Carney: The White House Just Now Read About Those AP Subpoenas in the Newspaper!
The Weekly Standard quotes Carney:
Other than press reports, we have no knowledge of any attempt by the Justice Department to seek phone records of the AP. We are not involved in decisions made in connection with criminal investigations, as those matters are handled independently by the Justice Department. Any questions about an ongoing criminal investigation should be directed to the Department of Justice.
My, they’re learning quite a few things about the operations of their administration lately in the papers, aren’t they?
P.S. Unlike the lying and thuggish cover-up over Benghazi, or the selective IRS harassment and leaking, or Kathleen Sebelius’s extortion of the health care industry, I’m not quite ready to be outraged about the AP subpoenas. They were investigating a leak of classified information to reporters. I think they’re entitled to do that. I have seen people on Twitter claiming there was wiretapping going on, but I haven’t seen evidence of that in any credible news story. DoJ is entitled to investigate leaks. They’re not supposed to leap to getting records on journalists, but if that’s the only way to get the records, then that’s what you have to do.
There are two parts of this story that concern me. Read this:
The May 7, 2012, AP story that disclosed details of the CIA operation in Yemen to stop an airliner bomb plot occurred around the one-year anniversary of the May 2, 2011, killing of Osama bin Laden.
The plot was significant both because of its seriousness and also because the White House previously had told the public it had “no credible information that terrorist organizations, including Al Qaeda, are plotting attacks in the U.S. to coincide with the (May 2) anniversary of bin Laden’s death.”
The AP delayed reporting the story at the request of government officials who said it would jeopardize national security. Once officials said those concerns were allayed, the AP disclosed the plot, though the Obama administration continued to request that the story be held until the administration could make an official announcement.
My two points of concern are:
1) Were they pushing hard on this leak because it undercut their public statements about the lack of evidence of an anniversary plot?
2) Are they retaliating against the AP for insisting on publishing the story once any national security concerns were “allayed”?
Note well, by the way: according to the linked story, “[r]ules published by the Justice Department require that subpoenas of records of news organizations must be personally approved by the attorney general.” In other words, the AP records grab was supposed to be (and probably was) approved by Eric Holder. Yet Obama and Carney got blindsided!!
. . . so they say.
I know nothing!
AZ Bob (c11d35) — 5/14/2013 @ 7:43 amNot credible.
SarahW (b0e533) — 5/14/2013 @ 7:48 ameven a hyper-enthusiastic fascist like Eric Holder wouldn’t have gone rogue unless he knew food stamp had his back
the question is why did the Associated Press betray the faith? We’ll be needing names of who exactly in this Associated Press isn’t willing to play ball. And also the names of their relatives.
happyfeet (8ce051) — 5/14/2013 @ 7:53 amWhich bothers you more: that Obama keeps claiming that he learns about all the malfeasance within his administration only through newspaper reports, or that people actually believe him when he says it?
Chuck Bartowski (11fb31) — 5/14/2013 @ 8:01 amNone of this is Obama’s fault, because he basically has no idea what’s going on. He’s the president, for goodness sake. He doesn’t have time for silly things like managing government. Responsibility doesn’t fit the senatorial experience that got him elected.
It’s the fault of low-level government employees in Ohio or someplace else like that, the same people we are supposed to trust implicitly.
Amphipolis (d3e04f) — 5/14/2013 @ 8:08 amThe most sophisticated consumer of information to ever grace the White Hiuse sure doesn’t know much.
JD (ee8414) — 5/14/2013 @ 8:08 amThe buck stops here – unless I’m on the green, on vacation, in bed…
Amphipolis (d3e04f) — 5/14/2013 @ 8:15 amThis is old news. We need to focus on new news, such as who is the real father of Trig Palin. Or how Mitt Romney waves his hand, and magically causes people to die of cancer.
Or something.
Elephant Stone (65a34b) — 5/14/2013 @ 8:34 amMr Bartowski asked:
Yes.
The unamused Dana (3e4784) — 5/14/2013 @ 8:40 amMight I suggest that we all start referring to the esteemed Mr Carney as Baghdad Bob, and his title as Information Minister? It would be much more accurate.
The Dana tyring to start something (3e4784) — 5/14/2013 @ 8:44 amC’mon guys, the Obama folks leaked the story in the first place to prove how tough they are on terror. Then they got the phone records to remind everyone who’s in charge. And how smart they are.
glenn (647d76) — 5/14/2013 @ 8:52 amThe Democrat and Republican parties are terrorist organizations. They are enemies of the people of this country. They are enemies of the Constitution. We need serious, popular, armed resistance to the tyranny of this government, its thugs in the police, and the terrorist leaders in charge of the major parties. Anything else is a waste of time.
mom (751dae) — 5/14/2013 @ 9:28 amDana – How about Baghdad Carnie?
