The Foundation

“Man, once surrendering his reason, has no remaining guard against absurdities the most monstrous, and like a ship without rudder, is the sport of every wind.” –Thomas Jefferson

Editorial Exegesis

“A clue as to whether the targeting by the IRS of Tea Party and other conservative groups was discussed at the 157 meetings that former IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman had at the White House may be found in remarks by Stephanie Cutter, deputy manager for President Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign, in a recent appearance on Jake Tapper’s show ‘The Lead’ on CNN. … Cutter attempted to dismiss charges they were political meetings but admitted she had attended meetings with Shulman at the White House. … Well, if they were not political meetings, why was she there at all? Was she there to offer her health care or tax code expertise? … When she appeared on CBS’ ‘Face the Nation’ to defend the president’s new campaign slogan ‘Romnesia,’ she went on to say that Republican nominee Mitt Romney was ‘severely conservative’ and had run as the ‘ideal’ Tea Party candidate. She said this as she was sitting in meetings with the head of an IRS that was charged with implementation of ObamaCare as it was targeting groups that were created to oppose ObamaCare. Though she denies it, Cutter was also deeply involved in the ads run by the pro-Obama super-PAC Priorities USA in which steelworker Joe Soptic recounted how his wife died of cancer after he lost his health insurance when his plant was shuttered after a takeover by Bain Capital and other companies working with Romney’s private equity firm. … Cutter should be called to testify under oath before the House Oversight Committee to explain why a key Obama campaign operative was in on meetings to discuss ObamaCare implementation with an IRS official whose agency was targeting groups opposed to it.” –Investor’s Business Daily

Upright

“The New York Times is reporting that ‘some in the West Wing privately tell associates they wish [Attorney General Eric Holder] would step down, viewing him as politically maladroit. But the latest attacks may stiffen the administration’s resistance in the near term to a change for fear of emboldening critics.’ Study that quote – both sentences. The stated reason some in the White House want Holder to go is not because he has engaged in corruption or lied to Congress or any other of the myriad complaints that have been lodged against him, but because they see him as politically maladroit. … But in the second sentence we learn that the White House will probably keep Holder because it believes dumping him would empower its critics. Again, the determining factors are not Holder’s integrity, the rule of law, the importance of the nation’s chief attorney adhering to the principle of equal protection under the laws, or anything else involving the national interest. It’s all about President Obama and his image and agenda, and Republicans are not to be seen as scoring any victories.” –columnist David Limbaugh

“Too much of our current immigration controversy is conducted in terms of abstract ideals, such as ‘We are a nation of immigrants.’ Of course we are a nation of immigrants. But we are also a nation of people who wear shoes. Does it follow that we should admit anybody who wears shoes? The immigrants of today are very different in many ways from those who arrived here a hundred years ago. Moreover, the society in which they arrive is different. … Not only the United States, but the Western world in general, has been discovering the hard way that admitting people with incompatible cultures is an irreversible decision with incalculable consequences. If we do not see that after recent terrorist attacks on the streets of Boston and London, when will we see it? ‘Comprehensive immigration reform’ means doing everything all together in a rush, without time to look before we leap, and basing ourselves on abstract notions about abstract people.” –economist Thomas Sowell

“A reader sent me a question he wished somebody would ask Obama: ‘Why is it that Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood get free F-16s, but law-abiding Americans can’t be trusted with hunting rifles?’ Another reader pointed out that if you cross the North Korean border illegally, you’ll be sentenced to 12 years hard labor. If you sneak across the Afghan border, you’ll be shot. If, on the other hand, you enter the U.S. illegally, you get a job, food stamps, a driver’s license, a place to live, health care and an education. Some would suggest that proves we are better than North Korea and Afghanistan. Others would suggest that what we are is a nation of suckers and screwballs.” –columnist Burt Prelutsky

“Clearly, Obama wants to have it both ways, claiming to be an in-charge leader one moment, then a powerless bystander the next, based on crass political considerations, not his actual involvement in any activity. Given that Oklahomans are benefitting from federal disaster response, some will no doubt argue we should ignore this administration’s failures elsewhere. But Americans have a right to expect competence and ethics in all parts of government at all times. In Moore, Obama declared, ‘When we say that we’ve got your back, I promise you, we keep our word.’ The value of this promise shouldn’t be tied to which of the two Obamas stands behind the podium at the time. Given what happened to four Americans in Benghazi who had reason to think the government really had their backs, skepticism is justified.” –The Oklahoman

Demo-gogues

The 3 percenters: “For more than two centuries, our Nation has struggled to transform the ideals of liberty and equality from founding promise into lasting reality. … My Administration is a proud partner in the journey toward LGBT equality. … Now, therefore, I, Barack Obama … by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim June 2013 as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month.” –Barack Obama

What was that about the next election? “We’ve got a politics [sic] that’s stuck right now. And the reason it’s stuck is because people spend more time thinking about the next election than they do thinking about the next generation. … [O]ne of the best ways to work around [obstructionism] is to have a Democratic House of Representatives.” –Barack Obama

Me, myself and I: “My only interest at this point is effective governance. My only interest is making sure that when I look back 20 years from now, I say I accomplished everything that I could while I had this incredible privilege to advance the interests of the broadest number of Americans and to make sure that this country was stronger and more prosperous than it was when I came into office.” –Barack Obama, whose only interest is himself

If you disagree, you still have to do something: “I don’t have much patience for people who deny climate change, but if you’ve got creative approaches, market-based approaches, tell me about them. If you think I’m doing it the wrong way, let me know. I’m happy to work with you.” –Barack Obama

