Some of the National Review writers are clearly more willing to look reality in the face than others. Like Kevin Williamson, for example:
I will confess to a little despair over the relatively mild reception that has greeted the evidence, now conclusive and irrefutable, that the Internal Revenue Service, under the direction of senior leaders affiliated with the Democratic party, was used as a political weapon from at least 2010 through the 2012 election. It may be that the American public simply does not care about the issue; it is always difficult, if not impossible, to predict what issues will seize the electorate’s attention, or to understand why after the fact. It may be that the public does not understand the issue, in which case a brief explanation of the known facts may be of some use.
Here is what happened. In the run-up to the 2012 election, senior IRS executives including Lois Lerner, then the head of the IRS branch that oversees the activities of tax-exempt nonprofit groups, began singling out conservative-leaning organizations for extra attention, invasive investigations, and legal harassment. The IRS did not target groups that they believed might be violating the rules governing tax-exempt organizations; rather, as e-mails from the agency document, the IRS targeted these conservative groups categorically, regardless of whether there was any evidence that they were not in compliance with the relevant regulations. Simply having the words “tea party,” “patriot,” or “9/12” (a reference to one of Glenn Beck’s many channels of activism) in the name was enough. Also targeted were groups dedicated to issues such as taxes, spending, debt, and, perhaps most worrisome, those that were simply “critical of the how the country is being run.”
[my emphasis]. Welcome back, Woodrow Wilson’s 1918 progressive sedition act! Only, you know, sub rosa this time. Because of the transparency!
Organizations also were targeted based on the identity of their donors. Their applications were delayed, their managements harassed, and the IRS demanded that they answer wildly inappropriate questions, such as the content of their prayers. When an internal review threatened to expose the fact that, in the words of the IRS’s inspector general, the agency was “using inappropriate criteria to identify organizations applying for tax-exempt status,” Ms. Lerner staged an event at a tax-law conference at which she used a planted questioner to preemptively disclose the issue on her own terms, and the agency began claiming that the tea-party targeting, while regrettable, was the work of a few misguided agents at a satellite office in Cincinnati. In fact, the direction came from Washington and was, in the words of the agency’s own e-mails, “coordinated with” a senior manager there, Rob Choi, director of rulings and agreements. This began at the behest of Democratic officeholders, including Senator Carl Levin of Michigan […]. It subsequently emerged that IRS officials had intentionally misled members of Congress and investigators about the matter.
During this period, IRS operatives were, according to the Office of Special Counsel, openly campaigning for the reelection of Barack Obama on IRS time using IRS resources. […].
The IRS is not just a revenue agency — it is a law-enforcement agency, a police agency with far greater powers of investigation and coercion that any normal police force. Its actions in this matter are not only inappropriate — they are illegal. Using government resources for political ends is a serious crime, as is conspiring to mislead investigators about those crimes. But so far, other than holding Lois Lerner in contempt for refusing to comply with the demands of congressional investigators, almost nothing has happened. The characteristic feature of a police state is that those who are entrusted with the power to enforce the law are not themselves bound by it.
[my emphasis] “Police state”? Is it me, or is Mr Williamson beginning to sound more and more like one of those Visigothic Hobbity haters whose racism is the primary factor in his criticism of the government here. Quick, somebody alert the IRS!
Context is again here important. The IRS scandal is not a standalone issue but comes at a time when the Democratic party is seeking to radically expand the power of the federal government to regulate political speech; we can safely assume that the same people who were using the IRS’s political-speech regulations for political ends will have precisely the same motives and precisely the same opportunity to use other political-speech regulations for precisely the same political ends: to benefit their allies and persecute their enemies. So committed are the Democrats to keeping their critics under the thumb of federal police powers that they have introduced an amendment in the Senate that would effectively repeal the free-speech provisions of the First Amendment, those having proved inconvenient to Democrats in Supreme Court rulings such as McCutcheon and Citizens United, the latter case involving a federal attempt to make it a crime to show a film critical of a political figure under unapproved circumstances.