JD (ee8414) — 5/14/2013 @ 9:28 amSounds like “mom” didn’t receive any flowers from her kids on Sunday !
Elephant Stone (65a34b) — 5/14/2013 @ 9:31 amWhy, mom! If you are saying that “We need serious, popular, armed resistance to the tyranny of this government,” the Obama Administration might be targeting you, as an advocate of violence! I do hope that our esteemed host won’t be subpoenaed to turn over your e-mail and IP addresses to the Powers That Be, but you just never know.
The thoroghly shocked Dana (3e4784) — 5/14/2013 @ 9:42 amGreetings:
And, somewhat under the table, President Obama slips Attorney General Holder a fresh, new executive privilege card.
11B40 (1f88a6) — 5/14/2013 @ 9:43 amJD asked:
Not quite the same ring to it, or the history. I’ll be using #BaghdadBob as a Twitter hashtag, but, perhaps for blog accuracy the form
The helpful Dana (3e4784) — 5/14/2013 @ 9:45 amBaghdad BobJay Carney would serve you better.ES–that and “mom” may be overinterpreting the appeal of “her” mandate, I think.
elissa (dba791) — 5/14/2013 @ 9:47 amI didn’t understand there were subpoenas, so yeah, that’s different.
However, I wonder if they made national security reasons for same when it was really political? We need to know the timeline.
Patricia (be0117) — 5/14/2013 @ 9:48 amEric “The Red” Holder: Billy Clinton’s favored bag man for shady deals of all sorts. See also: Marc Rich pardon.
I knew (and said at the time) that appointing Holder as USAG was indicative of an administration that was intent on doing what it wanted, and the law be damned.
And gee whiz, whadda ya know?…
mojo (8096f2) — 5/14/2013 @ 9:57 am“… P.S. Unlike the lying and thuggish cover-up over Benghazi, or the selective IRS harassment and leaking, or Kathleen Sebelius’s extortion of the health care industry, I’m not quite ready to be outraged about the AP subpoenas. …”
Not quite ready to be outraged? You left out the DOJ is headed by A.G. Eric Holder – who was found in dual contempt of Congress for repeatedly refusing to turn over documents regarding the ATF gun running operation Fast & Furious and further resorted to a bogus midnight assertion of executive privilege to keep from turning over the documents that could link Napolitano, Clinton & Obama in a plot to curtail our 2nd Amendment rights.
The criminal contempt case went to the same DOJ for prosecution – which presented a giant CONFLICT OF INTEREST for every attorney working there – as Holder the boss of every one of them – which was ignored and the case was not pursued See Justice Department Shields Holder From Prosecution After Contempt Vote http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/06/29/after-holder-contempt-vote-republicans-eye-civil-court-case-to-extract-furious/ Conflict? What conflict?
Re the civil contempt case see: (1) ‘Fast and Furious’ Lawsuit dismissal Seen Skeptically by Judge http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/24/fast-and-furious_n_3148703.html; (2) Eric Holder’s Media Manipulations Under Scrutiny http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/05/13/Eric-Holder-s-attacks-on-journalism-media-dripping-out-more-and-more; and, (3) Is This the End of Eric Holder’s Tenure At the Justice Department http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/05/is-this-the-end-of-eric-holders-tenure-at-the-justice-department/275830/
So the above shows that politics and corruption routinely trumps the Rule of Law America and that America has become a big lawless banana Republic. Are you outraged yet?
Gary L. Zerman (93f27a) — 5/14/2013 @ 10:10 amIt looks like the hashtag #BaghdadBob is pretty popular!
The Twitterfile Dana (3e4784) — 5/14/2013 @ 10:11 amIs that the Ron Reagan, Dana?
nk (875f57) — 5/14/2013 @ 10:18 amOK, let’s open a pool on (a) how long Holder will stay on as AG and (b) Who will replace him.
I say (a) EH is gone within 3-6 months and (b) Dannel Malloy goes to Justice as a reward for pushing through CT’s harsh new anti-gun laws.
Can’t wait to see Obama’s teary-eyed announcement in the Rose Garden.
Libertarian Advocate (206681) — 5/14/2013 @ 10:22 amI’m beginning to see why Obama is so down on leakers — he has so very much to hide.
