No wonder they can't catch the REAL terrorists!
The Boston Globe broke the story. The Department of Homeland Security in conjunction with the Boston Police Department had planned an exercise where terrorists used backpack bombs to attack. The exercise was never held because the real attack occurred first.
What's most interesting about the planned exercise is that Boston Police and Homeland Security created a fictional right wing group "Free America Citizens" as the perpetrators. One wonders if someone at the IRS involved in targeting Tea Party groups might have come up with the name.
Of course this isn't the first time that Homeland Security or other agencies of the U.S. government and law enforcement have pointed the finger at right wing groups. It isn't the second time. Or third, fourth, fifth, sixth and so on. (1,2,3)
Meanwhile, the real terrorists go undetected. Despite knowing that Major Nidal Hassan carried a business card declaring himself a "soldier of Allah" and actively corresponding with terrorist mastermind Anwar al-Awlaki, the Army and federal agencies did nothing to stop his murder spree at Fort Hood. Ditto with the Tsarnaev brothers in Boston. Despite warnings, and travel to a terrorist hot spot the Feds turned a blind eye. We're scooping up all the phone records of innocent Americans but the Feds can't take a look at the jihadi postings on Tamerlan Tsarnaev's web page?
It's an open question whether the FBI spent more time investigating Tea Party groups than they did looking into any of these real threats. The focus of federal law enforcement and Homeland Security seems more tuned to investigate Obama's political foes than terrorists who are plotting to kill Americans!
Monday, June 17, 2013
Saturday, June 15, 2013
GOP Repeating Same Mistake While Dems Charge Ahead with 21st Century Campaign Techniques
How many more elections will GOP throw away before they figure this out?
Don't say I didn't warn you. After Obama's big win in 2008 I pointed out that he achieved this sad result by massive spending on direct grass roots operations in the handful of key states he needed to win. I repeated this warning again in 2010 when despite the Tea Party surge (which Obama later suppressed with help from the IRS) we lost seats that we might otherwise have won. In August 2011 I warned that the Obama campaign had initiated a massive data operation (probably got the idea from NSA spaying). The campaign bragged that this would be "the most innovative and effective digital campaign in history, a team that will not just surpass but demolish our fundraising, communications, and organizing goals.” I suppose it's not bragging if you can do it.
Finally in August 2012 I warned again that Romney was way behind in grassroots field operations with Obama outspending him 3 to 1 in the handful of key states Obama needed to win. In the end Romney lost to Obama by less than 400,000 votes in four states: Colorado, Florida, Ohio and Virginia.
In the aftermath of the election Republicans, largely driven by Democrat allied media, insisted that the loss was due to an inability to reach out to Hispanics, women and minorities. But analysis shows that even if Romney had nearly tripled his take of the Hispanic vote he still would have lost. The major problem for the GOP is NOT outreach to minorities but a more effective way to identify and get likely GOP voters to the polls.
Want to see an eye opening report on the problem? I urge you to take a few minutes to see this:
Considering how successfully the Obama campaign exploits the personal data of every American voter it's not surprising that Obama's government is doing the same. The real question is whether the GOP will give greater emphasis to replicating these efforts or will they continue to be mired in the blame game of politically correct criticism most of which is manipulated by Democrat media?
2014 is not that far away. I wish I could say the GOP has learned the lesson!
Don't say I didn't warn you. After Obama's big win in 2008 I pointed out that he achieved this sad result by massive spending on direct grass roots operations in the handful of key states he needed to win. I repeated this warning again in 2010 when despite the Tea Party surge (which Obama later suppressed with help from the IRS) we lost seats that we might otherwise have won. In August 2011 I warned that the Obama campaign had initiated a massive data operation (probably got the idea from NSA spaying). The campaign bragged that this would be "the most innovative and effective digital campaign in history, a team that will not just surpass but demolish our fundraising, communications, and organizing goals.” I suppose it's not bragging if you can do it.
Finally in August 2012 I warned again that Romney was way behind in grassroots field operations with Obama outspending him 3 to 1 in the handful of key states Obama needed to win. In the end Romney lost to Obama by less than 400,000 votes in four states: Colorado, Florida, Ohio and Virginia.
