Category Archives: Politics
Off the Record
President Obama has proclaimed himself a fierce defender of the First Amendment . On cue, Eric Holderman called for a meeting of news honchos to clear the air about his secretive and nasty behavior toward them. True to form, the meeting was off the record.
Strange behavior for a couple of guys who only know what they read.
Update: Here’s a great Nat Hentoff piece on two Obamas. (He mentions the efforts of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press to lead the pushback for the first amendment. Nat’s a RCFP steering committee member and so am I.)
War Bar
All good things must come to an end. Wars too. The president just doesn’t say how. Krauthammer is not impressed.
Holder
Attorney General Holder signed off on a warrant that allowed the FBI to spy on a reporter’s personal email, his phones, and his parents’ phones.
Now Holder says he feels just awful about the whole thing. The president must be upset too. He has ordered the A.G. to investigate himself.
Trend Setter
“He put a target on our backs, and he’s now going to blame the people who are shooting at us?” asks Idaho businessman and longtime Republican donor Frank VanderSloot.
The WSJ’s Kimberly Strassel says the IRS scandal goes to the top. The president publicly implied enemies were out to get him and that set the tone.
Vandersloot was a wealthy contributor to the Romney campaign. He was subjected to searches of his divorce records and 3 IRS audits. He spent $80,000 defending himself.
Taking the Fifth on Your 1040
You don’t have to belong to a right wing constitutional group to suspect Lois Lerner pulled a fast one when she claimed she was innocent and then took the fifth.
The IRS has placed her on paid administrative leave.
Update: Here’s a Mark Steyn column about Lois Lerner signing off on, and backdating, the tax exempt status of a foundation run by the president’s brother. He also notes that you have no fifth amendment rights when it comes to the I.R.S.
