A Smidgen of This, a Smidgen of That, and a Heapin' Helping of BS

So.  It seems that the Congressional Ways and Means Committee released a few choice internal IRS emails today from Lois Lerner's government account. It would be an extreme understatement to suggest that the content indicates a "dislike" of Conservatives on Ms. Lerner's part. The HuffPo reports:

In one email, Lerner called members of the GOP crazies. In the other, she called them "assholes." The committee redacted the wording to "_holes" in the material it released publicly but a committee spokeswoman confirmed to the AP that the email said "assholes."

Congress and the Justice Department are investigating whether the IRS improperly scrutinized applications for tax-exempt status from conservative groups.

(See also The Daily Caller and The Daily Beast.)

Now, wait a minute. I thought Justice has declined to wade into this scandal. Yep. Justice is dragging its feet, arms, torso, and skull. House Judiciary Committee Chair noted (emphasis mine):

“Earlier this year, unnamed Justice Department officials leaked information to the Wall Street Journal suggesting that the department does not plan to file criminal charges over the IRS’s targeting of conservative groups,” he added. “On Super Bowl Sunday, President Obama stated that there was ‘not even a smidgen of corruption’ in connection with the IRS’s admitted targeting of conservative groups based upon their beliefs.”

I think there's more than a smidgen, a pinch, or a dollop of corruption and malfeasance on the Hill.  There are at least two participants in the communication released today, and it's unlikely that they're the only two who adhere to the opinion so eloquently expressed therein. There's clearly a whole culture of corruption and vengeance in the IRS, and they've already wielded the power of the Revenoors as a bludgeon. Does anyone really think, with a straight face, that the White House doesn't have at least nine fingers in this pie?

But, is it possible that these magic emails (and here I thought all Lerner's emails were lost, or corrupted, or stolen by aliens) will get Justice off the pot and force the appointment of a Special Prosecutor for the IRS scandal?

Unlikely.

Perhaps the media and the White House should be pounding on impeachment for Holder instead of Young President Impotent.

Maybe just a smidgen.

Arrogance, Thy Name Is . . .

The Tea Party has put together a pretty awesome video featuring our Young President, and as you might have picked up on, I rarely use the word, "awesome."  So it's that good.

Prepare to be amused.  Sort of.  Well, it would be amusing if it weren't so darned true.



Stay informed, my friends.

Do You Suppose They Were Preoccupied?

Weren't the Occupy dudes supposed to have some big, hands-across-America-ish, nationwide demonstrations today? 

Apparently, the New Orleans chapter either never received, or ignored, the memo.  (Okay, it wasn't a memo, it was an email from MoveOn.org -- yes I'm still undercover!)

I was at City Hall this morning to speak to the Council and Mayor on Military Day about ESGR. City Hall is right across the street from Duncan Plaza where the Occupy folks (and their homeless chums who were run out of Duncan Plaza a few years ago, but seem to have found their way back on the coattails of the Occupy Cognoscenti) have pitched their tents (and the city, being ever-prepared for parades and parties, has set out several PortaPotties).  There were a bunch of extra cops both in the entry area of City Hall and the Council Chamber, as if they expected a bunch of Occupiers to storm the seat of city government. 

When I arrived and saw all the cops I actually grew a little apprehensive about being able to get out and to my car after the session without encountering a mob of foolish, fragrant people -- our session with the Council began at 9:30 and was supposed to last until about 11:30; the Occupy Show of Force was supposed to crank up at 11:00 near a sign erected on the sidewalk across the street.  As I prepared to leave, I could see a sea of television news trucks through the front windows.  Hmmmm, I thought.

Then, I walked outside.  And saw this:

I think the news folk outnumbered the Occupy folk.  Here are the PortaPotties.

This whole Occupy thing is starting to get a little amusing to us irrelevant people who live in flyover country.  You know a thing has jumped the shark when The Daily Show starts gigging it:

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

But, I think my very favorite jab at the Occupants so far is this:

Go ahead, Occupunks, make his day.

