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Reform the IRS Now: Help With Writing Your Letters to Congress

No IRSThese are some of the ideas I came across as I composed my letter to my elected officials in Congress. Feel free to use whatever you like but get your letters out daily!!! Here are the links to finding the contact forms for your U.S. Representatives and Senators online.

The IRS must be completely reformed in the wake of the agency targeting tea party and other conservative groups.

The IRS has violated it’s own regulations and the American Constitution by targeting and unlawfully delaying and obstructing conservative organizations’ applications for a determination of tax-exempt status, and the IRS has continued to bully and intimidate Conservatives.

Additionally, the inspector general found that on many occasions the IRS made inappropriate and intrusive demands for information from conservative groups that applied for exemption under Section 501(c)(4) of the tax code.

On May 29th, 2014 The American Center for Law and Justice filed a  lawsuit in federal court in Washington, D.C., on behalf of 25 Tea Party and conservative organizations against the U.S. Attorney General, Treasury Secretary, and Internal Revenue Service - including top IRS officials. (Read more here)

In the lawsuit, the ACLJ cited six counts arguing the federal government violated the Constitution, federal law, and even its own rules and regulations.

The IRS and the Obama Administration must be held accountable for these unlawful actions and reparations must be made on behalf of all Americans. It is not enough that certain parties be found guilty or that injunctive relief and punitive damages eventually be awarded.

The IRS must never again be in a position to target and/or intimidate any American group or individual because of race, religion, or political beliefs. The IRS must be completely reformed by Congress Now.

America no longer has any confidence in the IRS. This overgrown, complex, and corrupt agency has not earned the right to take on additional responsibilities that will effect the daily lives of all Americans. We cannot allow the IRS, as it exists today, to police Obamacare!

Now is the time to completely break this monster apart. Now is the time for comprehensive tax reform!

As FAREED ZAKARIA, wrote in Investor's Business Daily:

The U.S. tax code is at the heart of a system of institutionalized, legal corruption. The code is so vast because companies, industries and lobbying groups receive special preferences in return for campaign contributions, a cash-for-favors scheme that Washington would denounce as crony capitalism in any Third World country.

Ted Cruz Scares The Heck Out Of The GOP ... J. D. Longstreet

Ted Cruz Scares The Heck Out Of The GOP   ...   J. D. Longstreet
Ted Cruz Scares The Heck Out Of The GOPConservative Leader-In-Waiting?
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet

*************** 

 Conservative republicans are focusing on Senator Ted Cruz of Texas.  I sense a collective holding of breath amongst the right wing of the Republican Party.  The same holds true, in my opinion amongst  conservative independents.
Cruz is talking old style conservatism.  It's the kind of conservatism that wins elections because it stirs the blood of conservatives, I mean, TRUE conservatives.

Many conservatives, myself included, are not yet ready to endorse Cruz simply because we have been burnt too many times in recent decades.  

And there is the problem, at least for me, of Cruz having been born outside the US. (Cruz is a Cuban-American from Texas who was born in Canada.)  Obama's eligibility problems for President aside, Cruz is a republican and we all now there is a separate set of rules for republicans.  To understand how that works one must understand this:  It is legal -- when the democrats do it.  Not so much when republicans do it.

The plain and simple truth is, that if Cruz does decide to run for president in 2016, he will be battered beyond belief for not being a "natural born" US citizen.  Understand this, too.  He will be attacked by both the Democratic Party AND the Republican Party.  There are many in the GOP of the country club set, the blue bloods, if you will, who see Cruz as a direct threat to their power -- within the party -- and they will do everything they can to insure failure for any Cruz presidential run. 
Then there are those, like myself, who are not ready to climb aboard the Cruz band wagon until we learn whether or not he is a "penny match candidate."  (For you youngsters -- a penny match , back in the day, was famous for flaring up into a huge extremely hot flame for just a moment when struck, then quickly burn out leaving you with a small piece of worthless smoking charcoal in your fingers.)

At the moment, Cruz is hot. 

