CHERYL MILLS: SHE’S EVERYWHERE YOU WANT HER TO BE. Long-Time Clinton Aide Involved In Cover-Up of Benghazi AND Ambassador/Underage Hooker Scandal.
UPDATE: Related: “The State Department has hired an alarming number of law-enforcement agents with criminal or checkered backgrounds because of a flawed hiring process.”
MORE: Jim Treacher emails: “Wait, are you saying there might be a problem with the State Department?” Hard to believe, I know.
INSIDE THE BELTWAY INCEST: Dueling Banjos on the Potomac: DC Media & White House more inbred than a 7-toed Kentucky lot lizard. “Let’s start by going through the Post’s article to create a list of journalists married to or closely related to officials within the Obama administration. The size and scope of this is bad enough. But what is most troubling is how high up this incest occurs in the worlds of both the media and the Obama administration.” Ruling classes always intermarry. It assures loyalty and protection.
Substitute headline via IowaHawk.
TAXPROF ROUNDUP: The IRS Scandal, Day 35.
HOW’S THAT HOPEY-CHANGEY STUFF WORKIN’ OUT FOR YA? (CONT’D): National Journal: The One Chart That Shows Just How Stuck Our Economy Is. “The U.S. jobs picture is bleaker than the most recent jobs reports may make you think.”
RECENT EVENTS HAVE STRENGTHENED THEIR CASE: WaPo: Fair Tax group launches ‘End the IRS’ ads.
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE INSTA-WIFE for being named one of the hottest women on the right. One of the? Well, close enough.
Say, did I mention that she has a new book out?
MORE ON THE IRS: George Will: There’s more, much more, to the Lois Lerner story.
Lerner, it is prudent to assume, is one among thousands like her who infest the regulatory state. She is not just a bureaucratic bully and a slithering partisan; she also is a national security problem, because she is contributing to a comprehensive distrust of government.
Read the whole thing.
PARTYING ON THE TAXPAYER DIME: Senator slams DOJ for millions spent on conferences.
The Oklahoma lawmaker pointed out that DOJ has been ignoring congressional caps on their conference spending. “[T]he Senate approved an amendment to the FY 2008 appropriations bill to cap DOJ conference spending at $15 million,” he reminded Holder. “Still, DOJ spent $47.8 million in 2008 on conferences, more than three times the amount authorized by Congress. Conference spending at DOJ peaked in 2010, when the department spent more than $90 million on conferences.”
Why should the Justice Department follow the law?
POLL: Most Americans Think IRS Targeting An Intentional Act To Punish Political Opponents. “Two-thirds of American voters (66 percent) think the Internal Revenue Service targeted conservative groups as part of a high-level operation to punish political opponents. Far fewer — 23 percent — think it was a mistake by a handful of lower-level IRS employees. Even Democrats, by a seven percentage-point margin, are more likely to think the targeting was a punitive measure ordered by higher-ups.”
THE HILL: Merkley waves Verizon phone, demands NSA chief share grounds for seizing data. “In a dramatic exchange Wednesday on Capitol Hill, Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) demanded National Security Agency chief Keith Alexander explain why the agency was legally authorized to obtain his personal cellphone data. Waving his Verizon phone from his seat, Merkley asked Alexander to explain ‘what authorized investigation gave you the grounds’ to seize information on his calls and those of millions of other Americans. Alexander sidestepped the question, saying the Department of Justice was responsible for outlining the legal authorities under which the agency could request such data.”
Well, that’s comforting.
NEWS YOU CAN USE: Sociopaths are coming out of the closet. Here are five reasons to embrace your inner psycho. Especially if you’re thinking of a career in politics. . . .
RON FOURNIER: Why I Don’t Care About Edward Snowden: Hero or traitor? The White House would love to distract us from its actions. “The Snowden narrative matters mostly to White House officials trying to deflect attention from government overreach and deception, and to media executives in search of an easy storyline to serve a celebrity-obsessed audience.”
THE COUNTRY’S IN THE VERY BEST OF HANDS: Obama Appointee In Charge Of Nuclear Security Hacked.
The real effect of the NSA stories is to cement a narrative about Obama that will likely become part of his legacy: the liberal senator and constitutional law professor who, like the pigs in “Animal Farm,” metamorphosed into what he had so notoriously opposed. Guantanamo remains open. Drones still rain down on Pakistan, Yemen, and anywhere else the president sees fit. Leaks are prosecuted vigorously and reporters are investigated to uncover their sources. And now, the president is affirming the surveillance practices he once mused could be unconstitutional. In light of these actions alone, it seems that Barack Obama has learned that George W. Bush got a lot of things right.
How’s that hopey-changey stuff workin’ out for ya?
ZERO OUT THEIR CONFERENCE BUDGET AS PUNISHMENT FOR THE TEA PARTY HARASSMENT: IRS officials try to tame conference spending scandal.
GATHERING THE REINS: CIA Deputy Director Michael Morrell Retiring, To Be Replaced By Former Obama Lawyer Avril Haines. “Morell will be reportedly replaced by White House lawyer Avril D. Haines, effective Aug. 9. Haines previously served as Obama’s legal counsel for national security as well as a National Security Council adviser.”
STEPHEN GREEN reports from the Colorado fires. How serious is it? So serious that he isn’t drinking.
FASTER, PLEASE: X3 Helicopter Sets Speed Record At Nearly 300 MPH.
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