Throw money at the IRS: “There is no clearer way to promote more scandals than by cutting funding that could be used for oversight, training and reform. At the level this subcommittee is funded right now, we’re just asking for more trouble at the IRS and elsewhere.” –Rep. Jose Serrano (D-NY)

“If women didn’t wear short skirts”… “If [the Tea Party] didn’t come in and ask for this tax break, you would have never have had a question asked of you. You could go out there and say whatever you want in the world.” –Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA) at a House Ways and Means Committee hearing blaming the victim

Essential Liberty

“America’s younger generations are being groomed for totalitarianism. We begin in Polk County, Florida, where students … had their irises scanned – without parental permission – as part of what officials are characterizing as a ‘student safety’ program. … Sadly, there is no question in my mind that millions of parents will subject their children to this outrage, out of ignorance – or a willing accommodation to the Brave New World of Common Core standards. … And when their little darlings graduate high school, college campuses, up to their own collective eyeballs in anti-Constitutional speech codes await. Speech codes that essentially elevate the ‘right’ not to be offended above that quaint anachronism we call the First Amendment. For the umpteenth time I will warn my fellow Americans: the nation’s educational institutions are the central battleground for the nation’s soul. It is a battleground where the American left is doggedly determined to turn America’s younger generations into people with no concept whatsoever of personal privacy, even as a reverence for the collective, aka the ‘greater good’ is unrelentingly nurtured.” –columnist Arnold Ahlert

Insight

“The ordinary man is passive. Within a narrow circle, home life, and perhaps the trade unions or local politics, he feels himself master of his fate. But otherwise he simply lies down and lets things happen to him.” –English writer George Orwell (1903-1950)

“Liberty is the prevention of control by others. This requires self-control and, therefore, religious and spiritual influences; education, knowledge, well-being.” –English historian and writer Lord Acton (1834-1902)

Dezinformatsia

Carrying water: “You know, I think it’s true that the White House has often been tone-deaf, but every second term has scandals. And if you compare these with Iran-Contra, with Monica Lewinsky, I mean these just seem pretty minuscule.” –New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof

“[J]ust because a meeting was scheduled and [former IRS Commissioner Douglas] Shulman was cleared to attend it does not mean that he actually went.” –The Atlantic’s Garance Franke-Ruta, providing cover for the former director’s 157 trips to the White House

“The other big story here I think that has been missed in the press corps is the fact that the IRS budget has been cut to the point that these agents can’t do their jobs. They do not have the resources to do their jobs, so they were trying with the limited resources they have to enforce the law as they understood it. It was not proper, but you can understand with what they’re working with, why they went in that direction.” –MSNBC’s Krystal Ball

Questions no one is asking: “Why are there no gay Disney characters?” –Salon article

The sycophants: “Frank Lautenberg a ‘throwback’ senator who never sought the spotlight” –Christian Science Monitor headline

Newspulper Headlines:

We Blame George W. Bush: “Tim Yeo: Humans May Not Be to Blame for Global Warming” –Daily Telegraph (London)

We Blame Global Warming: “Summer Swelters for Democrats” –FoxNews.com

So Much for ‘Gun Safety’: “Elizabeth Warren Admires Michelle Obama’s Arms” –ACNews.com

Shortest Books Ever Written: “How Liberals Saved California” –Salon.com

Bottom Story of the Day: “More Trouble for the IRS” –TheHill.com

(Thanks to The Wall Street Journal’s James Taranto)

Village Idiots

Getting it backwards: “The NRA advocates armed rebellion against the duly elected government of the United States of America. That’s treason, and it’s worthy of the firing squad. The B.S. needs a serious gut check. … To support the new NRA president’s agenda of arming the populace for confrontation with the government is bloody treason. And many invite it gladly as if the African-American president we voted for is somehow infringing on their constitutional rights. Normally, I am a peaceable man, but in this case, I am willing to answer the call to defend the country. From them.” –Christopher Swindell, professor of “journalism” at Marshall University

Stupidest excuse ever: “I will point you to the inspector general’s report that said, ‘[The IRS targeting] wasn’t done for a political reason. They were flooded with applications.’ … I’ve said this many times, if there was somebody political involved in this, it never would’ve happened because it was the stupidest thing you could imagine.” –Obama adviser David Axelrod

Pushing hard: “We need all of you to get engaged in every special election and every midterm election all across this country. We need you to keep on writing those checks and, if you haven’t maxed out, max out. Get your friends to max out.” –Michelle Obama at a fundraiser

Short Cuts

“Mr. Obama’s administration is the enemy ‘foreign and domestic’ the founding documents warned us about.” –Washington Times’ editor emeritus Wesley Pruden

“The next time the IRS calls you up with demands for this and demands for that, simply tell them, ‘I am filing the Lois Lerner defense,’ and then say, as she did to Congress, ‘I have not done anything wrong. And I will not answer any questions.’ Every man his own Lois Lerner!” –columnist Mark Steyn

“In St. Louis, armed Homeland Security agents monitored Tea Party members protesting the IRS. Good idea. When people think their government is out to get them, the best response is to send the government out to get them.” –Fred Thompson

“President Obama says he’s renewing his efforts to close Guantanamo Bay. Guantanamo Bay? How about closing the IRS? Why don’t we do that? … How about shipping the IRS to Guantanamo Bay?” –comedian Jay Leno

“[Mitt] Romney says Obama’s second term is a ‘disappointment.’ Well, that’s not fair; his second term isn’t even one year over. Thus there’s a lot of time for Obama to achieve lower than disappointment. Like ‘travesty’ or ‘abomination’ or ‘epic FAIL.’ I’m sure by 2016 we’ll long for the days of disappointment.” –humorist Frank J. Fleming

Semper Vigilo, Fortis, Paratus et Fidelis!
Nate Jackson for The Patriot Post Editorial Team