obama. Maybe the people who voted for Barack Obama can’t ever admit they made a mistake. Which is fitting; neither can Barack Obama and every failure is always something or someone else’s fault. But if you expose the abuses of power that’s actually going on in these agencies these same people may be able to tell themselves that while they voted for Obama they didn’t vote for that.
Which isn’t true either, but that’s something to work on later.
Steve57 (9b1cdb) — 5/18/2013 @ 8:34 pmLet’s have a smell, then?
Oh, everyone likes their own brand, don’t they? Oh, this is magic! Hmmm, wafting, wafting. Ok, analysis. Ooh, smells like carrots in throw-up!
papertiger (c2d6da) — 5/18/2013 @ 8:55 pmOh that could gag a maggot! It smells like hot sick… ass in a dead carcass!
Even stink would say that stinks!
You know when you go into an apartment building and you smell the other people’s cooking on each floor and you go “What are they cookin’?”
That, plus crap!
“I agree pandering on immigration reform is a mistake but that doesn’t mean Obama and the Democrats won’t demagogue the issue”
DRJ – Do you believe there is anything Republicans can to to stop Democrats from demagoguing the issue? I don’t.
daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 5/18/2013 @ 10:16 pmI expect them to do that, daleyrocks, and that’s why I think a
DRJ (a83b8b) — 5/19/2013 @ 6:17 amThat’s why I think about how to manage it. I like Cruz’s proposed amendment that would enhance border security and double legal immigration. That sends the message Republicans are for immigration as long as it’s legal. But the Gang of Eight Republicans opposed it.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 5/19/2013 @ 6:22 amI think that’s the best we can hope for Steve57 #76.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 5/19/2013 @ 6:24 amThe whole Boschean tableau set musically
http://www.americanthinker.com/2013/05/capital_powerball_scandals_grease_washingtons_wheels.html
narciso (3fec35) — 5/19/2013 @ 6:30 amSteve57 #74,
The problem is the narrativeappeals to more people who are willing to vote than ever before.
My hope is they won’t be as willing to vote when Obama isn’t on the ticket, but the Democrats’ combination of demonizing Republicans and GoTV effort are so good that I’m not optimistic. Plus, I doubt Obama will sit out elections the way Republican Presidents do. Like Bill Clinton, Obama will be out there campaigning and, if anything, he will probably demonize Republicans even more after he leaves office than when was President.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 5/19/2013 @ 6:32 amIrony of Ironies:
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/05/19/irs-flagged-small-tea-party-groups-ignored-big-budget-organizations/
narciso (3fec35) — 5/19/2013 @ 6:45 amAvweek of scandals and Obama’s approval rating went up 2 points to 53%.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 5/19/2013 @ 7:02 amEven worse, these disagreements aren’t limited to the political arena. Now the Democras are targeting businesses to help their political goals. Our government has become their government and conservatives are its targets. Can an election change that?
DRJ (a83b8b) — 5/19/2013 @ 7:11 amA week of scandals and Obama’s approval rating went up 2 points to 53%.
A variation of Hugo-Chavez-ism or Eva-Peron-ism. This is why various societies start to become intrinsically corrupt and unstable.
Don’t cry for us, Argentina (or France, or Mexico, or Greece, etc).
Mark (9ba6f2) — 5/19/2013 @ 7:42 amgive unto Caesar
Colonel Haiku (85f2c6) — 5/19/2013 @ 8:12 ambut what if what Caesar needs
is swift kick in ass?
“I like Cruz’s proposed amendment that would enhance border security and double legal immigration. That sends the message Republicans are for immigration as long as it’s legal. But the Gang of Eight Republicans opposed it.”
DRJ – I agree. I don’t really care what happens in committee. On the floor, it just puts the Senators at odds with the American people, as they were in 2007, who overwhelmingly support border security first and legalization second. If there’s any management to be done it’s to point out the American people did not support a lack of border security last time and do not again this time.
daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 5/19/2013 @ 8:13 amDRJ–If your main concern is that the trajectory you see is that the American Presidency will be in liberal hands for a while yet and perhaps even for a long time to come, I really can’t argue with your logic there. I wish I could.
