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MAY 22,  2013

RE BOSTON – DEVELOPING – AT 9:57 A.M. ET:  This story is developing, and may suggest links to the terror attack in Boston.  From Fox:

DEVELOPING: A man who was fatally shot by an FBI agent in Florida knew one of the suspects in the Boston Marathon bombings, a friend of the victim said Wednesday.

FBI Agent Dave Couvertier said in a statement that an unidentified agent encountered Ibragim Todashev, of Orlando, while conducting official duties.

"The agent, along with other law enforcement personnel, was interviewing an individual in connection with the Boston Marathon bombing investigation when a violent confrontation was initiated by the subject," the statement read. "During the confrontation, the individual was killed and the agent sustained non-life threatening injuries. As this incident is under review, we have no further details at this time."

Khusen Taramov, who was at the scene and identified himself as the victim's friend, said Todashev, 27, knew Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the 26-year-old former amateur boxer suspected in the April 15 bombings that killed three and injured more than 260, MyFoxOrlando.com reports.

The early Wednesday shooting occurred at an apartment complex near Universal Studios in Orlando, the Associated Press reports.

Taramov said he and Todashev had no connection with the Boston Marathon bombings, but the FBI had been questioning them since the attacks.

"He used to talk on the phone with him [Tsarnaev]," Taramov said of his friend. "They talked last time a month ago. After the bombing, I couldn't believe it. The FBI kept asking, 'What's the connection?' But there is no connection ... no connection."

An FBI agent was interviewing Todashev regarding his connections to Tsarnaev and other extremists. He was originally cooperative, but was shot after attacking the agent, NBC News reports.

COMMENT:  Obviously, we want to know why the agent was allegedly attacked.  Usually, innocent people don't attack federal officers. 

I've been skeptical that the Boston terrorists acted alone, which is the Obaman party line.  Someone radicalized them, and someone trained them in bombmaking.  We await more information.

May 22, 2013       Permalink

DEMOCRACY, IRANIAN STYLE – AT 9:04 A.M. ET:   Iran is about to elect a new president.  The word "elect," of course, has a different meaning in the mullah-controlled country.  From The Wall Street Journal:

The clerical committee that vets election candidates in Iran barred two important contenders from the ballot for next month's presidential election, virtually guaranteeing that the next head of government will be loyal to the regime of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Iran's Guardian Council disqualified former President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, an aide to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, from running for president. The council didn't explain its decisions, but it generally examines loyalty to the Iranian Revolution, Islam and the Supreme Leader.

The council approved eight names for the ballot for presidential elections on June 14, Iranian state-run television reported late Tuesday. The names include six ultraconservatives loyal to the regime and two centrist candidates associated with the reformist administration of President Mohammad Khatami, who preceded Mr. Ahmadinejad.

COMMENT:  The fix is in.  The frontrunners are all hostile to the United States.  Don't expect any sunshine from the election.

Oh, by the way, women are excluded as candidates.  Our State Department yesterday refused to condemn this, despite repeated challenges from a reporter.  The department's spokeswoman said, "Well, we don’t take positions on any candidates, as you know, and we hope that the upcoming elections will be free, fair, and transparent and will represent the will of the Iranian people. So we wouldn’t weigh into decisions made by the government. Of course, broadly, we hope that women around the world participate in politics and elected office, but beyond that I don’t think I have anything specific for you."

No, nothing specific.  The appeasement machinery is running full speed.  Even women's rights get thrown under the bus by this disgraceful administration. 

Notice the silence of feminist groups and "progressive" groups generally.  Their hypocrisy is overwhelming, but when hasn't it been? 

May 22, 2013        Permalink

L.A. ALSO VOTES – AT 8:43 A.M. ET:  Los Angeles has elected Eric Garcetti as its new mayor.  I have no idea what that means.  The stories announcing his election say almost nothing about his political positions, but go crazy on his ethnic background.  Get this, from USA Today:

Garcetti is the first person of Jewish faith to lead Los Angeles. His mother is of Russian Jewish descent. His father, former Los Angeles County District Attorney Gil Garcetti, is Mexican American of Spanish and Italian descent. During the campaign, the mayor-elect described himself as having "an Italian last name" and being "half Mexican and half Jewish." At the age of 42, Garcetti is also the youngest Los Angeles mayor in more than a century. 

We are truly in the age of identity politics when more is said about the candidate's ethnicity than his platform.  I've now read a number of stories about Garcetti's victory, and all I can tell you is that Los Angeles has a budget problem, and that Garcetti is a Democrat who supported Obama over Clinton in 2008.  The Clintons supported his opponent for mayor, whoever she was. 

