It Ain’t Over ‘Til It’s Over

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The Hammer of Kraut:

“Yes, the Republicans are up in arms but the Democrats are too. This thing will go on and it could be fatal.”

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Is it wrong that I am enjoying this?

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Take The Fifth, Lose Your Job!

Lois Lerner

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Let’s see the Vile Progs explain this one:

Top IRS official will invoke 5th Amendment

A top IRS official in the division that reviews nonprofit groups will invoke the Fifth Amendment and refuse to answer questions before a House committee investigating the agency’s improper screening of conservative nonprofit groups.

Lois Lerner, the head of the exempt organizations division of the IRS, won’t answer questions about what she knew about the improper screening — or why she didn’t disclose it to Congress, according to a letter from her defense lawyer, William W. Taylor III. Lerner was scheduled to appear before the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday.

“She has not committed any crime or made any misrepresentation but under the circumstances she has no choice but to take this course,” said a letter by Taylor to committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Vista). The letter, sent Monday, was obtained Tuesday by the Los Angeles Times.

Taylor, a criminal defense attorney from the Washington firm Zuckerman Spaeder, said that the Department of Justice has launched a criminal investigation, and that the House committee has asked Lerner to explain why she provided “false or misleading information” to the committee four times last year.

Since Lerner won’t answer questions, Taylor asked that she be excused from appearing, saying that would “have no purpose other than to embarrass or burden her.” There was no immediate word whether the committee will grant her request.

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If I was her attorney that would be my advice too. Silence is golden if you are facing criminal charges. Save your story for when there are twelve people in the jury box or take it to the grave with you.

But I’m not her attorney, I’m just another citizen.

Any government employee who takes the Fifth before Congress should be immediately terminated from their job and barred from all future government employment. If you worked in a bank and some money was missing and you refused to answer any questions from your boss what would he/she do?

They would fire your ass on the spot.

Right now Lerner is in charge of the IRS Obamacare division. Do we really want her holding that job?

#FireLerner

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Worse Than Watergate?

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Michael G. Franc:

‘Enemies List,’ Updated

[...]

Many have compared the recent scandals to past presidential trespasses, such as Richard Nixon’s wiretapping of political “enemies” or Lyndon Johnson’s having the IRS audit them to silence or otherwise intimidate them. Those analogies are important, but mostly because understanding them properly teaches us what is new, and potentially more alarming, about the current IRS scandal.

[...]

The enemies list à la Obama, which targets entire classes of people or organizations, is more dangerous to a free and open society because it paves the way for more systemic and widespread abuses by government. It is spawned by an insidious philosophy that discounts the intrinsic value and uniqueness of individuals. Group traits such as ideology, religious beliefs, occupation, military status, and even gun ownership trump individual qualities and come to define the citizen in the eyes of the increasingly intrusive government.

And there is a pattern here. Today’s IRS scandal reminds us of the embarrassing revelations that emerged in April 2009, shortly after Mr. Obama assumed office. The Department of Homeland Security had sent a confused report on “rightwing extremism” to sheriffs and police departments nationwide. According to the report, the “extremists” under scrutiny included not only those who belonged to overtly racist groups but also, as the Washington Times reported, “groups that reject federal authority in favor of state or local authority” as well as “groups and individuals that are dedicated to a single issue, such as opposition to abortion or immigration.”

Similarly, the new revelations indicate that IRS officials targeted tea-party and other conservative outfits solely because they fit the profile of being “political action type organizations involved in limiting/expanding Government” or “educating on the Constitution and Bill of Rights.” Golly!

The identity politics practiced by these agencies challenges the very essence of our Founding. The understanding of liberty that prevailed at the Constitutional Convention began with an acceptance of the “inalienable rights” we possess as individuals. These rights inhere in us as human beings and predate the creation of any government. Our liberty is not apportioned to us according to the whims of government officials. Government, rather, exists to defend the liberties we already possess.

The nature of that liberty, moreover, presumes that we are free to plot our life’s trajectory, define our dreams as we choose, and act accordingly. We are not bound by predestination as defined by our race, gender, family lineage, occupation, wealth or poverty, world view, or any other criterion deemed important by the government.

