Frank VanderSloot on O'Reilly Factor

At great talking points segment followed by the VanderSloot interview.

President Obama personally smeared Mr. VanderSloot, which paved the way to official harassment, including an audit by the IRS.

Kim Strassel reported on this yesterday:

Mr. Obama now professes shock and outrage that bureaucrats at the IRS did exactly what the president of the United States said was the right and honorable thing to do. "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.

Mr. VanderSloot is the Obama target who in 2011 made a sizable donation to a group supporting Mitt Romney. In April 2012, an Obama campaign website named and slurred eight Romney donors. It tarred Mr. VanderSloot as a "wealthy individual" with a "less-than-reputable record." Other donors were described as having been "on the wrong side of the law."

This was the Obama version of the phone call—put out to every government investigator (and liberal activist) in the land.

Twelve days later, a man working for a political opposition-research firm called an Idaho courthouse for Mr. VanderSloot's divorce records. In June, the IRS informed Mr. VanderSloot and his wife of an audit of two years of their taxes. In July, the Department of Labor informed him of an audit of the guest workers on his Idaho cattle ranch. In September, the IRS informed him of a second audit, of one of his businesses. Mr. VanderSloot, who had never been audited before, was subject to three in the four months after Mr. Obama teed him up for such scrutiny.

The last of these audits was only concluded in recent weeks. Not one resulted in a fine or penalty. But Mr. VanderSloot has been waiting more than 20 months for a sizable refund and estimates his legal bills are $80,000. That figure doesn't account for what the president's vilification has done to his business and reputation. The Obama call for scrutiny wasn't a mistake; it was the president's strategy—one pursued throughout 2012. The way to limit Romney money was to intimidate donors from giving. Donate, and the president would at best tie you to Big Oil or Wall Street, at worst put your name in bold, and flag you as "less than reputable" to everyone who worked for him: the IRS, the SEC, the Justice Department. The president didn't need a telephone; he had a megaphone.

Thug government, Obama's Chicago way.

Christy Turlington Fabulous at 44

She looks great:

At London's Daily Mail, "'I can't wait to be 50': Christy Turlington, 44, says she'll 'never have surgery' as she stuns in racy new photo shoot."

Rosie Jones Frolicking With Lacey Banghard

Crazy ladies:

“@missnicoleneal: My girlies @rosieofthejones & @laceybanghard cuddling....😚 twitter.com/MissNicoleNeal…” aww jonesy keeping me warm 💜 xx

— Lacey Banghard (@laceybanghard) May 17, 2013

Plus, at Egotastic!, "Rosie Jones, Courtnie Quinlan, Nicole Neal, and Other Topless Hotties for i-D Magazine’s Spring Fling."

Gallup Poll: 74 Percent Want Investigation of #IRS Scandal

And the public wants answers on Benghazi too.

At Weasel Zippers, "Gallup: 74% Of Americans Want IRS Scandal Investigated Further, 69% Want Benghazi Follow Up…"

Steven Miller's testimony earlier was a complete disaster. This Lou Dobbs panel just rips the administration --- on the IRS, Benghazi, and the culture of corruption:

More at Neo's, "Are we paying attention yet?"

Obama Says Reject Voices Warning of Tyranny

Via the People's Cube.

And from Katie Pavlich, "FLASHBACK: Obama Tells Graduates to Reject Voices Warning of Government Tyranny."

Obama Forces Marines to Break Protocol

It's against Marine Corps regulations for Marines to hold umbrellas.

But as Obama is commander in chief, he can force Marines to violate the rules. At CNN, "Marines holding umbrellas 'extremely rare'."

Of course, there's no rule against the president acting like a selfish asshole. That just comes naturally to Obama. We used to have dignity in our presidents, especially when George W. Bush was in office. This president is just an egotistical prick.

Added: At Twitchy, "Sarah Palin to Obama: ‘When it rains it pours, but most Americans hold their own umbrellas’."

Obama Administration Crushes Free Speech on Campus

From Greg Lukianoff, at the Wall Street Journal, "Feds to Students: You Can't Say That":

The scandals roiling Washington over the past two weeks involve troubling government behavior that had been hidden—the IRS targeting of conservative groups and the Justice Department's surveillance of the Associated Press, among others. Largely overlooked amid the histrionics has been a shocker hiding in plain sight. Last week, the Obama administration moved to dramatically undermine students' and faculty rights at colleges across the country.

The new policy was announced in a joint letter from the Education Department and Justice Department to the University of Montana. The May 9 letter addressed the results of a year-long joint investigation by the departments into the school's mishandling of several serious sexual-assault cases. The investigation determined that the university's policies addressing sexual assault failed to comply with Title IV of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972.

But the joint letter, which announced a "resolution agreement" with the university, didn't stop there. It then proceeded to rewrite the federal government's rules about sexual harassment and free speech on campus.

