Lerner walks
Although it’s no surprise, it still needs underlining: the DOJ (I’ll use the acronym because I refuse to use the actual word “justice”in connection with it) has declined to prosecute Lois Lerner:
With no accountability, it’s now open season on dissidents.
Is there anyone out there subject to an Internal Revenue Service audit or a multiyear delay in approval for tax-exempt status who won’t be concerned that the process is politically rigged against them?
That’s the message the Justice Department sent when, in a classic Friday night news dump, it decided to not file charges against IRS tax-exempt groups chief Lois Lerner. In a letter to the House Judiciary Committee, Justice said that while it found “mismanagement, poor judgment and inertia,” there was no case for a criminal prosecution.
This is absurd. Lerner was caught red-handed targeting Tea Party and other conservative groups, wrote partisan emails to prove it, then engaged in a massive cover-up effort ”” with a suspiciously crashed server, an oddly missing BlackBerry and plenty of excuses.
That IBD article ends with the following:
But two can play that game. If a Republican as unscrupulous as Obama wins the election, the same banana republic politics in government will make Democrats the next victims.
The next GOP president may not be a gentleman of the George W. Bush variety. Political parties should be careful what they wish for.
That used to be true, and it used to be part of the reason politicians tended to hold back on this sort of thing. But it’s no longer true, I’m afraid, for the Democratic Party. They are aware that they have nothing to fear.
This is for several reasons. The first is that, rhetoric aside, Democrats realize that the GOP is not playing hardball as the Democrats would define it. That is, they realize that, because Republicans are somewhat more inclined (not entirely, but somewhat) to consider that playing by the rules is an important part of their political philosophy (as in the phrase “a government of laws, not men”), they are therefore somewhat less inclined to use the IRS in this way. So although the Democrats realize it could happen, they have that little added safety cushion against it.
But far far more important is that Democrats know that if they are successful they will never have to worry about such things again, because there will never be another Republican president. That was one of the reasons that Lerner and others pulled out so many of the stops during the 2012 campaign (the Benghazi spin was another, and Candy Crowley’s collusion in that spin during debate number two); the 2012 re-election of Obama was known and understood to be absolutely crucial to the success of that plan.
That was when the immigration laws would be overturned by executive fiat, as Obama had promised. That was how the demographics would solidify and ensure future Democratic victories into the future.
That was when Lerner and other good apparatchniks would be given a pass by a completely compliant Obama-appointed DOJ, rather than having to face a Republican one.
When you’re fundamentally changing the country and solidifying your power into the future, you don’t have to worry about payback time.
Lerner should be hauled before that House committee and asked who gave her orders. Grill her for ten hours. She can no longer invoke the Fifth because she is no longer under criminal jeopardy.
That’s what should happen but won’t.
Honestly, this is why Trump MUST be our nominee. Despite what you think of the guy, when the low-information voters go into the voting booths, many of them would giggle as they voted for Trump. They like the idea of voting for a tv celebrity. It’s the honest truth.
There is no draw for the Democrats this time around. Obama was a bit of a mythic figure for the left and the blacks who turned out in high numbers to vote for him. But even in 2012, Obama had fewer show up to vote for him.
No way that Clinton will evoke that kind of excitement. There are just a few important states that Trump would need to win, and I think he could do it.
He has a certain percentage of the minority vote behind him, he has unions turning his way (due to his immigration stance), he has young people who are all about celebrity, etc.
I just don’t think Clinton can pull it off.
They will obey their orders, especially if they know they will allow their enemies to face the negative consequences. What reason do they have to Disobey?
I hate to say this, but we do need someone like Trump. Check out what “Dilbert” cartoonist is writing on his blog. The people do need to rise up. Establishment politicians and the donor class must be stopped. it’s gotten to the point where elections just don’t matter any more.