Kevin M (bf8ad7) — 5/14/2013 @ 10:27 amThe most sophisticated consumer of information to ever grace the White House sure doesn’t know much.
He has one filter on his Google search: “Nice things about Me” (and God help you if you’re a reporter and you don’t have an article that pops up often enough).
Kevin M (bf8ad7) — 5/14/2013 @ 10:29 amIn his press conference today, Jay Carney responded to repeated questions about the AP subpoenas by saying it would be inappropriate for the White House to comment on a pending criminal investigation. Of course, that didn’t stop Obama from commenting on the Henry Louis Gates, Jr., case or the Trayvon Martin case.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 5/14/2013 @ 11:09 amI really wish some reporter would ask just what in the hell is it this President claims to preside over.
Steve57 (9b1cdb) — 5/14/2013 @ 11:13 am“The most sophisticated consumer of information to ever grace the White House sure doesn’t know much.”
Kevin m. – The information went to his regular email address instead of the hidden one. He never checks his regular email address.
daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 5/14/2013 @ 11:14 amQuahtani had he been given his wish, would have burned the Capitol to the ground, and this innocent
narciso (3fec35) — 5/14/2013 @ 11:21 amshepherd, also knew of the Courier, as his wikileaked file showed.
I rarely disagree with Patterico but if the reports are correct, I think there is a significant problem with subpoenaing such a wide range of AP phone records. Here’s what the AP says was covered by the subpoenas:
That sounds like the government on a fishing expedition, not a search based on reasonable, specific suspicion.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 5/14/2013 @ 11:21 amWhen it was Bush/Cheney the President’s Veep and cabinet apparently micromanaged everything and everyone down to scheduling what BDSM events Army Reserve Privates were supposed to inflict on Iraqi prisoners on any given day.
But President Tiger Beat can’t possibly know what’s going on with his one and only “personal representative” in the entire world who was known to be under attack and unaccounted for on 9/11/2012 or what his top officials are doing at the IRS.
Bush/Cheney: no job too small to handle.
Obama/Biden: every job too big to handle.
But Obama’s the smart Preezy!
Steve57 (9b1cdb) — 5/14/2013 @ 11:23 amShocked Dana says: “the Obama Administration might be targeting you”
We already know that the various armed thugs that do the enforcement for the terrorist factions that control the government routinely target law abiding and peaceful citizens. We already know that they routinely violate the most basic constitutional protection, we know they have no qualms about disappearing people to secret prisons and torturing them to death.
Most of the pathetic trash masquerading as “patriots” and “citizens” in this country effectively support these policies. You know the type: they believe building a totalitarian police state is the price you have to pay to live in a free society.
We are already effectively in a state of civil war, which is being waged by the terrorist party factions that control the government (with the help of their deluded supporters) against real Americans and actual constitutional government. It is time for the people to stand up and take this war to the aggressors.
mom (751dae) — 5/14/2013 @ 11:27 amSomeone tell me that “mom” is a parody. Or a Moby.
SPQR (992b29) — 5/14/2013 @ 11:33 amHe hand picked the drone targets didn’t he, that’s what we were told anyways.
narciso (3fec35) — 5/14/2013 @ 11:40 ammom is a lethal dagger pointed at the beating heart of totalitarianism I think
happyfeet (c60db2) — 5/14/2013 @ 11:43 amTrue, narciso, and that’s another reason why I don’t want armed drones in America.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 5/14/2013 @ 11:44 amAll you conseveratives keep blowing things up. Obamas approval is well over 50%. The American people know every administration has issues, but Obama is a good man. He is my President. He is our President. And while he hasn’t always done good, I do believe he is fundamentally a good man and a patriot who wants to make this country a better place.
Timothy (b06896) — 5/14/2013 @ 11:51 amhe’s not my president i think he’s a right dick actually
happyfeet (c60db2) — 5/14/2013 @ 11:53 amAnd let us not overlook the tremendous symbol we have in a black President. it is a very good thing that we can say that this country is willing to elect a black President. It shows that anyone can succeed in this country, regardless of race. Anyone.
Timothy (b06896) — 5/14/2013 @ 11:54 amHow can we believe anything that comes out of this moronic puppet’s mouth, or from the puppet-master either?
askeptic (b8ab92) — 5/14/2013 @ 11:55 amregardless of economy-raping proclivities too
happyfeet (c60db2) — 5/14/2013 @ 11:55 amThat was a rhetorical question, askeptic?
narciso (3fec35) — 5/14/2013 @ 11:57 am43-
askeptic (b8ab92) — 5/14/2013 @ 12:05 pmYes, it was, as I stopped believing anything that Carney said the minute he took the job.