Pretty Shallow Roots

In this afternoon's in-box, a little love message from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee:

Dear Moogie,

We’re putting together the official DSCC 2012 Election Poetry Magnet, and it just won't be as good if our grassroots supporters don't help us out.

So that’s why we’re asking you: What words are necessary for you to have the most satisfying poetic experience? What words would you include on our new poetry magnet?

Click here to suggest words we should include, and to order your magnet.

We’re still fighting the TEA PARTY, so maybe we’d better include it. Then there’s Dennis Rehberg, who suggested that PELL GRANTS are just welfare. Oh, and Jon Bruning in Nebraska compared people needing a helping hand to scavenging RACCOONS. And who could forget the GOP presidential candidates? Michele Bachmann said we'd get rid of unemployment entirely if we'd just dump that pesky MINIMUM WAGE. Rick Perry thinks MEDICARE and SOCIAL SECURITY are unconstitutional. And then there’s Mitt Romney, who famously said CORPORATIONS are PEOPLE. Say what? Those are some BIZARRE ideas.

Get the idea? What words would you include?
Our poetry magnet should include GRASSROOTS, because you’re such an important part of what we do. Thanks for working so hard to elect DEMOCRATS!

Sincerely,

Jason Rosenbaum
Director of Online Communications

They're "fighting" the Tea Party, whose existence they pooh-poohed a little over 2 years ago.  Heh.

I'm such a very important part of what those ever-lovin' liberals do!  I'm such a grasssroots supporter!  They'll be more than happy to accept my word suggestions (and a little donation or two).

I don't think they really want to hear my word suggestions (like Jackasses, Communists, heretics).

You'll notice that there are no children's drawings or family photos displayed on that Democratic refrigerator.  I, myself, think that very void speaks volumes about Democratic family values.  Or, maybe they're just demonstrating solidarity with those less fortunate who have no refrigerator upon which to display one's family or its artwork.

Nah -- they're just stick-up-the-rear-end, boring, vanilla people.

Do you have any suggestions for word recommendations?

White House Debt Summit/Showdown

I missed the news coverage of today's Debt Ceiling Summit at the White House as it happened.  Pepper provides this description: the Young President wore a grim expression and had his nostrils pointed toward the sky while chomping on gum.  (I'm guessing Nicorette.  And I seriously doubt whether he has actually kicked the habit.)  He doesn't look very happy in this picture.

You'll be pleased to know that Speaker Boehner is sipping hot tea.  Not coffee, hot TEA.

Heh.

Played for effect nicely, Mr. Speaker.

Debt Crisis, Tea Party, and Brinksmanship

This is kinda interesting.

First, the Young President was not really "aware" of the Tea Party" protests.  April 15, 2009.

Then, the Young President referred to a bunch of folks "waving tea bags around."  May 2, 2009. So, I guess a voice was sounding through the din.

Next, there were the 2010 mid-term elections.

Today, the mainstream media blames the Tea Party for shutting down negotiations and moving us toward a default on debt.

We've come a long way, Baby.

Don't back down.

Seriously.  Don't back down.  Cut the spending.  Now.

(P.S. -- is our president a petulant schoolboy, or what?!?!  Pepper says if he were Boehner, he wouldn't show up tomorrow, and might just send out an email scheduling a bi-partisan/Executive Department meeting at 10:00 at the Capitol building, before the YP's summons for the same thing at 11:00 at the White House.  That'd be cool!  Then maybe they could have lunch in the West Wing afterwards.  I'd serve Chicken salad.)

Desperately Seeking Humorous Distraction

Considering my great propensity to criticize misplaced apostrophes and grammar errors, this is just hysterical to me -- the best obnoxious responses to misspellings on Facebook.  (Not exactly family-friendly, though.)  As a blog where I found it commented (all you SEC fans will love this blog -- it's The Blog Hawgs!  I'm looking at you, Andy and Paul and Boogie), it's just like a train wreck -- you simply can't make yourself look away.

