Bob Gorrell via Cartoon via Town Hall
Andrew McCarthy, NRO: No Special Counsel for the IRS Scandal:
Let’s put law and atmospherics aside and try to be completely practical. The imperative in the IRS scandal is not criminal prosecution. It is political accountability: to lay bare what corrupt officials have done, for the purpose of swiftly determining whether they are unfit to hold offices of public trust and whether the system in which they operate tends to corruption. The appointment of a special counsel would undermine that goal.
The moment a prosecutor — special or otherwise — takes over, the public flow of information stops. All witnesses will claim that the pendency of a criminal investigation means they cannot discuss the matter “on advice of counsel.” They will cease cooperating with congressional investigators. The prosecutor will claim that grand-jury secrecy rules bar comment about the expansive investigation (a claim the government routinely makes, even though the rules actually bar comment only by the prosecutor, investigative agents, and grand jurors — not the witnesses).
Public disclosure should be the goal here. It is the one thing that has driven the IRS story to this point. Public disclosure of the shockingly intrusive harassment of the president’s political opponents, the prohibitive legal and regulatory expenses imposed on ordinary people for merely exercising their right to participate in the political process, is what has broken through the administration’s Obamedia fortress. Yet public disclosure is precisely what would be lost if Congress were to punt its oversight responsibilities to a special counsel.
Read the whole thing – McCarthy makes some very good points. Counter-intuitive, but I think he may be right.
Michelle Malkin: Your reading assignments before Obama’s Gitmo speech:
Just last week, I reminded you that Obama’s pals at the Center for Constitutional Rights lobbied aggressively for the release of Gitmo recidivist Abu Sufian bin Qumu, a lead suspect in the Benghazi jihad attack who remains at large.
I’ve reported for years on Attorney General Eric Holder’s old law firm,Covington and Burling, which has represented at least 17 Yemeni Gitmo detainees.
And I’ve repeatedly noted the bloody Gitmo recidivism under both the Bush and Obama administrations, especially through the Yemen/Gitmo jihad revolving door.
Obama’s posture in the war on terror is clear: Retreat, retreat, retreat.
Flashbacks:
July 2007: More Gitmo catch-and-release
January 2009: No more O-Kumbaya: Gunmen attack US embassy in Yemen
January 2009: “Rehab:” Gitmo recidivists thumb their noses in new video
Jnuary 2009: Pay attention to Eric Holder’s law firm and Gitmo detainees
January 2009: Here’s your jihadi recidivism
November 2009: Culture of corruption: Holder, terrorists, Covington & Burling
December 2009: Obama’s December Gitmo surprise — and the Covington & Burling connection revisited
December 2009: Obama brings the Gitmolympics home
December 2009: Yemen, Gitmo, and jihadi revolving doors
January 2010 – Gibbs: “[A]ny additional transfers to Yemen is not a good idea;” Obama: “Let me be clear…”
January 2010: Jihadi revolving doors, Pt. 999
March 2010: National security flip-flop: Obama to retreat on KSM/Gitmo detainee civilian trials…for now
August 2010: Dept. of Social Justice strikes again: USS Cole bombing prosecution “shelved”
October 2012: The Deadly Disgrace of Obama’s Pro-Terrorist Lawyers
Joel Pollak, the Conversation: Did Feb. 2010 Austin Plane Crash Prompt IRS Scandal?
In a speech on national security today, President Barack Obama made a bizarre reference to an incident that occurred in Austin, TX on February 18, 2010 when a pilot deliberately crashed a small aircraft into an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) building, killing himself as well as an IRS employee, and injuring many others.
At the time, the media blamed the attack on the Tea Party–the first of many false accusations. The New York Times, among other mainstream outlets, wondered whether the pilot was “the first Tea Party terrorist.”
The CCCPAC TV Ad: Hold Obama Accountable for Benghazi Scandal:
Help us put this ad on TV:
The Washington Free Beacon: O’Reilly Jokes with Rosen: ‘So Rosen When Are You Going to Jail?’
Fox News host Bill O’Reilly joked with reporter James Rosen at the end of his segment Wednesday on the O’Reilly Factor:
BILL O’REILLY: Okay. Now I have got to get back to Rosen. So Rosen when are you going to jail, because we are taking up the collection for the bail now. When are you going to jail?
JAMES ROSEN: Well I’m touched by your sentiments. [ laughter ]: But that’s about all I would say.
