Alea iacta est…the Council has spoken, the votes have been cast, and we have the results for this week’s Watcher’s Council match up.

Usually, it’s the coverup, not the crime. But in this case, it’s both.

This week’s winner, Bookworm Room’s Is the IRS scandal the worst political scandal in American history? I say “yes examines the IRS scandal in a great piece that went fairly viral this week Here’s a slice:

There’s been a lot of debate swirling amongst the pundits lately. Is the Watergate cover-up worse than the Benghazi cover-up or vice versa? Is the only scandal that matters the Justice Department’s decision to tap Associated Press phones, because that’s the only one that the media will care about? What did Obama know and when did he know it?

Ignore all that. The absolute worst scandal that’s emerged lately, and the worst administration scandal in American history is the IRS scandal. Why? Because you, the People, became the targets of a comprehensive federal government effort to stifle dissent, one made using the government’s overwhelming and disproportionate policing and taxing powers.

All of the other scandals, going back to Andrew Johnson’s post-Civil War scandals, Warren G. Harding’s 1920s Teapot Dome scandal, Nixon’s Watergate, Reagan’s Iran-Contra, and Clinton’s Oval Office sexcapades have actually been narrowly focused acts of cronyism, garden-variety political chicanery, or personal failings. It’s been insider stuff.

The IRS scandal, by contrast, is a direct attack on the American people. Right now, Progressives throughout America are pretending that this scandal doesn’t matter: “Obama wasn’t involved.” “Tea Partiers had it coming because they’re all corrupt.” “Obama would have won the election anyway.” “It was just a coincidence that the only groups that had their applications scrutinized, sometimes for years, were politically conservative. It means nothing that, when one group changed its name to sound Progressive, its application was approved in only three weeks.” “This is just a bureaucratic snafu.” “It’s a few rogue agents in Ohio.”

Those who offer these excuses are either morally flawed themselves or delusional idiots. Pastor Martin Niemoller, who once supported the Nazi party, finally and famously figured things out after World War II:

First they came for the communists,
and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a communist.
Then they came for the socialists,
and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a Jew.
Then they came for the Catholics,
and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a Catholic.
Then they came for me,
and there was no one left to speak for me.

Once a government gets the bit between its teeth and starts targeting special interest groups, that is the end of freedom, not just for those first groups targeted, but for everyone.

Okay, that was the throat-clearing. Now it’s time to add the latest chapter in the long list of examples showing that the IRS engaged in a politically motivated witch-hunt against people who don’t toe the Progressive/Democrat party line:

The Thomas More Society (a Catholic organization) says that an IRS office in California ordered a group called “Christian Voices for Life of Fort Bend County, Texas” to detail the meaning and content of the prayers they offered. That was not an isolated event. IRS agents demanded the same information from “Coalition of Life of Iowa,” which was required to explain what went on at the group’s prayer meetings.

When Rep. Aaron Schock (R., Ill.) asked outgoing IRS commissioner Steven Miller whether these were appropriate questions, Miller didn’t even have the courage to say “no.” Instead, he said meaninglessly that “It pains me to say I can’t speak to that one either.”

In our non-Council category, the winner was the one and only Mark Steyn with The Autocrat Accountants submitted by The Watcher. It’s pure Steyn, as he looks at the IRS scandal and its deeper implications with his usual brilliance. Do read it.

OK, here are this week’s full results:

Council Winners

• *First place with 4 1/3 votes! Bookworm Room – Is the IRS scandal the worst political scandal in American history? I say “yes
• Second place*t* with 2 votes – Joshuapundit – DHS Is Training Law Enforcement To Give Muslim Brotherhood, Radical Islamists A Pass
• Second place *t* with 2 votes – The Noisy Room- The Enemy Among Us – Even in Idaho
• Third place with 1 1/3 votes – The Right Planet- #Scandalpalooza
• Fourth place *t* with 2/3 vote –GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD - Shock And Shush
• Fourth place *t* with 2/3 vote – The Political Commentator- Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano going back…
• Fourth place *t* with 2/3 vote – The Razor - Scandal Scorecard
• Fourth place *t* with 2/3 vote – Simply Jews –Glenn Greenwald or the douchebag’s lines of defense
• Fourth place *t* with 2/3 vote –Rhymes With Right – My Response To @WhiteHouse #ObamaCareInThreeWords Meme
• Fifth place *t* with 1/3 vote –The Colossus of Rhodey –New “Scotty” Spouts Off on the New Trek’s Politics
• Fifth place *t* with 1/3 vote – The Mellow Jihadi – Autumn Sandeen, a Sailor with No ESWS Pin?
• Fifth place *t* with 1/3 vote – VA Right! – VA GOP Convention: Conservatives and TEA Party Send Republican Establishment a STRONG MESSAGE! Overcome DIRTY TRICKS and WIN!

