White House 'Off the Record' Benghazi Briefing

This is not a good idea.

Off the record?

From Politico:

The White House held an off-the-record briefing with reporters on Friday afternoon to discuss recent revelations about the Benghazi investigation, sources familiar with the meeting tell POLITICO.

The meeting began around 12:45 p.m. and postponed the daily, on-the-record White House press briefing to 1:45 p.m. White House press secretary Jay Carney did not respond to a request for confirmation of the meeting.

The off-the-record session was announced to reporters in the wake of an ABC News report showing that White House and State Dept. officials were involved in revising the now-discredited CIA talking points about the attack on Benghazi.

Emails obtained by ABC News show that State Dept. spokesperson Victoria Nuland requested that the CIA scrub references to an Al Qaeda-linked group, which, Nuland told White House officials, “could be abused by members [of Congress] to beat up the State Department for not paying attention to warnings."

Mark Levin tweets, "White House no doubt trying to plant stories with off the record Benghazi briefing..."

Exactly.

This is embarrassing.

Obama's transparent administration held an off the record Benghazi briefing ahead of Jay Carney's regular WH press briefing?

Was Kool-Aid served at the briefing?

This is pathetic.

The White House seems to be in full panic mode.

If any reporters who attended the WH off-the-record #Benghazi briefing want to share their notes, I'd be eager to see them.

— Stephen Hayes (@stephenfhayes) May 10, 2013

Trouble at the White House...

I picture Jay Carney breathing into a paper bag right now.

WH press briefing scheduled for 12:30, then 1:45, now 3:15

— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) May 10, 2013

____________________

It's funny to watch Leftist news outlets now scrambling to show that they were, in fact, covering Benghazi from the beginning.

That's a tough sell.

Fascinating to witness attempts to reconstruct reality.

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Just Released - Video of White House inviting reporters to off the record #Benghazi briefing bit.ly/ZNQ2iZ #tcot

— RightWisconsin (@RightWisconsin) May 10, 2013

IRS Conservative Witch Hunt

IRS: We're sorry. :(

GIVE ME A BREAK!

From the Washington Post:

The Internal Revenue Service on Friday said that it inappropriately selected tea party political groups for special scrutiny in the 2012 campaign, an admission likely to fuel long-simmering suspicions among conservatives that the IRS has been singling them out for unfair treatment.

The IRS official who oversees tax-exempt groups, Lois Lerner, acknowledged at a conference on Friday the actions were wrong and apologized, according to the Associated Press. Lerner said groups with the words “tea party” or “patriot” in their applications for tax-exempt status faced additional screening.

In a statement, the IRS said the screening occurred by career employees in Cincinnati who, between 2010 and 2012, were seeking to centralize work related to tax exempt organizations. The agency said that while it made errors, they were not politically motivated.

“The IRS recognizes we should have done a better job of handling the influx of advocacy applications,” the statement said. “Mistakes were made initially, but they were in no way due to any political or partisan rationale.”

What?

"[T]hey were in no way due to any political or partisan rationale"???

That's impossible to believe. Ridiculous.

Of course, it was politically motivated.

It was an abuse of power by the government. That is undeniable. American citizens were targeted by the government for harassment because of their politics.

There is no doubt about that.

...Since early last year, tea party groups and other conservative organizations have said they have been the subject of inappropriate screening by the IRS, prompting formal complaints by Republican lawmakers. Some Democrats and campaign finance groups, meanwhile, have argued that tax-exempt groups are stretching the boundaries of the law and should be required to disclose more about their operations.

One of the nation’s largest tea party groups, the Tea Party Patriots, on Friday said it rejected the IRS’s explanation and demanded the resignations of all officials involved. The group also called on President Obama to apologize for ignoring the groups’ concerns.

“The IRS has demonstrated the most disturbing, illegal and outrageous abuse of government power,” said Jenny Beth Martin, national coordinator for the group. “This deliberate targeting and harassment of tea party groups reaches a new low in illegal government activity and overreach.

Sen. Orrin Hatch (Utah), the top Republican of the Senate Finance Committee who has raised concerns previously about IRS oversight of conservative groups, said he was not satisfied by the acknowledgment.

“This frankly isn’t enough,” he said. “We need to have ironclad guarantees from the IRS that it will adopt significant protocols to ensure this kind of harassment of groups that have a constitutional right to express their own views never happens again.”

He called on the IRS to release more information about what transpired. “The American people deserve to know who at the IRS learned about this unlawful activity, when they learned about it, and what they did, or did not, do when they did learned about it,” Hatch said.

