"Republican lawmakers have become reflexive in rejecting every extended hand from the administration, even if the ideas were ones that they themselves once welcomed. Under the circumstances, Mr. Obama would be best advised to stop making peace offerings. Only when the Republican Party feels public pressure to become a serious partner can the real work of governing begin."
Argh, those darned Republicans! Ignore them!
Peculiar, however, that the buffoons on the editorial board of The New York Times have chosen to ignore a burgeoning IRS scandal. They apparently failed to read the first paragraph of a Times article entitled "I.R.S. Focus on Conservatives Gives G.O.P. an Issue to Seize On" (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/13/us/politics/republicans-call-for-irs-inquiry-after-disclosure.html), written by Jonathan Weisman and Mattthew L. Wald, which informs us:
"The Internal Revenue Service’s special scrutiny of small-government groups applying for tax-exempt status went beyond keyword hunts for organizations with 'Tea Party' or 'Patriot' in their names, to a more overtly ideological search for applicants seeking to 'make America a better place to live' or 'criticize how the country is being run,' according to part of a draft audit by the inspector general that has been given to Capitol Hill."The editorial board of The New York Times also chose to ignore the first paragraph of the lead Washington Post article entitled "IRS targeted groups critical of government, documents from agency probe show" (http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/irs-targeted-groups-critical-of-government-documents-from-agency-probe-show/2013/05/12/bb38e5bc-bb24-11e2-97d4-a479289a31f9_story.html?hpid=z1), written by Juliet Eilperin, which states:
"At various points over the past two years, Internal Revenue Service officials singled out for scrutiny not only groups with 'tea party' or 'patriot' in their names but also nonprofit groups that criticized the government and sought to educate Americans about the U.S. Constitution, according to documents in an audit conducted by the agency’s inspector general."
Note the differing New York Times and Washington Post headlines for their respective stories. The Times would have us focus on a potentially partisan aspect of this scandal, whereas WaPo sticks to the ugly facts. Also observe that the Wapo article is given top online billing, whereas the Times article is currently situated beneath "Ex-Leader in Pakistan Starts Talks on New Government" and "San Diego Mayor Building Economic Bridges to Tijuana" on its homepage. Is it even remotely possible that The Times is trying to downplay this scandal?
A Washington Post editorial (http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/playing-politics-with-tax-records/2013/05/10/e36dfe5a-b9b7-11e2-aa9e-a02b765ff0ea_story.html) asked for the president and his treasury secretary to apologize for this "tempest in a tea party," oops, I meant "teapot," but why should this trouble The Times, which would have us obsess about uncooperative Republicans?
Meanwhile on Sunday, Senator Susan Collins of Maine said on CNN’s "State of the Union"(see: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2013/05/12/susan-collins-slams-obama-over-irs-targeting-of-conservative-groups/?tid=pm_pop):
"This is truly outrageous. And it contributes to the profound distrust that the American people have in government. It is absolutely chilling that the IRS was singling out conservative groups for extra review. And I think that it's very disappointing that the president hasn't personally condemned this and spoken out."
But why listen to her? She's a moderate . . . Republican.
And what does the Nobel Prize-winning economic guru of The Times have to say about this mess? Answer:
"Paul Krugman is off today."
How convenient.
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