Sorry, Biden and Cuomo, but there really is no doubt that 2016 is being cast for another emotional “historic” election. That conceptual narrative worked well once before and the table has been being set for another, different type of history on the Dem ticket via their ubiquitous and utterly phony “Republican war on women” meme. And there will be a woman to vote for–a white woman so America can prove to itself and the world that they love smart women and that women are equal and to make up for all the “slights” and “unfairness” women have suffered for so long. (Is this starting to sound familiar?) Hillary was finally pushed aside in the 2008 primaries because an attractive, newer, even “better” historic candidate with less obvious baggage than she, unexpectedly rose to the top. But she has been waiting for her turn. And barring health issues she will be their candidate.
Our tasks right now are to both expose and halt the administration corruption in order to make it a little more difficult for them— and to fight for 2014–fight hard for House and Senate seats and the governorships. And we have to quit the Republican and Conservative infighting and name calling and quit letting the left and their lying narratives kill off the right’s “historic” candidates before they even have a chance to mature or run.
elissa (3afc60) — 5/19/2013 @ 8:18 am‘What does it matter’ elissa, if a carpet bagging, grifting, ward healer, is unashamed to show her face, after at best extreme negligence in the course of her duties, such that they were. NK vouches for scum like Durbin, who slanders our soldiers at will,
narciso (3fec35) — 5/19/2013 @ 8:26 amThe push to elect Hillary as the first woman President will be as great as it was for Obama, but I still think a Republican can win the Presidency in 2016. But I don’t see much hope to change the culture that sees government as the answer, especially among the young.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 5/19/2013 @ 8:28 amNarciso@91, I know you hate it. I do, too. But do you disagree with the analysis I posted about what will happen with respect to the Dem ticket and how it will be packaged and sold to the many people in America who are some combo of naturally liberal, gullible, greedy, and want to be “nice”?
elissa (3afc60) — 5/19/2013 @ 8:38 am“Now the Democras are targeting businesses to help their political goals.”
DRJ – I’m thinking I should ramp up a private equity fund called “Green Sustainable Partners, LLC.” With a name like that it would be like catnip for liberal investors. I’ve got a buddy named Green who could sever as the General Partner and by “sustainable” I mean having a goal of investing in companies not likely to go belly over the medium term.
I think the money would cascade in.
daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 5/19/2013 @ 8:44 amPerhaps I should change Partners to Capital.
daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 5/19/2013 @ 8:47 amVentures. It sounds more liberal to me.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 5/19/2013 @ 8:54 amWhen used by the left even the tried and true word “investments” takes on a new meaning. (Usually having to do with our higher taxes being spent on somebody’s pet boondoggle.)
elissa (3afc60) — 5/19/2013 @ 9:15 amnarcisso #82,
The tragedy is that it’s hard to tell if your link is parody or fact.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 5/19/2013 @ 9:19 amThe Obama Administration views the investigations of these scandals as amusing. They don’t fear anything right now, and it will stay that way until the media gives up on its love affair with Democrats. Does anyone here really think these stories will change that?
DRJ (a83b8b) — 5/19/2013 @ 9:27 amDRJ, can you please point me to the section of the Constitution that says the media is supposed to be the branch of government that checks excesses of the executive?
Steve57 (9b1cdb) — 5/19/2013 @ 10:30 amWell why do you think I used Boschean, as a description.
narciso (3fec35) — 5/19/2013 @ 10:32 amThere is actual caselaw on the subject;
http://digitalcommons.law.ggu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1562&context=ggulrev
but what does it matter;
narciso (3fec35) — 5/19/2013 @ 11:02 am“DRJ, can you please point me to the section of the Constitution that says the media is supposed to be the branch of government that checks excesses of the executive?”
Steve57 – Why do you believe such a thing is in the Constitution?
daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 5/19/2013 @ 11:16 amThe first amendment is intended as such, as a bar to government tyranny, that’s why ‘shall make no law’ is rather explicitly referenced, of course that went by the wayside with the FCA of 1934.
narciso (3fec35) — 5/19/2013 @ 11:18 amdaley, I know it’s not in the Constitution. I stated that way to illustrate the absurdity of our current predicament. And my disgust with it.
Really? We can’t do anything about the administration until the media gives up its love affair with the Obama White House and takes an interest?
Steve57 (9b1cdb) — 5/19/2013 @ 11:27 amSteve 57, the press is not supposed to be a branch of government to check anything. Quite the contrary, the press is supposed to operate free of govenment.