I don't accept the IRS's explanation at all.

Imagine the outrage if the George W. Bush administration had pulled something like this. The Leftists would go ballistic.

This revelation comes because conservatives are not rolling over and taking this sort of abuse.

Deal with it, Leftists.

Thank you, Mark Levin and the Landmark Legal Foundation.
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As IRS admits it targeted Tea Party groups, remember IRS is Obamacare enforcer
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Back to Benghazi...

Nothing is going to derail attention here from the Obama administration's lies about the 9/11/12 terrorist attack that resulted in the deaths of four Americans.

Leno: Benghazi Joke

JAY LENO: The White House has a new slogan about Benghazi - 'Hope and change the subject.'

Pat Smith, Mother of Benghazi Victim: 'Government Doesn't Care'

Pat Smith, mother of Benghazi 9/11/12 terrorist attack victim Sean Smith, reacted to the congressional hearing held on Wednesday.

From Mediaite:

When asked if she got the answers she was looking for out of Wednesday’s congressional hearings, Smith curtly replied “no.”

“I got a lot of answers, but not the ones that I really wanted,” Smith replied. “I want to know why there was no security there and the security that was there got pulled, and who is the one who told the military to stand down, basically.”

Here's video:


Transcript

PAT SMITH: Our government does not care about us. They don't care about us at all. They just care about saving their own butts and covering their souls, or whatever it is.

JAKE TAPPER: [Pause] I wish you had gotten answers.

SMITH: Oh, so do I. I begged for answers. When I was there at the casket ceremony, Obama and Hillary and Biden and Panetta and several more said that they would check into it and let me know. Not one of them has called me. None. They don't care. I'm not important to them. There's other people that are important to them - themselves, pretty much.

TAPPER: Well, you're important to us here, and you're important to a lot of people out there.

SMITH: That's why I'm here.

TAPPER: We thank you for coming and we hope you get those answers.

Obama doesn't call Pat Smith, but he calls Sandra Fluke. He calls Jason Collins. He cares about them, but he doesn't care about the mother of a U.S. Foreign Service Information Officer killed in an attack on our consulate. What is wrong the guy?

Obama is a disgrace. He's a terrible president.

Hillary Clinton is a disgrace. She was a terrible secretary of state. She'd be a terrible president.

Eric Bolling: 3 AM Phone Call, Hillary 2016 Ad

Obama Cowboy Hat

I haven't seen Obama look this uncomfortable and awkward and dopey since he broke down and wore an American flag pin on his lapel, something he insisted was totally not his style.


(Photo/Matthew C. Wright)

He hates that hat. You can tell. Cowboy Obama. He's no Sheriff David Clarke when it comes to successfully pulling off the look.

Obama's expression is priceless. I'm sure he's thinking that this image is going to be on Drudge, and he dreads it. He knows photos of him looking silly in the cowboy hat will be all over the Internet.

It's interesting. For someone supposedly so cool Obama looks embarrassed frequentlty. If one is truly cool, one doesn't care about what anyone thinks. He's very self-conscious, not a trait of a cool person. Obama does not look at all comfortable in his own skin.

Maybe that's why Obama prefers to campaign rather than be a leader, pretending as if he's not president to avoid accountability.

I suppose the cowboy hat is Bush's fault.




Obama needs to be able to laugh at himself, and his followers need to be able to laugh at him, too.

A strong individual doesn't need the sort of protective bubble that surrounds Obama.

Department of Education Eliminates 'Mother' and 'Father'

Out with mother, father, mom, and dad.

In with "Parent 1" and "Parent 2."




From the Washington Times:

The U.S. Department of Education announced Thursday that beginning with the 2014-2015 federal student aid form, the Department will — for the first time — collect income “from a dependent student’s legal parents regardless of the parents’ marital status or gender, if those parents live together.”

The new FAFSA form will use terms like “Parent 1” and “Parent 2” instead of gender-specific terms like “mother” and “father.”

“All students should be able to apply for federal student aid within a system that incorporates their unique family dynamics,” Secretary of EducationArne Duncan said in a statement. “These changes will allow us to more precisely calculate federal student aid eligibility based on what a student’s whole family is able to contribute and ensure taxpayer dollars are better targeted toward those students who have the most need, as well as provide an inclusive form that reflects the diversity of American families.”

I wonder if this will cause arguments in families. Who gets to be "Parent 1"? Who gets stuck being a second-class parent and called "Parent 2"? Will the government provide families with guidelines to determine the appropriate use of the parental labels?