Garcetti is on the City Council.  He was also a Rhodes Scholar.  His stand on crime?  Is there crime? 

It's like a fantasy election.  Of course, that is Hollywood, and, yes, Garcetti has done some screen acting.

May 22, 2013        Permalink

LET THE JOKES BEGIN – AT 8:25 A.M. ET:  Anthony Weiner, the former congressman who had to resign from Congress after showing more than his tax returns in e-mails to young women he didn't even know, has announced for mayor of New York.  And polls give him a decent shot at the Democratic nomination in a year with a weak GOP field.  From The New York Times:

Anthony D. Weiner, once a rising star of New York politics whose career cratered over revelations of his sexually explicit life online, announced an improbable bid on Wednesday for the job he has long coveted: mayor.

After a rocky re-emergence into public life over the past few weeks, marked by circuslike scenes of tabloid photographers chasing him onto the subway, Mr. Weiner opted to declare his candidacy from the safe remove of a video.

The two-minute video, which was posted online without any accompanying announcement from Mr. Weiner’s campaign, is a slickly produced argument for the candidacy of Mr. Weiner, a former congressman. In the video, he briefly, and obliquely, acknowledges wrongdoing, but focuses his time on asserting that he has the experience and determination to help New York deal with issues of unaffordability, education and public safety.

“Look, I made some big mistakes, and I know I let a lot of people down,” he says. “But I’ve also learned some tough lessons.”

His candidacy, fueled by a $5 million war chest and a determination to resurrect his public standing, promises to immediately disrupt a wide-open Democratic primary race populated by several lesser-known candidates.

But it comes with heavy baggage, starting with the deep ambivalence of voters to whom Mr. Weiner lied two years ago, when he indignantly, and falsely, denied that he had sent an Internet image of himself in his underwear to a college student in Seattle.

Mr. Weiner, 48, eventually admitted to a secret practice of befriending young female admirers over the Internet and engaging in intimate sexual banter with them, sometimes sending them lewd self-portraits taken with his BlackBerry.

COMMENT:  We've noted before that Weiner's candidacy, especially if successful, may have national implications.  His wife, Huma Abedin, is Hillary Clinton's closest aide.  The Clintons were reported dead set against Weiner's candidacy because, especially with Abedin's presence, it simply calls attention to Bill Clinton's own indiscretions, which led to his impeachment. 

The Weiner jokes will now begin.  They may well help him, possibly creating sympathy in liberal New York.  He is, by far, the best-known of the contenders for the Dem nomination.

This will be absolutely fascinating.  I wonder what the Clintons would do.  They reside in New York State and Chelsea resides in New York City.

May 22,  2013     Permalink

MAY 21,  2013

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 10:31 P.M. ET:

APOLOGY – We reported last night that Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island exploited the Oklahoma tornadoes to boost global-warming theories and berate Republicans for not accepting them.  Today Whitehouse, not himself but through a spokesman, apologized for his remarks.  He claimed he didn't know about the tornadoes when he made them on the Senate floor.  We're glad to see the apology, but skeptical about its sincerity. He did in fact mention the Oklahoma tornadoes during his speech, contradicting his apology.  Another Senate whackjob, Barbara Boxer, has also linked the tornadoes to climate change, claiming support by scientists.  But many scientists are in fact skeptical.

ABSURD – The contempt for the intelligence of the American people by this White House is extreme.  From mediate.com:  "White House Press Sec. Jay Carney told reporters on Tuesday at the daily press briefing that President Barack Obama was not upset with his closest advisors who chose not to inform him of the brewing scandal surrounding the Internal Revenue Service’s systemic targeting of conservative groups. Carney said that the president would not have been able to comment on the Inspector General’s ongoing investigation into the IRS’s abuses and was not upset over being kept out of the loop."  Not upset?  Is he interested in his job, or just getting the job?

TEXAS ED – There has been some controversy in Texas recently about a curriculum, adopted by state-run Education Service Centers, that some conservatives denounced as anti-American.  The centers are dropping the curriculum after protests.  I have not examined the materials, but I have some texts used in Texas that are biased and disturbing.  This incident demonstrates that conservatives can have an impact when they speak out, as long as they have their facts right and their arguments strong.  They will be accused of the usual crimes – McCarthyism, censorship, contempt for academic freedom, and the like – but remember that public schools are owned by the people, and the people have a right to comment and make their views heard.  Don't be intimidated by self-appointed "educators" and "intellectuals" who want schools run as their private clubs.