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I remember Watergate, and I am sure most of you do as well. It was one of the major formative events of my political identity and beliefs. But Watergate wasn’t a single event, it was a process that connected a series of events.

More than anything Watergate was about the abuse of power. I believe in the rule of law, and the abuse of power is incompatible with that belief. It’s bad enough when a badge-heavy cop violates people’s rights, but is several magnitudes worse when the law-breaking starts at the top.

Until recently my biggest fear with the Obama presidency was incompetence. I feared that more than corruption because we have survived corrupt presidents many times in the past, but most of them were competent crooks.

Recently I have come to fear something else much more than Obama’s corrupt incompetence. No previous administration has been so eager to use the power of the state against political opponents. That’s the definition of authoritarianism.

It really can happen here.

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A Chilling Tale

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Jillian Kay Melchior at National Review Online:

True Scandal
A tea-party group targeted by Democrats gets attention from the IRS—and the FBI, OSHA, and the ATF.

Catherine Engelbrecht’s tale has all the markings of a classic conspiracy theory: She says she thinks that because of her peaceful political activity, she and her family was targeted for scrutiny by hostile federal agencies.

Yet as news emerges that the Internal Revenue Service wielded its power to obstruct conservative groups, Catherine’s story becomes credible and chilling. It also raises questions about whether other federal agencies have used their executive powers to target those deemed political enemies.

[...]

These formative experiences prompted her to found two organizations: King Street Patriots, a local community group that hosts weekly discussions on personal and economic freedoms; and True the Vote, which seeks to prevent voter fraud and trains volunteers to work as election monitors. It also registers voters, attempts to validate voter-registration lists, and pursues fraud reports to push for prosecution if illegal activity has occurred.

[...]

In July 2010, Catherine filed with the IRS seeking tax-exempt status for her organizations. Shortly after, the troubles began.

That winter, the Federal Bureau of Investigation came knocking with questions about a person who had attended a King Street Patriots event once. Based on sign-in sheets, the organization discovered that the individual in question had attended an event, but it was a come-and-go thing, and they had no further information on hand about him. Nevertheless, the FBI also made inquiries about the person to the office manager, who was a volunteer.

The King Street Patriots weren’t the only ones under scrutiny. On January 11, the IRS visited the Engelbrecht’s shop and conducted an on-site audit of both their business and their personal returns, Catherine says.

“What struck us as odd about that,” she adds,”is the lengths to which the auditor went to try to” it seemed like ”to try to find some error. She wanted to go out and see [our] farm, she wanted to count the cattle, she wanted to look at the fence line. It was a very curious three days. She was as kind as she could be, and she was doing her job [but] it was strange.”

[...]

Two months later, the IRS initiated the first round of questions for True the Vote. Catherine painstakingly answered them, knowing that nonprofit status would help with the organization’s credibility, donors, and grant applications. In October, the IRS requested additional information. And whenever Catherine followed up with IRS agents about the status of True the Vote’s application, “there was always a delay that our application was going to be up next, and it was just around the corner,” she says,

As this was occurring, the FBI continued to phone King Street Patriots. In May 2011, agents phoned wondering “how they were doing.” The FBI made further inquiries in June, November, and December asking whether there was anything to report.

The situation escalated in 2012. That February, True the Vote received a third request for information from the IRS, which also sent its first questionnaire to King Street Patriots. Catherine says the IRS had hundreds of questions, “hundreds and hundreds of questions.” The IRS requested every Facebook post and Tweet she had ever written. She received questions about her family, whether she’d ever run for political office, and which organizations she had spoken to.

[...

On the same day they received the questions from the IRS, Catherine says, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) launched an unscheduled audit of their machine shop, forcing the Engelbrechts to drop everything planned for that day. Though the Engelbrechts have a Class 7 license, which allows them to make component parts for guns, they do not manufacture firearms. Catherine said that while the ATF had a right to conduct the audit, "it was odd that they did it completely unannounced, and they took five, six hours. It was so extensive. It just felt kind of weird."

