Transparently Full of It

Oh what a tangled web we weave.....The most transparent administration ever is slowly but surely being obscured behind the web of lies that it is spinning on the I.R.S. scandal. I've lost track of how many times press secretary Jay Carney has walked the dog back on this story, and the testimony of this past week, if you can call it that, certainly has raised this to a higher level. Between thoroughly disingenuous former commissioner Schulman, and "I can make a statement of innocence and then take the fifth" Lerner, it's a wonder that some of the committee members didn't physically take these two into the hallway and pound them.

Congressman Cummings clearly lost his patience with Mr. Schulman when he asked a question that should have engendered a simple yes or no answer. Mr. Schulman you made statements to this committee that there was no targeting of conservative groups. Then the I.G. issued his report that stated there was targeting. Didn't you feel any responsibility or obligation to come back to this committee and correct your statements? Is it okay in your mind to misinform committee of the United States House of Representatives? Schulmsn's non-answer answer is too insulting to even refer to.

And what about the White House? The White House counsel advises the Chief of Staff about the results of the I.G. report and the Chief of Staff somehow forgets to tell the President?  The President heard about it when the story broke in the press. Sure.

This is going to get uglier bu the minute.

Watergate Revisited

It's been quite a while since the impulse has grabbed me but with the latest revelations regarding Benghazi and the IRS, well enough is enough. Let's start with Benghazi. It is indeed very unfortunate that this issue has become totally politicized, so that people are talking past each other. The release of the emails this week begs as many questions as it answers, but one thing is for certain; there was a deliberate and concerted effort at the highest levels of government to tell the American people and the world something other than the truth. even from this limited sample, the redactions and edits make it perfectly clear that the government knew way more than it was willing to reveal. If you're old enough to remember Watergate, Nixon's real problems started when the White House released edited versions of transcripts. No less an expert on this subject than Bob Woodward himself reminded several people an a panel show that they should not play down the potential problems that Benghazi could still cause for the President. I had my suspicions when U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice was sent out to deliver the talking points. Why was she picked to talk about a national security issue when she is not even in the chain of command? Okay, so it was a walk on audition for Secretary of State, but given the gravity of the situation, what the heck was the White House thinking? I'm not a big Obama fan, but I certainly would not have held it against him if he had just come out and told the truth that it was a terrorist attack. That is what we have come to expect from terrorists, and even with Bin Laden gone, it is absurd to think that terrorism would just come to an end. An now for the IRS. Whether it's COINTELPRO from the Nixon days or targeting conservative groups today, perhaps more than any other department of the government, the IRS must be beyond reproach. The wealth of confidential and personal information that it maintains cannot ever be used for any nefarious purposes. I believe that organizations that are applying for tax free status should be properly vetted, but I do not for one second believe that some mid-level agents in Cincinnati woke up one morning and just decided to do this. Canning the acing head of the agency who was not even there when this started is nothing but made for TV optics. Congress is going to have to bring the former commissioner in for testimony because this started under his watch. Frankly, anyone who engaged in this activity should be fired and they should be deprived of any government benefits. This is not what they are being paid to do. Is it any wonder why there is so little faith in government.