In the aftermath of the election Republicans, largely driven by Democrat allied media, insisted that the loss was due to an inability to reach out to Hispanics, women and minorities. But analysis shows that even if Romney had nearly tripled his take of the Hispanic vote he still would have lost. The major problem for the GOP is NOT outreach to minorities but a more effective way to identify and get likely GOP voters to the polls.
Want to see an eye opening report on the problem? I urge you to take a few minutes to see this:
Considering how successfully the Obama campaign exploits the personal data of every American voter it's not surprising that Obama's government is doing the same. The real question is whether the GOP will give greater emphasis to replicating these efforts or will they continue to be mired in the blame game of politically correct criticism most of which is manipulated by Democrat media?
2014 is not that far away. I wish I could say the GOP has learned the lesson!
FBI Director Stonewalls House Committee Investigating IRS Scandal
Can he really be THIS clueless or does the Obama corruption reach the top level of the FBI as well?
A few days ago I posted a story describing how difficult it is to get any kind of transparency or accountability for the American people regarding the activities of the Obama Administration when so many of their top officials either lie or simply claim they "don't know" when asked direct questions by Congress while under oath. Here's another stunning example. It involved FBI Director Robert Mueller being questioned by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) last Thursday:
It short of shoots down any idea that the Obama, who expressed outrage when he claims he first learned of the scandal saying "I have got no patience with it, I will not tolerate it, and we will make sure that we find out exactly what happened on this," is any too serious about finding out what happened.
In further news, not one of the Tea Party groups that are parties to lawsuits against the IRS have been contacted by the FBI. It's as if the FBI were supposed to track down a bank robber but never bothered to ask the bank teller what the robber looked like!
It seems it's OK to use the FBI to intimidate Obama's political opponents, but they can't be bothered to find out what happened once the scandal was exposed!
A few days ago I posted a story describing how difficult it is to get any kind of transparency or accountability for the American people regarding the activities of the Obama Administration when so many of their top officials either lie or simply claim they "don't know" when asked direct questions by Congress while under oath. Here's another stunning example. It involved FBI Director Robert Mueller being questioned by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) last Thursday:
From the Blaze: “Can you tell me who the lead investigator is,” Jordan pressed.So, once again an Administration official repeatedly tells a congressional oversight panel he does not know anything. Even though some of the questions at Thursday's hearing were submitted a week in advance and Director Mueller had to know this would be a prime topic.
“Off the top of my head, no” the FBI chief replied.
“This is the most important issue in front of the country the last six weeks, you don’t know who is heading up the case?” Jordan asked.
Mueller also said he hasn’t been briefed recently on the IRS case and couldn’t say how many officials were assigned to the investigation.
When asked if he had talked to any of the targeted groups since May 14 or if officials were attempting to contact them, Mueller said he had not and didn’t know if other officials had contacted the groups.
“Some of them testified that they were paid a visit by the FBI,” Jordan continued. “If the FBI did contact people involved in the IRS scandal, victims, groups, prior to the investigation when they were applying to tax exempt status, why was that the case?”
“I do not know,” Mueller responded, later adding “You are asking questions about details of the investigation…I’ll be happy to get back to you.”
It short of shoots down any idea that the Obama, who expressed outrage when he claims he first learned of the scandal saying "I have got no patience with it, I will not tolerate it, and we will make sure that we find out exactly what happened on this," is any too serious about finding out what happened.
In further news, not one of the Tea Party groups that are parties to lawsuits against the IRS have been contacted by the FBI. It's as if the FBI were supposed to track down a bank robber but never bothered to ask the bank teller what the robber looked like!
It seems it's OK to use the FBI to intimidate Obama's political opponents, but they can't be bothered to find out what happened once the scandal was exposed!
Thursday, June 13, 2013
Why is Hillary Clinton Tweeting Front Page News but State Dept. Covering up Drug Selling, Pedophila and Prostitution Not?
It's no wonder the majority of Americans are so poorly informed about Obama Administration corruption and deceit!
On Monday, in the online edition of the Washington Post a small story described how investigations of criminal wrongdoing, including an Ambassador (also a major Obama campaign donor) accused of soliciting sex from children, were swept under the rug while Hillary Clinton was Secretary of State. Her own Chief of Staff and another high up, both of which were involved in the coverup of the attack in Benghazi, are implicated.