The most important question that must be answered in this matter does not involve the misbehavior of IRS officials and Democratic officeholders, though those are important. Nor is it the question of free speech, vital and fundamental as that is. The question here is nothing less than the legitimacy of the United States government. When law-enforcement agencies and federal regulators with extraordinary coercive powers are subordinated to political interests rather than their official obligations — to the Party rather than to the law — then the law itself becomes meaningless, and the delicate constitutional order we have enjoyed for more than two centuries is reduced to a brutal might-makes-right proposition. Elected officials and public servants of both parties take an oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States and to faithfully discharge the duties of their office. That oath is now being tested. The IRS investigation is no mere partisan scandal, but a moral challenge for the men and women who compose the government of this country. Whether they are sufficient to meet that challenge is far from obvious, but the evidence so far is not encouraging.
As you all who read me regularly know, I’ve been calling for a select committee investigation into this scandal since very early on, and I’ve speculated openly and repeatedly that the reason we haven’t seen the GOP House empanel one is that the GOP establishment was itself either complicit by action or complicit by inaction in the targeting of the TEA Party groups. That is, they were either in contact with the IRS themselves, or else they were privately notifying the Dems that they were going to turn a blind eye, despite the complaints that were coming in from TEA Party groups, which were all but dismissed without any real attempt to look into them.
The truth is, we are living in a soft tyranny that, as the Agriculture Department seeks to arm up with military assault weapons — real ones, though, not the kind Democrat politicians are trying to remove from the hands of citizens because of the way they look cosmetically — is beginning to look more and more like a hardened tyranny, which carries with it the necessity of a police state to keep citizens sufficiently intimidated. This can take many forms, from armed raids on ranches to the kind of bureaucratic abuses engaged in by the IRS at the behest of high-ranking Democrat Senators, who I’m certain were doing the bidding of the White House.
At a time when Harry Reid is taking to the Senate floor daily to demonize industrious American citizens like the Koch brothers, who he calls out by name, while at the same time crying out for a Constitutional amendment that would help the Dems regain their significant fundraising advantage and silence the political speech of their enemies (no, not Islamic terrorists or murderous illegals; rather we, the people who still believe in a constitutional republic and are fighting to maintain ours), it is quite clear that the left is looking to permanently solidify its ideological gains and entrench them, much as they’ve been able to entrench ObamaCare.
And we have but John Boehner, Eric Cantor, Mitch McConnell, and Lamar Alexander to represent us from a leadership position.
Meaning, we’re well and truly fucked.
(h/t Tom W)
So, does this mean Obama isn’t a typical, run-of-the-mill liberal Democrat, or whatever it was Williams deemed him to be, or have we just redefined what we mean by typical political behavior by Democrats?
First they came for the hobbits, and because I wasn’t a hobbit, and, in point of fact, because hobbits embarrass me, I helped to point them out as zombie Niebuhr might say.
We also already have in the education system and the media the reincarnation of Wilson’s “Committee on Public Information” and their “Four Minute Men”.
The armoring up of all the federal departments and the “swatting” up of police agencies seems headed to restarting the “American Protective League” which was run by Wilson’s DOJ. See the Wilson chapter of “Liberal Fascism”
Link to the Department of Agriculture story.
Dr. Ben Carson was audited for the first time not long after his less-than-ankle-licking-of-The-IWonPhonePen speech … and audits happened coincidentally to members of his family and his business associates.
The gal who headed True the Vote has numerous alphabet Fed agencies engage in a regulation colonoscopy of her family business.
Gibson Guitar was staring at business ruin for daring to not bend to Obama.
Long-time politicians rarely have clean hands when it comes to their finances, so pushing against a Leftist-politicized civil
servantmaster class is going to result in having one’s tax information “leaked” to the Democrat PR division (aka lamestream press) or being hauled up on ginned up charges ala Dinesh d’Souza.The truth is, we are living in a soft tyranny that, as the Agriculture Department seeks to arm up with military assault weapons — real ones, though, not the kind Democrat politicians are trying to remove from the hands of citizens because of the way they look cosmetically
It’s the caliber of the Soldier that matters,Mr!
