When The U.S. Government Targets Half The Country

An Antidote To Cynicism Poisoning -- Peggy Noonan, Wall Street Journal

Restoring public faith will require a full investigation of the IRS's politicization.

The Benghazi scandal was and is shocking, and the Justice Department assault on the free press, in which dogged reporters are tailed like enemy spies, is shocking. Benghazi is still under investigation and someday someone will write a great book about it. As for the press, Attorney General Eric Holder is on the run, and rightly so. They called it the First Amendment for a reason. But nothing can damage us more as a nation than what is happening at the Internal Revenue Service. Elite opinion in the press and in Washington doesn't fully understand this. Part of the reason is that it's not their ox being gored, it's those messy people out in America with their little patriotic groups.

Those who aren't deeply distressed about the IRS suffer from a reluctance or inability to make distinctions, and a lack of civic imagination.

An inability to make distinctions: "It's always been like this." "Presidents are always siccing the IRS on their enemies." There's truth in that. We've all heard the stories of the president who picked up the phone and said, "Look into this guy," Richard Nixon most showily. He got clobbered for it. It was one of the articles of impeachment.

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My Comment: Peggy Noonan gets to the heart of the problem. A special prosecutor will have to be appointed .... and people will have to be put in jail to change this culture of intimidation and abuse. Failure to do so will undermine what is probably the most important department (after the military) in the U.S. government.

The IRS Scandal Continues To Grow In The U.S.

Coburn: Constituents Linking IRS Audits To Mitt Romney Donations -- The Hill

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) said Thursday his constituents have suggested they were audited by the Internal Revenue Service because they donated to Mitt Romney's 2012 presidential campaign.

Coburn made the charge during an interview on MSNBC. [WATCH VIDEO]

"What I would tell you, is our whistleblower side is lit up," Coburn said Thursday on the news channel. "And I got a phone call yesterday and one of the things I want to know is, everybody that contributed to Romney, I want to know what their audit rate was because the indications out of Oklahoma are right now is if you happened to be a conservative and wealthy and gave to Romney, you had an audit where you'd never gotten an audit before.

"And so there are a lot of questions that still have to be answered," Coburn said. "Maybe that's untrue but that's certainly the implication from people that are calling me from Oklahoma."

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Update: IRS official on leave refused to resign, says GOP senator -- FOX News

My Comment: As I had mentioned last week ... of all the scandals hitting Washington this is the big one. The IRS impacts everyone .... and if it has been politicized to target one political group .... it should send a chill through everyone. Because IRS officials are refusing to testify and/or giving answers that are insult to the intelligence of those who are watching them .... it is a given that a special prosecutor will need to be appointed. My prediction .... in the next few weeks a Special Prosecutor will be appointed .... and I suspect that we are going to be shocked with what he will find.

Update #1: Lawrence Kudlow nails it right.

Update #2: The main stream media continues to be AWOl on this story.

Are Armed Drones Protected By The Second Amendment?

The Next Gun Debate? Armed Drones Could Be Protected By the Second Amendment -- US News and World Report

Several YouTube videos show hobbyists who have allegedly created rudimentary armed drones.

In April 2012, Rand Paul's nightmare seemingly came true nearly a year before he'd even gotten the chance to dream it. Four people were having a dinner party and playing cards when all of a sudden, a robotic plane showed up outside their window and interrupted their game with a barrage of bullets.

For 13 hours on the Senate floor this March, Paul railed on the government's willingness to use armed drones on American civilians, even suggesting that the government could use an unmanned plane to kill an American eating dinner with his family. But he never mentioned the possibility that the person flying the drone could be a neighbor.

That idea sounds farfetched, but some legal scholars think that Second Amendment rights might extend to robotic arms, including drones outfitted with weapons.

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My Comment: I know that the above video is computer generated .... and that the spokesman (Kyle Myers) is not even Russian. But it is still a revealing video of what is possible.

Washington's IRS Scandal Continues To Grow

White House Knew IRS Probe Findings Earlier -- Washington Post

The White House offered a new account Monday of how and when it learned that the Internal Revenue Service had improperly targeted conservative groups, saying that some senior officials were informed of the findings but that President Obama was not.

The assertions came as the White House struggled to contain a political uproar over the IRS, which targeted conservative organizations for extra scrutiny, as well as over the administration’s aggressive pursuit of journalists in leak investigations and its handling of the deadly attacks in Benghazi, Libya, in September.