The story appeared on page A2 of the print edition of the Post on Tuesday, June 11. It's doubtful too many people saw it since it was dwarfed by a 29 paragraph story which began on the front page and spilled over onto page 2 discussing Hillary Clinton's first tweets on Twitter. All laid on with photos showing Hillary supposedly tweeting and also hugging Henry Kissinger.
Which story, Hillary joins Twitter, or coverup of State Department criminality is more important and newsworthy? Apparently the Post thinks a puff piece about Hillary is.
Just another sad case of media bias which also highlights why it is so difficult to inform the American people about government wrongdoing when Democrats are in power. Can you imagine how different the news coverage would be if the story about State Department criminal coverups had happened while Condi Rice was Secretary of State?
Why the Post's slobbering fascination with Hillary tweeting? Columnist Maureen Dowd has a thought. She wonders whether the media might be trying to make Hillary Clinton the new "cool" Democrat onto which gullible and disillusioned Obama followers might flock to as the lamest of lame duck Presidents sinks beneath the waves of scandal, corruption and incompetence.
On Monday, in the online edition of the Washington Post a small story described how investigations of criminal wrongdoing, including an Ambassador (also a major Obama campaign donor) accused of soliciting sex from children, were swept under the rug while Hillary Clinton was Secretary of State. Her own Chief of Staff and another high up, both of which were involved in the coverup of the attack in Benghazi, are implicated.
The story appeared on page A2 of the print edition of the Post on Tuesday, June 11. It's doubtful too many people saw it since it was dwarfed by a 29 paragraph story which began on the front page and spilled over onto page 2 discussing Hillary Clinton's first tweets on Twitter. All laid on with photos showing Hillary supposedly tweeting and also hugging Henry Kissinger.
Which story, Hillary joins Twitter, or coverup of State Department criminality is more important and newsworthy? Apparently the Post thinks a puff piece about Hillary is.
Just another sad case of media bias which also highlights why it is so difficult to inform the American people about government wrongdoing when Democrats are in power. Can you imagine how different the news coverage would be if the story about State Department criminal coverups had happened while Condi Rice was Secretary of State?
Why the Post's slobbering fascination with Hillary tweeting? Columnist Maureen Dowd has a thought. She wonders whether the media might be trying to make Hillary Clinton the new "cool" Democrat onto which gullible and disillusioned Obama followers might flock to as the lamest of lame duck Presidents sinks beneath the waves of scandal, corruption and incompetence.
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
New Obama Scandals Highlight the Problem of Oversight and Accountability
How can there be proper oversight if Obama Administration officials lie or suppress investigations?
It seems there's a new scandal every few days rocking the world of King Barack, the Corrupter in Chief. The two latest highlight the same issues we have seen throughout this season of scandal.
The latest is a State Department scandal where investigations of drug rings and prostitution were hushed up by top political appointees. In one of the worst cases, Howard Gutman, U.S. Ambassador to Belgium and a major Obama campaign donor was suspected of soliciting sex from minor children. The investigation was terminated by Undersecretary of State Patrick Kennedy. In yet another case, Hillary Clinton's Chief of Staff Cheryl Mills intervened to protect another of Obama's ambassadorial appointments from scrutiny.
Both Mills and Kennedy are prime figures in the Benghazi scandal. Is it any wonder that the investigations seeking answers in that scandal have gone nowhere?
Then there's the Director of National Intelligence James Clapper who apparently told a falsehood in a senate hearing in March when he told the Senators that the government was not collecting data of any kind on Americans.
And who can forget Attorney General Eric Holder judge shopping an apparently false warrant against Fox News' James Rosen. Holder left an entirely misleading impression in a previous hearing under oath before Congress. But then, that's not the first time he's done that.
Same deal with the IRS with Commissioner Shulman falsely assuring Congress in 2012 that there was " absolutely no targeting" of conservative groups seeking tax exempt status.
President Transparency or Corruption?
Obama, always good for a laugh, asserted in February that “This is the most transparent administration in history.” Responding to the domestic spying scandal insisted last Friday that "Congress is continually briefed on how these are conducted. There are a whole range of safeguards involved." Yet, to paraphrase Senator Ron Wyden how can there be proper oversight by Congress to protect the American people from abuse when Administration officials either don't inform Congress or are deliberately misleading or dishonest?