It was obvious from the start that Obama had found his most useful idiot.
It must be the best paying job he’s ever had to be able to justify looking himself in the mirror each morning, as his reputation dives lower and lower in the “porcelain convenience”.
What a bunch of empty-suits and their venal masters.
“…it undercut their public statements…”
Since for the most part, the public statements of this administration are out-and-out lies, every fact that is reported undercuts their positions on AGW, Alternative Energy, Terrorism, Smart-Diplomacy, Gun-Violence, Debt-Ceilings, Sequestration, Budgets and Deficits, etc., etc., etc.!
askeptic (b8ab92) — 5/14/2013 @ 12:11 pmMoreover, it’s all George Bush’s fault.
Obamas approval is well over 50%
Approval today: 50% Rasmussen, 48% Gallup, the only two public polls doing daily tacking. Latest from others:
Economist: 49%
Pew: 51%
Reuters/Ipsos: 49%
Quinnepac: 49%
CBS/NY Times: 48%
Fox: 48%
How is this “well over 50%”?
Kevin M (bf8ad7) — 5/14/2013 @ 12:25 pmAnd let us not overlook the tremendous symbol we have in a black President. it is a very good thing that we can say that this country is willing to elect a black President. It shows that anyone can succeed in this country, regardless of race. Anyone.
But by your own statement “regardless of race” isn’t the way you are judging him. You are using race as a basis for judgment, and there is a word for that.
Kevin M (bf8ad7) — 5/14/2013 @ 12:27 pmDRJ,
There may be an issue with the scope of the subpoenas, but I would need to know more to reach a definite conclusion.
Patterico (bc70c7) — 5/14/2013 @ 12:29 pmI believe Timothy is being sarcastic.
Patterico (bc70c7) — 5/14/2013 @ 12:30 pmNear the end of “Deep Impact”, as President Morgan Freeman is telling everyone that humanity is doomed, except for the Elect who are joining him in the deep bunkers, I’m sure that everyone was thinking “Well, he sure screwed up, at least we’ve got a Black president!”
Kevin M (bf8ad7) — 5/14/2013 @ 12:31 pmOh.
Never mind.
Kevin M (bf8ad7) — 5/14/2013 @ 12:32 pmI do believe he is fundamentally a good man and a patriot who wants to make this country a better place
Yep, commie hellholes are a better place in his mind.
BTW, parody is dead these days.
lyle (5b5fd4) — 5/14/2013 @ 12:32 pmTimothy @40, another word that can also used by the race obsessed such as yourself interchangeably with “symbol” is “token.”
Steve57 (9b1cdb) — 5/14/2013 @ 12:32 pmHolder now says he had recused himself and stick a subordinate with the press subpoenas.
Kevin M (bf8ad7) — 5/14/2013 @ 12:33 pmI would hope so but I meet people on a fairly regular basis who talk that way and mean it.
There was a time when my irony meter was fairly accurately calibrated but heading into Obama’s second term I’m having a harder and harder time distinguishing parody from the official Democratic party’s and administration’s policies and positions.
Steve57 (9b1cdb) — 5/14/2013 @ 12:37 pmOh, no, this cannot be. You see, National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor just got done telling us that His Excellency knows all and is an expert at everything and nothing gets by him ever because he reads everything all the time always and sometimes even asks questions.
“The President is among the most sophisticated consumers of intelligence on the planet,” National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor wrote in an e-mail. “He receives and reads his [Presidential Daily Brief] every day, and most days when he’s at the White House receives a briefing in person. When necessary he probes the arguments, requests more information or seeks alternate analysis. Sometimes that’s via a written assessment and other times it’s in person.”
Clearly the president definitely for sure knew about the IRS issues and the AP tapping because he is so way on top of all the things.
Book (a78362) — 5/14/2013 @ 12:47 pmPatterico,
That’s a reasonable legal position and I respect your points but, unless dozens of AP officials and reporters participated in this story (and maybe they did), it strikes me as overbroad discovery that invades privacy rights.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 5/14/2013 @ 12:49 pmI’m especially troubled by the phone records for private cell phones. Hopefully those subpoenas were limited to specific AP officials and reporters, and there was evidence showing a nexus to the government’s inquiry.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 5/14/2013 @ 12:52 pmAnd here I thought Timothy was repeating Mr. Pink’s trolling.