And, speaking of not exactly family-friendly, but laugh-out-loud-until-your-gut-hurts-from-laughing funny, Check out Damn You Auto Correct.

Happy Independence Day!  I'm blowing out the candles and wishing that we can remain free from our own government.

Apparently I needed a good laugh or two today.

And cake.

For: Keeping the Tax Rates as They Are (Duh!)

Seen in today's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette:

I like it!

Seismic Activity

From Moonbattery:

I can see 2012 out my window, and I'm liking what I see!

Of Pigs, Wearing Beagle Suits, at the Trough: A Cautionary Tale

Since we lost our Wendy Whiner beagle girl, I've noticed a change in the eating habits of Bouie, the sweet young lab, and Rosie, the geriatric mostly-blind-and-usually-deaf shih tzu.



Supper Time used to be a closely monitored activity. There were three bowls, in three different spots in the kitchen, and the bowls for Bouie and Rosie were not set in place until Wendy had her bowl. Rosie and Bouie had to wait because, otherwise, Wendy would nudge them out of the way and glom theirs down before they had a chance even to sniff their food; but, if she was preoccupied with her own bowl, the other two stood a chance of getting to eat.


Wendy never left a morsel in her bowl. Holding it down with one paw (quite the clever and talented hound dog), she always licked the bowl down several times, even after it was empty, digging in to scrape the last tiny morsel out of the creases in the bottom with that all-powerful beagle tongue. After she gave up on finding anything else in her own bowl, she would slyly (in her own mind!) set off to check out the others' bowls, hovering near them and staring down her canine brethren much like Snoopy did when he was pretending to be a vulture, willing them to step away from the bowl. If, by chance Rosie and Bouie didn't finish the whole serving, Wendy would take care of that for them, licking their bowls doubly clean as she had her own. On more than one occasion we feared she might explode. So, we took to picking up Rosie's and Bouie's bowls when they left something in them, both to preserve what was theirs and to prevent a bursting beagle. It was time-consuming, but worth the effort in the end, even if sometimes Rosie and Bouie didn't get quite full enough.


Since Wendy has been gone, the other dogs have felt free to nosh at will, not feeling obligated to clean their bowls all at one time; knowing that what they left would still be there waiting for them later when they felt like a little snack, but still willing to let the other have a nibble or two if he or she felt the need.


I think there's an allegory in there somewhere: the Tale of the Federal Government and the Taxpayers at Supper Time, starring Wendy as the Feds (and featuring Bouie and Rosie as The Taxpayers).


We should all take heed of the tale -- sometimes The Feeder has to monitor the action and pick up the supper bowls early; sometimes the beagle explodes and everyone has to clean up the mess.


The Feeders still have a choice -- for awhile.

A Summer of Congress's Discontent?

Congressman Brad Sherman (D-CA) apparently chose to disregard Fox News on the wrong day.

At a town hall several days ago, a constituent asked Sherman's take on the Department of Justice's recent policy decision not to prosecute civil rights abuses when the alleged wrongdoer is black. The constituent referred specifically to the DOJ's dropping of charges against several members of the New Black Panther Party in exchange for a questionable plea deal in the Philadelphia voter intimidation case.

The Congressman assumed a patronizing air, back-pedalled a bit, then outright lied about being unfamiliar with the case. (Okay -- that he outright lied is my spin, but if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck . . . .)




Don't you love the crowd's response at the end? Can you say, "Get a rope!" (I offer that observation in the least racist vein possible. White bad guys were strung up in the old B-movie Westerns, along with people who claim in modern television commercials that good salsa is made in Noo Yawk City. Come to think of it, I haven't seen that commercial in ages!)

Just think! This little Town Hall call-to-account was just the run-up to the summer recess. I smell an August chock-full of congressional confrontations.

Still think the TEA Party is passe, Madame Pelosi?

H/T to Powerline.

