Here’s what we have at this hour:
- Justice Department secretly obtained AP phone records (The Guardian) — AP’s top exec calls it a “massive and unprecedented intrusion.” Technically, the intrusion did not actually have mass and therefore couldn’t be “massive” (I once had an editor for whom this was a pet peeve), but you know what he meant.
- Obama says he ‘will not tolerate’ IRS misdeeds (WashPost) — The word “outrageous” was used. What I want to know is, if the IRS had to screw up like this, why did they have to do it to groups that believe, as an article of faith, that this is just the kind of thing government would do?
- Obama dismisses criticism of Benghazi talking points as ‘side show’ (WashPost) — Me, I’m feeling bad for PM David Cameron. Two headlines from his joint presser with POTUS, and neither is about their meeting. So much for the Special Relationship. Meanwhile… a car bomb kills several people in… Benghazi.
- Philly abortion doctor guilty in 3 babies’ deaths (AP) — There were a lot of stories out there on this, but I used this because it was the only headline that used the word, “babies.”
- Major Retailers Join Bangladesh Safety Plan (NYT) — Meanwhile, the death toll from the building collapse tops 1,100.
- Steve Benjamin seeks re-election as Columbia mayor (thestate.com) — But I already mentioned that.
Related Posts
By the way, I see that the head of AP is now Gary Pruitt, who was running McClatchy when it bought The State… Ah, the memories…
What? More history (July 2012) the AP just dredged to take the momentus spotlight off Benghazi? Red herring.
Ditto the IRC 501(c)4 story dating to 2010, although a red flag for a corrupted bureaucracy, I can hardly wait for the truth to be mysteriously suppressed by both parties before the next congressional elections.
Why do conclude the unthinkable? The review commission that will be convened will not be the powers of subpoena and grants of immunity. Back room deals will perprtuate the perception of two parties at odds instead of their collaboration to sink the “Tea Party’.
Open-minded voters will do well to recall that it had been both Democrat and Republican lawyer-politicians in leadership (back in 2010, also) who predicted the demise of the Tea Party. At least now we understand the basis for their corruptive confidance.
How your 501c4 group can avoid an IRS audit: endorse the perpetual, limitless growth of government power.
ALL 501c groups should be legitimate non-profits. No particular group should be singled out. The IRS should know better. But it probably is a bigger problem with the more conservative groups like those run by the Koch brothers.
I’m on record as making it clear that I love Big Brother…
Brad, when your blog was blocked by my work’s Bluecoat, it was classified as “subversive” – so I think your protestations of love for Big Brother are a little too late, and fall on deaf ears.
Ha!
What’s a bluecoat? Is that anything like the guys with blue hands on “Firefly?”
Bluecoat is a hardware-based web proxy server and web filter. It keeps employees from surfing certain “less desirable” websites in the workplace.
http://www.bluecoat.com/
Quis costodiet ipsos custodes?
The state Senate is budgeting money for new school buses, why is the state government in the school bus business? Every state that I’ve lived in leaves that up to the school districts. This state could probably resolve half of their problems by just getting out of areas that they don’t’ need to be involved.
We have the newest school buses of anywhere I’ve ever lived or visited, here in Richland County. Maybe they are old and worse in the corridor of shame or something, though.
Maybe they should just walk to school like their great grandparents did, it might do them some good. God knows we have enough overweight kids as it is.
“The Empire would like to apologize for the destruction of Aldreaan. That was the decision of a low-level employee in Cincinnati.”
Best line from IRS Commissioner Miller: “Mistakes were made.”
Can anyone say “Senator Palin”? From Salon:
Sarah Palin is an early front-runner in a potential Republican primary matchup for the 2014 Alaska senatorial race, according to a new poll by the GOP firm Harper Polling.
According to the poll, Palin would get 32 percent of the vote, followed by Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell who would get 30 percent. Twenty-four percent said they are not sure, while only 14 percent said they’d vote for Joe Miller, the Tea Party candidate who failed to oust Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski in 2010.
I think the IRS disclosure is just to distract from Benghazi. The AP stuff is a bonus!
Benghazi is a near-zero level scandal. The IRS stuff is important but the ultimate level of importance depends on high up the chain of command this goes. The AP story really does sound bad at first blush. Let’s see where it goes.
The point is that each of these incidents taken individually erodes trust in the honesty, integrity and fair functioning of the government. Trust is already at a pretty low level, and these actions do nothing to restore our faith in the institutions.
Personally, I’m surprised when the government does something right.
“Benghazi is a near-zero level scandal.”
Are you serious?
Yes
Bud – this one’s for you:
http://bit.ly/10Jp8h8
Now Politico is reporting that a special IRS unit also went after pro-Jewish and Israeli groups under the Obama administration. You know who else had special “elite” groups of government employees that targeted the Jews???
All the senior level administration officials keep blaming all the scandals on these independent low-level employees. No one up high in the IRS knew about political targeting of groups, no one high up in the DOJ knew about Fast and Furious, no one high up in DHS knew about the release of the criminals, no one at the White House/State knows about talking points being scrubbed.
If you believe the Obama administration: none of the senior leaders know what is going on. I guess the government is so big and vast, no senior leaders can be expected to be directly responsible for screw-ups.
And the Obama Administration’s solution to most issues? Let’s make government bigger.