Any fool who would trust the government to run the press would also no doubt trust the government to run health care. Oops, never mind.
Hoagie (3259ab) — 5/19/2013 @ 11:31 amSorry Steve57, I mistook your post also. But yeah, as long as the media is partial to one side or the other ( presently the left ) we won’t get a free media. Run by the government or in bed with the government makes not a hill of difference to me.
But, the only way to get the press and government to separate is to stop the indoctrination of our students from preschool to post grad. How the hell can that be done?
Hoagie (3259ab) — 5/19/2013 @ 11:36 amNo worries, Hoagie. Lotsa people mistook my posts. Cuz I’m a deep thinker with several layers to the onion each one emanating penumbras that only a Supreme Court Justice could divine.
Steve57 (9b1cdb) — 5/19/2013 @ 11:50 amNarsico’s (102) link makes for fascinating reading. My conclusion is that the Ninth Circuit majority is not a good place to look for justice or even clear thinking, but this is old news. But it does suggest that an aggressive prosecutor would certainly have the legal means to roll some of the foot soldiers in the Cinnannati IRS office into naming superiors. And I love Steve’s comment suggesting that we are fools if we think the media is our protector. Our good fortune is that we have opposition control of the House. Regrettably, this opposition has shown a tendency to consider the administration as honorable but misquided. It is very doubtful that the leadership has the courage to take the House inquiries to the point where the true nature of the administration is revealed.
bobathome (c0c2b5) — 5/19/2013 @ 11:53 am“daley, I know it’s not in the Constitution. I stated that way to illustrate the absurdity of our current predicament.”
Steve57 – I know you don’t think it’s in the Constitution and I know DRJ doesn’t believe it’s in the Constitution, which is why I thought it was a deliberately insulting way to write a comment, but that’s just me.
daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 5/19/2013 @ 12:02 pmpropaganda slut Brian Naylor at National Soros Radio does his best to lay on the whitewash for the piggy piggy food stamp whore president NPR campaigned so hard for
he finds exactly two lil fascists willing to come forward to say yeah their applications were delayed too but that it was all to the greater glory of the fatherland so what’s the big deal
happyfeet (8ce051) — 5/19/2013 @ 12:06 pmSo it does raise questions;
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/connect_dots_to_obama_XTSvuIurzvkQtKhoN6KqTJ
narciso (3fec35) — 5/19/2013 @ 12:10 pmThe Obama Administration views the investigations of these scandals as amusing. They don’t fear anything right now, and it will stay that way until the media gives up on its love affair with Democrats. Does anyone here really think these stories will change that?
Comment by DRJ
Sadly, no. I may have read a post here at the site that mentions that the real battle is the one that puts focus on these numerous scandals so that they call into question the left’s contention that Big Government = Good Government. The productive people of this nation (the Givers) must highlight the fact that the corrupt, incompetent, inept Left holds the reins of power every so often to remind us that we need the honest, ethical, sober adults to use the wisdom they’ve accumulated over their years of hard work to resolve the detritus that liberalism leaves in its wake.
Colonel Haiku (85f2c6) — 5/19/2013 @ 12:12 pmSteve57,
It would be helpful if some of the media personalities would wake up, as Bob Schieffer hopefully is. (But how many in today’s media — that values youth and empathy above all — were around during the Nixon years, or have family members who serve in the diplomatic service, or come from conservative backgrounds?)
As for the media and the executive, I think the only real check on the executive is transparency so that the American people know what is happening and can make informed decisions. For now, the media is crucial for people to get information, although I’m hopeful that we won’t need them as our gatekeepers for much longer.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 5/19/2013 @ 12:13 pmleftwing legacy
Colonel Haiku (85f2c6) — 5/19/2013 @ 12:14 pmthe Takers take and take more
then sit on fat asses
“…I’m saying the GOP shouldn’t lift a finger to go after Obama…”
It will be much more effective asking why the media has not looked into the various scandals, never mentioning the President at all.
askeptic (2bb434) — 5/19/2013 @ 12:26 pmTake a page from the Newt Handbook, and attack the media….
Attack….Attack….Attack!
daley, I wasn’t trying to insult DRJ. I have the highest respect for DRJ. I respect you too, daley.
I was just observing that if we expect the media to do the job of reining in government we deserve what we’re getting now.