That was in February. In July, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration paid a visit to Engelbrecht Manufacturing while Bryan, Catherine, and their children were out of town. The OSHA inspector talked with the managerial staff and employees, inspecting the premises minutely. But Bryan says the agent found "only little Mickey Mouse stuff", like, "You have safety glasses on, but not the right kind; the forklift has a seatbelt, but not the right kind." Yet Catherine and Bryan said the OSHA inspector complimented them on their tightly run shop and said she didn't know why she had been sent to examine it.

Not long after, the tab arrived. OSHA was imposing $25,000 in fines on Engelbrecht Manufacturing. They eventually worked it down to $17,500, and Bryan says they may have tried to contest the fines to drive them even lower, but "we didn't want to make any more waves, because we don't know [how much further] OSHA could reach.”

[...]

A few months later, True the Vote became the subject of congressional scrutiny. In September, Senator Barbara Boxer (D., Calif.) wrote to Thomas Perez, then the assistant attorney general of the civil rights division at the Department of Justice (who has now been nominated for labor secretary).

[...]

And in October, Representative Elijah Cummings (D., Md.), the ranking minority member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, attacked True the Vote in a letter. [...] He also decried True the Vote on MSNBC and CNN.

[...]

The next month, in November 2012, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, the state’s environmental agency, showed up for an unscheduled audit at Engelbrecht Manufacturing. Catherine says the inspector told her the agency had received a complaint but couldn’t provide any more details. After the inspection, the agency notified the Engelbrechts that they needed to pay for an additional mechanical permit, which cost about $2,000 per year.

Since then, the IRS has sent two further rounds of questions to Catherine for her organizations. And last month, the ATF conducted a second unscheduled audit at Engelbrecht Manufacturing.

Catherine says she still hasn’t received IRS approval for her nonprofits, though she filed nearly three years ago.

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That was just one couple’s experience. I wonder how many more of these stories will emerge in the coming days?

Yes, it can happen here.

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Taylor Swift’s Big Night

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Taylor Swift set a new record last night by making her “totally surprised” face eight times at the Billboard Music Awards.

Taylor Swift Dominates Billboard Music Awards With 8 Wins

Taylor Swift’s night at the 2013 Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas was a success. She led all artists at the Sunday night ceremony with eight wins, including top artist and top Billboard 200 album, for “Red.”

During her top artist acceptance speech, Swift thanked her fans for making her music about her crazy emotions the soundtrack to their own crazy emotions. She added that her relationship with her fans was the longest and best relationship she’s ever had.

Swift found out she won the top Billboard 200 album category when fans in the mosh pit held up smartphones that spelled out the album title in big letters. She said, “I’m really happy about this” and went on to thank her fans for the “magical” award.

Swift also delivered one of the more memorable performances of the night, singing her hit “22″ in an elaborate production that began backstage and featured several dancers, a bicycle ride and plenty of red balloons.

Rihanna and Gotye each received four awards. Several artists, including Justin Bieber, picked up three.
Bieber made a bid for musical relevance while accepting the first-ever Milestone Award for musical ingenuity and innovation. During his acceptance speech, Justin took the opportunity to address all the tabloid headlines saying, “I’m 19 years old. I think I’m doing a pretty good job, and basically, from my heart, it should be about the music and the craft that I’m making it.”

Bieber added, “This is not a gimmick. I’m an artist, and I should be taken seriously, and all this bull should not be spoken of.”

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Keep it real, Beebs. You rock the “not even old enough to be jailbait demographic”.

If you never heard of the Billboard Music Awards before, join the club. Apparently a few years back some people decided that the Grammys, People’s Choice, MTV and VH-1 awards just weren’t adequate so they invented another meaningless award so they could hold another annual awards show.

The reason for Taylor’s complete domination of the awards? They are based on sales, and “Red” was the big seller of the year.

<hr /.