Non-Council Winners

• First place with 3 votes! – Mark Steyn-The Autocrat Accountants submitted by The Watcher
• Second place with 2 votes – Doug Ross@Journal – That Crazy Benghazi Conspiracy Theory? It Just Got Less Crazy submitted by The Right Planet
• Third place with 1 2/3 votes – American Thinker/Thomas Lifson –Never Mind Impeachment; Keep your Eyes on the Prize submitted by Bookworm Room
• Fourth place*t* with 1 1/3 votes -Caroline Glick-Obama and the “Official Truth” submitted by The Noisy Room
• Fourth place *t* with 1 1/3 votes A.J. Adler/The Algemeiner -A Campaign of Willful Blindness on Terrorism submitted by Simply Jews
• Fourth place *t* with 1 1/3 votes - Ta-Nahisi Coates/The Atlantic How the Obama Administration Talks to Black America – submitted by The Glittering Eye
• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote - Contentions – Exploit Hizballah’s Vulnerability submitted by GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD
• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote -Jonathan Rosenblum –The Price Of Blindness submitted by Joshuapundit
• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote -Amil Imani –Saluting Pamela Geller: a Champion of Liberty submitted by The Mellow Jihadi
• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote -Big Jolly Politics – The Real Scandal with the IRS: Organizing for Action and the Chicago-style Misuse of Governmental Power submitted by Rhymes With Right
• Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote -Reason.Org –The Myth of the Scientific Liberal submitted by The Razor
• Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote -Kirsten Powers/Daily Beast –How Hope and Change Gave Way to Spying on the Press submitted by The Watcher

See you next week! Don’t forget to tune in on Monday AM for this week’s Watcher’s Forum, as the Council and their invited special guests take apart one of the provocative issues of the day with short takes and weigh in…don’t you dare miss it. And don’t forget to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter…..’cause we’re cool like that!

Source:

The Council Has Spoken!! This Week’s Watcher’s Council Results

$41.25 per hour is highway robbery for being a crossing guard.

In addition to his $30,030 salary as a crossing guard, Wade makes $25,500 as a Supervisor.

A caller to Leland’s show said that at one point Wade’s wife was also making reportedly $26, 000 as a school bus driver and his daughter made $13,000 as a bus driver.

That is $94,530 per year for Supervisor Wade’s family (at least at one point).

Living off the county tax dollars can be very lucrative!

Listen to this – it will make your blood boil!

(Click the link below)

Leland Conway Podcast

It is time for the double dipping Wade to resign as both a crossing guard and a Hanover supervisor. These people are robbing citizens blind.

Welcome to the Watcher’s Council, a blogging group consisting of some of the most incisive blogs in the ‘sphere, and the longest running group of its kind in existence. Every week, the members nominate two posts each, one written by themselves and one written by someone from outside the group for consideration by the whole Council.Then we vote on the best two posts, with the results appearing on Friday.

‘Nuff said.

This week’s contest is dedicated to Rep. Darrel Issa..for relentless courage.

Council News:
This week, Ask Marionand Liberty’s Spirit took advantage of my generous offer of link whorage and earned honorable mention status with some great pieces.

You can, too! Want to see your work appear on the Watcher’s Council homepage in our weekly contest listing? Didn’t get nominated by a Council member? No worries.

Simply head over to Joshuapundit and post the title a link to the piece you want considered along with an e-mail address ( which won’t be published) in the comments section no later than Monday 6PM PST in order to be considered for our honorable mention category, and return the favor by creating a post on your site linking to the Watcher’s Council contest for the week.

It’s a great way of exposing your best work to Watcher’s Council readers and Council members. while grabbing the increased traffic and notoriety. And how good is that, eh?

So, let’s see what we have this week….

Council Submissions

• The Political Commentator – Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano going back…
• The Noisy Room – The Enemy Among Us – Even in Idaho
• Simply Jews – Glenn Greenwald or the douchebag’s lines of defense
• GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD – Shock And Shush
• Bookworm Room – Is the IRS scandal the worst political scandal in American history? I say “yes
• Gay Patriot – In 2008, we told you Obama wasn’’t the man you (thought you) were voting for. . .
• Joshuapundit-DHS Is Training Law Enforcement To Give Muslim Brotherhood, Radical Islamists A Pass
• The Razor – Scandal Scorecard
• The Colossus of Rhodey – New “Scotty” Spouts Off on the New Trek’s Politics
• Rhymes With Right – My Response To @WhiteHouse #ObamaCareInThreeWords Meme
• The Glittering Eye -A Series of Unfortunate Incidents
• The Mellow Jihadi – Autumn Sandeen, a Sailor with No ESWS Pin?
• VA Right! - VA GOP Convention: Conservatives and TEA Party Send Republican Establishment a STRONG MESSAGE! Overcome DIRTY TRICKS and WIN!
• The Right Planet – #Scandalpalooza

Honorable Mentions

• Ask Marion – Incompetent-gate, Corruption-gate and Progressive-gate – Part 1
• Liberty’s Spirit – The IRS, Obamacare,and Abuse of Political Power: An Issue
  

