Monday Open Thread [7.1.13]
Dana Milbank on the evil of Darrell Issa:
First, the head of the investigation overpromises. “This was a targeting of the president’s political enemies, effectively, and lies about it during the election year so that it wasn’t discovered until afterwards,” Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), chairman of the House oversight committee, said in May of the IRS targeting scandal. He later declared President Obama’s press secretary a “paid liar” for stating otherwise.
Next, facts emerge to undermine the investigator’s presuppositions. Documents released by Ways and Means committee Democrats this week show that the IRS, in addition to targeting tea party groups, also had “Be on the Lookout” (BOLO) lists for groups using descriptors such as “progressive,” “health care legislation,” “medical marijuana,” “paying national debt” and “green energy.”
Finally, evidence surfaces that the investigator stacked the deck. Tuesday night, the Hill newspaper quoted a spokesman for Treasury’s inspector general, Russell George, saying the group was asked by Issa “to narrowly focus on tea party organizations.” The inspectors knew there were other terms, but “that was outside the scope of our audit.”
Certainly, something went badly wrong at the IRS that caused groups to be targeted because of ideology. But it’s nothing like the conspiracy Issa cooked up in which the president and his men supposedly used the tax authority to attack their political foes.
…the collapse of the Issa-driven scandal has reinforced a growing impression in the capital that ultimately will help Obama: The chairman is full of it.
And he should be arrested for obstruction of justice and contempt of Congress. I am serious about that. Darrell Issa belongs in jail.
Some polling goodness…
HAWAII–U.S. SENATE–DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY–Civil Beat: Sen. Brian Schatz (D) 36%, Rep. Colleen Hanabusa (D) 33%.
“Schatz, appointed in late December by Gov. Neil Abercrombie to the seat held by the late Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, is being challenged by the congresswoman who Inouye wanted to take his place. The race has divided the state’s dominant political party, in part because of Inouye’s influential standing in the party even after his death, and because the candidates hold similar policy views.”
Issa is full of it regarding all of these current scandals. No one should question Obama or his administration regarding the IRS, NSA, Holder perjuring himself, Sebelius, Obamacare, the media, bugging our friends at the EU, etc. etc. etc. Anyone who does is either insane or unpatriotic. Right, Delaware Dem?
There is nothing to see here, people. Issa is crazy. Period. Never mind the man behind the curtain. Just go back to living your lives and never again question the infallibility of your leaders.
All you need to know about Issa can be found in this NY’er profile:
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/01/24/110124fa_fact_lizza?currentPage=all
@Brady: He’s not crazy, he’s incompetent. Wouldn’t you prefer somebody with some skillz conducting the hearings and investigations?
@Brady. There are no current IRS scandals. If you want to be considered honest and credible here, you must first acknowledge that the IRS “Scandal” was a wholly fabricated lie put forward by Issa and his fellow Republicans, and you must call for him to be arrested at once.
Regarding the NSA “scandal,” I await your call for the repeal of the Patriot Act in its entirety. I also await proof that you condemned President Bush for signing it into law in the first place.
Regarding Obamacare / Sebelius, to what scandal are you referring there? What, are you one of those loons who think it is unconstitutional and Obama should be impeached for it?
Regarding the media, I suppose you are referring to the Justice Department investigating the AP and others regarding Pentagon leaks. And if that is the case, then I am sure you never in your life criticized the President or his adminsitration in any way over the leaking of classified national security material. If you have, then you are directly responsible for this scandal and you should turn yourself in immediately.
Regarding bugging our friends at the EU…. are you saying that the United States of America should not spy on foreign governments????? And are you really that naive and stupid enough to believe that this has not been going on for the last 80 years?
You can criticize Obama all you want. But that does not mean I don’t get to call you a hypocrite, an idiot, insane, or any combination thereof.
“Never mind the man behind the curtain.”
You forget that Issa is one of the ones behind the curtain. He would not release the full transcripts of the IRS investigation. Rep. Elijah Cummings released them because Issa wouldn’t.
Of course you wouldn’t know that Brady, because your sources (WND) would never report that kind of stuff.
Another guillible soul held hostage by their own beliefs. I suppose you can be thankful you don’t believe you can fly.
Issa has been desperate for a home run and instead hits nothing but foul balls, this is just his latest. Expect the pig to get away with, just like Benghazi and all the other endless false alarms and outright lies.
Hey, NCC just fired Land Use Manager and Maryland resident David Culver….about damn time.
http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20130701/NEWS02/307010077/New-Castle-County-fires-land-use-chief-David-Culver
Is anyone following the Philadelphia School funding crisis? (If you aren’t, you should. This is going to be some of our school districts in a few years.) Will Bunch has written an observation about how corporations and the Chamber seem to end up doing what we elect or government to do — but always by making sure that someone else pays.
thanks for that link Cassandra.
The stupid people in this whole mess if there is a mess is the press after being burned several times by Issa temper tantrums continue to give this car thief,arsonist and insurance cheat press coverage
@ Brady we have a Supreme Court justice who perjured himself ( Clarence Thomas) . We don’t know if Holder committed perjury yet. Why don’t you worry more about a lifetime justice in our highest court.