For once Andy Borowitz uses satire properly and speaks truth to power

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Andy Borowitz at the New Yorker:

Obama Denies Role in Government

President Obama used his weekly radio address on Saturday to reassure the American people that he has “played no role whatsoever” in the U.S. government over the past four years.

“Right now, many of you are angry at the government, and no one is angrier than I am,” he said. “Quite frankly, I am glad that I have had no involvement in such an organization.”

The President’s outrage only increased, he said, when he “recently became aware of a part of that government called the Department of Justice.”

“The more I learn about the activities of these individuals, the more certain I am that I would not want to be associated with them,” he said. “They sound like bad news.”

Mr. Obama closed his address by indicating that beginning next week he would enforce what he called a “zero tolerance policy on governing.”

“If I find that any members of my Administration have had any intimate knowledge of, or involvement in, the workings of the United States government, they will be dealt with accordingly,” he said.

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Both Borowitz and the New Yorker have well-deserved reputations for unfunny “humor”. I can tell you from personal experience that it is really difficult to be funny all the time. I guess the reverse is also true – it’s really hard to never be funny.

For once Borowitz uses satire properly and speaks truth to power.

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“You can’t purchase immunity from governing”

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From this morning’s Meet The Press:

MR. BOB WOODWARD (Associate Editor, The Washington Post): Well, first of all, I mean, the– the people are making comparisons to Watergate. This is not Watergate, but there are some people in the administration who have acted as if they want to be Nixonian, and that’s a very big problem. I think…

GREGORY: Who and how?

MR. WOODWARD: Pardon? Well, I think on the whole Benghazi thing. You look at those talking points and, I mean, the initial draft by the CIA very explicitly said we know that activists who have ties to al Qaeda who’re involved in the attack. And then you see what comes out a couple of days later and there is no reference to this. This is a business where you have to tell the– the truth and that did not happen here.

[...]

GREGORY: You know, on this point– can I just say on this point, Bob, I think it is interesting that we take a look at how bureaucracies operate. Do they take cues from the president? Again, I bring up this Abu Ghraib example because that was really hammered home, that Abu Ghraib happened because there was a broader context in the administration. Do you think that’s a fair criticism here?

MR. WOODWARD: Well, I– I think you have to kind of step back and say what’s the theory of governing here.

GREGORY: Mm-Hm.

MR. WOODWARD: And the theory is, it seems, oh, there are investigations of the IRS so we can’t interfere. There is this leak investigation of the AP, so we can’t get involved. Oh, there is an investigation of Benghazi, so we’re not responsible. The President and the executive branch need to govern on a daily basis and you can’t purchase immunity from governing.

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It’s been 40 years since the last time Bob Woodward bagged a POTUS. Remember a few weeks ago when the White House unleashed the Vile Progs on Woodward for telling the truth about where the Sequester originated? I’m guessing they are regretting it now.

The White House designated liars spinmeisters are making a great argument for the appointment of a special prosecutor. If the Obama administration can’t simultaneously govern and investigate itself, let someone else handle the investigations.

This is truly the “Know Nothing” administration. Ignorance is a feature, not a bug for these guys. Policy decisions aren’t made, they magically appear out of nowhere. The low-level employees are running everything and the bosses only know what they read in the papers.

Maybe that’s why Katie Couric asked Sarah Palin what papers she reads. She knows how things work in Washington these days.

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This Isn’t Hollywood

Andrea Rebello

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Hofstra hostage was killed by police gunshot

A Hofstra University student being held in a headlock at gunpoint by an intruder was accidently shot and killed by a police officer who had responded to the home invasion at an off-campus home, police said Saturday.

Junior public relations major Andrea Rebello was shot once in the head early Friday morning by an officer who opened fire after the masked intruder pointed a gun at the officer while holding the 21-year-old student, Nassau County homicide squad Lt. John Azzata said.

In a tense confrontation with the officer, gunman Dalton Smith “menaces our police officer, points his gun at the police officer,” Azzata said. The officer opened fire, killing Smith and his hostage.

Azzata said the Nassau County police officer fired eight shots at Smith, who police described as having an “extensive” criminal background. Smith was hit seven times and died. Rebello was shot once in the head.

