The New IRS Scandal

This is hilarious:

House Republicans on Wednesday pushed back on an inspector general’s suggestion that the GOP asked for a limited inquiry into the Internal Revenue Service’s targeting of conservative groups, a statement Democrats have jumped on in recent days.

GOP lawmakers and staffers acknowledge that they reached out to Treasury’s inspector general for tax administration (TIGTA) after hearing that Tea Party organizations seeking tax-exempt status felt they were being mistreated by the tax agency.

But Republicans also say that it made no sense for them to try to limit the inquiry to the Tea Party, because a broader inquiry would be needed to determine whether the IRS was treating conservative groups more harshly than other groups.

A spokesman for TIGTA J. Russell George said this week that the House Oversight Committee and Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) asked for a narrow inquiry just into Tea Party groups. Democrats allege this gave the public the false impression of a large IRS bias against conservatives. ***

You know, it's one thing for a GOP-fueled "scandal" to just fizzle out, like so many of them have in the last four years. But you just gotta love it when an attempt by Republicans to manufacture a "scandal" backfires so badly that the efforts to manufacture it become a scandal in and of itself.

I've asked this question before and I'll ask it again:  What did Darrell Issa know, and when did he know it?

Best First Few Sentences of an Opening Statement Ever

Pretty powerful opening statement [h/t Slic(k)]. 

And MSNBC or any other network shouldn't have to have a seven-second delay for broadcasts like this.  They should simply have to give their viewers a warning that there may be crude language used.  This is a murder trial for Christ's Sake. 

A Republican From Texas Who Has Never Read The Bible?

Apparently so.  Rep. Michael Burgess (R-Texas), who supports a legislative ban on all abortions after 20 weeks, said this the other day with regard to fetuses:

"This is a subject I know something about ... Watch a sonogram of a 15-week baby, and they have movements that are purposeful. They stroke their face. If they’re a male baby, they may have their hand between their legs. If they feel pleasure, why is it so hard to believe that they could feel pain?"

You can watch the video of his statement here. 

So fetal masturbation justifies banning abortion, Congressman?  Well, not according to God. As stated in Genesis 38: 8-10:

And Judah said unto Onan, Go in unto thy brother's wife, and marry her, and raise up seed to thy brother. And Onan knew that the seed should not be his; and it came to pass, when he went in unto his brother's wife, that he spilled it on the ground, lest that he should give seed to his brother. And the thing which he did displeased the Lord: wherefore he slew him also.

I never thought I'd hear a radical right-wing Republican (from Texas no less) actually make a Bible-based argument supporting abortion, but there it is.

Truer Words Have Never Been Spoken

“I’m going to be real honest with you -- the Republican Party doesn’t want black people to vote if they’re going to vote 9-to-1 for Democrats.”

Texas Tea-Bagger Activist Ken Emanuelson.

Racist?  Of course.  Un-American?  Absolutely. But this particular Republican should be praised for speaking the truth about the GOP.