STAND BY – It is announced in advance that IRS executive Lois Lerner, who is at the center of accusations that her agency improperly targeted conservatives, will invoke her privileges under the Fifth Amendment when she testifies before the House Oversight Committee tomorrow.  The Fifth Amendment is one of the pillars of American justice, protecting citizens from testifying against themselves.  However, as citizens we have right to our own opinions about what the public employee is doing or hiding.  We will be following this hearing with relish.

May 21, 2013       Permalink

OH, NOT AGAIN – AT 7:57 A.M. ET:  The Republican Party's system for choosing candidates is in need of major overhaul.   Time and time again, especially in races for the U.S. Senate, the party has chosen fringe candidates who lose elections that were easily winnable.

Even when the party wins, it is sometimes embarrassed, as by the successful candidacy for the House, this year, of disgraced former Governor Mark Sanford of South Carolina.  Sanford won his congressional bid in a Republican district, but the party is distancing itself from him.

You'd think they'd learn, but some ideologically driven activists never do.  They'd rather have 100% of nothing than 80% of something. 

Now, in the critical state of Virginia, Republicans may have not only sacrificed the governorship, but may have impacted the 2016 presidential election, negatively.  From conservative columnist Jen Rubin at the Washington Post:

The Virginia Republican Party was already taking a risk, dumping a gubernatorial primary election in favor of a convention, in order to assure the ideologically emphatic Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II the nomination. Then on Saturday, a small turnout of party die-hards picked a nominee for lieutenant governor who is nothing short of outrageous.

African American lawyer-turned preacher E.W. Jackson has called gays “perverted” and “very sick people psychologically, mentally and emotionally.” He has said the president has “Muslim sensibilities.” He has compared Planned Parenthood to the KKK. He previously got less than 5 percent of the vote in the GOP primary for U.S. Senate in 2012. He is by any definition an extremist, someone who could not muster even minimal support from GOP primary voters.

And this is the No.2 man on the ticket, with whom Cuccinelli is now campaigning on a 10-city tour of the state. You can be sure that his opponent will be taking footage to be used in ads linking Cuccinelli with Jackson’s language and view.

Cuccinelli has already told The Post, “I am just not going to defend my running mates’ statements at every turn. They’ve got to explain those themselves. Part of this process is just letting Virginia voters get comfortable with us, on an individual basis, personally.” But politics is never that simple.

COMMENT:  As Rubin goes on to note, Cuccinelli is a staunch social conservative, but has never engaged in the wildness of E.W. Jackson. 

Virginia is a purple state.  Once solidly a red state, it has been changing, and went for Obama in both 2008 and 2012, although in 2012 the margin was narrow.  The trend from red to purple is in large measure due to the increasing population of liberal northern Virginia, which is filled with federal employees and others who depend on government work.

Cuccinelli's opponent will be Terry McAuliffe, a member of the Clinton inner circle, and former Democratic national chairman.  If he becomes governor, he will be in an ideal position to help Hillary win Virginia in 2016.  Republicans are hoping for a presidential comeback in the state in that year, but in Virginia the GOP must appeal to moderates, not just the already committed.  Putting McAuliffe in the governor's chair will not be helpful to our side.

May 21, 2013       Permalink

AND STILL ONE MORE OUTRAGE – AT 7:17 A.M. ET:  Each day brings more revelations of misconduct by this administration's IRS.  Of course, the people on high saw nothing.  They saw absolutely nothing.   From the Washington Times:

A Texas group dedicated to combatting voter fraud applied for tax-exempt status in 2010 and has suffered three years of delays, been through four different IRS agents, undergone six FBI inquiries and submitted thousands of pages of documentation — and its still hasn’t been approved.

True the Vote is just one of the dozens of groups caught up in the IRS plan to give extra scrutiny to conservative groups in the 2010 and 2012 elections.

As Congress delves into the question of whether the burgeoning scandal was bureaucratic malfeasance, as the IRS now acknowledges, or a more sinister political witch hunt, as some Republicans believe, True the Vote’s experience is poking holes in the IRS’ version of events, and lending credence to the nefarious explanations.

In one example, the IRS asked other Texas-based tea party groups what their relationship was with True the Vote — a fishing expedition that group President Catherine Engelbrecht didn’t learn about until the IRS scandal burst onto front pages.

“It suggests that they are trying to construct some kind of web in which to trap groups that they believe are somehow working together,” Ms. Engelbrecht said.