Those toy soldier wannabees are more than likely to shoot themselves FULL AUTO in the foot. ;^)
” ” Stupid quote marks, you’re supposed to be up there.
Submachine-guns are for clearing trenches and hallways and to provide a reduced footprint weapon for a vehicle driver. They’d be smarter to stick with shotguns and hand-guns, but perhaps the cops have to worry about the Geneva Conventions too now. Who knows.
The solicitation calls for the “full-auto mode” to be a 2 shot burst.
Odd that as 3 shot is what is normally there along with semi and full but they just want semi and 2 shot burst. Perhaps they gamed out the clearing of a farmer-terrorist dairy barn and found 2 shots the way to go.
Trying to picture Hank Kimball in full body armor with his sub-gun.
Sounds more like they want short barreled pistol carbines than classic submachineguns.
So are they going MP5, MP7, Kriss Vector, or what?
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Bny_fwNIgAEzn0q.jpg
Harry’s got a problem.
They are just asking for manufactures to submit bids.
to manufacturers: just say no thanks.
Kevin Williamson wrote: The question here is nothing less than the legitimacy of the United States government.
How soon before NRO lets Mr. Williamson ‘go’?
It’s nice to see that Mr. Williamson is finally seeing the light.
He is very skilled in the Polemic Arts, so I think we should embrace him with open arms and try to employ him in our fight to Restore our Freedoms and Liberties.
While I think he should be forgiven his willful blindness, we should never forget it in any dealings we have with him. He has Sins to atone for.
They are just asking for manufactures to submit bids.
Oh, so they have no intention of actually buying any, and this is just a bureaucratic “busy work” exercise for someone approaching retirement? They’ve managed to solve all of the other problems (such as the dust levels on farms, or HAZMAT reports required when someone spills raw milk) that they have on their collective desks and decided to create a few new ones?
“Hey, Bill, why don’t you see how much a few submachine guns would cost us in case we ever needed a few? You never know how those oregano farmers might decide to get obstreperous one of these days…”
Sorry, I don’t buy it.
Mr. Jeff please to comment
?
http://twitchy.com/2014/05/16/veterans-hit-back-at-pathetic-author-joyce-carol-oates-after-asinine-military-smear/
I personally as a stalwart pikachu and avid reader of american fictions am not at all fond of people what suggest that Joyce is in any way shape or form a “pathetic author.”
In fact I tend to think they’re twitchytarded.
In fact I tend to think they should be bitchslapped into next tuesday.
But that would be me.
They intend to buy, the solicitation is just to see what selection they will have to choose from and at what price. 2 shot burst mode is not off the shelf as 3 round is the norm.
If JCO says something willfully stupid, fatuous, hyperbolic, and ignorant then she can take the heat for it, including the massive public loss of confidence in the efficacy of her cognitive skills.
She just revealed herself to be more worthy of ridicule and derision than your ol’ buddy the Grand Papa Duck Commander.
What a dumb lady. Like Ted Rall dumb.
Our government is as legitimate as the people who vote in the nearly-interchangeable representatives allow it to be. In our times, we see our formerly constitutional legitimacy fading in the rear view mirror.
As we race FORWARD!, our ruling class will don the white robes of our bigger, more inclusive government, and our old ideals will be helpfully recast as racisty bigophobia that must be replaced. Bitterly clinging to the old constitutional legitimacy, based on old dead white folks’ writings, just can’t be tolerated any longer.
In order to be stamped NEWLY legitimate, we must all face FORWARD! now. Or face short double-tap bursts of hot, righteous, full metal jacketed progressivism, unleashed Django-style.
making not 100% completely well-thought-out comments on twitter about these quixotic people what for ever reason decide to wear the military uniform of a cowardly fascist cuntstate isn’t a particularly grave offense i don’t think
and we’ll need many more skeptics like her before we’re done I bet
but
it’s a job I guess, and Joyce would do well to remember that, but I still love her more than beans
She put the t-shirt on that reads “know nothing left wing fathead…”
Don’t blame me for reading it.
she’s added a lot of value
america’s failshit wars in iraq and afghanistan?
not so much
She hasn’t done anything but show what a sad maggot she is.
