I do realise that for most people politics takes up about 0.5% of their time and interest. I also do realise that for most Americans most of the 'news' they receive on politics is fliltered through a grovelling, lickspittle MSM who make the old-style Soviet Pravda look like a scandal sheet! Even so, ignorance is no excuse. If I, from 'over here', can pick up halfway through his first term that Obama is a dangerous, radical, Marxist socialist imbued with the teachings of Saul Alinsky then so should they, or at least, sufficient of them should have done so that he stood no chance of a second term. If that sounds like sour grapes because my forecast of a Romney victory failed to occur then I will admit, yes, I do feel very, very sour, not least because I put my faith in my belief that a sufficient number of Americans would see 'the bleedin' obvious'. They didn't!
Yesterday, the Congressional hearings into the IRS scandal has - I hope! - frightened the life out of enough of them to ensure that the half-term election next year results in a massacre for the 'un-Democrats'. Alas, my hopes are not high. Like electorates the world over they are likely to be seduced by even bigger, more glittering 'baubles, bangles and beads' which will be showered upon them by a government wishing to distract them from the creeping menace oozing through the myriad channels of power that spread like tentacles across, through and over the body-politic. The IRS is but the first example of Alinsky's theories being put into practice. Congress still has to look hard at the all the other Federal agencies whose corrupted and malignant, party-political power reaches right down to 'Main Street, USA'.
Here are two YouTube extracts from yesterday. The first is 'The Kraut' who, in his usual incisive way cuts to the heart of the matter. The other is an impassioned speech by a Congressman at yesterday's hearings into the IRS which is greeted, incredibly, by a sustained burst of impromptu applause:
Rep. Mike Kelly here - and he is riveting.
If that sounds like sour grapes because my forecast of a Romney victory failed to occur then I will admit, yes, I do feel very, very sour, not least because I put my faith in my belief ...
Nah David, it wasn't anything to do with you putting your faith in your belief - it was what you was trying with all your nice words, to put into Ann Coulter!
Posted by: JK | Saturday, 18 May 2013 at 22:55
Take heart David!
(I trolled your archives for something I've been wanting so to post somewhere's else - I noticed that, at least you're remarkably consistent. If I, a mere American, were to deign to offer you any advice it'd be whatever your choice David, UKIP or Tory - proclaim [in advance] what you'd NOT want!)
http://duffandnonsense.typepad.com/duff_nonsense/2008/09/president-mccain.html
Posted by: JK | Sunday, 19 May 2013 at 02:38
JK, you made me re-read that post from 'yesteryear' and I was struck by this highly perceptive insight:
"My ability to make mighty prognostications, and then take even mightier prat-falls, is legend!"
It's what gives this blog its, er, reputation.
Posted by: David Duff | Sunday, 19 May 2013 at 07:32
Speaking as an American... I have my doubts whether this trifecta of scandals (the wiretapping of the AP, the IRS partisan attacks, and the Benghazi scandal) will have long-term impact.
My reasons; first, it's over a year to the November 2014 mid terms, and American voters tend to have the attention span of a gnat in many cases.
Second; three scandals at once means the low-info voter won't be able to understand them.
Third; American voters ignored a scandal with hundreds of dead; Fast & Furious.
I hope like hell I'm wrong.
For most of my life I've thought very highly of my country. Now... though it pains me, I do not. I do have hope that this time people will wake up, but part of me thinks otherwise. However, I will say this; not matter what happens, the country (the majority of it anyway) gets the government they deserve.
Maybe I should change my handle to "Cynical in Arizona"?
Now, for a few words on the unfolding scandals. Have you across the pond any parallel for what we in US politics call the incompetency defense? My guess is it wouldn't work in the UK, because in a parliamentary system the government can fall for reasons other than committing high crimes in office.
If so, prepare for a laugh, because the Obama admin is going for the incompetency defense, not just figuratively but literally.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-57584921/officials-on-benghazi-we-made-mistakes-but-without-malice/?tag=socsh
Here is IMHO the best part.
**************
The officials spoke to CBS News in a series of interviews and communications under the condition of anonymity so that they could be more frank in their assessments. They do not all agree on the list of mistakes and it’s important to note that they universally claim that any errors or missteps did not cost lives and reflect “incompetence rather than malice or cover up.” Nonetheless, in the eight months since the attacks, this is the most sweeping and detailed discussion by key players of what might have been done differently.
“We’re portrayed by Republicans as either being lying or idiots,” said one Obama administration official who was part of the Benghazi response. “It’s actually closer to us being idiots.”
*****************
That's what I mean by going for it literally. These were administration people sent to talk to the press, to say ABOUT THE ADMINISTRATION “It’s actually closer to us being idiots.” and “incompetence rather than malice or cover up.”
Okay, try and set aside the hilarity factor for a moment, and ask WHY the administration thinks saying this is a good idea?
The only thing I can think of is it’s an attempt at misdirection from something far more damaging, otherwise they would not have put it in such scathing terms.