UPDATE: This is interesting. I've tried to embed the Glenn Beck broadcast of King Samir Shabazz's rant about killing "crackers" several time and everytime a "this link is broken" message comes up. Go to Youtube and search for "shabazz cracker rant." You'll find it if you haven't seen it yet. I hope.

For Every Little Red-blooded American Girl

Stolen from a Facebook friend.

As long as Anderson Cooper stays away from her, she'll be all right!

No, wait . . . .

Quite a becoming rendering of Madame Nappy, don't you think?

Of course, her dogma's the same as the real thing.

Unfortunately for us.

Stolen from a Facebook Tea Partier

I don't think Governor Palin (or even Tina Fey!) could've said it better!

Tax Day Tea Party NOLA, 2010

Having had a rather rough week or two, I've shamefully neglected my blog stalking; so I've been catching up today.

Even though Thursday was pretty trying and emotionally draining for reasons that I won't go into, I did manage to make it to the Greater New Orleans Tea Party Thursday evening after making sure that our extension was filed.

(April 15th? Who can possibly get the ninety-seven pounds of documentation gathered up in one spot to get the ol' 1040 filed by April 15th? Try October 15th! If.)

I made it to the Tea Party unescorted. Pepper had, without thinking about our civic duty, made arrangements to skip out on work a little early to play golf on Thursday afternoon. And, since the thought crossed my mind that he might try to die on me again if I insisted he cancel his golf outing, I went to party with my fellow TeaBaggers unescorted. That turned out not to be a problem because the people you meet at these events are so friendly and outgoing, you're never alone unless you choose to be.

(I'm going to have to get over this mother-henning of, and automatically deferring to, my perfectly healthy, adult husband or he'll get completely out of control!)

Anyway, here are a few pics from the 2010 Metairie Tax Day Tea Party. Like my poster? And we actually got decent press this time -- radio, tv, and print!

Well, it was decent press if you ignore the deflated number of participants reported in the Times-Pic. Five hundred in attendance -- piffle. A Tea Partier acquaintance told me that his buddy in the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office (who worked the traffic detail at the Veterans Memorial and kept track of the comings and goings) estimated that close to 1,500 folks, all told, showed up. I guess the Times-Pic gave us decent coverage so we wouldn't melt the phone lines to the editor like we did back in August.

And this is a clever video I stole over at Andy's Place. Don't you just know that Anderson Cooper regrets that he gets credit for coining that clever little attempted slur. Heh.

I think we've finally captured the attention of some of the powers that be, including, at long last, our silver-tongued Young President. Don't you sometimes just want to swat him on the behind and put him in time-out for being so self-righteously and arrogantly sarcastic? He's been "amused" by the Tea Partiers.

Amused. I mean, really.

Really.

Obama Understands the Tea Party Movement! Sort Of . . . .

Last year, On April 15th, then-Young President Obama's spokesman stated that the president was "unaware" of any tea parties, much less a whole political movement. What a difference a year of Tea Parties, Town Hall meetings, and throngs surrounding the Capitol makes.

This just in from the AP:

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama says he believes the Tea Party is built around a "core group" of people who question whether he is a U.S. citizen and believe he is a socialist.

But beyond that, Obama tells NBC he recognizes the movement involves "folks who have legitimate concerns" about the national debt and whether the government is taking on too many difficult issues simultaneously.

In an interview broadcast Tuesday on NBC's "Today" show, Obama said he feels "there's still going to be a group at their core that question my legitimacy." But he said he didn't want to paint Tea Party activists "in broad brushes" and he hopes to win over members who have "mainstream, legitimate concerns."

Do you suppose he's really going to turn on the massive "suck up to the Tea Partiers" machine? Time will tell.

As to his change of heart in acknowledging us, I have these thoughts --

While intriguing, the birther thing doesn't really hold water for me without a whole lot of conspiracy theory.

But, as to the whole socialism issue, I have just one question: Mr. President, will you please waddle and quack for us?

Hail to the Duck!