“He kept saying, ‘I’m going to kill her,’ and then he pointed the gun at the police officer,” Azzata said.

[...]

The veteran police officer, who was not identified, has about 12 years of experience on the Nassau County police force and previously spent several years as a New York City police officer, Dale said.

The officer is currently out on sick leave. He will be the focus of an internal police investigation once the criminal investigation is completed, which is standard police procedure in any officer-involved shooting, the commissioner said.

Earlier Saturday, police announced that Smith, 30, had been wanted on a parole violation related to a first-degree robbery conviction and had an arrest history dating back nearly 15 years.

[...]

Rebello was in the two-story home with her twin sister Jessica, a third woman and a man when Smith, wearing a ski mask, walked into the house through an open front door, Azzata said. Smith demanded valuables and was told they were upstairs, Azzata said.

Smith, apparently unsatisfied with the valuables upstairs, asked if any of the four had a bank account and could withdraw money, Azzata said. The intruder then allowed the unidentified woman to leave and collect money from an ATM, telling her she had only eight minutes to come back with cash before he killed one of her friends, Azzata said.

The woman left for the bank and called 911, according to Azzata.

Minutes later, two police officers arrived at the home and found Rebello’s twin sister Jessica running out of the front door and the male guest hiding behind a couch on the first floor, Azzata said.

One of the officers entered the home and encountered Smith holding onto Rebello in a headlock, coming down the stairs, Azzata said. Smith pulled Rebello closer and started moving backward toward a rear door of the house, pointing the gun at her head before eventually threatening the officer, Azzata said.

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I hold cops to a high standard of conduct but at the same time I have great respect for them and the difficult job they do. This isn’t Hollywood where the good guys shoot the guns out of the hands of the bad guys. Guns are dangerous tools, and in war and police work the safety conditions are somewhat less than ideal. The margin for error is small and the difference is life or death.

I had to qualify with a pistol in the army, the police academy as an armed guard. The qualifying in each case took place at a range where all the safety rules were strictly enforced. When we were shooting there was nothing downrange but targets and something to act as a backstop. We wore eye and ear protection.

Police shootings take place in the real world. Sometimes they take place without warning. Sometimes they take place after an adrenaline-pumping chase where the cops are out of breath. Gunshots indoors without ear protection are deafening. In most police shootings there is a human being that is being shot at and that person is perceived to be a threat to the officer(s). Split-second decisions have to be made under highly stressful conditions.

Not to be callous but shit happens. Humans are not perfect and occasionally make mistakes. Death by “friendly fire” is a regrettable tragedy.

My sympathies go out to the friends and family of Andrea Rebello, but I also feel sorry for the officer who accidentally shot her. He will have to live with that fact for the rest of his life.

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Sunday Morning Open Thread

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I got nothing right now but I’m sure there will be some news later when All The President’s Minions hit the Sunday Morning talk shows to spin their lies talking points.

I’ll see you when I wake up.

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Pick Pickler – Saturday Night Music Open Thread

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The finale of Season 16 of Dancing With The Stars starts Monday night. I want to encourage you all to cheer and root and vote for Kellie Pickler.

Kellie is an alumnus of American Idol (she finished 6th in Season 5) but has been more successful than most AI winners. She was basically abandoned as a child and was raised by her grandparents. She is 26 years old from Albemarle North Carolina. She is also so sweet she will give you diabetes.

(Not to mention she is a close friend of Taylor Swift.)

Here’s a recap of Kellie’s career:

Saturday Afternoon Open Thread

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My first job was at the A&W in Merced. I was the executive vice president in charge of french fries and drinks. Eventually I was promoted to Assistant Chief of the Burger Flipper Division.

What was your first job?

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What Difference Does It Make?

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One of the common threads in the various White House scandals in the news lately has been the efforts made to keep them secret until after last year’s election. This has led many people to ask an obvious question.

What If the Obama Scandals Had Surfaced Last Fall?