Non-Council Submissions

• Craig McMillan/WND -The Chicago mob in D.C.submitted by The Political Commentator
• Caroline Glick –Obama and the “Official Truth” submitted by The Noisy Room
• A.J. Adler/The Algemeiner – A Campaign of Willful Blindness on Terrorism submitted by Simply Jews
• Contentions – Exploit Hizballah’s Vulnerability submitted by GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD
• American Thinker/Thomas Lifson-Never Mind Impeachment; Keep your Eyes on the Prize submitted by Bookworm Room
• Commentary -Accepting Responsibility Would Blow Obama’’s Circuits submitted by Gay Patriot
• Jonathan Rosenblum – The Price Of Blindness submitted by Joshuapundit
• Reason –The Myth of the Scientific Liberal submitted by The Razor
• OpenMarket.org – IRS Abuse of Americans Is Nothing New submitted by The Colossus of Rhodey
• Big Jolly Politics – The Real Scandal with the IRS: Organizing for Action and the Chicago-style Misuse of Governmental Power submitted by Rhymes with Right
• Ta-Nahisi Coates/The Atlantic – How the Obama Administration Talks to Black America submitted by The Glittering Eye
• Amil Imani –Saluting Pamela Geller: a Champion of Liberty submitted by The Mellow Jihadi
• Tea Party News Network – Lerner Pleads the Fifth, Issa Issues Subpoena for her to Appear Anyway submitted by VA Right!
• Doug Ross – That Crazy Benghazi Conspiracy Theory? It Just Got Less Crazy submitted by The Right Planet
• Mark Steyn – The Autocrat Accountants submitted by The Watcher
• Kirsten Powers/Daily Beast – How Hope and Change Gave Way to Spying on the Press submitted by Watcher

Enjoy! And don’t forget to like us on Facebook and follow us Twitter..’cause we’re cool like that!

Read this article:

Watcher’s Council Nominations – Takin’ The 5th Edition

Supervisor Wade has worked for Hanover County schools since 1960.  He started out as a bus driver and was a bus driver for 26 years and then he took the Lee-Davis/Stonewall crossing guard position.  Several years later, the Pole Green position came up and he was asked to take that “contract” as well.  Hence, he told me, nothing special was ever done for him nor did he ask for anything special done for him.  Wade advised me that the Commonwealth’s Attorney at the time, Eddie Vaughn, approved him being a supervisor and a cross guard at the same time.  In fact, he said he might not have run for supervisor if he had to give up the crossing guard position.

Wade talks about how he is keenly aware that at some point he must give an account to his Lord for his stewardship; he made that clear several times.  Essentially, Wade says, “I wouldn’t do anything to hurt mys standing before God.” (That is not a direct quote but the flavor of his sentiment.)  I believe him; might be naive on my part but Wade is much my senior and probably closer to that awe-some day when we will face our Creator.  (Better know Jesus as Lord and Savior on that day!  Here’s how!)

A patriot, who I do not have permission to name, did a FOIA request on the Wade matter.  He found out and sent to me that the position of the Hanover School administration is that this is the normal (albeit unusual due to his long service) process of pay increases.  I thank that patriot for his efforts in keeping the elected officials accountable.  This seems reasonable to me as I worked for the state at one time and my salary did go up – not a lot – but some nearly every year due to regular legislated increases.

People may argue this is outrageous government waste and maybe they are right.  That does not mean Wade did anything wrong.  Others think how he handled the school board matter is also outrageous.  However, I think this shows Wade’s heart, that he made this so-called promise and brought it out in the open and stated he felt he had to keep his word on this.  I believe we need elected school boards.  But that again is not an attack on Wade.  Wade was trying to do right as he sees it.  He could have said nothing.  But he revealed the so-called promise.

I now ask the county to help Supervisor Elton Wade in his hour of need:  Reveal it all.  Show this salary was wholly legitimate.  Let’s not let an exceedingly rare but innocent situation be a black mark as Wade reaches the end of his career.

His outrageous salary of $41.25 per hour for his school crossing guard job was discussed today on 1140 AM Radio by Leland Conway.

Hanover citizens are livid that this type of thing is being allowed to happen.

We covered this story a couple of weeks ago here Why Is Hanover County Paying Supervisor Elton Wade $30,030 Per Year as a Crossing Guard?

And with this excessive waste the board of supervisors is considering tax increases “for the schools”.

Before we allow the county to take any more of our hard earned money we need to make sure there are not more situations like this one going on.

But we all know this is most likely just the tip of the iceberg.

“Jesus tells us to love our enemies, not hate them after they’re dead,” said Martha Mullen, in a phone interview. “That’s why I kind of got this ball rolling.”

I am not crazy about this terrorist being buried here but I cannot argue as a believer with Mullen.  She truly showed Jesus’ love to an enemy.  It was Christ that told the parable of the Good Samarian.  Devout Jews would not even travel through Samaria.  For a Samaritan to show love and compassion to a Jew was unheard of.  But Jesus breaks down barriers.  That is both its ring of truth and its strength.

Chesed is the Hebrew word that describes God’s lovingkindness, mercy and grace.  Love is not an option.  It’s a command.  I admire what this woman did.  She lived the cause of Christ Jesus in her community.  If you decide this life in Jesus is what you want, go here for details.

I told Tom:  Tell ‘em I have Aspergers!

But really I am interested in UKIP because it is in many ways like the Tea Party in US politics.  There are some emphasis on social issues in UKIP but the primary issue is independence and sovereignty for the UK from the EU superstate.  Tea Party activists are not all social conservatives.  The issues driving Tea Party members are respect for the Constitution, control taxing, spending and debt and stop runaway intrusive government.  The anti-EU platform can affect millions.  The UK ought to be able to deny prisoners the vote, deport suspected terrorists, and allow weights and measures to be sold in pounds.  The EU wants to regulate HOW olive oil is eaten!  They also said it was false advertising for bottled water manufacturers to say it prevents dehydration!  Their vision of Europe is a United States of Europe – a super empire not unlike the USSR.  Not formed of states who wanted to be united like the US but rather by elites seeking power for themselves at the expense of their nation.