SPQR (768505) — 5/14/2013 @ 12:57 pmMr. Pink is not a troll he is a stalwart conservative and of good character
happyfeet (c60db2) — 5/14/2013 @ 12:59 pmTimothy wrote:
Alas! The presidency of Barack Hussein Obama merely proves that anyone can fail in this country, regardless of race. Anyone!
The sadly realistic Dana (3e4784) — 5/14/2013 @ 1:14 pmTimothy wrote:
You know, I am certain that that is what a lot of our friends on the left believe. The question is: will the policies that that fundamentally good man believes will make our country a better place actually do so? At least thus far, the President’s policies have not had such good results: our economy is in the slowest, most anemic post-recession “recovery” since the Depression, and shows few fundamental signs of improving significantly, while the President’s transformative health care plan is leading to much higher prices than we were told would be the result, and more restrictions on care, along with the side effect of employers reducing workers hours so that they won’t have to pay for health insurance at all.
The problem is simple: what President Obama believes will make this country a better place is actually making it a worse one.
The coldly realistic Dana (3e4784) — 5/14/2013 @ 1:26 pmWell said, Dana.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 5/14/2013 @ 1:33 pmhttp://www.nationalreview.com/corner/348300/what-its-come
narciso (3fec35) — 5/14/2013 @ 1:57 pmThat’s hilarious, narciso. Well done, Marion Bower.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 5/14/2013 @ 2:01 pmteh dead stinking fish
Colonel Haiku (cd8c27) — 5/14/2013 @ 2:01 pmbarry holder unaware
rotten head to tail
If this Washington Post report is accurate, this sounds more and more like a fishing expedition to me:
DRJ (a83b8b) — 5/14/2013 @ 2:03 pmThank you. I see lots of my right-wing friends outraged about this, and I don’t really see the fuss. As I understand it the Supreme Court has already ruled that pen-registers are not protected by the fourth amendment, and the outrage seems to be based on the first amendment, specifically on a pernicious notion that journalists have that they are special, that the first amendment grants them some special status and special rights that other people don’t have, and I think we have to battle that notion whenever it comes up, even if it means defending the 0bama people. 0bama will be gone in 4 years, but journalists and their delusions of grandeur will be around for a long time. If the DOJ has a policy of never going after journalists unless it has no other way of getting the information it needs, then that policy is wrong, and we should be happy when it’s broken, because this can be used as a precedent to violate it again when we like, or to get rid of it altogether.
Of course the 0bama people are not acting with anything like pure motives, in this or in anything else, and I agree with the rest of the post as well.
Milhouse (3d0df0) — 5/14/2013 @ 2:29 pmAs I understand it the Supreme Court has already ruled that pen-registers are not protected by the fourth amendment
IN a line of jurisprudence that follows the idea of “expectation of privacy” rather than what the 4th Amendment actually says. This is being redressed currently with placing GPS trackers on cars (United States v. Jones (2012)) and intruding onto open areas of private property (porches and driveways) (Florida v Jardines (2013)) being ruled a violation of Amend IV.
Kevin M (bf8ad7) — 5/14/2013 @ 2:44 pm#68. The Supreme Court has also ruled that I have no privacy interest in my bank’s records of my checks. Doesn’t make it true.
Kevin M (bf8ad7) — 5/14/2013 @ 2:46 pm“the outrage seems to be based on the first amendment, specifically on a pernicious notion that journalists have that they are special, that the first amendment grants them some special status and special rights that other people don’t have”
Milhouse – No, that’s only what you believe the outrage is about.
daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 5/14/2013 @ 2:50 pmWill anyone in the Obama Administration take responsibility, or is another person about to get thrown under the Obama bus?
DRJ (a83b8b) — 5/14/2013 @ 2:52 pmIt does sound like a fishing expedition to me.
The pool of possible leakers would have been extremely narrow to start with.
The quote from the article begins by observing sometimes hundreds of people have access to the classified information. Well, that’s more like thousands depending on the level it’s classified at. Even if it’s a compartmented program there still could be thousands depending on the number of people who need to know. Some are highly technical and you need people to build and maintain systems, operate systems, and process and analyze the data those systems collect.
But the number of people who would have been read into this program would have undoubtedly been fewer in number than the number of reporters using those phones. I don’t know why they’d start with the reporters and not the possible leakers unless they wanted to go fishing.