Furthermore, how can the American people have faith that our government will not abuse our rights when officials like Attorney General Holder and the IRS have done just that?
At some point a Special Prosecutor(s) must be named to go into all these misdeeds and clean house. The corruption and incompetence of the Obama team is starting to stink up the place!
It seems there's a new scandal every few days rocking the world of King Barack, the Corrupter in Chief. The two latest highlight the same issues we have seen throughout this season of scandal.
The latest is a State Department scandal where investigations of drug rings and prostitution were hushed up by top political appointees. In one of the worst cases, Howard Gutman, U.S. Ambassador to Belgium and a major Obama campaign donor was suspected of soliciting sex from minor children. The investigation was terminated by Undersecretary of State Patrick Kennedy. In yet another case, Hillary Clinton's Chief of Staff Cheryl Mills intervened to protect another of Obama's ambassadorial appointments from scrutiny.
Both Mills and Kennedy are prime figures in the Benghazi scandal. Is it any wonder that the investigations seeking answers in that scandal have gone nowhere?
Then there's the Director of National Intelligence James Clapper who apparently told a falsehood in a senate hearing in March when he told the Senators that the government was not collecting data of any kind on Americans.
And who can forget Attorney General Eric Holder judge shopping an apparently false warrant against Fox News' James Rosen. Holder left an entirely misleading impression in a previous hearing under oath before Congress. But then, that's not the first time he's done that.
Same deal with the IRS with Commissioner Shulman falsely assuring Congress in 2012 that there was " absolutely no targeting" of conservative groups seeking tax exempt status.
President Transparency or Corruption?
Obama, always good for a laugh, asserted in February that “This is the most transparent administration in history.” Responding to the domestic spying scandal insisted last Friday that "Congress is continually briefed on how these are conducted. There are a whole range of safeguards involved." Yet, to paraphrase Senator Ron Wyden how can there be proper oversight by Congress to protect the American people from abuse when Administration officials either don't inform Congress or are deliberately misleading or dishonest?
Furthermore, how can the American people have faith that our government will not abuse our rights when officials like Attorney General Holder and the IRS have done just that?
At some point a Special Prosecutor(s) must be named to go into all these misdeeds and clean house. The corruption and incompetence of the Obama team is starting to stink up the place!
Saturday, June 08, 2013
Obama's Scandals Point to Systemic Corruption Which Threatens ALL our Liberties
When you connect the dots of corruption they point directly to the President and Democrats!
The White House has had just about as many explanations for the IRS scandal as they did drafts of the Benghazi big lie talking points. I lost count after Politico published a list two weeks ago. But of course the great thing about the big lie is that no matter how often it's exposed, Dems will always find a way to repeat it. They did so again this past week when Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA) called the hearings that were taking place a "circus" and "political theater" then played the role of the clown by suggesting that the actions of IRS employees was simply the result of overwork and went on to blame the Tea Party groups for applying in the first place.
It didn't matter to McDermott that the number of applications for tax exempt organizations had dropped over much of the period in question. Besides, it's preposterous to assume that even if these IRS employees were deluged with work their response would be to create more work by issuing reams of intrusive new questions such as demanding to know the content of applicant's prayers.
It also doesn't matter that the myth that only low level employees at an IRS office in Cincinnati were involved was been exploded by the revelation that the scandal covers multiple IRS offices including the Washington headquarters. There are some who will keep repeating the lie anyway and hope you didn't notice the truth.
Scandal is Bigger than IRS
But all of this, the changing story line, the putting up of false walls that are later demolished all suits the Administration's purpose. It keeps us looking at the trees instead of the forest. When we step back from the IRS scandal we see similar activities taking place across the federal government directed at suppressing and punishing political activity of those who might dissent from Obama.
The best illustration of this comes from the group True the Vote whose mission is to support "free and fair elections" by exposing voter fraud. That's an important issue especially when you consider that a top Democrat congressional aide resigned recently after being implicated in a ballot scheme in Florida which may have cost Rep. Allen West (R-FL) his re-election last fall.