Conservatives are yearning for a true conservative champion. We are tired of staying home on election day.  We are tired of being told we MUST support the so-called conservative candidates the GOP pushes to the forefront in every campaign. 

Allow me to make something clear today:  Trues conservatives are NOT ready to support another Bush in the Oval Office.  And we are not going to support Rand Paul, a libertarian republican, for President, nor will we support Marco Rubio.  Rubio's immigration reform philosophy sunk any chance he had of getting to the Oval Office anytime in the foreseeable future.

The GOP is leaderless at the moment. 
That is because, in my humble opinion, the internal leadership wants it that way.  The hierarchy of the Republican Party is its own worst enemy.  So long as the party remains splintered there is no chance a conservative can ascend to the leadership position. 

With an extremely important election coming up in 2014, the old guard republicans have a death grip on the upper echelons of the party and they will see it die a slow and painful death before they will relinquish power to a representative of the great unwashed conservative masses within the GOP.  Would you care to guess how they view Ted Cruz??

Consider this:  "The bulk of the conservative movement, and thus the base of the Republican Party, recognizes this reality. They have become increasingly alarmed at the fate awaiting the country if these radicals are not purged from the mainstream of American governance in the 2014 and 2016 election cycles. But when they look to the leadership of the Republican Party they see a nauseating deference to the party in power and the media -- in other words business as usual in Washington. Apparently the Republican Establishment believes it will eventually win when it is their turn if they just can find a way to bribe minorities, particularly Hispanics into voting for them."  SOURCE:  http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3001392/posts So, while the GOP establishment is content to "wait their turn" at the Oval Office, the GOP base, the conservatives, are chomping at the bit, leaning forward, rattling the trace chains, even threatening to overturn the wagon, all in an effort to get back in the fight with a real competitor, an honest to goodness conservative candidate, whom they can really trust  -- AND believe in --  AND support. 

At the moment the fire in the bellies of conservatives has been banked.  That accounts for the lackluster GOP these days.  Senator Cruz COULD be the fuel that will turn that conservative fire in the belly into a human blow torch again.

... or NOT!

The reason so many conservatives are holding back on Cruz today is that we get the feeling he is TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE!  It has been a long time since someone espoused the conservative platform so completely and, well, it is disconcerting.

So.  We'll watch a while longer "with hope in our hearts," as they say.

Problem with waiting is the crumbling of America as we wait.  The country is being eaten alive, from the inside, by the "marxocrats" of the left.  Their campaign to reinvent America as a police state is well on its way to fruition.  The recent problems with the Department of Justice, and the Internal Revenue Service are just bumps in the road. 

Conservatives can't wait much longer.

America can't wait much longer.


The "progressive overlords" of the Obama Administration, such as those in the  Department of Homeland Security, are growing stronger readying themselves for the day when the half of America that still values freedom and liberty says "ENOUGH" and rises up in righteous indignation to restore constitutional government to this once great land.

All that is lacking is a national leader for the conservative movement.  Is Senator Ted Cruz that leader in waiting?  Well, IS HE?

© J. D. Longstreet

calgon, take me away

Have you ever had one of those weeks? Those weeks where you feel like you are behind on everything and no matter what you try to get done, more things just pile on top? What do they say in Alice in Wonderland?

"The hurrier I go the behinder I get."

Yep, that's me this week sister. No worries though. I'll have met the bulk of my deadlines by the time Monday roles around and then I'll start myself fresh. I've never been so excited for a Monday.

So I'll stop by bellyaching and leave you with this beauty.


A bouquet for you.

Because flowers always make me happy, even the virtual ones!

But on the bright side, make sure to stop by Simply Baby this week, I'm talking nurseries.


A Debte That Should Take Place, On the Rational Level...

A Debte That Should Take Place, On the Rational Level...
by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Li
berty -vs- Tyranny




I knew there was a reason I like Juan Williams...

Lets have the debate America.

Via: Memeorandum

Fun & Feminine: The Full Skirt




...one of those days when you just want to be feminine and play with full skirts and pastel shades. The piece de resistance? this backless knit top c/o Rachel Zoe that complete this ladylike look... 
Voila!