Steve57 (9b1cdb) — 5/14/2013 @ 2:53 pmGood Lord. There’s more. How am I supposed to get any work done with a new scandal every hour??
http://dailycaller.com/2013/05/14/irs-official-lerner-approved-exemption-for-obama-brothers-charity/
Patricia (be0117) — 5/14/2013 @ 3:29 pmComment by DRJ (a83b8b) — 5/14/2013 @ 12:52 pm
I think the position of the gov’t, or many in positions of influence within this gov’t, are that cell-phones are never “private”.
askeptic (b8ab92) — 5/14/2013 @ 3:32 pmDid Jay Carney swallow a bug?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/holder-orders-fbi-justice-probe-of-irs/2013/05/14/7891fde6-bcc0-11e2-9b09-1638acc3942e_story.html
askeptic (b8ab92) — 5/14/2013 @ 3:43 pmaskeptic,
You’re right. I meant to say home phones, not cell phones.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 5/14/2013 @ 4:02 pmI always assumed that if a judge or other official recused him/herself from making a decision, it went to someone of equal standing or higher standing. I don’t see how the AG can “recuse” himself from any decision within the DOJ, except to give unfettered power to someone investigating the DOJ free from AG interference.
MD in Philly (3d3f72) — 5/14/2013 @ 4:15 pm(Unless it was a personnel or policy decision that was deferred to the president or Congressional oversight committee.)
I guess the only way this claim of unawareness could be credible is if the administration has a policy of leaving Obama in the dark about major decisions. If that’s the case, he’s not really our acting president, and we deserve to know why.
Dustin (2da3a2) — 5/14/2013 @ 4:25 pmDustin- It is like with Benghazi, Obama being MIA is touted as proving his innocence in the matter, when his absence should be just as worrisome if not worse;
afterall, he was monitoring live when the US was merely capturing an enemy combatant. protecting American officials under attack should be seen as a greater priority
but then again, when the issue at hand is political manipulation, priorities are different.
MD in Philly (3d3f72) — 5/14/2013 @ 4:34 pmHave any of the political cartoonists done one about President Jarrett yet?
elissa (dba791) — 5/14/2013 @ 4:42 pmFrom some things I’ve heard that maybe a part of it -its also the automatic damage control on EVERYTHING that is hindering Obama’s slim to none chance of making a timely and decent decision – not that he has demonstrated a want to make decisions or an ability to make correct decisions
E.PWJ (1479ca) — 5/14/2013 @ 4:53 pmelissa, I’m confused; isn’t Rush Limbaugh the President?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2324197/Washington-gridlock-Its-Rush-Limbaughs-fault-says-Obama-blames-Republicans-lack-political-compromise.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490
Clearly Rush is the most powerful man in DC, since he can single handedly bring Obama’s legislative agenda to a screeching halt.
Poor Barack Obama. He’d really like to be President but Rush Limbaugh won’t let him.
Steve57 (9b1cdb) — 5/14/2013 @ 4:56 pmSeriously, he saw Ambassador Steven’s death, as a ‘bump in the road’ re the marvelous Arab Spring.
narciso (3fec35) — 5/14/2013 @ 4:56 pmMuch like the utterly coldblooded way he tackled
‘quality of life’ or the born alive bill,
I blame Bush.
glenn (647d76) — 5/14/2013 @ 5:07 pmhell0! welcome to
Colonel Haiku (9ffca6) — 5/14/2013 @ 5:11 pmthe Nixonian Sheep Dip
he begs our pardon
I just found out on CNN that Rush is no longer relevant.
Someone should tell Obama.
Ag80 (c81f80) — 5/14/2013 @ 7:16 pm2009; Obama blames Bush !
2013; Obama blames
Elephant Stone (e319ad) — 5/14/2013 @ 7:17 pmBRush !Deja Vu, all over again;
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/05/14/is-obama-worse-for-press-freedom-than-nixon.html
narciso (3fec35) — 5/14/2013 @ 7:36 pm49. I believe Timothy is being sarcastic.
Comment by Patterico (bc70c7) — 5/14/2013 @ 12:30 pm
I would hope so but I meet people on a fairly regular basis who talk that way and mean it… There was a time when my irony meter was fairly accurately calibrated…
Comment by Steve57 (9b1cdb) — 5/14/2013 @ 12:37 pm
Life has been imitating art since late 2008, and it’s reaching a pathetic, yet foreseeable, conclusion right now.