BILL O’REILLY: Okay. I know that Fox News and your attorneys have told you that, you know, not to talk about it. But this has got to be harrowing. Your parents are involved now. And their phone lines and stuff like this. So anyway. We just want to tell the audience that Rosen is okay, we are protecting him. Getting all the support you need, right?
JAMES ROSEN: I feel good about where I am.
Fox News: IRS official who refused to testify facing more scrutiny over scandal, past:
In the 1990′s, Lerner also served as chief of enforcement at the Federal Elections Commission.
Under her direction, the FEC undertook the largest enforcement action in its history — suing the Christian Coalition for violating campaign laws. The Christian Coalition won, but in one deposition, FEC lawyers asked a defendant if televangelist Pat Robertson prayed for him.
James Bopp, the Christian Coalition’s lawyer, said he was “shocked and appalled” by that.
“Both political activity and religious activity are specifically protected by the First Amendment,” he said.
When Bopp learned years later that Lerner had been promoted to an IRS position, he became concerned.
“She was in effect being promoted for what she had done at the Federal Election Commission and now was going to be expected … to replicate that at the IRS and now we know that’s exactly what happened,” he said.
Bryan Preston, PJ Media: Was the IRS Obama’s Electoral Performance-Enhancing Agency?
The IRS scandal was always about politics.
In the very month that ObamaCare passed, March 2010, the groups of Americans that were organizing to fight against ObamaCare were targeted by the agency that will implement ObamaCare. That’s the essence of the scandal. But it is not the full extent of it.
IRS workers union chief Colleen Kelley had access to President Obama and, according to White House logs, met with him on March 31, 2010. The abuse of Tea Party, conservative, Hispanic, pro-life, Christian, and Jewish groups, which must have been in the works for weeks or even months prior, formally began the following day. Americans became April Fools for continuing to believe that we had a government of the people, by the people and for the people. As of April 1, 2010, we had a government arraying itself against the people, or at least against some of the people. According to polls taken at the time, a majority opposed ObamaCare. So it could be said that the IRS was arrayed against a majority of American voters who were organizing to protest the government’s expansion under Obama.The abuse continued through 2010 and 2011, right into 2012 and to the present. True the Vote, for instance, still has not been granted its tax-exempt status to this day. It filed suit against the IRS yesterday. Its founder, Catherine Engelbrecht, was subjected to Kafka-esque abuses not just by the IRS, but by an alphabet soup of executive branch agencies: the FBI, OSHA, and ATF joined in.
NRCC: IRS’ted Development: 15 Arrested Development Quotes that Could Have Come From Democrats:
If you think about it, Washington Democrats are a lot like the Bluth family. They’re a bunch of out-of-touch, elite big spenders ensnared in scandal who have no concept of fiscal responsibility. To illustrate that, we give you IRS’ted Development: a collection of 15 quotes from Arrested Development that could have come from Democrats:
Mitch McConnell: Threat of Nuclear Option Is Really a Pretext for Dem Power Grab:
WASHINGTON, D.C. –U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell made the following remarks on the Senate floor today regarding what he termed a ‘culture of intimidation’ that exists in the Executive Branch and among Senate Democrats and the threat to use the nuclear option if they don’t get their way every time:
“Recently, we’ve seen troubling signs that there are some in the Executive Branch who would use the power of the federal government to intimidate political opponents.
“For instance, reports that the IRS targeted conservative citizens’ groups for harassing and discriminatory treatment simply because they sought to exercise their First Amendment rights of association and speech.
“Or during the debate on Obamacare, when the Department of Health and Human Services issued a gag order on insurance plans in an attempt to prevent them from telling their customers about problems with the bill. Now, there are published reports that the same Department is trying to shake down some of those same companies for money so it can try to convince Americans to finally like Obamacare. And over at the FCC, the President’s allies are trying to shut down or make it difficult for people who want to buy advertising to exercise their First Amendment rights to criticize the Administration.
“It all points to a culture of political intimidation. But, unfortunately, it doesn’t seem that the culture of intimidation is simply confined to the Executive Branch.
“The Administration’s allies in the Senate are trying to intimidate their political opponents as well. What I’m talking about, is the persistent threat by the Majority to break the rules of the Senate in order to change the Rules of the Senate—in other words, to use the nuclear option—if they don’t get their way.