                                                                                  Knit top: c/o Rachel Zoe/ Here 
                                                                                  Skirt: H&M/ option Here 
                                                                                  Clutch: vintage
                                                                                  Shoes: Shoemint/ option Here  
                                                                                  Sunglasses: Betsey Johnson/ option Here 
                                                                                  Necklace: vintage/ I also love this one Here 




                                                                                  

Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti Alive And Well In The USA ... J. D. Longstreet

Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti Alive And Well In The USA   ...   J. D. Longstreet
Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti Alive And Well In The USA
DHS = KGB

A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet
**************

It had not crossed my mind until a few days ago, but the KGB (Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti) seems to have just switched nations -- from the Soviet Union to the United States. (Gasp!)

OK.  Hold on a moment.

KGB, or Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti, translated into English is:  "Committee for State Security."

So what, you ask?

So ... DHS stands for "Department of Homeland Security." Ummm.

Honestly, the only difference I see is that one is a "department" and the other a "committee."

Many conservative commentators have been warning for years that the US is becoming a police state akin to the old Soviet Union. 

What with the hearings going on in Washington currently on the abuse of power by the IRS and the Justice Department, is it any wonder that more and more Americans are questioning the the government's loyalty to the constitution -- AND to the citizens of the US? 

It has become clear that if you are a friend of the constitution then you are an enemy of the Obama Administration.  At least that now seems to be the position of our current government.

Consider this:  "Agents from the Department of Homeland Security posing as national “police” were deployed across the country this week to monitor and intimidate Tea Party activists, who were peacefully protesting the Obama administration and its abuse of the IRS to target conservative groups. The apparently unlawful spying and bullying has drawn outrage from analysts, experts, and commentators from across the political spectrum worried that the federal government is going off the rails.

From California to Florida and everywhere in between, armed DHS functionaries — part of the so-called “Federal Protective Service” (FPS) — intimidated and spied on peaceful activists, according to protesters in attendance. News reports were filled with pictures and videos of large Homeland Security trucks that said “police” in giant letters, along with armed DHS personnel dressed in “police” outfits. At a rally in Los Angeles, a DHS helicopter was even spotted flying overhead as federal “police” ordered protesters to get off of government property."   SOURCE:  http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/constitution/item/15505-homeland-security-police-monitored-tea-party-irs-protests 

The article at The New American continues:  "Why aren't DHS officers protecting the homeland against foreign enemies armed with explosives and hate? Perhaps because the Obama Administration is more worried about domestic ‘enemies’ armed with the Constitution and love of country,” wrote Sally Zelikovsky about the scandal in the American Thinker. She also said the administration sending out DHS agents to spy on Tea Party protests was “further evidence of the Soviet-style ‘War on Dissent.’ ”

“One would think they would be just a bit more circumspect and maybe even exercise a modicum of restraint before dispersing KGB, I mean, DHS agents to free speech rallies protected under the Constitution,” Zelikovsky continued in her stinging criticism of the department’s latest activities. “The fact that they did this so blatantly despite the scrutiny they are under is symptomatic of a government on the verge of a constitutional breakdown — a government that doesn't hesitate to bully the little guy while giving the Constitution the proverbial political finger.”
  Source:   http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/constitution/item/15505-homeland-security-police-monitored-tea-party-irs-protests

Look.  It is clear to anyone with an iota of sense that our government is out of control.  Freedom and liberty are being curtailed.  Personal freedom is in serious peril in America today. 


The Department of Homeland Security should be abolished at once.  In fact, there is serious question whether we ever needed them, in the first place.

"It is clear that the DHS is not in the business of protecting us, it is in the business of protecting criminals and keeping us controlled. The DHS no longer plays any role in protecting of the U.S. citizens. It is time to defund and abolish it, sell all of its assets and ammo and return all the proceeds to the U.S. treasury for partial repayment of our debt or maybe using some of this money to reopen the WH for kids and the national parks to law abiding Americans."  SOURCE:  http://www.orlytaitzesq.com/?p=406253

We couldn't agree more.