I was on Hugh Hewitt’s radio show last night, talking about the Benghazi talking point emails. Near the end of the segment, Hugh asked whether I thought the presidential election might have turned out differently if Obama and Clinton had not succeeded in covering up the truth about Benghazi. I was skeptical. The story of the election, I said, was the Obama campaign’s ability to turn out, once again, a large majority of the low-information voters who swept Obama into office in 2008. Few of those low-information voters, I said, would either have understood, or cared about, Benghazi, even if all the facts had been available.

Which is true, I think, as far as it goes. But what if all of the current Obama scandals had broken last fall? What if voters not only knew the truth about Benghazi–that four Americans were killed by al Qaeda because the Obama administration ignored repeated warnings from the CIA, refused the ambassador’s pleas for better security, and failed even to try to rescue them once they came under attack–but also knew that the IRS had been commissioned to harass the administration’s political opponents? And what if, in addition, reporters knew about DOJ’s surveillance of the Associated Press?

We know that the administration fought feverishly to prevent the truth about Benghazi from coming out until after the election. That is what the notorious talking points, Susan Rice’s tour of the TV news shows, and Obama’s and Clinton’s endless references to the phantom video were all about. We also know that the IRS’s improper activities were well known at the upper reaches of the IRS as well as the Treasury Department–and, it is fair to assume, at the White House–well before the election. Yet numerous officials conspired to keep the scandal quiet until the election was safely past, and at least one IRS employee seems rather clearly to have committed perjury to keep the scandal from coming to the attention of voters. As for the AP surveillance, I still don’t understand the legal context of the incident, and I doubt that many voters would have been swayed by the apparently legal, but unprecedented, surveillance of reporters. But what if reporters had been angry enough over the administration’s double-cross (as they might reasonably see it) that their coverage of the campaign’s closing weeks had been less slavishly pro-Obama? Might these factors, together, have made a difference?

I still don’t think the result would have been different. To an extraordinary degree, the 2012 electorate seemed uninterested in the Obama administration’s failures. If voters didn’t care about the economy or about $16 trillion in debt, why would they have cared about Benghazi or the IRS? But the cumulative effect of multiple, mutually reinforcing scandals is hard to predict. It is easy to understand why, last fall, the Obama administration didn’t want to take any chances. They went into full cover-up mode, and carried off their multiple cover-ups successfully. Without doubt, that effort helped to bring about the president’s re-election.

The analogy to 1972 is obvious. Richard Nixon managed to keep the lid on Watergate long enough to enjoy one of the most sweeping electoral victories in American history. After the election, however, his cover-up unraveled; it consumed, and eventually destroyed, his second term. Whether the same will happen to Obama remains to be seen, but already it is clear that scandal will be a major part of the Obama legacy.

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If Mitt Romney was a criminal defendant there would be ample evidence to justify granting him a new trial. If a prosecutor had intentionally withheld that evidence a reversal would be a slam dunk. The rules are a little different in civil court but concealing evidence is a big no-no there too.

But winning a new trial doesn’t mean you’ll win that trial. The standard of proof is whether a reasonable juror might have decided differently after hearing the new evidence. Unfortunately we will never know for sure. On the other hand it would be irresponsible not to speculate.

Last year’s election came down to four key states. It would have taken relatively few votes to change the outcome. But some voters would not have voted differently even if Obama was caught burning an American flag. If the media had turned against Obama or at least taken a neutral stance on the election that probably would have changed the outcome. But so far these scandals haven’t significantly affected Obama’s approval ratings.

There are no do-overs in presidential elections. The Constitution does not provide for a remedy for a stolen election other than impeachment. Assuming that Obama was impeached by the House and convicted by the Senate, all that would do is put Joe Biden in the Oval Office. Mitt Romney would still be screwed.

So would we.

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Friday Night Music Open Thread

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Like some other artists Sheryl Crow seems to have found a home in the country.

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This was freaking awesome – Rep. Mike Kelly

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There were lots of interesting moments at today’s House Ways and Means Committee hearing but when Rep. Mike Kelly was done giving the acting IRS commissioner an earful the audience clapped and cheered.