Originally, I’d never have believed or predicted someone with the disreputable, extremist, marginal, bad-novel-type-of-suspicious background of Obama would have managed to get into the White House in the first place. And I’m not even taking into consideration the admittedly unfair — yet historically, regrettably evident — nature of “[insert name of ethnic/racial/religious minority here] not only has to be as good as his/her competitor (eg, for a job or membership), he or she has to be better, much better.”
November 2008 will long represent a sea change in America, when this society truly lost whatever “new world” idealism and “great democracy” specialness it appeared to be born with over 200 years ago. IOW, the USA now seems closer to a cynical, exhausted nation like France or Mexico, or modern-day Greece.
Mark (9ba6f2) — 5/14/2013 @ 7:37 pmLie-a-pa-looza
Icy (4b226c) — 5/14/2013 @ 7:51 pmWhile I agree that the government does have the authority and the obligation to investigate leaks, as we have seen in the past, Democrat partisans can’t be trusted with confidential information. What if they noticed that a reporter received phone calls from a lot of Republican operatives. Think that information might find its way into the hands of the DNC? I think it might, just as I believe a lot of that information that was turned up in the various conservative tax exempt organization filings at the IRS found its way to the DNC in addition to landing on the offices of activist progressive media outlets.
Point is, this Democratic Party has become rotten to the core and I no longer trust that they can staff government operations in a neutral way. What’s next, checking someone’s political donations before deciding what medical treatment they can get under Obamacare?
The Democratic Party of today is not the same party of 20 years ago. It is fundamentally corrupt to the core as we saw with Joe the Plumber’s private information in Toledo. It isn’t just at the federal level. It is about corruption in the New York legislature, Queens borough government, Bell California, and many other places. This is a party of corruption and graft and it got that way by media giving them a free pass because they spoke the rhetoric of socialism while the implemented the works of gangsterism.
Dead bodies from Fast a Furious? Have to “break some eggs”. It just never stops with these people because this is what they are.
How any truly decent American can call themselves a Democrat and look themselves in the mirror is beyond me.
This party needs to be purged. First it needs to be purged from office at all levels then the party itself needs to be purged of those lacking the most basic of moral compass. That is going to require a real press but even the reporters today are partisans and this is what happens when that happens.
Sickening. Harry Truman is spinning in his grave.
crosspatch (6adcc9) — 5/14/2013 @ 7:56 pm13.Dana – How about Baghdad Carnie?
Comment by JD (ee8414) — 5/14/2013 @ 9:28 am
— Benghazi Jay
Icy (4b226c) — 5/14/2013 @ 7:58 pmCarney should appear tomorrow with tap shoes, a cane and a top hat.
crosspatch (6adcc9) — 5/14/2013 @ 8:00 pmI’d be happy to.
“Hey, King Putt, even a has-been talk radio guy who is no longer relevant has more pull in Washington than you. So if he’s not relevant, what does that make you?”
Steve57 (9b1cdb) — 5/14/2013 @ 8:07 pmFan in. You might have thousands of government people taking to only dozens of reporters. Easier to vacuum up the records of the dozens of reporters than from thousands of government employees.
crosspatch (6adcc9) — 5/14/2013 @ 8:26 pmMs. Lerner, Mr. Shulman, and Mr. Miller all lied to Congress. People don’t generally place themselves in that kind of jeopardy to protect someone below them in the food chain.
crosspatch (6adcc9) — 5/14/2013 @ 8:55 pmOne might, maybe. But not three.
crosspatch (6adcc9) — 5/14/2013 @ 8:58 pmHmmm… Planted question?
http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/348280/question-launched-irs-scandal-planted
mojo (0583bf) — 5/14/2013 @ 10:44 pmNot thousands of government people who were read into the program that supposedly produced the leak that they’re ostensibly investigating. If that leak was all they wanted to investigate this wouldn’t be the way to go.
So it’s not a fishing expedition. It’s an intimidation campaign. Now every potential government whistle blower knows they run the risk of getting a knock on the door from the FBI if they talk to a reporter.
A reading from the Book of Obvious.
Steve57 (9b1cdb) — 5/14/2013 @ 11:25 pmAnyone relaying classified information to a reporter NEEDS a knock at the door. The fundamental problem I have is that I don’t feel that we can trust our government employees to use the information only for its intended purpose and not use it for partisan political purposes. It would appear that Democrats, at least, have stacked the civil service with activist partisans.
I don’t feel confident that the information obtained wouldn’t be shared with the DNC if something turned out to be politically useful. Basically, I don’t trust Democrats to put country before party because they have shown a willingness to put party first in so many cases.
crosspatch (6adcc9) — 5/15/2013 @ 12:08 amI’m worried…If Obama falls asleep on the couch watching the news, does Michelle my Belle bring him a summary the next morning?
