Friday Open Thread [5.17.13]

If President Obama went the full Bullworth, it might look like this, from the Washington Post:
Q: Thank you, Mr. President. At this point, though, can the American people actually trust their government? There’s a sense that these issues might just be the tip of the iceberg. OBAMA: [Long pause.] Are you kidding me? No, the American people can’t trust their government. They can’t trust their media either, I might add. But that’s not because of a couple of I.R.S. agents out in Cincinnati. We can fix the Cincinnati office. Let me be clear: We’re already fixing the Cincinnati office. This problem was solved a year ago. The guy who solved it just got fired anyway because you all wanted to see some blood on the walls and I’m just political enough to give it to you.
Is it out of stupidity or malevolence?

Is it out of stupidity or malevolence?

With today's GOP, it is typically both. This Benghazi BS couldn't make that more clear. Check out these poll results, and Attaturk's take below.
A whopping 41 percent of Republicans polled think the Obama administration’s handling of Benghazi is the greatest scandal in U.S. history. “One interesting thing about the voters who think Benghazi is the biggest political scandal in American history,” PPP adds, “is that 39% of them don’t actually know where it is. 10% think it’s in Egypt, 9% in Iran, 6% in Cuba, 5% in Syria, 4% in Iraq, and 1% each in North Korea and Liberia with 4% not willing to venture a guess.”
Greatest.Scandal.Ever.  Say the living embodiments of Comic-Book Guy. Yeah, it's like 12 Benedict Arnolds; 9 XYZ Affairs; 88 Nullification Crises; 35 Mexican-American Wars; like 55,000 Civil Wars; 3,000 Credit Mobiliers; 875 Spanish Flus; 300 Teapot Domes; 84,000 Great Depressions; 9 Million Pearl Harbors; 3,400 Tonkin Gulf Resolutions; 4 billion Watergates; 9 Trillion Iran-Contras; a mere 1.05 Monica Lewinskis; an infinity of Iraq War Resolutions over WMD; and 456 Bankster Induced Economic Collapses -- ALL WRAPPED UP INTO ONE.

Thursday Open Thread [5.16.13]

Steve Benen:
Rachel [Maddow] noted on the show last night that the controversy surrounding Benghazi effectively "went away" yesterday, and given the latest information, it's hard to imagine how any serious person could disagree. The White House yesterday afternoon released the inter-agency communications that went into crafting the "talking points" requested by Congress last September. Lawmakers already saw these materials months ago -- they found nothing controversial at the time -- but Republicans and the media decided it was time to see them again. So, the administration, eager to put the matter to rest, released the documents. In turn, we learned what we already knew: there was no cover-up; State and the CIA engaged in a predictable bureaucratic "tug of war"; and this: The internal debate did not include political interference from the White House, according to the e-mails, which were provided to congressional intelligence committees several months ago. And with that, everything Republican conspiracy theorists desperately wanted Americans to believe -- there's a scandal; there's a cover-up; there's evidence the White House manipulated and lied about a crisis for political ends -- suddenly evaporated before our very eyes.
And anyone still saying there is or was a cover up today is simply a liar. I am looking at you Rusty. If you want to get a synopsis of what the emails revealed yesterday, you can go here. In the meantime, Republicans can use this open thread to offer their heartfelt and sincere apologies to the American people.
General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Thurs., May 16, 2013

General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Thurs., May 16, 2013

Your last legislative fix for almost three weeks, so savor it! In a Dog Bites Man story, Sen. Colin Bonini sided with the oil polluters, casting the only 'no' vote against legislation eliminating a monetary cap on company liability for damages caused by an oil spill. Bloviator Bonini has suffered a precipitous decline in ink this session, having ceded his senatorial Hot Air Hegemony to Monsignor Greg Lavelle. I, for one, feel sorry for the disheartened former champion, and intend to do everything within my power to rehabilitate his diminished stature (I'm speaking figuratively, of course). The Comedic Gods demand it. Probably the biggest news of the day is what didn't happen: 1. Bill adding 2 more casinos doesn't make it out of committee. Nobody has clean hands in this game. Just read today's News-Journal article about it. Which I can't link. Because even though we still buy the dead trees edition, the online access is screwed up, and I'm still limited to only 5 articles a month. Except the month doesn't begin and end at the beginning and ending of the month. Hate to say it, but this enterprise has earned obsolescence, alienating the few of us who still believe in newspapers. But, I digress. Williams claims to have the support of Governor Markell, but the Executive branch provides weasel words instead (I'm typing this word for word from today's print edition):
"The Governor always looks forward to discussing proposals with the sponsors and supporters to understand how proposals might add to the state's revenue and economy."
Which raises this question: Rep. Dennis E. Williams, overly-optimistic or delusional? For better or for worse, I don't think this bill is going anywhere.
The Real IRS Scandal

The Real IRS Scandal

Michael Hiltzik at the LA Times has written what I think is the definitive piece on the IRS problems -- making the case that the real scandal in all of this is that the IRS isn't functional enough to have stopped the bastardizing of the C(4) organizations in the first place. As usual, you have to go read the whole thing:
Here are the genuine scandals in this affair: Political organizations are being allowed to masquerade as charities to avoid taxes and keep their donors secret, and the IRS has allowed them to do this for years. The bottom line first: The IRS hasn't done nearly enough over the years to rein in the subversion of the tax law by political groups claiming a tax exemption that is not legally permitted for campaign activity. Nor has it enforced rules requiring that donors to those groups pay gift tax on their donations.

Wednesday Open Thread [5.15.2013]

Sorry for my absence in the open thread department the last two days. I had some family business to deal with and thanks to Cassandra for stepping in. So it looks like the whole Benghazi Conspiracy Theory being embraced by Republicans is based on a phantom email created by a GOP source. Whomever that GOP source on Capitol Hill is, he or she should be imprisoned. You have to wonder why the GOP does this to itself. Sooner or later some kind of actual government wrongdoing was bound to come down the pike for the GOP to make hay out of. It always does. In some administrations more frequently than others. But the current Repubican opposition is so bereft of ideas and new policies, and so desparate to come up with anything to tarnish the President so that he in reality matches their fantasy version of him, that they have tried to turn either minor stories or tragedies into massive scandals, like Fast & Furious, like Solundrya, and now, like Benghazi. And the reason why they were so desparate is that the Obama Administration, up until now, has been relatively scandal free. If only the GOP had waited..... because now they do have two stories that could turn into actual wrongdoing, at least on the parts of the agencies themselves, but the poor GOP already cried Wolf.
General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Weds., May 15, 2013

General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Weds., May 15, 2013

Just two more days before the Memorial Day 2-week recess. Actually, during the two weeks, the Joint Finance Committee will meet to mark up the budget. Meaning, you'll hear a lot of bitching by Gov. Walker's Markell's budgeteers. The more bitching, the better the budget, IMHO. I especially look forward to their outrage should state employees (and don't forget us pensioners!) get raises. Governor, I've got three words for you: Tax your friends. Three more: Or shut up. Damn, that feels good. I gotta say it: The Delaware General Assembly has done a great job of pushing back at the NRA. And its pigeon-maiming front man. The House passed SB 16(Henry), which will help put an end to 'straw purchases' of firearms. The bill just squeaked through the Senate by an 11-10 vote, and the House passed it by a similarly-close 22-19 count. D's voting no: Atkins, Bennett, Carson, Mulrooney(?), Paradee, and Walker(?). R'(s) voting yes: Ramone(!). The bill heads to the Governor for his signature. Great work all around here! If I were a wounded pigeon in Pa., I'd be veryvery afraid right about now. John Sigler has even more blood in his eye than usual.