This is an open thread.

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House Ways and Means Committee Hearing Live Blog II

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Here’s a fresh thread.

(Graphic courtesy of Chris Muir at Day By Day)

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House Ways And Means Committee IRS Hearing Live Blog

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The House Ways and Means Committee is holding a hearing today on the IRS targeting of conservative groups. It’s scheduled for 9am eastern time which is zero dark thirty Klown time. It’s supposed to be on C-Span 2.

If I don’t wake up in time start without me.

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This is not an Onion parody

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IRS Official in Charge During Tea Party Targeting Now Runs Health Care Office

The Internal Revenue Service official in charge of the tax-exempt organizations at the time when the unit targeted tea party groups now runs the IRS office responsible for the health care legislation.

Sarah Hall Ingram served as commissioner of the office responsible for tax-exempt organizations between 2009 and 2012. But Ingram has since left that part of the IRS and is now the director of the IRS’ Affordable Care Act office, the IRS confirmed to ABC News today.

Her successor, Joseph Grant, is taking the fall for misdeeds at the scandal-plagued unit between 2010 and 2012. During at least part of that time, Grant served as deputy commissioner of the tax-exempt unit.

Grant announced today that he would retire June 3, despite being appointed as commissioner of the tax-exempt office May 8, a week ago.

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When I first read this story I thought it was a spoof. It just sounds insane. Promote the person responsible for the scandal and fire the new guy instead? You can’t make this shit up.

But wait! There’s more!

Sarah Hall Ingram, the IRS executive in charge of the tax exempt division in 2010 when it began targeting conservative Tea Party, evangelical and pro-Israel groups for harrassment, got more than $100,000 in bonuses between 2009 and 2012.

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Well *somebody* was happy with her work.

BTW – there will be another congressional hearing on the IRS scandal later today. That means another (you guessed it) live blog.

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Who Are You Gonna Believe, Jay Carney Or Your Lying Eyes?

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I didn’t think is was possible for someone to make a lying douchenozzle like Piers Morgan look good by comparison.

I was wrong:

WH in Denial: ‘You’re Concocting Scandals Here That Don’t Exist’

White House spokesperson Jay Carney became extremely defensive when questioned on the Obama administration’s record on openness and transparency given the recent IRS and Benghazi scandals Thursday on “Piers Morgan.”

Morgan asked Carney how the administration plans to restore faith in the administration among the American people that may have been damaged in the wake of the Benghazi emails and IRS revelations.

Carney replied he completely denied the premise of Morgan’s question, stating “you’re concocting scandals here that don’t exist”:

PIERS MORGAN: Final question, Jay Carney. Obviously the president made a big deal when he came into office of being not like previous administrations and was going to be much more transparent. The charge today after this week is that you have had that reputation for transparency pretty heavily dented. Do you accept that and just on a general picture, how are you going to move on now and restore perhaps faith that some Americans have lost this week in your openness and honesty?

JAY CARNEY: Well, I’m not sure, again, you’re concocting scandals here that don’t exist, especially with regard to the Benghazi affair that was contrived by Republicans and I think has fallen apart largely this week. The fact of the matter is that this administration has a record on transparency that outdoes any previous administration, and we are committed to that. The president is committed to that.

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Lawyers have a bad reputation for honesty but you’ll rarely see one get caught in a bald-faced lie. But Jay Carney is a journalist by profession, and they have no ethical standards. Every word that comes out of that man’s mouth is a lie, including “and” and “the”.

I personally find it insulting when someone lies that egregiously to my face. Do they really think I am stupid enough to believe that bullshit?

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You Can’t Make This Sh*t Up (UPDATED)

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Do you remember Kai the Hatchet-weilding Hitchhiker who saved a Fresno PG&E worker back in February? Guess what?

He’s now wanted for murder in New Jersey.

The murder weapon was a hatchet.

Kai the hatchet-wielding hitchhiker sought in New Jersey slaying

The man who achieved Internet fame as Kai, the hatchet-wielding hitchhiker when he struck a driver accused of attempting to run over a Pacific Gas & Electric work in February, is wanted on suspicion of murdering an attorney in New Jersey.