It doesn't seem fair. Shouldn't all parents be equal? The "1" and "2" designation bothers me. First place and second place? I don't like it.

The Department of Education needs to come up with terms that will eliminate this disparity. This is just wrong.

Eric Nordstrom: Benghazi Whistleblower (Video)

Back in January, Hillary Clinton and Ron Johnson had a memorable exchange about the 9/11/12 terrorist attack in Benghazi.

HILLARY CLINTON: With all due respect, the fact is we had four dead Americans. Was it because of a protest or was it because of guys out for a walk one night decided to go kill some Americans? What difference at this point does it make?

This statement defines Hillary and her tenure as secretary of state.

Her angry "What difference at this point does it make?" still has the power to stun.

It makes Bill Clinton's "It depends on what the meaning of the word 'is' is" seem quaint. Those were such innocent times. When Bill lied, no one died.

Eric Nordstrom began his testimony at the congressional hearing yesterday with emotional remarks.

Here's video:



What happened in Benghazi and in the Obama administration prior, during, and after the attack matters, a lot.

Are you listening, Hillary? Nordstrom is answering your question.

Are you listening, Americans?

Rachel Maddow and Jimmy Fallon: Benghazi

Rachel Maddow was the first guest on Wednesday's Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.

Maddow was on the show to hawk her book, Drift: The Unmooring of American Military Power.

Before talking about that, Fallon and Maddow discussed "the issues people are talking about" -- Mark Sanford, gay marriage, the NRA and gun control.

Then, Maddow talked about Benghazi. She tore into Hillary Clinton and Obama for lying for weeks to the American people, permitting the concoction of a story about a video that was supposedly responsible for a protest that got a bit too ugly. Maddow said that this scandal and the cover-up was far worse than Watergate because Americans were left to die as terrorists carried out this coordinated attack. There would be no military response so close to the 2012 election. There could be no admission that Islamists or al Qaeda had succeeded in a 9/11 anniversary attack on our country. That would be ballot box poison. She expressed her disgust for the Obama administration and suggested this could bring down Obama's presidency.

Of course, none of what I wrote in the previous paragraph happened.

Maddow and Fallon said nothing about Benghazi. NOTHING. It was the day of the hearings and not one word about the 9/11/12 terrorist attack that killed four Americans was uttered.

Maddow, MSNBC, and NBC News cannot be taken seriously.

After the chit-chat segment, Maddow gave another demonstration of her skills as a mixologist.

NBC is a bizarre parallel universe.

Where Was Obama During the Benghazi 9/11/12 Attack?

The 9/11/12 terrorist attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi went on for HOURS.

Where was Obama?

Obama was quick to release photos of himself "at work" in response to the Boston Marathon bombings. In fact, he released two photos. View the photos here and here.

We saw the photo of Obama monitoring Hurricane Sandy. Look at him in the Situation Room. What a guy!

We saw the photo of Obama on the edge of his seat during the raid that killed Osama bin Laden. Here's that photo. What a great commander-in-chief!

WHERE IS THE PHOTO OF OBAMA MONITORING THE BENGHAZI 9/11/12 TERRORIST ATTACK?

I believe the photo doesn't exist because Obama was AWOL on Benghazi, and he lied about what happened there for weeks. WEEKS!

If Obama's shamelessness doesn't bother you, you must be shameless, too.

Who Cares About Benghazi?

If Twitter is capable of providing a measure of public concern on a topic, then the demographic interested in the Benghazi 9/11/12 terrorist attack on our country is very precise and small.

WaPo snarks that only "rich, middle aged white Chick-Fil-A lovers" care about Benghazi. No media conspiracy here! bit.ly/YG6pmq
— Jim Hughes (@TheJimHughes) May 8, 2013

From Caitlin Dewey, the Washington Post:

Who’s tweeting about Benghazi? Rich, middle-aged men and Chick-fil-A lovers

Thousands of people have tweeted on the #Benghazi hashtag since the September attack, helping disseminate, and even steer, the divisive political narrative of what happened that night.

Thanks to Demographics Pro, a Twitter analysis firm, we have some vague idea of who’s tweeting the most: According to their report, #Benghazi tweeters are 58.3% male, with an average age of 52.6 years and a median income of $61,800 (“within the top 20 percent of overall Twitter distribution,” the report adds).

The tweeters are also overwhelmingly white and married, according to Demographics Pro; they also like Chick-fil-A and Walmart — two brands most often associated with conservatives.

Demographics Pro is run by Schmap, a private social data and consumer profiling firm, and describes itself as a marriage of Nielsen and Twitter.