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More News On The IRS Scandal

White House Says It Didn’t Loop Obama In on I.R.S. Inquiry -- New York Times
White House counsel kept IRS probe results from Obama -- Reuters
Obama chief of staff 'knew of IRS inquiry' in April -- BBC
Top White House Aides Told of Audit -- Wall Street Journal
White House: More top aides knew about IRS probe -- Kansas City/McClatchy News
White House officials knew of IRS audit findings weeks in advance -- L.A. Times
The White House’s shifting IRS account -- Politico

My Comment: If liberal organizations were also put under the microscope for extra scrutiny .... this would be a non-issue. But .... apparently no liberal non-profits were targeted. Instead .... what we have are conservative organizations, donors, supporters, critics of the Obama administration, etc. .... being targeted en masse and in huge numbers by the IRS. Here is an easy prediction .... I think we have seen nothing yet.

Senior White House Advisor: Where The President Was During the Benghazi Attack Is Irrelevant

Obama Aide: 'Irrelevant Fact' Where President Was During Benghazi Attacks -- Weekly Standard

Host Chris Wallace reminds Pfeiffer that Obama didn't really talk with Secretary Clinton, Secretary Panetta, or Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, that night. "He was talking to his national security staff," Pfeiffer insists.

Asked about whether the president entered the Situation Room, Pfeiffer says, "I don't remember what room the president was in on that night, and that's a largely irrelevant fact."

Pfeiffer then argues that Wallace's questions about the president's handling of the Benghazi terror attack are "offensive."

UPDATE: Here's a full rush transcript of the exchange:

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More News On The White House Responding To The Scandals That Are Now Enveloping Washington

Dan Pfeiffer: Legal questions in IRS scandal ‘irrelevant’ to ‘inexcusable’ actions -- Washington Post
Dan Pfeiffer: IRS Behavior ‘Inexcusable’ Whether or Not Illegal -- ABC News
WH aide clarifies 'irrelevant' comment -- USA Today
Republicans Are Ripping The White House's Dan Pfeiffer For Saying The Legality Of IRS Targeting Is 'Irrelevant' -- Business Insider
White House defends IRS handling, McConnell asserts 'culture of intimidation' -- NBC
White House Aide Chides GOP for 'Fishing Expeditions' -- Wall Street Journal
Adviser on White House scandals: "Partisan fishing expeditions" won't distract Obama -- CBS
CBS' Bob Schieffer unleashes on White House official: 'Why are you here today?' -- Washington Times

My Comment: Been traveling today, and it is only now that I am catching up on the Sunday morning talk shows. Could not believe what I have just watched. Senior Obama aide Dan Pfeiffer goes on the Sunday morning talk shows and says that where the President was during the Benghazi attack is irrelevant and the legality of who the IRS is targeting is also 'irrelevant'.

OK .....

Here is an easy prediction. The White House is not going to permit senior White House aide Dan Pfeiffer to hit the Sunday morning talk shows ever again.

Update: Even the Washington Post‘s Bob Woodward (of Watergate fame) is now ripping into the administration.

U.S. Government Was Aware That The IRS Was Targeting Conservatives Back in June 2012

Treasury Knew of I.R.S. Inquiry in 2012, Official Says -- New York Times

WASHINGTON — The Treasury Department’s inspector general told senior Treasury officials in June 2012 he was auditing the Internal Revenue Service’s screening of politically active organizations seeking tax exemptions, disclosing for the first time on Friday that Obama administration officials were aware of the matter during the presidential campaign year.

At the first Congressional hearing into the I.R.S. scandal, J. Russell George, the Treasury inspector general for tax administration, told members of the House Ways and Means Committee that he informed the Treasury’s general counsel of his audit on June 4, and Deputy Treasury Secretary Neal Wolin “shortly thereafter.”

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My Comment: I know that this news story is not a defense/war/conflict post .... but many are asking for my opinion .... and so here it is.

While Benghazi is important because 4 Americans died .... and the American people have a right to know what happen even though many in Washington and the White House are trying their best to close the book .... it is the IRS scandal that is catching my attention. Even the New York Times is now acknowledging that the White House was aware that the IRS was targeting conservatives back in June 2012 .... but choose to do nothing about it. As to acting IRS commissioner Steven T. Miller's testimony today .... it is obvious that he knew what was happening .... but did not care.

I am not an American .... just a Russian national who is now a Canadian citizen looking from the outside in .... and I am just shaking my head. There is something terribly wrong in the U.S. right now .... when the IRS has been politicized to go after a specific political group, it does not take a 'political scientist and historian' to know that you are entering a very dark place .... and being one who grew up in such a place (the former Soviet Union) .... trust me on this one .... it is a place that you do not want to find yourself living in.