Steve57 (9b1cdb) — 5/19/2013 @ 12:58 pmThe planting of the story – which Lois Lerner denied until Friday (saying she just answered a question) is proof:
1) That the IRS, or somebody there, is still dishonest.
2) That somebody knew about the scandal who also wasn’t personally affected by it, or not as much as something else.
Whatever the truth is, it has to fit into that picture.
It’s very probable it was rushed out to get the Republicans in Congress and the media to investigate something else.
It could be the thing somebody wanted to distract attention from is Benghazi, but I doubt it, since that also was deliberately leaked. I think it wa the AP subpoena story. that looks like it might have been scheduled to come out anyway.
Those are not the only scandals.
There’s also Weinergate II.
Sammy Finkelman (6f9f42) — 5/19/2013 @ 1:01 pmbad scandal is Benghazi, that spomeone wanted or it could be teh AP story.
Anthony Weiner’s wife, Huma Abedin, was allowed to do outside work while at State Department: report Abedin was allowed to work as a part-time consultant during the last months of her tenure. Comments (4) By Adam Edelman / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Thursday, May 16, 2013, 5:43 PM
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/election/anthony-weiner-wife-huma-abedin-allowed-work-state-department-report-article-1.1346343#ixzz2TlqeHoi5
Politico: Huma Abedin allowed to represent clients while at State
That’s how she and Anthony Weiner were paying the rent on the apartment Bill and Hillary Clinton found them. I think Chelsea lives in the same building.
<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/17/nyregion/weiners-wife-huma-abedin-failed-to-disclose-consulting-work-done-while-a-state-
dept-aide.html?_r=0″ target=”_blank”> New York Times, Friday May 17, 2013, page A16 of the New York edition: Weiner’s Wife Didn’t Disclose Consulting Work She Did While Serving in State Dept.
Sammy Finkelman (6f9f42) — 5/19/2013 @ 1:12 pmAnthony Weiner is about to announce for Mayor (he has to soon, petition gathering begins on June 4) but he’s trying to do rather quietly. A recent story:
Anthony Weiner says likely mayoral campaign drawing healthy interest from staff prospects New York Daily News May 15
Sammy Finkelman (6f9f42) — 5/19/2013 @ 1:15 pmWhen Weiner is elected Mayor, the dick-head will become the Head Dick.
askeptic (2bb434) — 5/19/2013 @ 1:43 pmNYC, you get the government you deserve.
I don’t think either Weiner or Liu can become mayor.
Sammy Finkelman (6f9f42) — 5/19/2013 @ 1:44 pmBut all Dems are bad, excepot maybe Sal Albanese
Sammy Finkelman (6f9f42) — 5/19/2013 @ 1:44 pmSteve57,
I don’t think the media/press should do everything to rein in government, but it has a role to play and it’s noticeable when it fails to do it.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 5/19/2013 @ 2:02 pmDRJ, I’m just not quite as pessimistic as you appear to me about reining in government when predictably the MFM does stop doing its job.
Ultimately it’s up to us. We might fail but we have to try (which was notably not the administration’s ‘tude the night of the Benghazi assault).
Steve57 (9b1cdb) — 5/19/2013 @ 2:26 pm#notmypresident
(cause of he’s a fascist power-abusing whore is why)
trending!
happyfeet (c60db2) — 5/19/2013 @ 2:31 pmIf Dinkins can get elected – anyone ANYONE, can be elected mayor of Americas city of record……
E.PWJ (016f5f) — 5/19/2013 @ 2:31 pmSteve57,
I don’t consider myself surprised or pessimistic about the media. It’s hard to claim surprise at something that’s been this way for so long, and at least we have the internet for information.
But I am pessimistic about education and the impact it has on our young people. That will be much harder to fix.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 5/19/2013 @ 2:44 pmAlso, I’m pessimistic about the failure of morality in our society. There was a time — not long ago — when Americans would look at scandals like Fast & Furious, Solyndra, and Benghazi and they would agree wrong things were done. It wouldn’t have been partisan to say we shouldn’t give guns to criminals or refuse to help Americans in need. That it’s become debatable is depressing.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 5/19/2013 @ 2:59 pmIn part, I blame lawyers for turning America into a nation of laws instead of a nation of religion and morals.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 5/19/2013 @ 3:02 pmAs Scar said in the Lion King, ‘you have no idea’
http://www.invisibleserfscollar.com/reorienting-world-order-values-via-the-intervention-of-activist-education-and-progressive-politics/#comments
narciso (3fec35) — 5/19/2013 @ 3:09 pmOnly because society and their clients enabled them, its easy to blame lawyers but who elected them?