There is now evidence that UKIP could even become the new Conservative Party.  Yes that’s right.  In the US, the Tea Party is an interest group in the GOP.   But in the UK, it is a separate political party.  I have shown that they can take power with much less than a majority.  UKIP also seems to draw from Labourites as well as Tories:

The political assumption has long been that all UKIPpers are disaffected Tories, but this is a flawed generalisation. Lord Ashcroft’s polling [PDF] found that UKIP voters in 2010 were as likely to identify with Labour as they were with the Conservatives. Tories are the largest party group among those considering supporting UKIP at 31%, but they are outnumbered by the 33% who feel no affinity to any party at all – and Labour supporters make up 21% of the total.

This is compounded by a fascinating analysis of local election data by Survation which shows that the composition of UKIP’s voter base is not static, but changes as their level of support rises.

Up to 16% in the polls, the bulk of their new votes come from Conservatives – but past that point, the majority of their new switchers come from Labour. As the only party to secure over 20% in both South Shields and Eastleigh, it is clear their performance is more complex than simply capturing outrage in Tunbridge Wells (though they perform well there, too).

All I can say is wow.  Now UKIP is only 2 points behind the Conservative Party in a recent poll.  If there is a by-election in the right district in the next few weeks, or if there is a UKIP sweep of the EU elections in 2014, there could be mass defections.  There is scared talk in the Tory halls of power right now:

Cameron reached out after senior Tories, who were enraged by allegations that the Tory co-chairman Lord Feldman had made disparaging remarks about Tory activists, warned of a sea change in the parliamentary party as growing numbers of MPs decide that the prime minister is becoming a liability. Feldman strenuously denied the allegations which he described as “completely untrue”.

But senior figures indicated that the chairman of the Conservative backbench 1922 committee, Graham Brady, was expected to receive further letters calling for a confidence vote. Brady, who is understood to have been sent a limited number in recent months, will have to call a vote if he receives at least 46.

Some think UKIP leader Farage is a better choice for PM than PM Cameron!  The Daily Mail’s report sounds like the wheels may be falling off the Tory party.  Six Conservative councillors have defected to UKIP:

It is expected to trigger a fresh round of defections from the Tory party to UKIP among local councillors as well as rank and file activists.

Six members of the Conservative group on Merton council in south London have announced they are switching.

“It” is the comments by a “senior Tory ally” of the Prime Minister described TORY activists as “mad, swivel-eyed loons.”  Here is an article saying there are defections to UKIP:

Local Conservative party campaigners, including the chairman of one constituency association, will this week pledge their support for Nigel Farage after one of David Cameron’s allies described grassroots Tories as “mad, swivel-eyed loons”.

Can you imagine Mitt Romney calling GOP Tea Party activists “mad,swivel-eyed loons”?  Maybe the Tory party is indeed irretrievably broken.  UKIP needs to have the platform to have a solid conservative party.  No more gay marriage:  Rather take marriage out of the code, set up civil unions, and protect the church to say what it believes the Bible says.  Not yet touch the abortion laws.  Protect Christians and other religious believers.  By all means show what will happen if no more EU rules, regulations and judicial decisions binding upon the UK.

The question can only be placed openly:  Will someone seek Cameron’s party position and if so, will it be a euroskeptic or europhile?  (Now if there was a serious party challenge from a wonderful libertarian like MP Steve Baker, that would be a good development.)

A pro-European Tory member of the House of Lords, said this:

Mr Cameron was also strongly criticised by Lord Howe, the former Conservative Chancellor who helped bring down Margaret Thatcher.

He said Mr Cameron was ‘losing control’ of the party after pandering to Eurosceptics by offering an in/out referendum. Lord Howe, who also served as Foreign Secretary, accused Mr Cameron of ‘running scared’ of his own MPs and UKIP.

Lord Howe also said that “…deep anti-Europeanism” is now “infect[ing] the soul of the party.”  I am appalled:  What country do you give allegiance to, Lord Howe?  If the United Kingdom, then support her!  If Europe, than you ought not be in the Lords!

AND the Tories expect UKIP to win the EU parliament elections in 2014:

David Cameron expects the UK Independence Party to win next year’s European Parliament elections despite his pledge to hold an in/out referendum on Europe.

A senior Conservative source said it was now taken as a ‘reasonable assumption’ in Downing Street that UKIP would top the poll next May – sparking a fresh round of Tory bloodletting on Europe just 12 months before the General Election.

My thoughts, unsolicited, is that UKIP needs to come up with a realistic alternative to the EU.  Libertarian and anti-EU think tanks should fill the bill. It shouldn’t be difficult.  If the Tories sack PM Cameron, that might save the party – if they draw a strong euro-skeptic.  But if they do not, there could be true realignment.  UKIP can study the voters it needs to get the 36% it needs to come to power and restore British sovereignty.  Remember, UKIP’s fight is our fight.

