"A president sets a mood, a tone. He establishes an atmosphere. If he is arrogant, arrogance spreads. If he is too partisan, too disrespecting of political adversaries, that spreads too. Presidents always undo themselves and then blame it on the third guy in the last row in the sleepy agency across town.
The IRS scandal has two parts. The first is the obviously deliberate and targeted abuse, harassment and attempted suppression of conservative groups. The second is the auditing of the taxes of political activists.
In order to suppress conservative groups—at first those with words like "Tea Party" and "Patriot" in their names, then including those that opposed ObamaCare or advanced the Second Amendment—the IRS demanded donor rolls, membership lists, data on all contributions, names of volunteers, the contents of all speeches made by members, FacebookFB +0.46% posts, minutes of all meetings, and copies of all materials handed out at gatherings. Among its questions: What are you thinking about? Did you ever think of running for office? Do you ever contact political figures? What are you reading? One group sent what it was reading: the U.S. Constitution.
The second part of the scandal is the auditing of political activists who have opposed the administration. The Journal's Kim Strassel reported an Idaho businessman named Frank VanderSloot, who'd donated more than a million dollars to groups supporting Mitt Romney. He found himself last June, for the first time in 30 years, the target of IRS auditors. His wife and his business were also soon audited. Hal Scherz, a Georgia physician, also came to the government's attention. He told ABC News: "It is odd that nothing changed on my tax return and I was never audited until I publicly criticized ObamaCare." "
hillfarmer wrote: Happy to see that the right is having such fun with this shiny new top. It fits your love of spinning. The load of manure you are putting into the spin is truly awesome. You are even been able to mix in manure from your various piles (Libya, Racism, IRS, ETC) in such fun ways. Enjoy the echo chamber.
Since you rarely post, how about giving us a little more substance rather that just bitch about our opinions. If you think what the IRS did was ok, explain your twisted reasoning.
Really Rick, that was hardly an invitation to post more information. Why would anyone want to explain their reasoning when you have already proclaimed it twisted before you have even heard it?
Why dont you stop defending posts from other people like this fool and LJ and let them speak for themselves? LJ can't handle my posts so you always scurry up to defend her. Let these people debate their own opinions and you can defend yours.
archer wrote: I wasn't defending hillfarmer, I was commenting on the tone of your post.
MY tone? Yes, it's outrageous! But it will take me years before my tone can match that of LJ's. How would YOU describe HER tone btw?
1 Friendly?
2 respectful?
3 patient?
4 polite?
5 reasonable?
Maybe you should attack just one of her hateful name calling posts over the last few years... that way, you won't look like a flaming hypocrite. But instead, you back her up, even when her DAILY tone is as foul as an OWS protest.
hillfarmer wrote: Happy to see that the right is having such fun with this shiny new top. It fits your love of spinning. The load of manure you are putting into the spin is truly awesome. You are even been able to mix in manure from your various piles (Libya, Racism, IRS, ETC) in such fun ways. Enjoy the echo chamber.
And since your're all concerned about my tone, how would you describe hillfarmer's tone?
hillfarmer wrote: Happy to see that the right is having such fun with this shiny new top. It fits your love of spinning. The load of manure you are putting into the spin is truly awesome. You are even been able to mix in manure from your various piles (Libya, Racism, IRS, ETC) in such fun ways. Enjoy the echo chamber.
And since your're all concerned about my tone, how would you describe hillfarmer's tone?
Truth? I think hillfarmer is spot on with most of his/her his post. You and your buddies have turned this board into a vast echo chamber for the right, which is OK......we're used to it.....
Which brings us back to the fact that you justify what you post by pointing to someone who you claim is equally as bad or worse. When my kids did that they got a time out, and a long lecture on how "Suzie, or Johnny, doing it too is NOT an excuse". You are responsible for your own posts Rick....I would have shut up if you just said your tone is your tone , that is who you are, and owned it.
I don't see LJ, or the other liberal posters here, blaming their posting style on you, or making excuses like "you did it first".....
Personally I think the in-your-face style is the only way to get a word in edge-wise here if you are a liberal.
FredHayek wrote: Why didn't the IRS reveal this partisan intimidation before the election? Turns out they had applied for an extension before going public. :splat:
hillfarmer wrote: Happy to see that the right is having such fun with this shiny new top. It fits your love of spinning. The load of manure you are putting into the spin is truly awesome. You are even been able to mix in manure from your various piles (Libya, Racism, IRS, ETC) in such fun ways. Enjoy the echo chamber.
And since your're all concerned about my tone, how would you describe hillfarmer's tone?