E.PWJ (016f5f) — 5/19/2013 @ 3:14 pmhuma abedin
Colonel Haiku (026071) — 5/19/2013 @ 3:17 pmalleyoop abba zabba
von Weiner Express
DRJ, all I’m saying is I intend not to despair.
Steve57 (9b1cdb) — 5/19/2013 @ 3:22 pmAddendum. Put this under the heading of “all I needed to know in life I knew before I got to high school.”
A really good running back focuses on the openings, not the tacklers.
Steve57 (9b1cdb) — 5/19/2013 @ 3:36 pmThe Obama Administration views the investigations of these scandals as amusing.
He and his staffers’ (or minions’) arrogance would be entrenched regardless of circumstances, but it is undoubtedly reinforced by opinion polls.
I notice that public sentiment in France towards that nation’s similarly ultra-liberal president — Francois Hollande, who was elected last year — has gotten very negative, while Obama has yet to tank in a parallel fashion. IOW, in one peculiar, pathetic way, we’re worse than even the more leftwing France.
At a comparable point in George W Bush’s second term in office (around late May 2005), the Gallup Poll showed his approval rating at 46% approval, 50% disapproval. Obama is almost a reverse of that, with a current reading of 50% approval, 43% disapproval. Or merely another illustration that this society is moving in a very corrupt direction. We’re manifesting changes that have been evident in banana-republic nations like Argentina or Greece for generations.
As for the latter, while most Greeks are no less socialistic than devoted liberals anywhere — and genuflect in front of tax-and-spend politicians — they apparently treat the tax-collecting apparatus of their nation with a bit of disdain, since cheating is reportedly widespread.
Perhaps the only good thing that will come out of this ongoing socio-political decline of America is if most people, in spite of their left-trending foolishness, now start to wake up and see the IRS for what it has become: A corrupt, greedy, manipulative entity that should not be sympathized with in the least when wrestling with just about any citizen A, B or C.
A few months ago I was speaking with an accountant who was telling me about horror stories related to his and his clients’ dealings with the IRS. Even though I’m of the right, and naturally skeptical of big government, I did wonder if he perhaps was laying it on too thick. In the back of my mind I admit to thinking: well, maybe your clients weren’t following rules properly and honestly. But, now, after witnessing IRSgate, I realize even I wasn’t as skeptical and cynical as I should have been.
And the IRS soon will start handling the debacle that is Obamacare [shudder].
Put on your seatbelts, we’re in for a bumpy ride.
Mark (9028ae) — 5/19/2013 @ 3:58 pmComment by DRJ (a83b8b) — 5/19/2013 @ 3:02 pm
Yes, we’ve become a nation that asks “Is it legal?”, not “Is it the right thing to do?”
askeptic (2bb434) — 5/19/2013 @ 5:10 pmComment by DRJ (a83b8b) — 5/19/2013 @ 3:02 pm
Yes, we’ve become a nation that asks “Is it legal?”, not “Is it the right thing to do?”
Comment by askeptic (2bb434) — 5/19/2013 @ 5:10 pm
Lucky thing for us what Jug-ears did is both illegal and unethical.
papertiger (c2d6da) — 5/19/2013 @ 5:47 pmHolder’s done it again…
http://qkme.me/3uh9kr
Colonel Haiku (026071) — 5/19/2013 @ 6:06 pmOne small course correction. We are living in the age of the Lying King.
http://washingtonexaminer.com/anonymous-cincinnati-irs-official-everything-comes-from-the-top./article/2530001
For every Nixon there is a Haldeman. A number two who won’t destroy the tapes, or whatever, when ordered because that would just make the number two guy look guilty of the crime for which the number one guy is trying to frame him for.
Steve57 (9b1cdb) — 5/19/2013 @ 11:03 pmComment by Steve57 (9b1cdb) — 5/19/2013 @ 11:03 pm
A number two who won’t destroy the tapes, or whatever, when ordered because that would just make the number two guy look guilty of the crime for which the number one guy is trying to frame him for.
