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Insane or Liars?
Author: BobR    Date: 05/13/2013 12:43:07

Republicans are going nuts. That may seem like an obvious statement. The root cause of their distress is a Democrat in the White House. They went nuts when Bill Clinton was president, and they've been losing it ever since Barack Obama became president. They tried hard to make his presidency ineffectual by blocking him in Congress at every step, especially after the mid-term elections in 2010 when they took control of the House. Their goal was to make him a one-term "failure". Instead, it was they who failed, and President Obama was re-elected by a healthy margin.

So now the focus (beyond the continuing obstruction) is on tainting his presidency, trying to find grounds for impeachment, and pre-smearing the most likely candidates for 2016. Hence my previous blog on the "Ground Hog Day"-like Benghazi hearings. They have a new chew toy, however, in that some low-level IRS agents were targeting tea party groups for additional scrutiny (yeah, because when you have a name that's an acronym for "Taxed Enough Already", there's absolutely no reason for the IRS to be concerned).

Like Benghazi, this is another case of "who knew what when?" It seems that when a mid-level IRS manager found out, she immediately put an end to it, but the news traveled up the management chain rather slowly:
But on June 29, 2011, Lois G. Lerner, who heads the IRS division that oversees tax-exempt organizations, learned at a meeting that groups were being targeted, according to the watchdog's report. At the meeting, she was told that groups with "Tea Party," `'Patriot" or "9/12 Project" in their names were being flagged for additional and often burdensome scrutiny, the report says.
[...]
Lerner instructed agents to change the criteria for flagging groups "immediately," the report says.
While this was happening, several committees in Congress were writing numerous letters IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman to express concern because tea party groups were complaining of IRS harassment.

In Shulman's responses, he did not acknowledge targeting of tea party groups. At a congressional hearing March 22, 2012, Shulman was adamant in his denials.
[...]
Shulman was appointed by President George W. Bush, a Republican. His 6-year term ended in November. President Barack Obama has yet to nominate a successor. The agency is now run by an acting commissioner, Steven Miller.

(bold-face mine)

So we're to believe that a Republican commissioner appointed by President Dubya either advocated or concealed the targeting of groups that were essentially wings of the Republican party? It's absurd. Of course, though not as absurd as the notion that President Obama directed it. That - and the idea that he should be impeached for it - comes from our "friends" at FOX "News", and occasionally lucid (but not this time) columnist George Will. He compares this to Nixon.

Ex-congressman Allen West (R-FL) goes a step further. Not only was this directed from the White House, it was because of - wait for it - an auto bailout conspiracy:
Former Congressman Allen West on Sunday (R-FL) said that an admission by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) that it had improperly scrutinized tea party groups was part of a wider conspiracy that included President Barack Obama’s administration forcing Republican-owned car dealerships to be shut down during the auto bailout in 2009.
[...]
“One of the things you have to understand with those donor lists — and this is something that was brought up before the Small Business and also the Oversight Committee when I was there in Congress — they are after those lists because they want to put a lot of pressure on individuals,” West explained. “And there are a lot of folks out there concerned about coming out and being forthcoming about their support to political candidates and what have you.”

Did you get the connection there between the IRS agent profiling and the car dealerships?... Yes?... if you did, then please explain it to me, because I have no clue.

In the "Republican politicians embracing absurd conspiracy theories" department, though, Rand Paul has a two-fer. I mentioned in the previous blog that Rand Paul thinks the Benghazi attack was because of a secret CIA arms trade deal from Libya to Syria. He said:
“I've actually always suspected that, although I have no evidence, that maybe we were facilitating arms leaving Libya going through Turkey into Syria.”

(gotta stop listening to those voices inside your head Rand - they lie). Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates is saying that the Republicans have a cartoonish view of capability, particularly in the Middle East. I'd say that's a fair - if reserved - assessment of their grasp on reality.

Rand Paul is also promoting the notion that the UN Arms Trade Treaty is really a secret plot for the UN to confiscate and destroy all civilian-owned weapons in the U.S.. Oh wait - I forgot to put that in CAPS:
In a fundraising email sent on behalf of the National Association on Gun Rights, Paul alleged the U.N. Arms Trade Treaty was a secret plot to completely disarm American civilians.

“Ultimately, UN bureaucrats will stop at nothing to register, ban and CONFISCATE firearms owned by private citizens like YOU,” Paul wrote. “So far, the gun-grabbers have successfully kept many of their schemes under wraps. But looking at previous attempts by the UN to pass global gun control, you and I can get a good idea of what’s likely in the works.”

Paul said the United Nations would “CONFISCATE and DESTROY ALL” of civilian firearms in the United States and ban the sale of all semi-automatic weapons. He also alleged the United Nations was controlled by “petty dictators and one-world socialists” who were plotting to usurp American sovereignty.

Never mind that the treaty is about inter-country trade, not intra-country (they probably would need to look up the difference, and then still wouldn't get it). That's assuming, of course, that they really believe the insanity that they're spewing. On the other hand, it could all just be political theatre. If that's the case - they're the ones deliberately lying to the American people for political gain, which would make them both liars and hypocrites.

Insane or liars? Which is worse?
 

60 comments (Latest Comment: 05/14/2013 02:50:21 by Raine)
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