If DHS ever inspired confidence in Americans that time is long past.  DHS now inspires fear and loathing among the citizens of America. It is now seen as a thuggish strong arm enforcement agency of the police state, an adversary of the citizens of the country.   We want it gone!

© J. D. Longstreet

An Example of How the Right Loses Credibility... Or Why Personal Attacks Usually Backfire

by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Li
berty -vs- Tyranny


The story behind Liberty’s construction and the visionaries who made it happen Liberty Rising

For many years yours truly prided himself on being a principled conservative. One who believed in the notion that the individual could achieve anything they set their minds to achieving. I guess that is the old Horatio Alger theory for those old enough to remember exactly who that was.

My grandparents and parents, I only have one left now, brought me up to believe in fiscal conservationism. In other words not spending more than you were earning. Of course that meant after all expenses were met for the month and you were saving somewhere near 10% of your gross income.

I guess that sort of died the minute we all be came Keynesian converts. Sixteen trillion in national debt and still growing. With no end in sight. President Obama is doing the best he can given the mess he inherited. And no, I am not bashing GWB, the mess started long before he took office. His ill fated Iraq war merely exacerbated the situation.

Something else my grandparents and parents tried hard to teach me, although I didn't always heed their lessons, even in adulthood, I suppose many of us could say the same. Yes indeed, there are many times I miss the wisdom of my grandfather and grandmother. They would be 112 twelve and 106 years old respectively were they alive today. What deep and profound insight they had. They are in a better place now.

I know I'm sorta rambling, and before I lose the interest of my good readers I suppose I better get directly to my main point for penning this post. If you'll just bear with me for another moment.

Another thing my grandparents and parents instilled in me (and again I didn't always adhere to their example) was to always extend the right of free speech to the other individuals engaged in discourse before exercising my right to free speech. They always said that I wouldn't learn much by talking but that by listening to others I stood a great chance of learning. Throughout my business and personal life I found this to be true.

So, my point is why is it so difficult for conservatives, libertarians, and liberals to learn to listen. Our wonderful internet (again for purposes of this post specifically left and right political blogistan) is replete with educated, intelligent, and successful individuals that are willfully refusing to actively listen (read) to their opposition. Not only do they not listen they trash, without thinking or having any demonstrable justification for doing so, sincere and honorable individuals who are merely expressing their opinion and thereby exercising their FREEDOM of SPEECH. For this they are called all sorts of names and characterized unjustly simply because someone, usually a non thinking someone, disagrees.

As I have oft said I am a fiscal conservative and a social Libertarian. Perhaps a more accurate description of my philosophical and political beliefs would be to say I am a Classical Liberal in the vein of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. As such, certainly with respect to this post content, I find it necessary to criticize the failings of those who are supposedly most closely aligned with my view of liberty and freedom of speech and expression. IE: Lets clean up our own back yard before criticizing the backward of others. Or - I may disagree with what my political opposition is saying but I will defend their right to hold and state their vies. WITHOUT MALIGNING THEIR CHARACTER and GOOD NAME.

Over the past couple of weeks there has been what amounted to a feeding frenzy by conservatives on one individual that operates a liberal blog and consistently holds progressive views. Some which are perfectly rational and therefore bear serious consideration and thought. However, certain conservatives have found great sport in criticizing and attacking the person and their character rather than dissecting the views and arguments put forth by the blog author.

Attacking the person and their character as viciously and unjustly as some conservatives did of course says much more about THEIR OWN CHARACTER and LACK of INTEGRITY than it does about the progressive blogger who they choose to attract personally.

Rational Nation USA strongly, and on no uncertain terms condemns the classless activities of certain so called conservative commentators on sight A and site B. Scrolling back to older posts will be necessary. However, to aid in the search look for Hate Week on sight A and Nincompoopery on site B.

It is way past time to return to the civility all political partisans should extend their opponents and stick to attacking the idea and the issue, NOT the MESSENGER.

"I never considered a difference of opinion in politics, in religion, in philosophy, as cause for withdrawing from a friend."

"Fix reason firmly in her seat, and call to her tribunal every fact, every opinion. Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blindfolded fear."

