Calling Darrell Issa

Oh, wait, Darrell’s busy flogging the Benghazi dead horse, an enterprise that’s getting more hilarious as it goes along.  Chris Mathews is having a field day hauling up Republicans and asking them, point blank, “What evidence do you have that the President was involved in “editing” those emails?” 

No reply, just a cascade of talking points designed to cover over the fact that the answer is, “None.”  So we have Issa and his cohorts gargling on about the “I” word and when cornered to offer any real evidence, they come up sputtering. They’re holding an investigation to find out if there’s anything that needs investigating that hasn’t already been investigated.

But, evidence is the last thing Issa’s interested in.  He’s after face time with the TV camera.  So he must be grinding his teeth over this.  I mean, here he is, stuck with this rotting equine that’s getting nowhere, except with Faux News Fans, when, ka-blooey, out of the blue, here comes the Perfect Storm of a Scandal! A Right Wing Republican’s Wet Dream!

Yes, it’s the IRS “targeting” Conservatives!  It’s the perfect fake talking point that combines several conservative bet noirs – The Evil Government, in the form of the agency that collects those Evil TAXES, and the conservatives’ most cherished, dark belief that the Evil Government IS coming for them in the black helicopters.  A perfect conflation of their most cherished beliefs come true.
It will offer delicious opportunities to crank up the base, get lots of face time on TV decrying the organization that everyone loves to hate – the tax collector – and, most important, permanently deflect and cover up in a cascade of outrage, the REAL danger here.

It isn’t the IRS.  The folks who screwed the pooch on this one will be booted out the door. What will be buried in the ballyhoo is the genuine threat to our democracy.  It isn’t the IRS, it’s the Supreme Court ruling declaring money as speech as well as Citizens United.

Most of the public didn’t understand what that money-speech ruling meant.  Karl Rove wasn’t one of those people.  He knew and acted quickly to set up 501c4s, those fake non-profit PACs that declare themselves to be a “social welfare organization,” while, in reality, they’re a political action committee in disguise engaging in political activity under the thinnest veil of laughable deniability.

Steven Colbert also caught on really quick and formed his own PAC in order to satirize and illustrate just how corrupting this whole thing had become.  In short, any crackpot political organization could now pretend to be a non-profit “social welfare organization,” apply to the IRS for a non-profit status and the IRS was charged with trying to follow a deliberately vague law defining “social welfare.”
I mean, can you imagine the rolled eyes in the Cleveland IRS offices when agents had to equate Meals on Wheels with Karl Rove’s clearly, blatantly political operation disguising itself as a “social welfare organization?”  Like Karl was doing social welfare by handing out baloney sandwiches to the poor? But, God Bless them, the IRS closed their eyes to the obvious and did just that and Rove’s group is now on a non-profit par with Meals on Wheels. So are all kinds of “tea party” groups mushroomed prior to the election, all of which that galloped in right behind Karl. (And, need I add, fake left-wing groups as well, all equally phony?)

Laughable?  Yes. And the laughability became so obvious, even to a corrupted Congress, that they felt they had to at least make this rot look good so they charged the IRS to closer scrutinize groups that simply didn’t pass the smell test, though the bar was already laughably low. And it has been reported (at this point) that almost all the fake 501s that were scrutinized were issued their non-profit status. That’s the kind of wink-nudge stuff a wholly owned Congress comes up with when money is speech and money talks.  

While the result in this case will turn out to be a foot in mouth operation, its ultimate value to Corporate America is this:  The perfect  opportunity for Corporate America and their handmaidens to permanently  shut down any and all inquiries into exactly how the  IRS determines eligibility of these 401s, and exactly how the law is written to determine that status, and whether the definition of “social welfare” needs to be better clarified. 

And it will stop any attempt by Congress to change the laws, to tighten up the rules, to force the fox to nail up the holes in the chicken coup.  It will also shut down any attempt by Congress to take a closer look at how money-is-speech is playing out in the real world of politics, how corrupting these fake PACs are (on both sides of the political fence) on the body politic. 
To Corporate America, this IRS bungle is a gift from heaven.  And is bound to get great TV face time to whoever gets to chair the investigation committee.

Which is why poor old Darrel must really be miffed.  He took the starring role in a Grade B movie and lost out on the chance to star in a blockbuster.  Rats!  

