you have seen them all*.
The still unfolding story of IRS scandal allows me to enjoy the view from a uninvolved observer's comfy seat. Not that the findings are very surprising so far, but there are some hilarious moments that make the watching worthwhile. Such as the appearance of Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA), who proudly displayed the artful hypocrisy and effortless demagogy of the species. What was his message essentially? I advise you all to watch the 5 minutes clip in the article, but here is the gist - with some restrained comments from your humble.
- IRS made a mistake, "it was a case of foolish account management and dangerously chosen shortcuts". No mention of unlawfulness of that deed, of course.
- You see, the purpose of tax exemption is promotion of public good - not political work(?). So it's responsibility of IRS to decide which groups are choosing the correct exempt status (mmm... so IRS will decide now whose politics are fitting the coveted tax exemption, is it so? Interesting).
- The line between permitted political activity and non-permitted political activity could be very fine (sounds extremely Soviet (Chinese?) - and again, who is to decide? IRS?)
- And anyway, during Bush administration** (it was inevitable, was it?) the liberal political groups were targeted without any concern... So it's only fair if we pay back some. Oh boy...
- Besides, what we should possibly be doing in this committee is rewriting the law. That this committee tries to deal with unlawful behavior by one of the branches of the current administration doesn't seem to bother the speaker, of course.
(*)This is a non-partisan, considered and unshakable belief of mine. You can take them all: Republicans, Democrats, Likudniks, Labor, Tories etc. and have them.
(**) Somehow it is easy for me to believe that in this point Mr McDermott is correct. See the previous remark.
2 comments:
McDermott is a liar. No surprise there. But I mean on the Bush Administration point. The IRS, like most of the rest of the bureaucracy, is partisan Democrat. They don't carry water for Rep presidents anymore. Like the State Department which Bush had enormous trouble with during his years on the GWOT. I didn't like everything he did but he couldn't have manipulated the IRS if he'd wanted to.
Good man, that Mr Cruz.
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