Really, people. It is time for someone like Trump.
the modern culture war is over, we lost..
now i am reading about the three major battles of today:
Agincourt
Charge of the Light Brigade
Leyte Gulf
just waiting for the choir triumphant
and laughing my arse off at the articles that avoid the changes feminism made to men, and how they now let their countries be invaded by people who will treat the leading ladies so well
lerner is just one of a whole lot of leftists with a lot of nastyness who are leftists precisely because the protection it affords such people.
this is real comedy in the large gods looking down on us sense.
maybe we can check on M Perry to tell us what to think given that she wears tampons for earrings and is a leading mouthpiece for women.. (Wether they like her or not)… did you hear, it was racism that kept america free from socialisms..
The U.S. Department of Justice issued a memo on Thursday containing new guidelines stating that it will pursue the prosecution of individual employees, and not just their companies, for their role in precipitating the financial crisis in 2008. Many have wondered why the DOJ has not previously made the prosecution of these individuals a priority while the Department has entered into multi-billion dollar settlements with the nation’s largest banks in the last two years.
maybe lerner can give them some advice?
K-E, 1:58 pm — “I just don’t think Clinton can pull it off.”
She can, because her opposition will (yet again) snatch defeat from the jaws of victory; that, because her opposition is The Stupid Party — and it hasn’t earned that monicker for nothing.
It was a nice republic……. while it lasted.
They [Democrats] are aware that they have nothing to fear [from Republicans using “Banana Republic” politics against them]
The biggest reason Democrats have nothing to fear is that an analogous situation with a Republican version of Lois Lerner and a rigged, right-wing DOJ simply could not unfold in the disgusting manner that we’ve just witnessed. The MSM would have banged the drum about this abuse of power day after day after day, and then gone berserk at the obviously biased DOJ decision. Think about how different this thing would have gone down had the MSM been all over it, making a disgrace of Lerner, the IRS, the DOJ and the administration.
All roads lead to the MSM.
Feds Go to Bat for Somali Muslim Truck Drivers Who Refused to Deliver Beer
The federal government awarded $240,000 to two Somali Muslim truck drivers who refused to deliver beer to customers.
The Muslims said it was against their religion.
right… how did that fly given that they are the major owners of small delis since the SBA advantages and other laws put jewish owners out of business for being white?
so, you HAVE to hire them, but you CANT use them… however, if your a nun, better roll up your sleeves and get to work, there are baby parts to harvest.
The fact that we have to rely on fear to motivate the Democrats to do the right thing is huge. It shows that any Democrats who operate that way have no moral scruples to induce them to follow the law. That means that we are far along on the road away from a free republic led by moral people who do the right thing because it is right and have almost arrived at a fear society.
When you’re fundamentally changing the country and solidifying your power into the future, you don’t have to worry about payback time.
think hitlers henchmen starting fights and all that were worried? not at all, just so long as their campaign led to a win, they were safe to do what they wanted to the electorate… they had already lost their guns, and the young men to WWI, and women dominated the electorate and wanted strong nation where things they liked would come back…
he promised them morality and values and so on and so forth… heck, you give them freebies and they will kill their own family, so the idea that they would not side with any despot giving away things is a fantasy…
even here, they side with the movement and so on against their own future, their childrens future if they have any, and thats that.
the future choice is women, as men die out in greater numbers…
get ready for hllary as president…
women will vote for her even if solidarity means state slavery for them and their future. [see sweden]
All roads lead to the MSM.
All roads lead back to the Leftist alliance. MSewer M is merely one WMD of the Left. There are many more you haven’t been shown.
If Republicans had tried this, they would have gone the route of Richard Nixon. People would have resigned, in shame, if nothing else.
Republicans can’t find enough people to execute evil orders, even if they paid them. Well, depends on the cash of course. A billion or a million might buy a lot of mercs, but they would be obvious mercs.
So basically, to use the religions pov, if the Christian head of religion, the Pope, suddenly decided to adopt the theological premises of Islam and order Christians to rape, steal, and raid the non believers… how many Christians would actually obey that order? How many Catholics?
If an Islamic Caliph ordered the Muslims in Iraq to turn on their Christian neighbors and raid/kill them, how many would obey that order?
So it’s not merely a game of tic tac toe.