Democrats went after True the Vote with a vengeance and it wasn't long before The IRS, FBI, Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms, Occupational Safety and Health Administration and an EPA funded group all descended one of the group's founders Catherine Engelbrecht. Coincidence? I don't think so. Imagine the chilling effect on free speech when armed federal agents come to your door repeatedly after you dared to start a group to combat voter fraud!
Speaking of voting rights, Attorney General Eric Holder was very vocal about defending voting rights for minorities yet also active in eliminating any investigation or prosecution of blacks involved in voter suppression. See the case of the Philadelphia Black Panthers for more.
What happened to True the Vote was an extreme example but it's hardly the only one. There's Mitt Romney supporter and businessman Frank VanderSloot who was investigated by both the IRS and Department of Labor after his name appeared on an Obama campaign web site suggesting he was a ”wealthy individual with less-than-reputable record." And how about the 25 year Army veteran and conservative Christian who is being punished for having a bumper sticker that reads "Political Dissent is NOT Racism." Master Sgt. Nathan Sommers has also been told he cannot read books by conservative authors while on duty as it might cause "unit disruption" and offend other soldiers. Imagine the Army telling a Muslim he can't read the Koran!
Also, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency gave preferential treatment (hello IRS) to liberal groups and denied the same privileges to conservative or libertarian groups.
These are just a few examples and I invite readers to share more. Where did all this discrimination and abuse come from? The top of course.
Obama's Heavy Handed Chicago Politics
A few weeks ago I shared with you the article by Chicago columnist John Kass in which he describes why his family members, outspoken on political issues, feared to take a stand in Chicago. They understood that if any of them spoke up, the power of City Hall would descend on their homes and businesses in the same way we are seeing it done now by the federal government.
I've often said you can take the politician out of Chicago but you can't take the Chicago out of the politician and it fits this case perfectly. What's happening now with this systemic corruption and abuse across the government is no accident. Writing at the Wall Street Journal Kimberly Strassel has been on the front lines exposing how this toxic environment started during the 2008 Obama campaign with officials demanding investigations into groups which were critical of Obama. Bob Bauer, general counsel for the campaign led that effort. He later became Counsel to the President at the White House. After he left, his deputy Kathryn Ruemmler succeeded him. Ruemmler is a prime figure in the IRS scandal.
At the same time that Bauer and others were working behind the scenes, the President and his allies launched a full scale public attack on groups opposed to Obama's policies. Beginning in August 2010, at the same time the IRS began targeting conservative groups Obama made repeated attacks on conservative groups calling them "shadowy" and suggesting they were some sinister "foreign-controlled entity" (never mind that George Soros, the prime moneybags for liberal groups is foreign born who as a child helped send Jews to the gas chamber in Nazi occupied Hungary). Obama went so far as to call conservative groups a "threat to our democracy."
In a follow on piece Kimbery Strassel at the WSJ has the political timeline of Obama's attacks and concludes:
The White House has had just about as many explanations for the IRS scandal as they did drafts of the Benghazi big lie talking points. I lost count after Politico published a list two weeks ago. But of course the great thing about the big lie is that no matter how often it's exposed, Dems will always find a way to repeat it. They did so again this past week when Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA) called the hearings that were taking place a "circus" and "political theater" then played the role of the clown by suggesting that the actions of IRS employees was simply the result of overwork and went on to blame the Tea Party groups for applying in the first place.
It didn't matter to McDermott that the number of applications for tax exempt organizations had dropped over much of the period in question. Besides, it's preposterous to assume that even if these IRS employees were deluged with work their response would be to create more work by issuing reams of intrusive new questions such as demanding to know the content of applicant's prayers.
It also doesn't matter that the myth that only low level employees at an IRS office in Cincinnati were involved was been exploded by the revelation that the scandal covers multiple IRS offices including the Washington headquarters. There are some who will keep repeating the lie anyway and hope you didn't notice the truth.
Scandal is Bigger than IRS
But all of this, the changing story line, the putting up of false walls that are later demolished all suits the Administration's purpose. It keeps us looking at the trees instead of the forest. When we step back from the IRS scandal we see similar activities taking place across the federal government directed at suppressing and punishing political activity of those who might dissent from Obama.