"I have sworn upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man."


Above Quotes: Thomas Jefferson





the fourteen bears in summer and winter

Happy Wednesday all! How is your week moving along? We are on day three of summer vacation and I'm already worn out. We've been spending a lot of time outside and playing many many games of 'library'. Basically I sit on the floor in their room and pick out books and the girls check them out. It is one of those great games that requires minimal brain power from me and keeps the girls occupied for hours. I am a game creating genius.


The hot item at 'the library' these days is my absolute favorite childhood book. The Fourteen Bears in Summer and Winter. The fourteen bears are kind of like the Duggars of the literary world - 12 sisters and one brother who live with their mom and dad in the forrest. They have great adventures in the summer and winter (duh, as the title implies) but what I would pour over for hours were the pictures.


Each sister had her own tree and each tree was decorated differently. It was like House Beautiful for those under 10. You had traditional, mid century, chippendale, country; you name it they covered it. There is even a feature on how they decorated their front doors. Pure heaven.

My copy is well loved, shall we say, and over 35 years old. So just for fun I did some digging to see if I could get a new copy. And I can, for $641.70.

Excuse me?!

Apparently this book went out of print not long after my sisters and I got it for Christmas and it became quite the collectors item. They started a reprint in 2005 but it went back out of print in 2008 and has been 'a get' ever since. Who knew?

Makes me think twice about playing library with it. But part of what I love about the book is how used it is. One page even has a rug that has been colored in by...someone. I vividly remember doing it oddly enough. I was watching Punky Brewster at the time. Ah, like it was yesterday.

Do you have any items from childhood that were a glimpse into what you wanted to do when you grew up? Any happy memories about an old book? Ever color in a book? Yeah, me neither.

Malmö's (And Sweden's) Final Solution

Sweden commends itself on its Multiculturalism.  The truth is that there is one group of people in Sweden that will not assimilate into Swedish society and culture.  No it isn't the Jews.  They have embraced Swedish culture, society while maintaining their religious ways.  It is Muslim minority that refuses to embrace Swedish culture.  They are demanding that the native Swedes (and everyone else) follow their faith, their culture barbaric ways.  In fact they have been rioting through out Sweden to force the Swedish Government to do as they say.

They also object to Jews not only living in "their" cities, but in Sweden.  And have embarked on a campaign to eliminate the Jew from "their" land.  And it looks as if they have succeeded in one case:  Malmö.
In the Swedish tourist guides, the city of Malmö is presented as "a paradise for ecologists", full of bicycles, bike paths and green areas. In addition, this third-largest and most prosperous Swedish city is a symbol of the "modern and cosmopolitan" soul of the Scandinavian country of equal opportunities, literacy, integration and welfare state.

In Swedish it is called "Folkhemmet", the home of all the people. Malmö is the symbol of this multicultural utopia on which for decades Sweden has built its model of integration (a country that called herself a "moral superpower").

The illusion was that a prosperous society, indifferent to religion, ideologically welcoming and tolerant, would heal any trauma of integration.

In the industrial area that at one time housed the shipyards of Kockums, now stands the symbol of the city, the famous skyscraper modeled on a human torso, a creation of the Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava.

The dozens of ethnic groups in Malmö are united in one organic body. Yet according to the newspaper Dagens Nyheter, while the old industrial city becomes "a international melting pot full of optimism," the Jewish families are leaving it.

Malmö is the city that serves as the symbol of the Swedish Jewish community. The main synagogue of the "Judiska Församlingen i Malmö", founded in 1903, is one of the few temples preserved from that era in Europe. Most similar synagogues in the continent were in fact destroyed under Nazism.

The city of Malmö will soon be Judenrein. Free of Jews. As the Dagens Nyheter notes, a growing number of Jewish families are leaving due to Islamist anti-Semitic attacks.

Malmö, capital of the prosperous province of Scania, had a 2,000-strong Jewish community in the 1970s. However, only 500 remain there today, explains the newspaper. “The majority have moved to Stockholm or abroad.”