“Lerner Walks” strikes me as in net effect more or less “Ft. Sumner Shelled”, although I believe much time may pass before the bulk of people realize it. Ordinary political prudence would have looked to that possibility prior to risking as much, but ordinary political prudence has been dismissed as a thing belonging to the past, the faulty, the ignorant past.
Back in the last days of the Clinton Administration, the DOJ guy in charge of this Lerner case, Assistant Attorney General Peter Kadzik, worked hard to get the pardon for Marc Rich.
Reminds me of why, when I think of D.C., a famous last line always comes to mind: “Forget it Jake, it’s Chinatown”.
Here in NE the former CEO of a small S&L (TierOne) is being tried in federal court for fraud. The Feds have the testimony of his former employees lined up.
Watch Main DOJ tout this as a major conviction of Wall Street when the guilty verdict comes down. Lincoln, Nebraska is no where near Wall Street.
All things must pass. Unintended consequences are inevitable. No one can predict what the future holds 2 years out, let alone 10 or 20. All anyone can do is stay alert, prepare for the worst, and of course strengthen ties with family and close friends. We all need our own private guerilla posse to survive interesting times.
“Why don’t you come on back to the war, let’s all get nervous.” — Leonard Cohen
This isn’t going to be about just demographics. The Democrats are now going to have to use the power of the state to force Republicans out of power. You cannot take this kind of power and leave the opposition any chance, no matter how slight, of taking that power from you; you must, in other words, destroy them as ruthlessly as possible.
I’ve come to the conclusion that the incidents of the indictment of Texas governor Rick Perry and the “John Doe” investigations of governor Scott Walker’s supporters are bell weather events telling us what is coming in the near future; which will be nothing less than the criminalization of the Republican party and conservative movement.
KRB
parker, you’re right: Prepare for the worst. The Lerner case proves that we now have de facto secret police in this country, staffed by operatives who are immune to prosecution so long as the democrats are in control of the Executive.
Eight more years of this, anyone?
Thanks Neo for your cogent thoughts on the Lerner scandal. The Left’s view is that Rights are for people who agree with them; thus Banana Republic Justice is the rule of the day. But this simply paves the way for a Trump Administration to use the whole alphabet (including EPA, IRS, DEA, ATF, HHS, NLRB, SEC and DOJ) to cripple naysayers on the Left or on the Right.
The test is NOT what the Obama DoJ does to Lerner. That was never in question.
The test is what the next Republican DoJ does to Lerner. I assume that Obama won’t expend the political capital of pardoning her if he assumes the GOP is too cowardly to take up the case again.
If a Republican is elected president, he/she MUST go after the conspirators. If they go free, it will be open season on the GOP base.
plus; the media won’t give the republicans any passes…. even on fake scandals.
http://neoneocon.com/2014/07/16/how-to-prove-wrongdoing-when-emails-go-missing/
Some interesting comments there from the “crazy zone” as it was.
Wayback Machine time.
But this simply paves the way for a Trump Administration to use the whole alphabet (including EPA, IRS, DEA, ATF, HHS, NLRB, SEC and DOJ) to cripple naysayers on the Left or on the Right.
That’s pretty funny and ironic, because Richard Nixon tried something like that and the Alphabet Soup agencies did a coup de tat on him.
People under the illusion that Trump will save them… I hate to burst their bubble, but they truly, really, eternally, have no idea what they are facing.
This is the Leftist alliance, not your everyday two bit thug pack that Trump can send packing with a few orders to his subordinates. They have yet to show their true power in all its manifest complexity.
If people truly, ever, understood the nature of the Leftist alliance for human perfection, they wouldn’t be so confident that a Trump on the Throne of the US, would do as much as they would expect.
Society and humanity will always betray the expectations of the individual.
There wont be a republican DOJ regardless of who is elected. the worst part about this is that those agencies are permanently ethically damaged.
While Learner was a GS-15 and walked, there are all the 14s, 13s, 12s etc that are still there and were and are complicit in the illegal actions. DOJ is permanently damaged, EPA is damaged, IRS is damaged, cant think of all the rest.. FBI remains to be seen.