The best illustration of this comes from the group True the Vote whose mission is to support "free and fair elections" by exposing voter fraud. That's an important issue especially when you consider that a top Democrat congressional aide resigned recently after being implicated in a ballot scheme in Florida which may have cost Rep. Allen West (R-FL) his re-election last fall.
Democrats went after True the Vote with a vengeance and it wasn't long before The IRS, FBI, Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms, Occupational Safety and Health Administration and an EPA funded group all descended one of the group's founders Catherine Engelbrecht. Coincidence? I don't think so. Imagine the chilling effect on free speech when armed federal agents come to your door repeatedly after you dared to start a group to combat voter fraud!
Speaking of voting rights, Attorney General Eric Holder was very vocal about defending voting rights for minorities yet also active in eliminating any investigation or prosecution of blacks involved in voter suppression. See the case of the Philadelphia Black Panthers for more.
What happened to True the Vote was an extreme example but it's hardly the only one. There's Mitt Romney supporter and businessman Frank VanderSloot who was investigated by both the IRS and Department of Labor after his name appeared on an Obama campaign web site suggesting he was a ”wealthy individual with less-than-reputable record." And how about the 25 year Army veteran and conservative Christian who is being punished for having a bumper sticker that reads "Political Dissent is NOT Racism." Master Sgt. Nathan Sommers has also been told he cannot read books by conservative authors while on duty as it might cause "unit disruption" and offend other soldiers. Imagine the Army telling a Muslim he can't read the Koran!
Also, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency gave preferential treatment (hello IRS) to liberal groups and denied the same privileges to conservative or libertarian groups.
These are just a few examples and I invite readers to share more. Where did all this discrimination and abuse come from? The top of course.
Obama's Heavy Handed Chicago Politics
A few weeks ago I shared with you the article by Chicago columnist John Kass in which he describes why his family members, outspoken on political issues, feared to take a stand in Chicago. They understood that if any of them spoke up, the power of City Hall would descend on their homes and businesses in the same way we are seeing it done now by the federal government.
I've often said you can take the politician out of Chicago but you can't take the Chicago out of the politician and it fits this case perfectly. What's happening now with this systemic corruption and abuse across the government is no accident. Writing at the Wall Street Journal Kimberly Strassel has been on the front lines exposing how this toxic environment started during the 2008 Obama campaign with officials demanding investigations into groups which were critical of Obama. Bob Bauer, general counsel for the campaign led that effort. He later became Counsel to the President at the White House. After he left, his deputy Kathryn Ruemmler succeeded him. Ruemmler is a prime figure in the IRS scandal.
At the same time that Bauer and others were working behind the scenes, the President and his allies launched a full scale public attack on groups opposed to Obama's policies. Beginning in August 2010, at the same time the IRS began targeting conservative groups Obama made repeated attacks on conservative groups calling them "shadowy" and suggesting they were some sinister "foreign-controlled entity" (never mind that George Soros, the prime moneybags for liberal groups is foreign born who as a child helped send Jews to the gas chamber in Nazi occupied Hungary). Obama went so far as to call conservative groups a "threat to our democracy."
In a follow on piece Kimbery Strassel at the WSJ has the political timeline of Obama's attacks and concludes:
These were not off-the-cuff remarks. They were repeated by the White House and echoed by its allies in campaign events, emails, social media and TV ads. The president of the United States spent months warning the country that "shadowy," conservative "front" groups—"posing" as tax-exempt entities and illegally controlled by "foreign" players—were engaged in "unsupervised" spending that posed a "threat" to democracy. Yet we are to believe that a few rogue IRS employees just happened during that time to begin systematically targeting conservative groups? A mere coincidence that among the things the IRS demanded of these groups were "copies of any contracts with and training materials provided by Americans for Prosperity"?At the very center of this web is Obama. Whether there is a smoking gun directly linking him to each of these scandals is unclear. But he did make his position very clear and it's hard to see how other bureaucrats with similar attitudes could fail to pick up on the call to action. Wherever the current investigations lead, it's Obama that is responsible. But will he be held accountable for this rampant corruption and abuse? Don't bet on it. You'd be called a racist for even suggesting he be blamed!
This newspaper reported Thursday that Cincinnati IRS employees are now telling investigators that they took their orders from Washington. For anyone with a memory of 2010 politics, that was obvious from the start.
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