The IRS’ inspector general released a report last week that found the IRS targeted conservative groups for added scrutiny beginning in 2010, looking particularly at those that used “tea party,” “patriot” or “9/12” in their names.

COMMENT:  I can't believe that Barack (come to save us) would approve anything like this, can you?  Why, why, I'm just so offended at the suggestion.

The fact is, this administration tipped its hand early when Eric Holder's Justice Department dropped a probe into intimidation at the polls by the Black Panthers on election day, 2008.  The case was open-and-shut, with photographic evidence of the intimidation.  But the Obamans made it go away.  Obama justice.

May 21, 2013       Permalink 

GOOD FOR HIM – AT 6:39 A.M. ET:  Several people were driven from their State Department desks after Benghazi, but none of them were people at the top.  The "investigators" went after the mid-level guys, and scapegoated them.  Now, one is fighting back.  From The Daily Caller: 

Raymond Maxwell, the only official at the State Department's bureau of Near Eastern Affairs to lose his job after the attacks, tells Josh Rogin that he’s been scapegoated by Hillary Clinton’s team.

Following the attack in Benghazi, senior State Department officials close to Hillary Clinton ordered the removal of a mid-level official who had no role in security decisions and has never been told the charges against him. He is now accusing Clinton’s team of scapegoating him for the failures that led to the death of four Americans last year.

Will this be the guy who comes forward and spills the beans about the State Department?

“The overall goal is to restore my honor,” said Maxwell, who has now filed grievances regarding his treatment with the State Department’s human resources bureau and the American Foreign Service Association, which represents the interests of foreign-service officers. The other three officials placed on leave were in the diplomatic security bureau, leaving Maxwell as the only official in the bureau of Near Eastern Affairs (NEA), which had responsibility for Libya, to lose his job.

“I had no involvement to any degree with decisions on security and the funding of security at our diplomatic mission in Benghazi,” he said.

Maxwell was removed from his job on Dec. 18, the day after the ARB report was released, and subsequently placed on administrative leave, which is meant to give the State Department time to investigate whether Maxwell should be fired or return to work. Five months later, that investigation seems stalled and Maxwell sits at home, where he continues to be paid but is not allowed to return to his job.

And...

Soon after being removed from his job, Maxwell was visited at his home late one evening and directed to sign a letter acknowledging his administrative leave and forfeiting his right to enter the State Department. He refused to sign, responding in writing that it amounted to an admission he had done something wrong.

“They just wanted me to go away but I wouldn’t just go away,” he said. “I knew Chris [Stevens]. Chris was a friend of mine.”

COMMENT:  And the person in overall charge, the secretary of state at the time, now mulls running for the presidency in 2016. 

I want to see this guy testify.  There is something rotten inside the State Department.  People at the top are being protected.  The guy in charge of State's "investigation" into Benghazi, which got Maxwell sent out to sea, was Thomas Pickering, a well-known Establishment figure who takes a very soft line on Iran, and America's Mideast enemies generally.  Just Obama's sort of guy.

I'm sure there's more that will come out, drip, drip, drip.

May 21, 2013       Permalink

DO YOU BELIEVE THIS? – AT 6:21 A.M. ET:  Those Pinocchio noses are getting longer and longer at the White House.  From WaPo:

Senior White House officials, including Chief of Staff Denis McDonough, learned last month about a review by the Treasury Department’s inspector general into whether the Internal Revenue Service targeted conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status, but they did not inform President Obama, the White House said Monday.

I guess they didn't think a major scandal was important enough.  Just like four Americans in Benghazi getting killed didn't catch much attention either.

The acknowledgement is the White House’s latest disclosure in a piecemeal, sometimes confusing release of details concerning the extent to which White House officials knew of the IG’s findings that IRS officials engaged in the “inappropriate” targeting of conservative non-profits for heightened scrutiny. Previously, the White House said counsel Kathryn Ruemmler did not learn about the final results of the investigation until the week of April 22nd, and had not disclosed that McDonough and other aides had also been told about the investigation. On Monday, White House Spokesman Jay Carney said a member of Ruemmler’s staff learned of the probe the week of April 16; Ruemmler learned of the investigation on April 24th; and after that point she informed the chief of staff and other aides about the probe’s findings.

The White House has said President Obama did not learn of the IRS’s actions until he saw news reports on the matter earlier this month.

COMMENT:  Oh please.  How dumb do they really think we are?  At least the people around Nixon were competent liars. 

I think we need a special counsel, but this president doesn't believe in stuff like that.

May 21,  2013     Permalink