I wrote my local congressperson and asked that she introduce a bill outlawing the use of federal SWAT style teams in the State of CA.
I suggested the feds, if they need such things, can coordinate with local law enforcement. I also suggested it would be interesting, to see members of the CA legislature justify voting against such a measure.
I see I have a comma running amok in my last sentence.
Not unlike happyfeet.
making not 100% completely well-thought-out comments on twitter about these quixotic people what for ever reason decide to wear the military uniform of a cowardly fascist cuntstate isn’t a particularly grave offense i don’t think
Meanwhile the griefer argues that one dumb statement by Akin = all conservatives everywhere, anywhen. Which of the two is more of an exemplar of leftist thinking?
JCO isn’t my cuppa. She is part of the cabal of morose I-see-injustice-in-every-corner authors. She’s also revealed herself as an idiot and a hypocrite (surprise!).
She’s old, so perhaps she’ll die soon.
I personally as a stalwart pikachu and avid reader of american fictions am not at all fond of people what suggest that Joyce is in any way shape or form a “pathetic author.”
In fact I tend to think they’re twitchytarded.
In fact I tend to think they should be bitchslapped into next tuesday.
Those would be our military and veterans who were personally and professionally offended by her comments that feets wants to have “bitchslapped into next tuesday {sic}”, not the submoronic shitstain who made the statement that likened them to suicide bombers.
Feets, I dare you to try it on the next vet or active-duty military you meet. You might get the ass-whooping that you have been so richly deserving for years. But only you, not the hundred or so innocent people nearby, which is the difference you — and that shitstain — have so clearly missed. And you might even be lucky enough to be allowed to live and learn (if you are capable of learning from non-lethal lessons, which is clearly not a given).
pickles Mr. Drumwaster
Joyce Carol Oates is a great author and a great American. Love her more than beans I do.
Pickles & Beans.
pickles and beans indeed Mr. geoff
and Oates!
I’m a kindle me up some Oates today I think
Joyce Carol Oates is a great author and a great American.
By the standards of any anti-American shitstain who hates the military that protects her, I’m sure she is as great as her failshit thought processes will let her be, but then again, I prefer to listen to opinions that are in keeping with reality.
Which specifically excludes yours. Good thing you have that same military protecting your rights to be as wrong as you so often are without actually dying from it, isn’t it? If they were even remotely like she has portrayed them, both you and she would have had your heads mounted on spikes long since.
I don’t think she said she hates the military Mr. Drumwaster. She seems to have a set of assumptions she’s working from that lead her to take a more jaundiced view of the nature of military service than other people might.
She should probably read this article from this week and revisit her thinkings.
I’ve known a number of Joyces some of whom are fairly good eggs. Then there’s Carol. Let’s leave her out of it. But among the Oates, hierarchically speaking, Warren and Johnny gotta rank one and two.
i bought that big 4-cd Hall and Oates box set thinger
I love them more than beans too
I passed a casino one time in the hinterlands where they were playing and thought about stopping in
but i didn’t
it was an indian casino and I just don’t really feel very good about supporting those kind of enterprises
I don’t think I’ve ever been in a casino ‘cept that one time my wife dragged me to an Atlantic City Dwight Yoakam concert. God what a misery of sweaty black leather and balding Americana.
I don’t think she said she hates the military Mr. Drumwaster.
No, she just thinks they are suicide bombers. I’m quite sure she thinks of suicide bombers with happyhappyjoyjoy thoughts, right?
the U.S. military is only taking 20 percent of the applicants who walk into their local recruiter’s office intent on enlisting in the armed services.