Kai is being sought for the killing of Joseph Galfy Jr., an attorney found dead in his home Monday afternoon, Union County Prosecutor Theodore Romankow said Thursday morning, as reported by the Star-Ledger in New Jersey.

The whereabouts of the 24-year-old suspect, whose real name is Caleb Lawrence McGillvary, are not known, Romankow said.

Romankow said McGillvary, who he said cut his hair in an attempt to alter his appearance, was last seen at a light-rail station in the Haddonfield area. The prosecutor said McGillvary is considered armed and dangerous, the Star-Ledger said.

An autopsy completed Tuesday afternoon determined Galfy, 73, died of blunt force trauma, the prosecutor’s office said.

In a Facebook entry posted Tuesday, McGillvary intimates he was drugged and raped, but does not say where or when the incident took place, the Star-Ledger reported.

“What would you do if you woke up with a groggy head, metallic taste in your mouth, in a strangers house … walked to the mirror and seen … dripping from the side of your face from your mouth, and started wretching (sic), realizing that someone had drugged, raped, and (had sex with you)? what would you do?” it reads.

McGillvary gained fame and several television appearances for helping to stop a deadly attack in Fresno by pummeling a man with his hatchet.

The man McGillvary attacked, Jett McBride, 54, of Tacoma, Wash., is charged with the attempted murder of PG&E worker Rayshawn Neely for driving his car into PG&E workers on Feb. 1 near Marks and McKinley avenues.

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According to the local news here the cops in New Jersey think Kai may have been involved in several other hatchet murders as he hitchhiked across the country.

Guess who is really happy about all this? Deborah Girard-Gross.

She’s McBride’s defense attorney.

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UPDATE:

They caught him at a bus station in Philly.

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Going Down With The Ship

S.S. Obama

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Defending the IRS: MSNBC’s Support Of Obama, Once An Asset, Now Puts Network In A Losing Position

[...]

MSNBC is also built on pointing out the hypocrisy and/or evil nature of the Republican Party and Fox News, two cornerstones of its content.

But now it is President Obama and his promise to be a completely transparent administration that is being gleefully exposed as hypocritical by the GOP and Fox.

If Nate Silver is the next Nostradamus, the President is already a lame-duck. Silver says Democrats have little chance to take back the house in 2014. No House control, no ability for a President—whose credibility has taken a toll over the past month for which it will be difficult to recover from—to advance anything grandiose in a second term.

In other words, the President is (to quote Tom Cruise in The Firm): “. . . like a ship carrying a cargo that will never reach any port”.

On the U.S.S. Obama is MSNBC. And in making a run at Fox and in an effort to distance itself from CNN, they simply rearranged the deck chairs by doing things like moving Chris Hayes from weekday mornings to primetime. The result has been nothing short of disastrous, as he now trails The O’Reilly Factor by a 7-to-1 margin while failing to get 500,000 viewers per night (Keith Olbermann, conversely, routinely generated over 1.2 million viewers before being asked to leave).

The only hope, of course, is Hillary and the Clinton for President 2.0 2016 campaign. It was somehow the lead story on the Chris Matthews Show on Sunday. All complete with fat jokes about Chris Christie (lather, rinse, repeat) from the host, who ain’t exactly Calista Flockhart himself…

Benghazi? IRS? AP phone records seized?

Nope…it’s all about an election 42 months away.

Why?

Because it’s a challenge to defend the President these days.

His party won’t win in 2014.

He’s already past tense, a lame duck.

What to do?

Either continue to defend entities like the IRS…

Or Lean Forward with Hillary to 2016.

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I don’t know if that would save them. I really hope it doesn’t.

MSNBC was HillaryHate Central back in 2008. Olberman is gone and Russert is dead but Chris Matthews is always more deranged than usual when dealing with Bill and/or Hillary Clinton. A lot of their viewers still hate Hillary too.

On the other hand, Jon Stewart has obviously seen the writing on the wall:

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