Update: 'Is this still America?' Congressional hearing turns into IRS smackdown as disgraced former commissioner and Treasury Inspector General face tea-party scandal questions -- Daily Mail

Washington Scandals -- A News Roundup

During Rose Garden Press Conference, Obama Refuses To Apologize For Secretly Seizing AP Phone Records, Shifts Blame To Congress For Benghazi Security Lapses, And Dodges Question About White House IRS Knowledge -- Daily Mail

* Assailed by questions over three scandals engulfing White House during Rose Garden press conference with Turkish Prime Minister
* Would not say whether anyone in his West Wing knew about the IRS targeting of the Tea Party before last week
* Offered 'no apologies' for DoJ secretly seizing phone records of Associated Press reporters over intelligence leak
* Admitted 'lessons needed to be learned' from Benghazi but said it was up to Congress to approve more money for military to provide extra security in hotspots abroad

President Barack Obama dodged questions Thursday about the IRS's targeting of conservative groups, shifted responsibility for the Benghazi attack to Congress, and said 'I offer no apologies' for the Department of Justice's secret seizure of reporter's phone records in search of a classified intelligence leak.

In a rain-soaked Rose Garden press conference originally intended to be a victory lap for the United States' relationship with Turkey, Obama stood alongside Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdogan and fielded questions which quickly shifted to the trio of scandals that are engulfing his administration.

Beginning in 2010, Obama's IRS targeted a list of approximately 300 tea party-related and other conservative groups for aggressive scrutiny following their applications for tax-exempt status.

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More News And Coverage On The IRS 'Scandal'

Republicans Keep Up Pressure on White House Over IRS Scandal -- Voice of America
Obama names acting IRS chief, denies knowledge of IRS report -- NBC
Obama names budget official Werfel as acting IRS head -- Reuters
IRS Official in Charge During Tea Party Targeting Now Runs Health Care Office -- ABC News
Second top IRS official out as scandal over targeting of Tea Party groups rages on -- Daily Mail
Second Top IRS Official Quits as GOP Scrutiny Rises -- Wall Street Journal
Second IRS official out after Tea Party scandal, as outgoing commissioner faces Congress -- FOX News
If White House counsel knew about IRS abuses weeks ago - and didn't tell Obama - she should resign -- FOX News
White House counsel should resign if she knew about IRS abuses -- Lanny J. Davis, The Hill
This Is No Ordinary Scandal -- Peggy Noonan, Wall Street Journal

More News And Coverage On The AP Wiretapping Story

Obama defends leak probes as necessary for security, calls for balance with press freedom. -- AP
Obama: ‘No apologies’ for leaks investigation -- Washington Post
Obama Has 'Complete Confidence' In Attorney General Holder -- NPR
More mystery over AP subpoenas process at Justice Department -- Politico
Holder says he played no role in AP phone subpoena -- AP
Holder facing liberal backlash over AP records grab -- FOX News
Lawmakers Introduce Bill Requiring Court Order to Seize Phone Records -- Threat Level
Holder’s recusal and the leak investigation are unprecedented -- Jennifer Rubin, Washington Post
How to avoid another Justice raid on reporter phone records -- Christian Science Monitor editorial

More News And Coverage On Benghazi

Benghazi e-mails unleash flood of questions -- USA Today
Obama administration regroups to counter Benghazi criticism -- CNN
The Benghazi Emails: Talking Points Changed at State Dept.'s Request -- ABC News
Pickering, Mullen reject request to testify on Benghazi in private -- Miami Herald/McClatchy News
GOP lawmakers increasingly in favor of special investigative committee -- Washington Free Beacon
Democrats: Enough with Benghazi, already -- CBS
Former Obama official on Benghazi: ‘Press has been so lazy, it’s infuriating’ -- Erik Wemple, Washington Post
What really happened in Benghazi? -- Douglas E. Schoen, FOX News

What Washington Scandal(s)?

The Scandals Are Falling Apart -- Ezra Klein, Washington Post

Things go wrong in government. Sometimes it’s just bad luck. Sometimes it’s rank incompetence. Sometimes it’s criminal wrongdoing. Most of the time you never hear about it. Or, if you do hear about it, the media eventually gets bored talking about it (see warming, global).

But every so often an instance of government wrongdoing sprouts wings and becomes something quite exciting: A political scandal.

The crucial ingredient for a scandal is the prospect of high-level White House involvement and wide political repercussions. Government wrongdoing is boring. Scandals can bring down presidents, decide elections and revive down-and-out political parties. Scandals can dominate American politics for months at a time.

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My Comment: Summarizing Ezra Klein (who obviously wants to be the next White House Press spokesman) ....

IRS as a tool used to target conservatives .... no big deal. The IRS is an independent body ..... there are no White House fingerprints on this .... someone got fired (a Bush appointee) .... end of story.

Benghazi .... a tragedy .... confusion on who did the attack and why .... normal in the fog of war/terrorism .... but the White house could do nothing about it. We released a few emails to prove to the world that we were confused .... end of story.

Seizing the AP's phone records .... nothing illegal here .... besides .... the Republicans were complaining about leaks anyway .... end of story.

Sighhhh .... this is the course of U.S. politics and how a good portion of the media covers it today.

Or .... quoting the Roman satirist and poet Juvenal .... give them more bread and circuses.