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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWhy the GOP may regret its Obama scandal obsession
Ari Melber
1:02 PM on 05/16/2013
... On Wednesday, The National Review warned Republicans that scandal is not an agenda, and they should not think scandals will deliver election victories in 2014. Charles Krauthammer and Bill OReilly have also jumped in, urging Republicans to stop putting Obama-bashing ahead of the facts. (Again, there are no reports that the IRS or AP decisions originated in the White House, so far, these are distinctly Obama-less stories.)
Yet beyond any self-inflicted damage to the Republican brand, the GOPs response is more concerning because it undermines independent legislative oversight of the executive branch. We need a real investigation into the IRSone that is focused on protecting our rights, not pursuing a political vendetta against Holder or Obama. That is difficult to achieve, however, when top Republicans issue verdicts before collecting evidence.
The IRS scrutiny of political activists could turn out to be one of the most serious First Amendment violations in the federal government today. If citizens speech rights were violated by the government, that is a serious problem even if the president was not involved. That is the scandal and the legal priority: Our government must strenuously avoid viewpoint discrimination in the regulation of democratic activityeven just a hint of it, and even if its only caused by incompetence (rather than orchestrated bullying). That is the substantive concern, of course, and not whether the infraction can be exploited for some pre-cooked political attack.
So far, it doesnt look like Issas committee will apply those priorities in its oversight. Instead, many House Republicans seem to think theyve found another Watergate. For all the references to that trauma in American government, todays Republicans have clearly missed a key feature of Congressional oversight during that period ...
http://tv.msnbc.com/2013/05/16/why-the-gop-may-regret-its-obama-scandal-obsession/
freshwest
(53,661 posts)demosincebirth
(12,518 posts)DCKit
(18,541 posts)Still, it's so odd to hear those two as "the voice of reason" in this mess. I don't ever listen to BillO, but Krauthammer's sleazy, slick, low key character assassinations of Dems creep me out to no end.