According to Topsy, another analytics service, more than 67,000 tweets have been sent with the hashtag in the past month alone.

This snarky post by Caitlin Dewey says much more about Leftists than conservatives.

It says Leftists, not a minority on Twitter, don't give a rat's ass about the truth behind the a terrorist attack on our country.

The Leftists don't care about the deaths of U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens, U.S. Foreign Service Information Officer Sean Smith, U.S. embassy security personnel and former Navy SEAL Glen Doherty, and U.S. embassy security personnel and former Navy SEAL Tyrone Woods.

The Leftists don't care about a far-reaching cover-up constructed by the U.S. government.

The Leftists don't care that Obama, Hillary Clinton, and their mouthpieces, like Susan Rice, lied to the American people.

The Leftists don't care that the media have failed miserably in covering the Benghazi terrorist attack.

What happened to the Leftists' love affair with whistleblowers? They adore them, right? Wrong. The Leftists only consider whistleblowers heroic when they promote a liberal agenda.

In short, in reference to the 9/11/12 terrorist attack, the Leftists have no decency whatsoever.

Apparently, the patriots on Twitter are rich, white, middle-aged, Chick-fil-A and Walmart loving men.

Thank you, rich, white, middle-aged, Chick-fil-A and Walmart loving men, tweeting about Benghazi.

Leftists, how can you live with yourselves?

Obama: Reaction to Benghazi Hearings

Obama wants his Twitter followers to focus on CLIMATE CHANGE today, not Benghazi.

Retweet if you agree: It's time for Congress to stop denying the science on #climatechange.

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) May 8, 2013

This tweet from the president of the United States is akin to spitting on the graves of the murdered in the 9/11/12 terrorist attack on our country. He's ignoring the gravity of today's proceedings. He's changing the subject, business as usual.

Is he golfing today, too?

Inexcusable indifference.

Obama is a cold and callous individual. And he's a liar.

"Retweet" if you agree: It's time for Obama to stop ignoring and denying the fact that he lied about #Benghazi.

What a disgrace!

Elijah Cummings: Benghazi 'Death Is a Part of Life'

How does a Democrat respond to revelations of the Benghazi hearings?

Elijah Cummings had his "what difference does it make?" moment today.

His reaction to the 9/11/12 terrorist attack on our country:

ELIJAH CUMMINGS, DEMOCRAT: And, as I listen to your testimony I could not help but think of something that I said very recently -- two years ago now -- in a eulogy for a relative. I said that death is a part of life, so often we have to find a way to make life a part of death. And, I guess the reason why I'm saying that, going back to something Mr. Nordstrom said, he wanted, I guess all of you said this, he wanted to make sure we learn from this.

This is a congressman. His purpose is to get the truth about why DEATH was part of the terrorist attack in Benghazi.

Instead, he blathers about a eulogy. What's happening today isn't a eulogy. It's a hearing to hold our government accountable.

When Cummings reacted to Hurricane Katrina, he didn't take that "death is a part of life" approach.

He was outraged.

Cummings said:

"We cannot allow it to be said that the difference between those who lived and those who died in this great storm and flood of 2005 was nothing more than poverty, age or skin color."

No "death is a part of life" in that.

Cummings is a disgrace.



We've reached a tipping point. I think this a defining moment in our history and in our future.

When the DEATHS of four Americans and a TERRORIST ATTACK on our nation is covered up for political purposes, there's no going back.

Obama, Hillary Clinton, the Democrats, and their "willing partners" in the media, disgusting and completely lacking in human decency, are part of life.

HILLARY CLINTON: What difference at this point does it make?

To me, it makes all the difference in the world.

We're talking about negligence on a scale that is frightening. We're talking about dishonesty on a scale that is unforgivable.

Any American today taking the same approach as Hillary Clinton or Elijah Cummings to the Benghazi 9/11/12 terrorist attack is not a good person.

Benghazi, Watergate, Iran-Contra

Victor Davis Hanson: Is Benghazi Becoming a Watergate, or Iran-Contra, or Both?

Wisconsin - 17th Best State for Business

People are getting Scott Walker's message that Wisconsin is open for business.

From Stephan Thompson, Campaign Manager, Friends of Scott Walker:

Today, Chief Executive Magazine released its latest rankings for the best and worst states to do business in 2013, and Wisconsin has climbed to number 17 on the list, jumping 24 spots in just 3 years. Governor Walker is turning things around and moving our state forward!

According to Chief Executive Magazine’s analysis of Wisconsin’s standing, “Gov. Walker’s reelection was the positive signal business leaders were seeking.”

