Jay Carney Being Replaced by Baghdad Bob (Satire)

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney will take another position in the Obama administration to make room for the new White House press secretary, Muhammad Saeed al-Sahhaf, known in the US as Baghdad Bob.  Mr. al-Sahhaf was the famous Iraqi government spokesman who released wildly inaccurate accounts of Iraqi Army exploits against the US during the 2003 invasion of that country.

The White House's statement on the matter is that Mr. al-Sahhaf's background and experience will allow him to better deal with the many undisciplined reporters and their irresponsible questions about the White House scandals than Mr. Carney who was always troubled by issues of truth.

Douglas Shulman's Meeting with Obama on 6 June, 2011

In an earlier post, I speculated that Douglas Shulman, the former Commissioner of the IRS, might have briefed the President on the Inspector General's Audit of the IRS's improper targeting of right wing non-profit applications during a meeting on June 6, 2011.  While I noted that this was just speculation, it was a reasonable question.  That meeting appears to not have dealt with any IRS targeting issues.  See below.

What Did The President Know about the IRS Scandal and When Did He Know IT?

Updated on 24 May, 2013:  A later post shows that the meeting referred to below does not appear to involve discussions of IRS targeting with the President or any briefing on the Inspector General's audit.  While Shulman should have been aware of it in June of 2011 (Lois Lerner was), the meeting attendee list is too broad for such a briefing.  Read the later post for a full discussion.  

Is the IRS targeting of Tea Party groups a bureaucratic SNAFU or was the White House Involved?  While all of the President's critics, including me, might like to believe this, it appears that White House involvement was at most limited to cover-up activities.  Whether or not the President was involved will be determined but I am inclined to believe he was not.  Or, I should say I believed this until today.  While it has been reported that Douglas Shulman, former IRS commissioner, visited the White House 118 times over 2 years, most of the visits look quite innocent.  Since the IRS will be extensively involved in the Affordable Health Care Act (ACA), there were many, many meetings with White House health care representatives, Office of Management and Budget (OMB) members, and Economic Council members.  There was one meeting with Rahm Emanuel's brother but he is an MD and so-called bioethicist and not likely a conduit for political messages.   Shulman also met with the President on 4 occasions.  Only one of these is not so easily explained.  According to the White House Visitor's Logs, Shulman met with the President in the Situation Room on 6 June, 2011.  This is only a question in my mind because Lois Lerner, that upstanding IRS lawyer who took the fifth yesterday, earlier reported that she learned of the now-infamous tea party targeting in June of 2011.  So, what was discussed at this meeting.  I am not saying that the President knew then but we could use an explanation.

The Obama Administration's Persecution of a Free Press

Update, 21 May, 2013:  The full text of James Rosen's article also included a statement to the effect that his story came from "...sources inside North Korea".  I have been unable to locate a full text of the article so I am getting this third hand.  I will admit that adding that statement makes the leak more interesting to the DOJ but still believe that this Whitehouse has engaged in activities to deliberately hide operational data from the press by classifying it.  We still need a better explanation from the DOJ and the Whitehouse over this serious breach of Rosen's First Amendment rights. 

In a post last week,  I discussed the IRS scandal, Benghazi, and the Department of Justice (DOJ) seizures of AP Phone records.  Today I read of DOJ activities with respect to James Rosen, a Fox News reporter in a Guardian article.  The DOJ apparently not only looked at his phone records, they got a warrant to view his private emails and have listed him as an unindicted co-conspirator in the leak of  the information  that North Korea would probably respond to sanctions with more nuclear tests.  Now this story which could have been surmised by anyone who has followed the news with respect to North Korea for a few years is the result of the government classifying the obvious.

Candidates to Oppose Tom Udall in 2014

In an earlier post (Tom Udall), I noted that Tom Udall supported the Feinstein-sponsored legislation to limit magazine capacity and also pressured the IRS in a letter to restrict organizations, like the various tea parties, from obtaining 501C(4) status.  I suggested then that we need to get rid of him as New Mexico's senior Senator.  Today I will examine the possible contenders for his senatorial seat.  The leading contenders appear to be Republicans John Sanchez, Jon Barela, and Richard Berry but Susana Martinez could conceivably run and win.

Benghazi e-mails Released, No Conspiracy but Stupid

It took nearly nine months for the White House to release the trail of E-Mails about the talking points furnished to Susan Rice (See ABC News Link here).  While this may not be the entire story, it pretty much clears up the notion that there was a conspiracy in the Whitehouse to confuse the issue.  Instead, if you read through the entire set of e-mails you tend to see a bumbling group of hangers-on that cannot get anything done right.  Clearly, this is the gang that couldn't shoot straight.  