The fact that we have had no whistle blowers means the staffs don’t see anything wrong with what happened and I doubt they would do the same for a republican admin.
Prepare for the worst.
The fundamental reason the Leftists have no fear of the tables being turned against them is that they have stocked the entire Federal Bureaucracy with their fellow travelers/useful idiots. Who would never do what the Republicans want. For example: supposedly Nixon made a futile attempt to get the IRS to look into some of his worst enemies, but the apparatchiks refused to do so. They only do dirty work and wetwork for the Left.
Yeah, we’re in for it.
For a hair-raising account of the Lefty pols using the Fed. agencies as weapons against their political opponents, see the mind-blowing book It Didn’t Start with Watergate, by Victor Lasky. (Which you can get through Neo’s Amazon link, BTW).
None of this, in other words, is new. The abuses in the past were in many ways just as outrageous. But the lights are on in the kitchen so you can see the cockroaches dart and scurry for cover.
Beverly, oh it’s obvious via online sources that FDR and others were spying on Americans and Republicans. One just has to check the FBI records on various open source sites for that. The names of the Programs are spelled out very clearly.
The American people have spent nearly a century erecting the bureaucratic organs of tyranny. They will now be governed by them.
The only solution to the problem of tyranny is to not establish it in the first place. And here that solution is to abolish the IRS.
Here’s a few examples of what happens when Republicans are in charge of the bureaucracy.
Wilson and Valerie sets up a CIA operation to discredit Cheney, by propagandizing that Cheney sent Wilson to Niger.
CIA under Republican appointed director.
The State Department, via Paul Bremer, helped sabotage the expatriate handover of power for the Sunnis, allowing for the AQ occupation of AL Anbar, along with Diversity Casey’s disarmament and “Iraqi face” training programs. The SecDef was a Republican, which later voted Hussein.
That’s the State Department under a Republican appointed cabinet level officer.
As for Richard Nixon, the FBI informant that used his spying powers to direct the journalist tools as he saw fit, as a sub director that thought he would take over the FBI, but Richard Nixon refused his promotion, instead appointing Nixon’s own FBI director.
That is the FBI, under a Republican appointed director. That same “informant” was also the one responsible for raiding Ayers’ house without warrants, thus making him immune to prosecution. Coincidence?
Cornhead said:
“Lerner should be hauled before that House committee and asked who gave her orders. Grill her for ten hours. She can no longer invoke the Fifth because she is no longer under criminal jeopardy.”
Had the DoJ tried her, and she was acquitted, then she would be out of legal jeopardy. But she can still invoke the fifth. The DoJ could still reopen the case, and would, if she talked.
One way to make her talk is for the next GOP president to pardon her. She can’t be tried for any crimes for which she’s been pardoned, and consequently can’t invoke the 5th Amendment. Pardoning Lois Lerner would be as distasteful to me as anyone, but it would cut the legs out from under the inevitable Democratic-media complex smear campaign that the Republicans are conducting a partisan prosecution of Lois Lerner.
We all know the play book by now, right? They don’t have a play for that.
Then she’d have to testify truthfully and fully about everything she knows. Which I think would be far more satisfying. Put everyone else in prison, expose and ruin Lois Lerner. Who has been put out to pasture where she can’t do anymore damage.
Beverly Says:
October 27th, 2015 at 12:19 am
For a hair-raising account of the Lefty pols using the Fed. agencies as weapons against their political opponents, see the mind-blowing book It Didn’t Start with Watergate, by Victor Lasky. (Which you can get through Neo’s Amazon link, BTW).
Good discussion of the book here:
http://www.aim.org/media-monitor/it-didnt-start-or-end-with-watergate/
Tar, feathers, rail.
Destroy them. Without hesitation. When the Liberal Media cries show them a picture of Lois Lerner. Show it over and over everytime and say nothing. Just make them look and let them piss and shit themselves as their hamster brains spin uncontrollably off the rails.