Patricia (be0117) — 5/15/2013 @ 8:14 amIf we wanted leadership we wouldn’t have elected, and reelected, a government of senators.
Amphipolis (d3e04f) — 5/15/2013 @ 12:02 pmhttp://hotair.com/archives/2013/05/15/holder-i-cant-remember-when-i-recused-myself-from-the-ap-investigation-and-i-know-i-didnt-do-it-in-writing/
Holder isn’t even pretending not to hold the entire nation in contempt.
He should be impeached immediately.
SPQR (66f943) — 5/15/2013 @ 12:03 pmAmphipolis, a government of Senators? A government of bagmen more like.
SPQR (66f943) — 5/15/2013 @ 12:04 pmI’m starting to wonder if any political appointee in the Obama Administration — up to and including Obama himself — ever works.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 5/15/2013 @ 12:11 pmcrosspatch @101, not everything the government, in particular this administration, is trying to hide is classified. But for the sake of argument I was talking about leaking classified information to the press and not merely information on, say, how I know an IRS commissioner lied to Congress.
But let’s say they do classify something, for instance what eye witnesses saw on 9/11/12-9/12/12 in the diplomatic compound and on the streets of Benghazi. Guess what? There’s no justification for that, no more than what all those witnesses saw in Boston on the day of the Marathon. If the administration would do that, for instance put the DSS agents witness statements in the classified version of the intelligence report but not the unclassified version and then only share the unclassified version with Congress the only reason for that would be to hide information that they are in fact legally obligated to provide.
We aren’t talking about national security information. We are talking about narrative-destroying, hyper-political administration-damaging information. Are you saying that you wouldn’t want someone to come forward with information that has never been classified before but has been overclassified in a particular instance purely for political purposes and to obstruct a lawful congressional investigation?
Or take an even more extreme example. Every command in the military that has an intelligence mission gets annual intelligence oversight training. Training in what they can legally do when collecting, retaining, and disseminating intelligence. And what is illegal.
Are you saying you wouldn’t want someone to blow the whistle on a definite violation of law merely because the lawbreakers in positions of authority decided to classify the evidence of their malfeasance?
I’m not a fan of the MFM by any means. But the fundamental problem isn’t the government employees although I’m not a huge fan of government employees either. It’s the politicians and their politicized political appointees. The lower level employees at the IRS practically put up neon signs pointing to the problem. When organizations applying for tax exempt status would call demanding to know why their applications were being held up numerous agents told them their applications had to be forwarded for approval to a special task force in Washington DC. Who do you think ordered that massive change to the SOP?
look at what’s going on in the growing IRS scandal. The Treasury Dept. has investigated itself. Now Obama will no doubt order some sort of internal review. And Max Baucus who asked the IRS to apply extra scrutiny to 501(c) corporations and in his letter specifically referred conservative 501(c)s will head the Senate committee investigating the IRS wrongdoing.
In other words every politico in a position of authority who are no doubt responsible for ordering and directing the illegal activity will be in charge of the investigations into their own lawbreaking. Do you really want the DoJ to be tapping phones at news agencies when that is going on? All those investigations I’ve mentioned are clearly designed to hide any facts that point to the real culprits and instead scapegoat lower level bureaucrats below the political appointee level. I trust the politicos to do one thing; protect their own. Personally I’d like to see them get the justice they deserve even if they try to hide the evidence against them by designating it “Confidential For Official Use Only.”
Steve57 (9b1cdb) — 5/15/2013 @ 12:11 pmI should have just pointed out this is precisely why the DoJ is trying to intimidate government employees from talking to the media. This administration doesn’t want the fact that politicized agencies are sharing information unlawfully with the DNC.
Now every government employee who has a problem with the fact that they’re being used for partisan political purposes has to worry they’re going to get a knock on the door if they try to expose the wrongdoing by going to the press.
Steve57 (9b1cdb) — 5/15/2013 @ 12:21 pmdavid axelrod
Colonel Haiku (eacb1f) — 5/15/2013 @ 12:24 pmGubmint “way too vast to run”
0’s not up to it
Valerie getting
elissa (33fa31) — 5/15/2013 @ 12:35 pmtired from lifting whole load
for Obama man
teh horse-faced hippo
Colonel Haiku (1cfc51) — 5/15/2013 @ 12:42 pmno pipes for Streisand Effect
#SexWithBetteMidler