The Last Waltz

Countdown. Tick, tick, tick. The Last Gasp, The Final Days. The BOS will be meeting Tuesday, July 27, to vote on accepting The Hideous Sewer Project and whether to decide to start work Sept. 2011 or March 2012. The Tribune noted that the county should find out whether they’ll get some $80 in federal stimulus money by the end of the month and so “starting the project next year instead of in 2010 could have some cost savings, [John] Waddell, [ project engineer] wrote in his report to supervisors. “Obtaining bids sooner, as opposed to later, is generally desirable because the current bidding environment on construction contracts is very competitive, and cost savings are being realized locally and throughout the state.”

The hearing is schedule to start after the lunch break. There will be an opportunity to comment. So bring lunch, a bottle of water. It’s Los Osos last swan song. So tune up those pipes for a Last Song.

Speaking of Which

The cover of the latest New Times has photos of the four men running for state Senator, with the cover title, “Turning point,” noting this special election is “One of the most important political races in recent state history is down to the wire.” This race will be interesting because it may shape up on two fronts: mere numbers – does the Monterrey area have more Democratic votes and voters – versus “favorite sons” – home-grown, popular Sam Blakeslee. It’ll also divide along Democratic/Republican, which will have an impact in Sacramento.

Especially since Blakeslee, during critical budget wrangles, took a blood oath to Grover Norquist to never raises taxes even if that meant seeing California go bankrupt and fall into the sea. Sadly, taking blood oaths to Norquist is now required for Republicans if they want to punch their tickets and advance up the political ladder. That’s how batshit crazy the Republican Party has become. And is also why Sam lost my vote. And why I will not vote for a Republican in any race, for any reason, until Grover & his Ilk have been purged from the party or the party stops being batshit crazy.

But the New Times cover is right. This is an important race if this state has any hope of doing anything to save this insane state except create pointless political gridlock and/or give tax breaks for rich yacht owners while letting the state go into the crapper. Feh.

Drink Up!

Also over at the New Times updates it notes that SLO “Undersheriff Steve Bolts pleads not guilty to charges that he was driving under the influence.” Bolts is second in command under Sheriff Pat Hedges.

I’m gonna go out on a ledge here, but I’m betting that – statistically speaking – the odds of getting pulled over on a DUI the very first time you’ve ever driven under the influence is, oh, about zero. Statistically speaking, DUIs who get caught have actually been DUI-ing a lot before they’re finally nabbed. Which means, statistically speaking, Mr. Bolts likely has a drinking problem that needs to be attended to right quick. And it’s also likely that Mr. Bolts’ colleagues and friends and family know he likely has a drinking problem. (According to the story, “Atascadero police officers arrested Bolts on the night of June 5 after receiving an anonymous call . . . had been drinking at a party earlier . . . , “ so clearly folks at the party knew something was amiss.). In the case of friends and family, (and fellow party-goers) that’s certainly a difficult situation. But if bystanders included his colleagues and/or boss, ah, well, that points in a different direction and begs a question as to whether the Sheriff’s office has an enforces a comprehensive alcohol abuse program for it’s employees?

If it doesn’t, then maybe the new Sheriff will look into that. In the meantime, I hope Mr. Bolts gets the medical help he needs. In the media, at least, alcoholism (and attendant DUIs) is too often treated like a joke instead of a terminal illness. I mean, take a look at Lindsay Lohan’s travails. Huge joke with fans cheering her on, something they wouldn’t do if she had been diagnosed with cancer and was refusing treatment. Fans would be dismayed, upset, would send her pleading Tweets to get her butt in gear and get medical help. But being an addict? Bwa-hahahah, very funny. Until she dies. Or kills someone driving.

Theatre! Theatre!

Got my PAC tickets in the mail and along with them came a “Buy One, Get One Free!” ticket telling me that I can “buy one ticket for a select Cal PolyArts subscription show (listed on the back) and receive one free companion ticket.” Then listing http://www.calpolyarts.org/ website. And on the back are a whole bunch of really great PAC shows, including the exciting Drumline Live! (if you saw the movie Drumline you’ll know that THAT’ll be a doozie of a show!) So, check it out. If it really is (see note following) a Two for One deal, then you can’t beat that. (NOTE:  I checked the site given and can find zip, zero about this.  So better call the phone number on the card which is 756-2787.  Duh, Cal PolyArts? Why send out a card with a website then put no information on the website, eh? eh? eh?)