If that sounds hyperbolic, consider the letter itself. The first paragraph declares that the Montana findings should serve as a "blueprint for colleges and universities throughout the country." After outlining the specifics of the case, the letter states that only a stunningly broad definition of sexual harassment—"unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature"—will now satisfy federal statutory requirements. This explicitly includes "verbal conduct," otherwise known as speech.

Look, from Obama on down, the left can't tolerate freedom of expression. Speaking out freely undermines the progressive agenda in all respects. These people are totalitarian. Folks are just now starting to wake up to the abuses. But it's going to take a long, hard fight to destroy the left's anti-speech ghouls. It's a fight necessary to save freedom in America.

Acting IRS Commission Steven Miller Can't Remember Who Was Responsible!

Hello.

Pretty sucked optics for the embattled White House. This crapweasel Miller is lying through his teeth.

What a farce, at Politico, "Miller: IRS provided 'horrible customer service'."

And from Byron York on Twitter, "IRS digs in: No targeting, no bias, focus on conservative groups just employees seeking greater 'efficiency'."

And here's National Journal, "How Republicans Will Try to Pin the IRS Scandal on Obama."

#IRS Scandal Started at the Top

From Kim Strassel, at the Wall Street Journal:

Was the White House involved in the IRS's targeting of conservatives? No investigation needed to answer that one. Of course it was.

President Obama and Co. are in full deniability mode, noting that the IRS is an "independent" agency and that they knew nothing about its abuse. The media and Congress are sleuthing for some hint that Mr. Obama picked up the phone and sicced the tax dogs on his enemies.

But that's not how things work in post-Watergate Washington. Mr. Obama didn't need to pick up the phone. All he needed to do was exactly what he did do, in full view, for three years: Publicly suggest that conservative political groups were engaged in nefarious deeds; publicly call out by name political opponents whom he'd like to see harassed; and publicly have his party pressure the IRS to take action.

RTWT.

The WSJ crew is just hammering this criminal clusterf-k administration.

David Beckham Retires From Soccer

At London's Daily Mail, "End it like Beckham: England legend calls time on glittering career and retires."

Video c/o Los Angeles Times, "Watch some of David Beckham's amazing free kicks."

The video has been viewed more than 8 million times and for good reason. Beckham's free kicks were a sight to behold, with the ball streaking into the net with a speed and right-to-left arc that looked like a Zack Greinke curveball.

Bubble of Unreality: Leslie Marshall Claims #IRS Conspiracies on Sean Hannity's

An utterly jaw-dropping exchange. Dana Loesch just destroy's the idiot Leslie Marshall

Michele Bachmann Talks Obama Impeachment

At CNN, "After IRS targeting, tea party says their fears confirmed."

'We are in the midst of the worst Washington scandal since Watergate...'

This is most urgent, the most morally devastating essay I've yet to read the week's developments, from Peggy Noonan, at WSJ, "This Is No Ordinary Scandal" (via Memeorandum):

We are in the midst of the worst Washington scandal since Watergate. The reputation of the Obama White House has, among conservatives, gone from sketchy to sinister, and, among liberals, from unsatisfying to dangerous. No one likes what they're seeing. The Justice Department assault on the Associated Press and the ugly politicization of the Internal Revenue Service have left the administration's credibility deeply, probably irretrievably damaged. They don't look jerky now, they look dirty. The patina of high-mindedness the president enjoyed is gone.

Something big has shifted. The standing of the administration has changed.

As always it comes down to trust. Do you trust the president's answers when he's pressed on an uncomfortable story? Do you trust his people to be sober and fair-minded as they go about their work? Do you trust the IRS and the Justice Department? You do not.

he president, as usual, acts as if all of this is totally unconnected to him. He's shocked, it's unacceptable, he'll get to the bottom of it. He read about it in the papers, just like you.

But he is not unconnected, he is not a bystander. This is his administration. Those are his executive agencies. He runs the IRS and the Justice Department.

A president sets a mood, a tone. He establishes an atmosphere. If he is arrogant, arrogance spreads. If he is to too partisan, too disrespecting of political adversaries, that spreads too. Presidents always undo themselves and then blame it on the third guy in the last row in the sleepy agency across town.

The IRS scandal has two parts...

Continue reading.

Idiot progressives are just in denial over this. But things are really coming to a head.

Fatal Crash Near Long Beach City College

At the Long Beach Patch, "Woman Killed in Long Beach Hit-and-Run."

I had two students come about a half-hour late to my 11:10am class. I thought nothing of it until a phone starting ringing like it was an alarm or something. I said, "What was that"? And one of the women said, "There's a crash out there," pointing out the window to the intersection at Carson and Clark Streets. Then when I started my 12:45pm class, a young man told me that someone had been killed. I went over to the intersection after class to check it out.

Also at the Long Beach Report, "UPDATE: 47 Year Old Long Beach Woman Dies, 21 Year Old Bellflower Man Arrested, In Alleged Hit and Run, Carson/Clark (LBCC Area); LBPD Says Driver Hit Three Vehicles at High Rate of Speed, Was Allegedly Unlicensed Driver."