How much of this is Obama and how much is so-called career professionals?   Certainly there were career (so-called) professionals like Victoria Nuland (27 years at State?) who (now) famously objected to the potential political potential of the original version.  The first person in line to substantly alter the talking points, however, was an Obama political appointee, the CIA General Counsel Steven W.  Preston.  His apparent objections centered on the DOJ/FBI requests to not discuss "internally or externally" the possible bad guys for fear it would hurt any future prosecution.  Well intentioned or not, this is paralysis by analysis.  Did the FBI ever get to Benghazi anyway?

So why did it take nine months to release this?  Maybe the Obama administration was just embarrassed.  Considering what we pay all of these folks, the resulting talking points were less than worthless.  I remarked today to a friend that they might well have said, "Consulate attacked, still looking for clues.”  Or, even better, “Consulate attacked, still looking for clues in the DOJ garage because the light is better there.”

Does this tell the whole story?  Well, was there any political pressure on the CIA prior to coming up with the first set of talking points or are they as incompetent as they seemed after 9/11?  Incompetence or conspiracy?

IRS Targeting, Apparent Cover-up, Seized Reporters' Phone Records, not Since Watergate

Well, it looks like something happened in getting out the Benghazi message and the truth was covered up by persons still unknown.  The President gave a press conference calling the inquiry a sideshow.  We learn that the IRS has been targeting the President's political opposition (supported  by Tom Udall).  Most chilling of all, we find that the Justice Department has ordered the seizure of reporters' phone records and the phone records of The Associated Press.  We have not seen this level of arrogance in the Whitehouse since Richard Nixon.  The President's loyal following is claiming that these stories don't have legs, i.e. the stories won't last into next year.  The former Secretary of State in Congressional testimony famously asked, "...what possible difference does it make now?"  This seems to be the general tone in Mr. Obama's own party.  It matters!  We should look to the articles of impeachment in Nixon's case for an example:

1. Obstruction of Justice
2. Abuse of Power
3. Contempt of Congress

Tom Udall's involvement in IRS targeting of Tea Party groups

So the IRS is targeting Tea Party Groups.  Is this the sign of a conspiracy by President Obama and the Democrats to Evoke the Ghost of Nixon or an innocent action by a few misguided IRS investigators?  As the 8-ball would say, signs point to yes.  It turns out that several Senators, including our beloved Tom Udall (not) sent a letter to the IRS(See it here) commissioner in Cincinnati to vet these awful Tea Party types.  The fact that the letter was signed by Udall and some of the most liberal of the Democratic Senate says everything.  Udall does not represent the majority of New Mexicans.  He has traded on the name reputation of his father, Stewart Udall, a reasoned and respected Arizona Politician.  This attempt to stifle Political opposition makes him an enemy of all New Mexicans, Liberals and Conservatives alike.  This letter is the equivalent of a letter to the IRS praising the efforts of the Nixon Whitehouse to audit his so-called enemies.

Promote Immigration Reform Now

In an earlier post (Immigration Reform, It Is Time), I made the case that we need immigration reform now.  Shortly after that, a bi-partisan panel advanced a new immigration reform bill.  There is huge resistance to this bill in some quarters with the majority of the news reporting GOP resistance to the bill.  Most of the objections center on border security although a new complaint about cost has been advanced.  It is possible that some in the GOP as well as the administration believe that undocumented aliens equate to undocumented Democrats.  This is just not the case.  Neither is border security a legitimate argument against immigration reform.  In fact, the system is sufficiently broken that it actually encourages illegal immigration because legitimate work visas do not reflect the demand for foreign workers.  I say support immigration reform now.

Illegal Trafficking of Firearms to Mexico

Figures don't lie but liars figure could be the subject of this post.  I became alarmed reading a report in a Mexican newspaper that as many as 2,000 guns per day were crossing the US border.  Then there are many news reports suggesting  250,000 firearms illegally crossing to Mexico each year.  There are oft-repeated claims that the United States is responsible for 90% of the guns seized in Mexico and by implication 90% of all the guns used by Mexican drug cartels.  The truth is that none of these claims are true.

Although I poke holes in a lot of the data floating around in the media, I conclude (and I am an NRA member) at the end of this article that expanded background checks should be implemented to discourage straw purchasers of firearms transferring guns to illegal exporters.  I am still opposed to magazine restrictions and restrictions on so-called assault weapons.

Background Checks on Firearm Sales

Recently a background check amendment failed in the US Senate.  While opposed by the NRA, increased background checks might be a tool that could be used against the practice of using legitimate straw buyers to purchase firearms for smuggling into Mexico and other countries.  Currently the practice of straw buying is against the law but difficult to prosecute unless a gun is caught at the border or in Mexico within a year of the purchase.  Requiring that all non-family transfers be run through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS Check) might put a new tool in the hands of law enforcement to prosecute and discourage the illegal practice of straw buying.