It is readily available on the internet.

It is called “Rules for Radicals” and was written by Saul Alinsky and it is really hard to get my Conservative and Republican friends to read this tiny little book we all know about.

I suppose they feel that since they are not radicals, they shouldn’t read it.

Or perhaps that it is so much worthless tripe and a waste of time.

But it is everything you need to know about Democrats’ tactics.

Consider this statement that Terry McAuliffe sent out moments after Ken Cuccinelli was officially nominated:

Wow, they really did it.

Moments ago, the Republican Party of Virginia officially nominated Ken Cuccinelli as their candidate for Governor.

We knew this was coming, but I want to make sure you know what it means.

If Ken Cuccinelli is elected Governor of Virginia, he’ll spend the next four years pursuing his divisive social agenda — trying to delegitimize climate science, roll back gay rights, and limit women’s access to health care — instead of focusing on what’s really important: creating jobs and opportunity for Virginia families.

Pay attention to the last sentence. The “Rules for Radicals” are posted below. How many of the 12 rules did Terry McAuliffe use to create that last sentence?

The answer is below the 12 Rules. See if you can catch them all!

* RULE 1: “Power is not only what you have, but what the enemy thinks you have.” Power is derived from 2 main sources – money and people. “Have-Nots” must build power from flesh and blood. (These are two things of which there is a plentiful supply. Government and corporations always have a difficult time appealing to people, and usually do so almost exclusively with economic arguments.)

* RULE 2: “Never go outside the expertise of your people.” It results in confusion, fear and retreat. Feeling secure adds to the backbone of anyone. (Organizations under attack wonder why radicals don’t address the “real” issues. This is why. They avoid things with which they have no knowledge.)

* RULE 3: “Whenever possible, go outside the expertise of the enemy.” Look for ways to increase insecurity, anxiety and uncertainty. (This happens all the time. Watch how many organizations under attack are blind-sided by seemingly irrelevant arguments that they are then forced to address.)

* RULE 4: “Make the enemy live up to its own book of rules.” If the rule is that every letter gets a reply, send 30,000 letters. You can kill them with this because no one can possibly obey all of their own rules. (This is a serious rule. The besieged entity’s very credibility and reputation is at stake, because if activists catch it lying or not living up to its commitments, they can continue to chip away at the damage.)

* RULE 5: “Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon.” There is no defense. It’s irrational. It’s infuriating. It also works as a key pressure point to force the enemy into concessions. (Pretty crude, rude and mean, huh? They want to create anger and fear.)

* RULE 6: “A good tactic is one your people enjoy.” They’ll keep doing it without urging and come back to do more. They’re doing their thing, and will even suggest better ones. (Radical activists, in this sense, are no different that any other human being. We all avoid “un-fun” activities, and but we revel at and enjoy the ones that work and bring results.)

* RULE 7: “A tactic that drags on too long becomes a drag.” Don’t become old news. (Even radical activists get bored. So to keep them excited and involved, organizers are constantly coming up with new tactics.)

* RULE 8: “Keep the pressure on. Never let up.” Keep trying new things to keep the opposition off balance. As the opposition masters one approach, hit them from the flank with something new. (Attack, attack, attack from all sides, never giving the reeling organization a chance to rest, regroup, recover and re-strategize.)

* RULE 9: “The threat is usually more terrifying than the thing itself.” Imagination and ego can dream up many more consequences than any activist. (Perception is reality. Large organizations always prepare a worst-case scenario, something that may be furthest from the activists’ minds. The upshot is that the organization will expend enormous time and energy, creating in its own collective mind the direst of conclusions. The possibilities can easily poison the mind and result in demoralization.)

* RULE 10: “If you push a negative hard enough, it will push through and become a positive.” Violence from the other side can win the public to your side because the public sympathizes with the underdog. (Unions used this tactic. Peaceful [albeit loud] demonstrations during the heyday of unions in the early to mid-20th Century incurred management’s wrath, often in the form of violence that eventually brought public sympathy to their side.)

* RULE 11: “The price of a successful attack is a constructive alternative.” Never let the enemy score points because you’re caught without a solution to the problem. (Old saw: If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem. Activist organizations have an agenda, and their strategy is to hold a place at the table, to be given a forum to wield their power. So, they have to have a compromise solution.)

* RULE 12: Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it.” Cut off the support network and isolate the target from sympathy. Go after people and not institutions; people hurt faster than institutions. (This is cruel, but very effective. Direct, personalized criticism and ridicule works.)

The correct answer is that McAuliffe used 11 of the 12 rules in a single sentence.

If Ken Cuccinelli is elected Governor of Virginia, he’ll spend the next four years pursuing his divisive social agenda — trying to delegitimize climate science, roll back gay rights, and limit women’s access to health care — instead of focusing on what’s really important: creating jobs and opportunity for Virginia families.

Rule 7 is the only one they did not use.

Rule 1: Cuccinelli will not have the power to do what McAuliffe is predicting. But McAuliffe wants to scare Virginians into believing he does.

Rule 2: Global warming, Gay rights, Women’s health are all areas Democrats thrive on. Their area of “expertise” – really exploitation. McAuliffe didn’t mention energy, traditional family values or the other issues that they are a loss with. He also didn’t mention taxes (although McDonnell didn’t help with the fiscal conservative narrative with the massive tax increase).