“For example, Senate Democrats were incensed that Republicans had the temerity to exercise their Advice and Consent responsibility to block a grand total of one — that’s right, one — nominee to the D.C. Circuit.
“What did our Democrat colleagues do in response? They consulted with the White House and pledged to pack the D.C. Circuit with appointees, quote, ‘one way or the other’ — meaning using the nuclear option.
“They are not doing this because the D.C. Circuit is burdened with cases. Far from it. The D.C. Circuit is one of the least busy courts in the country. No, they want to use the nuclear option to pack the D.C. Circuit so it can rubberstamp the President’s big government agenda—the same big government we’ve seen at the IRS and elsewhere. But that’s not the limit of the culture of intimidation here in the Senate. Let’s look at the NLRB situation.
“Despite the story that the Administration and Senate Democrats want to spin, Senate Republicans did not block the President’s nominees to the National Labor Relations Board; rather, it was the President who blocked the nominees to the Republican slots on the NLRB so he could—again—pack a powerful branch of government, in this case the NLRB.
“The Administration sat on one of two Democrat vacancies at the NLRB for four months. It then waited until the middle of December in 2011 to send up both nominees for the Democrat seats on the NLRB, while refusing to send up any of the nominees for the Republican seats. In fact, the Administration sat on the Republican nominees to the NLRB for nine months. Then, with no Republican nominees to the NLRB before the Senate, the President purported to ‘recess appoint’ the two Democrat nominees to the Board when their nominations had been before the Senate for less than three weeks. It was so fast, the Democrat Majority didn’t even have time to schedule a hearing. (keep reading at the link.)
Ace of Spades HQ: Shock: Obama’s Nominee for Secretary of Commerce is a Chicago Billionairess Mega-Donor Crony Who By the Way Understated Her Income by $80 Million:
From the Chicago Tribune:Pritzker, 54, a member of Chicago’s wealthiest family, is a business executive whose family founded Hyatt Hotels. She is a Democratic mega-donor and was nominated by longtime friend President Barack Obama, whom she helped get elected.
NBC: What it’s like to give birth in the middle of a tornado:
When a devastating tornado touched down in Moore, Okla., on Monday afternoon, Shayla Taylor was on the upper floor of the local hospital, in active labor with her second child.
As the floor shook “like an earthquake” beneath her and ceiling tiles and insulation fell overhead, the 25-year-old huddled with four nurses, braving both the peak contractions of childbirth and the wrath of the worst twister the veteran Oklahoman had ever endured.
“We were all just sitting there holding each other’s hands and praying,” Taylor told NBC News.
Lady Liberty: I Am Your Worst Nightmare:
Here is my resume..
I can go after your beliefs, and your traditions. Nothing will be sacred to me. I will make you to “see it my way” because “it’s for you own good” oh, and if you don’t, I will attack you, belittle you, shame you. You are in the way.
You can speak out about me if you want, however, be careful, because I can hear everything you say. I am everywhere. Don’t think for a moment that my true believers wont root you out. Don’t speak against me.
If you dissent, or oppose me, (do you really want to go there?) I can send out my minionsto degrade you, smear you, and discredit you . You will be considered the lowest of human beings. It is in my best interest that I do this. Then, if you continue to defy me, I may keep you from having any platform for you to speak on. You will have no way of getting out any of your views. I will make sure of that. I will take away your ability to learn anything of value. I can make your life a living hell. I will silence you.
Who could she possibly be referencing? Read on to find out.
Dennis Miller on O’Reilly – James Rosen, IRS Controversy, Mayor Bloomberg – Bill O’Reilly – 5-22-13:
Miller has an interesting theory involving Valerie Jarrett that I happen to agree with.
Here’s what I’ve been working on at the Conversation:
Shulman Visited White House 118 Times During Tea Party Targeting
Juiceboxers Who Visited The WH, Yesterday Suddenly Taking a Hard Line On IRS Scandal
Will Chairman Issa Recall Lois Lerner To Testify Before Congress? (Video)
Senator Vitter Passes ‘No Food Stamps For Murderers And Rapists’ Amendment to Farm Bill
FTR Radio and SGP Host ‘Operation Helping Hand’ Radiothon for Midwest Tornado Victims
Hobby Lobby Battles HHS Mandate In Federal Appeals Court Today
‘Whoops, My Bad!’: Judge apologizes for lack of transparency in James Rosen probe