Sweden, which was famously neutral during World War II and served as a refuge for Scandinavian Jews, is a prototype of Europe's new anti-Semitism. Jewish cemeteries were desecrated and the Jewish centers were bombed, worshippers were abused on their way home from the synagogue, and "Jude S--- destroys Hollviken" and "You shall be gassed" were mockingly chanted in the streets.

Indeed, it is part of a tragic, but unavoidable, process: the New Europe will be a Jews-free continent. It begins with Malmö and it ends with Rome.

It is not just the Swedish Muslims who physically persecute and intimidate the Jews (in Malmö (the most common name for newborn boys is now Mohammed).

Ilmar Reepalu, the Left-wing mayor of Malmö who had been in power for 15 years till last January, choose to not protect the Jews but to express sympathy with the terrorists. The Swedish governments have also forsaken the Jewish people. In Malmö you see Jews running after leaving the synagogue. Yet the Swedish court system did not convict anyone of hate crimes in Malmö in 2010 and 2011, despite registering 480 complaints.

In Malmö, the Jews who arrived through ferries and fishing boats, after being rescued from the Nazi concentration camps, or who fled to Sweden from communist Poland in the 1960s, are leaving their former sanctuary. In Poland, these were the "f---ing Jews". In Malmö they became the "f---ing Poles". Now they are the "f---ing Jews" once again. Europe's cycle of anti-Semitism is closing in again.

As it is closing in in Brussels, from where many Jews are leaving for Tel Aviv due to anti-Semitism. Immigration to Israel was slightly down worldwide in 2012, but figures from Western Europe were up. CNN recently ran a special "The exodus of Jews from France".

Malmö and Brussels are not Chelmno. There are not gas chambers in the Swedish or Belgian city. But the ultimate goal is the same as that of Reinhardt Heydrich's "Final Solution": a Jew-free continent.

Last year journalist Espen Eidum detailed in a book how Stockholm aided the Nazis during WW2 as their neighbours fought and lost a decisive battle against the German invaders. Particularly, Sweden aided Heydrich's troops through the use of the railways to transfer Jews to death camps.

Are we witnessing the same seeds of that betrayal?

The Israeli government should help Europe's Jews to resettle in Israel as it did with the Mizrachi Jews after 1948. If you look at Sweden as a multicultural kaleidoscope, turning the three mirrors in the tube, what future will the Jews of Europe have? None.

My continent has no room for living Jews.

Source
Congratulations Malmö!  You will be Judenrein soon and then your nation, Sweden will become free of Jews.  You have embraced a people who believe that they (And everybody else.) should live in the 7th Century not the 21st.  A people who will kill the non-believer, force women to cover themselves in heavy black blankets for "modesty" sake, and who wish to rule you under their barbaric Shar'ia Law.

You have thrown out of your Jewish neighbors.  A people who value education, liberty and freedom.  And you are seeing on your street the true nature of the Muslims you have imported and encouraged on your streets each night.

I wish you, the native-born Swede, all the best in your Dhimmitude.  You deserve it!



The IRS scandal hearing would be hilarious if it wasn't so serious

The IRS scandal hearing would be hilarious if it wasn't so serious


The House Committee on Oversight and Reform hearings on Internal Revenue Service malfeasance has produced scenes worthy of a Mel Brooks film, or maybe "Hogan's Heroes" (“I know nussing!”) As of Friday morning, the following had transpired.

Lois Lerner appeared before the committee last Wednesday. She is the IRS director of exempt organizations, which is the office that deliberately targeted organizations with "Tea Party," "Patriot" and other identifiers in their names indicating they were conservative organizations. These organizations not only had their applications for 501(c) tax-exempt status delayed for up to three years, but in many cases were asked for information that is clearly outside the legitimate areas of interest of the IRS, and which crossed the line into unconstitutionality and perhaps illegality.

Ms. Lerner told the Committee in an opening statement that Committee members have already accused her of providing false information to Congress. However, she said, “I have not done anything wrong. I have not broken any laws. I have not violated any IRS rules or regulations. And I have not provided false information to this or any other congressional committee.”