People desperate to just earn a paycheck in this failure of an Obama economy are not the kind of people the military would want or need, especially in the era of cutbacks and downsizing. In the REAL military (the one that exists outside your failshit worldview), the military is a group of highly trained specialists that would qualify as a master craftsman in any other field. In my particular field, it was a 17-week intensive and highly-specialized training course merely to qualify as an apprentice, and years of real-world experience, with months more of other specific training, in all sorts of widely varying contexts to make it to a position of competence, never mind exceptionalism.
The military is not just cannon fodder, and it deserves more than to be smeared by cowardly fucks like you, and shitstains like her.
(Speaking of which, when can I put down that you are going to bitchslap a veteran? I want to make sure I am there to laugh at your weeping and broken shell spraying blood on the ground, if only for the YouTube hits. Of course, you could just admit your cowardice, so that the contempt you deserve can begin.)
my last few I’ve been struck by the large number of wheelchairs you encounter
Joyce Carol Oates is but a pale wannabe shadow of Flannery O’Conner. When JCO is mentioned, to my inner eye, Hillary Clinton’s awful visage maddeningly appears.
‘feets is a Progressive mostly. Once you realize that, you just know to overlook his structural failings for the most part.
JCO looks like a crazy cat lady, but a fun one. She has a couple recent tweeters about Flannery O’Connor. This one made me want to kindle up this story.
(She has way more tweeters about cats though than about Flannery.)
I don’t think Oates is a pale shadow of anyone I think she’s a tremendous talent who’s made many good writings, and will likely make many many more.
Mr. serr8d I’m the least progressive person in my whole neighborhood.
Once you realize that, you just know to overlook his structural failings for the most part.
Oh, overlooking his structural failings isn’t the problem, it’s the ongoing cosmetic failings (revealing the underlying rusted-out structural failings) that I have the problems with. I wouldn’t mind his complete ignorance if he weren’t so heartsickeningly stupid, to boot. It’s the same reason no one ever wants to see the Hollywood sign from Hollywood. Once you see how patchwork paint isn’t quite covering up the rusted and crumbling supports, you look around and see how Hollywood itself has been taken over by narcissistic wannabes to the point where the potholes are eating the cars, and the bloom has fallen so far from the rose, the petals have been lost amid the trash and whores.
Much like what passes for a thought process in that microcephalic pikachu sewer…
I just want his cowardice to be exposed, given that all of his other (many) shortcomings have been on display for so long.
oh dear
I don’t even know what to say.
Consistency is actually in there but it is at the meta-level where all the left’s means converge on
anthe end and the little identity group fig leaves fall away.Eating their own for any apostasy.
While the true believers lay waste to all around them.
Since today is Armed Forces Day, I salute all of our veterans.
Joyce Carl Oates can eat a bag of dicks.
I salute Joyce Carol Oates, and I would urge her not to eat a bag of dicks, but, instead, to make herself some tasty pumpkin dip. I haven’t tried this yet. I don’t have all the stuffs you need but mostly I’m trying to think how to make the dip more orangey cause the color looks like it needs a little help. I’m thinking maybe just a teaspoon of carrot juice might be what it wants.
Stupid and cowardly is no way to go through life, pikashit. You ought to think about changing.
Q: How many psychiatrists does it take to change a light bulb?
A: Only one, but the light bulb has to WANT to change.
i have my own agenda
I think JCO is a confused and confounded person trying to live in a constructed reality rather than the real reality; a problem common to proggs and science deniers. Her bio states that she was “near suicidal” with grief following the death of her first husband of many years. Yet, in six months she is married again. Suicidal grief that may be switched off at will?
A small jar of baby food carrots would do it for color in the pumpkin dip.
that’s smart I like that idea
stick with hall and oats
Pretty sure hot, righteous progressivism only comes in jacketed hollow point.
And ‘feets strikes me more Bo-Bo than progressive.
Of course, one could argue that that’s a distinction without a difference.
Me, definitely Lobo.
The trick is to note that both of them are about as ignorant as a person could be about such things. Another trick is to note that neither of them can or ever could hope to do the job they so disdain.
that makes two tricks what you can use
Jot this trick down on your agenda.