Nixon never wanted to destroy the tapes. And he was right because the tapes proved that John Dean was lying when he said that Nixon had offered a pardon.
Can you imagine what Nixon might have been ACCUSED of if the tapoes had been destroyed?
Sammy Finkelman (d22d64) — 5/20/2013 @ 10:29 amSammy, Nixon was a corrupt SOB.
“Frankly, I don’t want to have in the record discussions we’ve had in this room on Watergate.”
He later wrote in his memoirs that he didn’t want to destroy them and pretended he had never suggested doing so, but then, he’s a liar so who cares what Nixon says?
Fortunately, the country would not tolerate this. Unfortunately, I think this country has changed. You aren’t going to get your ‘free’ health care and food stamps if you worry about Obama’s choices, and besides, CNN says the Jodi Arias trial is the most important news of the month.
Dustin (2da3a2) — 5/20/2013 @ 10:53 amIf we were a country of laws instead of morality that would be at least something, as I don’t think we are really a country of laws anymore, we are a country of personality and individual popularity. If we were a country of laws, a few New Black Panthers would be in jail, Fast and Furious would not have happened, etc.
It is the Imperial Presidency, with Empress Valerie on the throne and Obama as her spokesman.
MD in Philly (3d3f72) — 5/20/2013 @ 12:55 pmOr is it Emperor Barack, with Valerie Wormtongue as chief counselor?
Lois Lerner plans to plead the 5th rather than answer questions at congressional hearing.
via Ace:
http://ace.mu.nu/
I guess she didn’t get the word from the WH via Pfeiffer’s carefully groomed talking points that the law is irrelevant.
Steve57 (9b1cdb) — 5/21/2013 @ 1:13 pmNational Journal has more on the latest developments.
http://www.nationaljournal.com/congress/top-irs-official-to-invoke-fifth-issa-subpoenas-20130521
Nothing to see here, it’s just low level employees who may have committed wrongdoing. Move along.
Yeah, right.
Steve57 (9b1cdb) — 5/21/2013 @ 3:11 pmOh, Lois. What have you done? I bet the attitude, tone and tenor of many taxpayers who are called in for IRS audits is going to be very different after all this.
elissa (e0c19d) — 5/21/2013 @ 3:23 pmThey have refined ‘memory holing’ to an art form;
http://www.breitbart.com/InstaBlog/2013/05/21/Gee-It-s-Almost-Like-the-LATimes-Is-Trying-to-Hide-Its-Own-Huge-Scoop
narciso (3fec35) — 5/21/2013 @ 3:42 pmAnd the Puffington Host is no slouch;
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/21/lois-lerner-irs-scandal_n_3314693.html
narciso (3fec35) — 5/21/2013 @ 3:54 pmTaylor had written that “requiring her to appear at the hearing merely to assert her Fifth Amendment privilege would have no purpose other than to embarrass or burden her.”
Painted Jaguar (flicking tail):
Painted Jaguar (a sockpuppet) (3d3f72) — 5/21/2013 @ 4:06 pmAnd the problem with that would be…?
The committee must NOT excuse Lois as her attorney has requested of them. The American people need to see calm, reasonable, fact based questions from the members being answered time after time by nothing but her mesmerizing repeat of “I plead the 5th”. You bet for what we taxpayers give her in salary she needs to be embarrassed if this is the best she can do.
elissa (e0c19d) — 5/21/2013 @ 4:07 pmI have been hoping we’d already have started to see a movement toward gutting the entire tax-exempt status, and getting serious tax reform put on the table. If this is not the time to strike while the iron is hot, then when will it ever be? Who will be the first to raise it?
We also need to get government/public unions gone from the IRS. That’s a super big problem that must be addressed immediately.
elissa (e0c19d) — 5/21/2013 @ 4:16 pmElissa – Issa responded to Lois’ attorney’s nonsense by issuing a subpoena
JD (22d860) — 5/21/2013 @ 4:51 pmPainted Jaguar: I heart Issa.
Painted Jaguar (a sockpuppet) (3d3f72) — 5/21/2013 @ 5:00 pmThey’re smelling blood, JD and MD. Good for Issa.
elissa (e0c19d) — 5/21/2013 @ 5:22 pm