Yeah, probably an illegal immigrant.

More photos at the Long Beach Press Telegram, "Long Beach police capture suspect at LBCC in fatal hit-and-run."

Arrogance, Cover-Ups and Blame-Shifting

From Harry Stein, at City Journal, "Not a Crook — Yet":

The comparisons of the Obama and Nixon White Houses are suddenly coming—pardon the expression—fast and furious, and why not? The IRS investigations; the administration’s fixation on leaks and leakers and its obsession with enemies; the cover-ups, the blame-shifting to subordinates, the defiant chief executive, even the sweating, pathetically dissembling press secretary; it all has the odor of that earlier time. Again, it’s all happening early in the second term, following a triumphant reelection. Again, the operative terms are arrogance, contempt for law, and thuggery.

The growing awareness of administration malfeasance is evident in the numbers on Google: more than 59 million hits for “Obama and Nixon” and 24 million–plus for “Obama and Watergate.” For those interested, the 44th president’s face can already be found morphing into the 37th’s. Then there’s the rising tide of commentary. “Obama knee-deep in Nixon-esque scandal” runs the headline of columnist Joe Battenfield’s piece in the Boston Herald, which notes that Obama’s campaign slogan would have been more appropriate if it were not “Forward” but “Backward”—“All the way to, say, 1972.” “Benghazi, IRS—Son of Watergate?” asks Cal Thomas. “In IRS Scandal, Echoes of Watergate,” observes the Washington Post’s George Will.

Such talk is mostly confined to the Right so far, but a handful of principled liberals have also weighed in. “There’s no way in the world I’m going to defend that,” said U.S. Representative Michael Capuano of Massachusetts of the IRS’s going after the Tea Party. “Hell, I spent my youth vilifying the Nixon administration for doing the same thing.” Former Michigan Democratic congresswoman Lynn Rivers echoed him: “For anyone over 50, this news couldn’t help but stir memories of Richard Nixon’s Political Enemies Project. . . . To use Dan Rather’s ‘duck test,’ the IRS probe of ‘hostile’ ideological groups looks like, swims like, and quacks like government dirty tricks.” One of the heroes of Watergate weighed in, too. “This is outrageous, and it is totally inexcusable,” Carl Bernstein raged about the revelation that the Department of Justice had secretly seized the phone records of Associated Press journalists. “There is no reason that a presidency that is interested in a truly free press and its functioning should permit this to happen.” Thus it is that questions that once seemed unfathomable take on unexpected plausibility. Where and how far will it all go?

Continue reading.

Well, it's not going to impeachment anytime soon. There's still way too many questions, rival cover-ups, and a still mostly-compliant media. It's going to take some undeniably huge smoking gun to keep this flurry of bad news alive. As Sean Hannity predicted on air last night, things are likely to blow over in the lapdog press in no time. And to that, Michelle Malkin added that conservatives will never "stand down." Amen.

IMAGE CREDIT: Brad Marston.

Michelle Fields Talks Obama Scandals on Cavuto

Ms. Field is in D.C. for some live appearances on Fox News:

Obama Announces Resignation of Acting IRS Commissioner

At Instapundit, "BOY, I TAKE A FEW HOURS OFF AND LOOK WHAT HAPPENS: IRS ACTING COMMISSIONER RESIGNS.

Lots of links at that link.

And at the video, President Hussein is lying through his teeth:

Michelle Malkin on Lapdog Media Doing Their Jobs: 'I Give Them a Golf Clap...'

An awesome Hannity segment from just a little while ago:

Leftist Meme: Tea Party Had It Coming on IRS Targeting

My jaw almost hit the floor reading today's letters to the editor at the Los Angeles Times, "Re "Report raises more IRS questions," May 12":

There is no question that the IRS violated a code of conduct when targeting conservative groups. I just wish that Republicans would be so outraged by their own partisan conduct.

Republicans have conspired since the moment of President Obama's first inauguration to block his agenda at every turn. Indeed, the Senate minority leader's stated goal was to make Obama a one-term president.

Those who truly suffer from this behavior are the people of this great nation.

Rodney K. Boswell
Thousand Oaks

Right.

Like blaming rape on the victim. The mind boggles.

More at Twitchy, "‘Media Matters just stopped mattering for the media’: Lefty group sides with DOJ against AP," and "Targeted by IRS? Bill Maher, Elayne Boosler suggest conservative groups were asking for it."

Syrian Rebel Cuts Out Soldier's Heart and Eats It

This is one of the more bizarrely grotesque things I've seen in awhile.

At Elder of Ziyon, "Video of Syrian rebel cutting out, eating soldier's heart (graphic videos)."

More at NYT:

Syrian Rebel Reportedly Defends Sinking His Teeth Into Dead Soldier’s Flesh on Camera nyti.ms/16y2uL9

— NYTimes Lede Blog (@thelede) May 14, 2013