Arizona CJ
Posted by: Arizona CJ | Monday, 20 May 2013 at 03:35
ACJ, thank you very much for your comment - you and I seem to be thinking along exactly the same lines. The CBS report was fascinating and the sudden appearance of these anonymous officials is, shall we say, intriguing! The administration looks like an army under severe attack slowly falling back from one line of defence to another. I think Benghazi and the AP telephone records are, just about, defensible - not right, obviously, but a crafty government could wriggle through and limit the collateral damage. However, the IRS, I suspect, is a different matter. That one goes right into the living-rooms of ordinary American families - and there is more to come, I suspect.
Don't give up on your country. Its faults are always huge but so are its virtues.
Posted by: David Duff | Monday, 20 May 2013 at 09:05
@ David Duff
Thanks!
My guess is that the AP wiretapping revelation was intentional; as the CEO of Associated Press has said,it's scaring the sources and keeping them from talking to reporters. This is very useful for the Obama admin while the Benghazi and IRS scandals are brewing.
My guess on Benghazi is there's more to come. We already have confirmation of something I said loudly and often back in September; the attack on the Cairo embassy was not due to any video (and of course, neither was Benghazi). The way I knew Cairo was a lie is the US embassy was evacuated several hours before it was overrun. That requires warning. So how does one get at least several hours of warning for a *spontaneous* demonstration? A logical impossibility. And now we have confirmation that Al Quaida called for the riot, and the CIA gave warning after reading their social media posts.
With a US embassy overrun and the staff hiding, the logical action would be to get an intervention force ready, just in case. This wasn't done. Why? Because the Obama administration was instrumental in the fall of the prior governments in Libya and Egypt,and prepping a military response was tantamount to admitting they screwed up.
So, the US embassy twitter account posted an apology while the flag of Al Quadea was still flying over our embassy (sovereign US Soil). Mitt Romney pounced, condemning the administration for apologizing to our enemies again. The state department took down the twitter post, but the die was cast; any admission by the administration that they had known in advance that it was Al Qaueda that overran ourt Cairo embassy would be political gold for Romney. Much better to blame a video that had nothing to do with it. They were now tied to their lie.
As for Benghazi, I think that (the issue that they created the situation in the first place) is why they would not beef us security, and it's also why they would not get a reaction force ready. So when things went bad, they cut the pentagon's terrorist reaction force out of the loop and stood it down. In the following days, they edited the CIA reports to make them false, and doubled down on their lies.
I think, once it's proven that they did give stand-down orders (plus a slew of lies) for political reasons, this will be a firestorm. It's not an impeachable offense, but it will be very damaging. Enough so that if it can be shown that Obama knew what was going on at the IRS, he's done. He doesn't have to have ordered it, just knowing is enough. He can proclaim his incompetence all he likes, but he's the boss; if he knew, he's guilty.
So it's supremely in his interest right now to shut off the leaks, even at the cost of another scandal. The good news is, in so doing he's pissed off a bug chunk of the press that usually backs him. That makes me think there is far more to hide.
Anyway, that's my current theory. I think this thing will hinge on following the trail; working back up the chain of command (It was confirmed, just hours ago, that a manager at the IRS ordered the targeting of conservative groups, and it started in summer of 2010. So the "rouge underlings" excuse is dead. However, this was going on at several IRS offices, and no middle manager could have ordered it all, so they need to follow it up the trail. Somebody ordered this, and they need to find out who. If it plays out like Watergate, we're in for a summer of a slow, steady stream of revelations from both the IRS and Benghazi scandals.
At the very least, I'll enjoy watching those bastards squirm. :)
Posted by: Arizona CJ | Monday, 20 May 2013 at 11:40
"we're in for a summer of a slow, steady stream of revelations
A long and very hot one, I trust!
Posted by: David Duff | Monday, 20 May 2013 at 17:17
Arizona CJ,
The Benghazi thing was seen by many to likely be a mess (I've recently updated my OS and can't easily locate the actual transcript of a certain Senator you likely well know) however:
http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/senate/149429-mccain-calls-for-immediate-no-fly-zone-over-libya
National Review for some reason is making access to this March 2011 article "hard to access" - but it's important for a deep appreciation of the old saying - authored by Andrew McCarthy, title is "Libya's Makeover." (Maybe it'll link from your end)
http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/261063/libyas-makeover-andrew-c-mccarthy#
Old Libya hands were not at all surprised that if something was gonna pop, it would be in the region of Cyrenaica - where Dernaa and Benghazi are. Lotsa reading but to be really informed rather than "low information" it's necessary:
http://www.ctc.usma.edu/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/aqs-foreign-fighters-in-iraq.pdf
http://www.ctc.usma.edu/posts/lifg-revisions-posing-critical-challenge-to-al-qaida
As to which of the current tri-fecta is the most problematic - my money short-term is on the IRS thing. But I'm frankly of the opinion the tapping of AP's phones has more potential for enlightening the American public to the full ramifications of what our "representative" did to We The People when they enacted The Patriot Act.
It was only "potentially to be misused" under Bush. But now come Obama, the potential has become the actual.
Posted by: JK | Monday, 20 May 2013 at 18:04