Rule 3: See Rule 2 above.

Rule 4: Republicans have God in the platform. The Bible teaches “gay rights” are a sin. In order to be pro gay rights you must be against the Bible.

Rule 5: Ridicule.

Rule 6: Democrats enjoy attacking Conservatives on gay issues, abortion, global warming, etc.

Rule 7: Did not use for obvious reasons.

Rule 8: Like I said, this came out moments after Cuccinelli became the nominee and the pressure will not stop.

Rule 9: Imagined threats of loss of health care and a tidal wave from melting glaciers terrify low information Democrats.

Rule 10: Repeat lies enough and people believe them.

Rule 11: The constructive alternative? “instead of focusing on what’s really important: creating jobs and opportunity for Virginia families.” Notice Terry didn’t mention Green jobs. Not his area of expertise.

Rule 12: Cuccinelli is evil! “he’ll spend the next four years pursuing his divisive social agenda” Right. Divisive Social Agenda like protecting life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all. Not things we can all agree on with no controversy like gay “marriage”, killing unborn children and taking away those nasty guns.

Let me respond to McAuliffe with a press release using the helpful hints from Alinsky:

Terry McAuliffe attacked Ken Cuccinelli today demanding he disavow God and stop using the Constitution as a guideline and abandon his plans to developing clean coal and nuclear energy providing jobs to Virginians for decades to come.

Perhaps the Republican ticket should immediately analyze every press release from McAuliffe and point out every Radical Rule he uses.

There would be no need to respond to the false accusations. Just call them out for the Radicals they are.

Every week on Monday morning, the Council and our invited guests weigh in at the Watcher’s Forum, short takes on a major issue of the day. This week’s question:Which of the current scandals do you think is potentially most damaging to the Obama Administration? Why?

The Razor: I have to pick one? Really?

Although I believe the Benghazi Scandal has more weight in the short term since it undermines the administration’s foreign policy credibility, I’d have to go with the IRS scandal because it undermines the liberal argument that is the foundation of the Obama administration: A powerful federal government is in people’s best interests. This argument is predicated on the progressive belief taken from the works of Karl Marx that capitalism is an inherently unfair system that left alone will create a polarized society between the haves and the have-nots, and it is up to the government to distribute the wealth from the haves and give it to the have-nots. An entity like the IRS is required to perform this wealth redistribution, so it plays a much more central role in progressive politics, proven by its use in Obamacare, than it does in conservative politics.

An IRS that is seen as a wing of a political party loses its credibility. It becomes hated by those whose ideology it attacks, but even those whose ideology it acts on behalf of should be concerned because of the precedent such partisan behavior sets. Someday the White House will be in the hands of the Republicans, and the Secretary of the Treasury will be firmly in the GOP camp, so while the IRS may be attacking conservatives today, it’s not a stretch of the imagination to see it being used to target liberals and progressives in the future. Liberals know this, which is why even those who called upon the IRS to investigate the Tea Party like Senator Carl Levin are now acting shocked after it had actually done so.

On May 5 Obama spoke at Ohio State’s commencement ceremony and told the graduates to reject the voices that warn of government tyranny. Days later the IRS scandal breaks and those voices warning of tyranny are proven right. The timing couldn’t have been better, and I’m sure that Obama is blaming Bush for it.

Sara Noble at The Independent Sentinel: I think the IRS scandal is the most damaging. It affects people in a bipartisan way. It has serious ramifications for Obamacare and its going to make it’s way back up to Obama.

The Noisy Room: There’s certainly an argument to be made for each of the fiascoes considered here. Benghazi was appalling and quite possibly should result in big names receiving big sentences for manslaughter via depraved indifference. It was bad, it was heinous, it was unconscionable. The AP phone tapping outrage is certainly a worthy — one might even say impeachable — entanglement and should result in prosecutions, lawsuits and political smack-downs. However, bugging the press is little more than an extension of bugging the whole of the American public and the public at large seems to be fine with having no privacy. Perhaps the
public needs this wake-up call to reconsider the propriety of that..

On the other hand, the IRS affair is an order of magnitude more oppressive, as it has an element of violence at its center, as we will see below.

Without a doubt, the most damaging is the IRS scandal. When our government can use the IRS as a tool of intimidation, subverting the Constitution and all its guarantees and protections, then the American people become the persecuted — the targets of a tyrannical government run amok. One where the silencing of dissent becomes commonplace and the policing of American citizens becomes the law of the land. It is the exact opposite of what the Founding Fathers intended and more closely resembles the jackbooted tactics of the Soviet Union than the United States. I ask, what have we become? Do you recognize your country any more?

American history is replete with scandals, but they pale in comparison to Obama’s IRS goons and his secretive tactics. All I hear is that this is not a scandal, that it does not matter. There is no there, there. Oh, but it does. The very fabric of our freedoms is at stake and it is being shredded by those we entrusted to protect it. The show of force and intimidation through the use of the IRS should make America shudder to her core and it brings into doubt the last election’s results. Not only through fraudulent voting and counting, but through the suppression and squelching of the Tea Party movement and the legitimate voting rights of
millions of conservatives. This was no incompetent bungle; this was a planned and heavily used tactic from the beginning of Obama’s reign and you can see that on display with the intentionally planted question that started this ball rolling. They knew that the lid on this was about to be blown by whistle blowers and tried to head it off. Instead, reaping unintended consequences, they have blown it wide open and brought a new life and fight to the Tea Party movement. They have brought lawsuits to the IRS and the downfall of a progressive government as well.