I don't think he's winning me over any time soon on that issue.

Midday TEA in New Oleans

My lunchtime activity at the Federal Building in New Orleans. We had a small, but effective, group of 30 or 40. Not a bad turnout for a gorgeous Friday in New Orleans when the NCAA tournament is in town. We definitely got tenfold more honks and thumbs-up than sneers and put-downs from a certain element, the likes of which I shall not stoop to its depths to criticize. (How's that for a delicate Southern putdown?)

Just a little reminder -- the TEA Party movement is out here.

The 10th Amendment still exists.

We remember.

We shall not surrender.

Our Republic lives.

With the Spring Thaw, the TEA Partiers Emerge, Stronger Than Ever

I guess some folks in Congress have just blocked out the memory of the healthcare Town Halls of last summer. Here's a gentle reminder:

WE'RE STILL HERE, WE STILL OPPOSE A HEALTHCARE JUGGERNAUT THAT MANDATES THE PURCHASE OF AN INSURANCE PRODUCT, AND WE STILL VOTE (NOT TO MENTION WE STILL MAKE CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS).

You tell 'em, St. Louis!

H/T to Moonbattery

The Gratitude of a Republic

Consider yourself thanked!

Had a rough enough week yet, Nancy?

Happy Anniversary, Mr. President! Love & Kisses, The TEA Partiers

One of our local TEA Party leaders, a Metairie orthodontist, sent this out last night -- his observation on the stunning Senate seat loss by the Progressives in Massachusetts. I'm still a little giddy about the whole thing, but won't rest and savor the victory for long. There are snarky emails and letters that need to be composed and sent to various denizens of D.C..

Oh, and just for the record, my man drives a big ol', camo-loaded, gun-and-dog-transporting, spit-cup-sporting truck, too! (It matters not that his other car is a Porsche -- it's the principle of the thing!)

Subject: Tea Party 2010: Happy Anniversary, Mr. Prez. May I Introduce You to Scott? He Drives a Truck.

Dear Patriots,

As I sat through a meeting last night, my phone began vibrating with text messages and voice mails. Instinctively, I knew the news was good. When I arrived home, my wife said "You better send an e-mail to your readers. They'll be expecting one." Funny, I didn't know I had "readers."

It took exactly one year for some voters to figure out they made a grave error in November 2008. It wasn't exactly the "CHANGE" they had in mind. On Tuesday, January 19, 2010, the day before the one year anniversary of President Obama's inauguration, the voters began the process of correcting that error. Happy Anniversary, Mr. President. Here's our gift to you. His name is Scott and he drives a truck.

By the time many of you read this correspondence, the Democrats will have hit the airwaves with their own unique spin on what the Massachusetts election means. I'll summarize it for them in 5 words: Socialism Got Its Ass Kicked. Spin it however it makes you feel better. But when you get down to it, repeat after me..............socialism got its ass kicked.

You messed with the wrong people. The sleeping giant sleeps no more. America is the greatest nation the world has ever seen because it embraces rugged individualism and the opportunity to reap reward from one's own labor. When a person is rewarded for challenging him or herself to greater heights and achievement, there is a fulfillment that can never be simulated. That fulfillment makes him a better person................a person willing and humbled to be generous and kind and charitable.

President Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid. Your day of reckoning has arrived. You all seek to punish the achievers and engineer "social fairness" by implementing policies that vaporize the human spirit and the desire to achieve. Let Tuesday, January 19, 2010 be your awakening. We reject your vision. The people you called extremists and astroturf and teabaggers and "not representative of America" are not going away until your ideology is vanquished and no longer a threat to our America. You will become a footnote in our history books because we are not finished and we will not become complacent. Our children, and our grand-children and our great-grandchildren deserve no less of us. It is our solemn vow. You had better learn to deal with it.

And, by the way, when Mr. Brown arrives in his pickup truck next week, I suggest you not refer to it as a "clunker."

The Saints are marching in,

Dr. Glenn C. Dubroc, Jr.