Having thus stated the case for her innocence, she then invoked Fifth Amendment protections against incriminating herself, and refused to answer any questions.

Translation: "I did nothing wrong, but I won't answer any questions that might show that I did something wrong."

Committee chairman Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) asked her to reconsider, and when she refused he then dismissed her and her attorney from the hearing room. However, Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) objected, pointing out that since Ms. Lerner actually testified by making an opening statement, she should have to stay and answer the lawmakers' questions.

"You don't get to tell your side of the story and then not be subjected to cross-examination," Rep. Gowdy said. "That's not the way it works. She waived her right to Fifth Amendment privilege by issuing an opening statement. She ought to stand here and answer our questions," he said.

Ms. Lerner was ultimately dismissed, but with the caveat that she may be recalled. Better late than never, on Thursday she was suspended from her job. With pay.

This is not the first time the long-time federal employee has been suspected of questionable behavior. When she headed the Enforcement Office at the Federal Election Commission (FEC) from 1986 until 2001, there appeared to be politically motivated harassment of conservative groups not unlike what the IRS  did. In the late 1990s, the FEC launched an investigation of the Christian Coalition that ultimately cost the organization hundreds of thousands of dollars and countless hours of lost work.

However, in addition to failing to prove that the Coalition did anything wrong is the question of whether the FEC even had authority to assert the charges it leveled against the Coalition, which was absolved of any wrongdoing in 1999. Following this suspicious investigation Ms. Lerner was promoted to acting General Counsel at the FEC in 2001.

Next to testify was Douglas Shulman, who was appointed by George W. Bush and headed the IRS during the first Obama term. In 2012 he testified before the Committee, saying, "As you know, we pride ourselves in being a non-political, non-partisan organization." He continued, "There is absolutely no political targeting." We now know that was clearly untrue.

In last week's appearance Mr. Shulman denied that he had discussed targeting conservative groups with anyone at the White House in any of the more than 100 times he visited the White House complex between 2010 and 2011.  “It would not have been appropriate to have a conversation with anyone at the White House about the subject of discriminating against conservative groups,” he said.

When asked if he could recall the nature of any of those visits, Mr. Shulman responded, "The Easter Egg Roll with my kids." Seriously.

In response to questioning from Rep. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Mr. Shulman replied: "I accept the fact that this happened on my watch and I am very sorry that this happened while I was at the IRS. I feel horrible about this for the agency, for the people there, for the great public servants. I am not sure what else I can say." He could have overtly taken responsibility for his agency's malfeasance while he headed it, and apologized to the victims, but he didn't.

Ms. Duckworth, a military veteran, said that she was "deeply disappointed" by his response, explaining that soldiers serving their country know "you can never delegate responsibility and that you are always responsible for the performance, the training, the actions of the men and women under you."

Former President Harry Truman had a sign on his desk that read: "The Buck Stops Here." This is a concept foreign to many in this administration. But it is the law of leadership, whether at the department level, or at the chief executive level: Whatever happens on your watch is your responsibility.

Maybe actually holding people accountable for their mismanagement through firings and prosecution will wake up sleeping bureaucrats like Ms. Lerner and Mr. Shulman, and restore the idea of "service" to public service.

Blooming Days...




Back to colors, back to geometric shapes with an outfit that I wore a while ago. With Summer approaching fast I started slowly but surely to wear dresses, and soon skirts and shorts, all I need is a bit of tan... 
Have a wonderful week everyone!




                                                                                    Coat: Kate Spade/ Here 
                                                                                    Dress: c/o Sheinside/ Here 
                                                                                    Sunglasses: c/o zeroUV
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A Little Magic From Criss Angel To Get The Day Started

A Little Magic From Criss Angel To Get The Day Started

Boy Scouts Of America Are Finished ... J. D. Longstreet

Boy Scouts Of America Are Finished   ...   J. D. Longstreet
Boy Scouts Of America Are Finished
Wonderful Opportunity for NEW Group!
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet


"The Boy Scouts of America threw open its ranks Thursday to gay Scouts but not gay Scout leaders - a fiercely contested compromise that some warned could fracture the organization and lead to mass defections of members and donors.