This affront is such a horrendous abrogation of the First Amendment, it is staggering. The IRS should be shut down and a flat tax immediately instituted. The corruption in our government is systemic and massive hearings, firings and prison terms should be sought quickly and stringently. America’s churches, special interest groups and her citizens have been viciously and blatantly targeted. The damage to the Obama Administration is complete – it is time for impeachment proceedings to begin in earnest.

Liberty’s Spirit: There is no worse scandal between Benghazi, the IRS targeting and the violation of AP emails.

Benghazi was a failure of immeasurable cowardice and depraved indifference for the lives of those Obama sent into harms way. But the cover-up of the Benghazi failure is an attack on the first amendment. The lie that a video caused the attacks, led to the imprisonment of the film’s maker.The Administration spent tens of thousands of dollars of our tax dollars on a video denouncing this anti-Moslem video instead of teaching the Arab and Moslem world about freedom of speech. Obama went so far to even castigate freedom of speech at the United Nations. The cover-up of the incompetent decision making related to Benghazi is also in and of itself an abuse of power. The President is answerable to the people and when Presidents lie to the people, when they cover-up the true story, when they hide the fact that our enemies are very active, a Presidency no longer serves the people. He no longer protects us from enemies both foreign and domestic. The fact they Obama’s administration used their power to destroy dissenting people’s careers either in the military, the intelligence services or the Foreign Service shows a depravity not seen since Nixon and quite frankly tried during the Clinton years.

The AP email scandal was a direct assault upon the first amendment freedom of the press as well as an attack on search and seizure and due process. While it has become a running joke how this administration whines about Fox News, the MSM in general is quite frankly more like Obama’s version of Pravda rather than a vigorous investigative body interested in maintaining democracy. So this recent assault didn’t make sense until you read the reports that the AP did not hold off on a story for the length of time Obama ordered. Hence garnering punishment for their independence with the intrusion into their reporting and privacy.This latest assault upon the Bill of Rights in order to get the press in line and do as they are instructed violates one of most basic democratic precepts.

The IRS scandal is a chilling use of power to silence or terrorize citizens that do not agree with Administration policies. Whether the parties involved were conservatives, Tea Party members, those that taught about the Bill of Rights or pro-Israel groups that disagree with Obama’s approach in the Middle East, the fact that the IRS has the power to come in and destroy your life has a chilling effect on freedom of association, freedom of speech,freedom of assembly, the right to petition your government and the right to disagree with your government-a very basic tenet of a democratic society. When the IRS is used to punish your political rivals and reward your political bedfellows it becomes a tool of tyranny instead of a tool of national security.It is telling that the administration is trying to swipe this aside with the departure of Commissioner Miller, who was gong to be leaving in a month anyway.Their contempt for the American people is insulting to say the least and problematic for our democracy in the long run.

In truth all of these scandals are examples of the Obama administrations ideology of contempt for the People of the United States, the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights. You cannot view one without viewing the other. They are the conjoined triplets of a descent into the kind of oligarchy you find in the third world and developing nations. Luckily however, there still exists those in Congress who see the danger to our republic and are trying to get to the truth of all these matters.

Rhymes With Right:Which current scandal will do the most harm to Obama and his administration? That is quite a question, and one that I have to consider quite carefully.

I know which scandal ought to clause the most damage — Benghazi, which flows from Obama’s unconstitutional Libyan War and demonstrates that he puts politics above foreign policy and military concerns and the lives of Americans placed in harms way by acts of terrorism. That is doubly true given the cover-up and the effort to blame the exercise of the constitutional right to speak freely and to criticize (even harshly) a religion not one’s own. But the reality is that the American people don’t care about foreign policy scandals even though they should — especially when those most culpable include the President and his heir apparent.

And I know which one should blow over in short order as a matter that is lot’s of smoke with no fire — the AP phone records scandal. After all, the leaking of classified information is a crime, and it makes perfect sense to determine who the culprit is and charge them appropriately. However, the press will treat this one as a bigger deal than it is (and there are important aspects to it, like Eric Holder’s role), and it is likely not to go away.

Which leads me to the one most likely to do lasting damage to Obama and his administration — the IRS scandal. The irony of this is that there is likely to be no presidential involvement in the scandal at all, just lots of dirty appointees and low-level civil service personnel. But we know that there are those close to the President who have tried to insulate him from it and who helped cover it up until after the election — and it could have changed the course of the election, have no doubt — and who continue to minimize it in an attempt to safeguard Obama and his inner circle. It is likely that Obama will find himself forced to appoint a special prosecutor to deal with this matter now that we know his former Treasury Secretary/current Chief of Staff Jack Lew knew about the IRS wrongdoing a year ago and took no action despite knowing of IRS denials of targeting Obama’s political opponents. The matter now rests too Obama for the DOJ to credibly investigate. Obama is unlikely to be implicated — but the image of him as a hands-off president oblivious to what is going on in his administration will be quite harmful entering the 2014 election season.