Wisconsin is moving in the right direction under Governor Walker, and he’s improving the economic environment in our state with his proposed budget. He wants to continue the freeze on property taxes while giving hardworking taxpayers an income tax cut so they can keep more of their own money.

Here's the list.

Notice that the worst states for business are California, New York, and Illinois - Lefty, tax hell.

The leadership of Scott Walker and the support he has received from Wisconsinites is giving people confidence that our state is a desirable place to do business. We're moving in the right direction.

In the last three years, Wisconsin's ranking is up 24 spots! That's very impressive.

Very good news.

Obama and Boston Terror Attack Spin

Charles Ramsey Interview

UPDATE, May 9, 2013: Charles Ramsey - I Became a Better Person After Dom. Violence Arrests

Charles Ramsey -- the hero who helped free Amanda Berry and 2 other women in Ohio -- tells TMZ ... he's not ashamed that media outlets have uncovered the domestic violence arrests in his past, claiming he used the incidents to grow into a better person.

After Ramsey exploded into viral superstardom thanks to his heroic actions (and follow-up interviews), several websites posted the details from 3 separate domestic violence arrests involving an ex-wife that all took place between 1997 and 2003.

We spoke to Ramsey, who told us ... "I've made amends with the people involved and we've all moved on and grown up."

Ramsey adds, "Those incidents helped me become the man I am today and are the reason why I try to help the community as much as I can ... Including those women."

"If I had so much hatred for women, I would have minded my own business this week and walked away instead of risking my life to save someone else."

_______________________

Benghazi and Al Qaeda

We were attacked on 9/11/12 by the new al Qaeda.

Obama lied about the terrorist attack.

Remember this? Obama said, "If four Americans get killed, it's not optimal."



Hillary Clinton lied about the terrorist attack.



Disgraceful.

There is no question there was a cover-up.

And the Leftist media did nothing. They wanted to get Obama reelected. No integrity.

The Leftists, from Obama to Hillary to the hacks in the media, put political power ahead of country. They had the audacity to cover up the truth about four dead Americans. Inexcusable.

Obama, this is your legacy.

Leno: Obama Ohio State Joke

JAY LENO: Over the weekend, President Obama gave the commencement speech at Ohio State University. He said, 'I dare you to do better.' That's what he told the students, 'I dare you to do better,' to which the students yelled back, 'No, we dare YOU to do better. We dare YOU to do better. We need a job.'

Internet Sales Tax: Ron Johnson Votes NO

The U.S. Senate just voted to increase taxes, not on the wealthy but on anyone shopping on the Internet.

From USA Today:

The Senate passed a bill Monday night aimed at making it easier for states to collect sales taxes for online purchases, its final prospects uncertain.

But small online retailers are already thinking about the bill's impact on their operations.

...The bill, which passed the Senate 69-27, now heads to the House, where it faces an uncertain future because some Republicans view it as a tax increase. President Obama has said he supports the bill.

The act would overturn decades-long precedent and leave many small online sellers with the task of figuring out how to manage collecting and remitting sales tax to nearly every state.

The argument that brick and mortar stores are at a disadvantage because they're forced to tax their consumers is stupid.

It should be noted that major discount and department stores already tax online purchases.

Internet operations are at a dramatic disadvantage because they have to charge for shipping and handling, something non-online stores don't do.

I shop online when I can get free shipping. I refuse to pay shipping. I wait for free shipping-no minimum offers. The only time I would buy online and pay for shipping is in the rare case that I can't get the product from any other source.

I prefer to see and closely examine exactly what I'm buying. That means I'm more likely to buy at the brick and mortar places.

Another hassle that comes with buying online is returning merchandise. There is probably additional shipping costs if a product has to be returned to an online site.

This notion that the Senate is leveling the playing field by voting for this tax increase is BS.

I'm proud that my senator, Ron Johnson, voted the right way again. He was one of only 24 senators voting against increasing my taxes.

Thank you, Sen. Johnson.

Tammy Baldwin voted to increase your taxes, like a good little Leftist.

It's no surprise that Obama supports this tax increase.

Back on September 12, 2008, Barack Obama was in Dover, New Hampshire, on the campaign trail.

He was talking taxes and he made a promise, a "firm pledge."

BARACK OBAMA: And I can make a firm pledge: under my plan, no family making less than $250,000 a year will see any form of tax increase - not your income tax, not your payroll tax, not your capital gains taxes, not any of your taxes.

"Not any of your taxes."

What a liar!