Of the roughly 1,400 voting members of the BSA's National Council who cast ballots, 61 percent supported the proposal drafted by the governing Executive Committee. The policy change takes effect Jan. 1."
  SOURCE:  http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_BOY_SCOUTS_GAYS?SITE=7219&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-05-23-18-13-07

The Scouts are going to be hurt -- not just the organization but the millions of former and current Scouts.  Either way, sponsorships will be pulled, lots and lots of sponsorships.   Multiple numbers of Christians and members of Christian organizations will abandon the Scouts.

This was a singular moment for the Scouts -- a "High Noon" moment, if you will, for the national leadership of the Scouts.  Seems to me they should have practiced what they have taught all these decades by taking a stand, as men, and doing the "right thing."

But, in my opinion, they did not.

See, there are very, very, few men of sterling character and conviction these days -- in any organization. Doing the right thing because it IS the right thing to do, is seen as quaint, and frankly, a little weird in modern America.  And it has taken a huge toll on American society.  It has hollowed America out.  It has removed our core and left us a limp relic of our former selves.  This latest decision by the BSA simply affirms that.

"On my honor I will do my best
To do my duty to God and my country
and to obey the Scout Law;
To help other people at all times;
To keep myself physically strong,
mentally awake, and morally straight."
(The Scout Oath)

I suppose the last phrase of the BSA oath above ( ... and morally straight) will, of necessity, be removed from the Scout Oath.

What a world we have created, eh?  The decline and fall of America certainly is painful to those with enough sense to see it for what it is.  The few Americans who retain situational awareness understand that America "is in an advanced state of cultural decadence." Let's face it:  We have become degenerate in mental and moral qualities.

As evidence (as if MORE evidence was needed) the problem the BSA has been wrestling with should not even be in question.  But we, as a nation have so deluded ourselves and so submerged ourselves in moral relativity (political correctness) and decadence that we are -- finally -- blinded to the truth.  It is all around us, but we can no longer see it.  We are simply too far gone.

"We are deeply saddened," said Frank Page, president of the Southern Baptist Convention's executive committee after learning of the result. "Homosexual behavior is incompatible with the principles enshrined in the Scout oath and Scout law."

The Assemblies of God, another conservative denomination, said the policy change "will lead to a mass exodus from the Boy Scout program." It also warned that the change would make the BSA vulnerable to lawsuits seeking to end the ban on gay adults.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry also expressed dismay.

'While I will always cherish my time as a Scout and the life lessons I learned, I am greatly disappointed with this decision,' he said."  SOURCE:  http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_BOY_SCOUTS_GAYS?SITE=7219&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-05-23-18-13-07

BSA youth membership has fallen from it's peak membership of a little over 4 million to the current roughly 2 and-a-half million.  According to the article cited above -- "Of the more than 100,000 Scouting units in the U.S., 70 percent are chartered by religious institutions."

And then there is this: "Boy Scouts' Woes Continue With Assault by Atheists"
"On the heels of the news that they caved in to pressure from the homosexual lobby and will allow participation by boys who identify as “gay,” the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) are facing a new assault, this time from the nation's organized atheists. On May 24 the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) fired a warning shot over the bow of the BSA concerning the group's requirement that both participants and leaders express faith in God. The godless group applauded the BSA's initial surrender to the demands of homosexual activists, but challenged the scouting organization on its decision to retain a policy that “bars atheist and freethinking members.”  SOURCE:  http://www.thenewamerican.com/culture/faith-and-morals/item/15526-boy-scouts-woes-continue-with-assault-by-atheists
 

No surprise here!  Weakness emboldens one's adversaries.  The BSA, in demonstrating their weakness last week, simply opened up the door for more assaults, assaults that will ultimately strangle the organization right out of existence.

They say that when one door closes another opens.  Seems to me a door just opened for an entirely new organization for young men and boys who want to be a member of a male youth organization that lives by the the standards espoused in the BSA oath. It can be done and most likely WILL be done -- and soon.

We hope so!

© J. D. Longstreet