Of course, maybe none of these matters will do Obama harm? Maybe the AP scandal will flare up because of media attention or the Benghazi scandal will become hot due to some revelation. Perhaps the IRS scandal will fizzle once it becomes clear there is no presidential involvement. And perhaps most explosively, perhaps the AP records case will cause the press to more closely scrutinize Fast and and Furious, Benghazi, and the IRS affair and lead to explosive revelations regarding one or the other. So while I’m sticking with my suggestion that the IRS scandal will be the most harmful, I would not be at all surprised to be wrong.

JoshuaPundit: First off, a lot depends on what we mean by ‘damage’. I seriously doubt that Barack Obama will be impeached and removed from office, much as he richly deserves it. Barack Hussein Obama could borrow a 9 mm from one of the Secret Service guys, stroll into a convenience store, shoot the clerk, rob the register and walk out and I would still be flabbergasted if a 2/3 majority Democrat controlled Senate voted to impeach him.Aside from loyalty to party over country, there are two other reasons.

First, since the Democrats depend on racial identity politics, and black voters overwhelmingly support this president, even when his policies severely affect them adversely . Impeaching Barack Obama would mean the end of the virtually monolithic black vote Democrats depend on in their urban strongholds.Second, the president controls a huge database full of intimate information on Democrat voters, donors and supporters. The president’s surrogates have already made it clear that they are going to retain this database and lease it out as circumstances warrant to finance President Obama’s radical agenda even after his term is over. I doubt any Democrat politician, especially any with presidential ambitions is going to cut themselves off from that treasure trove unless it could seriously affect their re-election.

Just as Bill Clinton escaped open and shut perjury and obstruction of justice charges that were heavy enough to get him disbarred, I think it’s likely that Barack Obama will finish out his term.

This could change if the senate changes, but unfortunately, the way the Republicans are conducting themselves lately, I doubt they will take over the Senate in 2014. Hopefully I’m wrong, but then again, President Biden??!??

As to the scandals themselves, while the IRS scandal (and perhaps Benghazi, although the media’s already trying to bury it) will affect a number of underlings, perhaps even present and past cabinet members, I think the AP scandal is the most damaging in the immediate future, because I’ve noticed a definite change in tone from the media since that happened.Even subservient little toadies like ‘Tingles’ Matthews on MSNBC are voicing some anger over the regime’s behavior lately.

Tyrants always overreach.

The chief value of the IRS scandal is that it woke people up to the essentially totalitarian nature of this president and his followers. With the IRS controlling ObamaCare, a lot of Americans are seriously afraid that if they don’t ‘vote right’ and donate to the proper politicos, they’re going to be placed at the end of the line or even have badly needed medical procedures denied as the inevitable rationing sets in. And they’re absolutely right to fear this.

Much will depend on how outraged the media is, whether one of Obama’s inner circle facing serious charges is willing to turn on the president or whether a clear spokesperson emerges who can make the case for impeachment strongly enough to the American people it simply can’t be ignored.The worsening economic situation might influence that.

GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD:The IRS thing most def. Using the power of an allegedly neutral IRA to crush political dissent is not only uncool – it’s unAmerican.

The IRS touches lottie dottie everybody – people will NOT dig that kinda action and if lucky, will LOL any chance of the same corrupted agency taking over health care or any expandingment of government

It speaks of the political corruption of a major and crucial governmental agency to whose rules and regulations every American—everyone who has a job or a bank account, or who engages in a financial transaction—is subject. Most people will never have an interaction with the State Department or the Bureau of Labor Statistics, but the IRS deals with an intimate and sensitive part of your life, your personal finances. It is the revenue-collecting arm of the government. It is needed. It does necessary work.

If what happened at the IRS is not stopped now, it will never stop. The next White House will come in and they’ll know they can do it too. And if they’re unlucky enough to be caught, they’ll have a have a few uncomfortable moments in Congress, and a few people who were going to retire in the summer will retire in the spring. And it will all go on.

Abuse of power and “unequal treatment under the law” is 44″s most damaging scandal.

Bookworm Room: The IRS scandal is absolutely the worst scandal ever in American history because, unlike all other scandals, which were “insider politics” this one sees the federal government reaching out and using its vast taxing and police powers to stifle dissent from Democrat orthodoxy. It’s irrelevant if Obama new what was going on. If he knew, he’s utterly corrupt. If he didn’t know, he’s willfully blind or ineffectual the point of stupidity, given that his job is as America’s Chief Executive Officer. Regardless, though, it appears that the IRS was completely happy, spontaneously or when given marching orders, to abuse its position of trust.

The only problem, though, is getting the American people to care. I have no idea how one gets that message out. I’ve long thought Al Gore the worst type of self-aggrandizing moron (and it’s surprising how well that plays on the Left), but he definitely had a point when he spoke of the frog in the boiling water. We know that’s not true (frogs aren’t as dumb as citizens anesthetized by scandals, handouts, bread, and circuses), but it certainly makes the point. Americans seem resigned to boiling to death without protest.

Well, there you have it.

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Forum: Which of the current scandals do you think is potentially most damaging to the Obama Administration?