{"id":26269,"date":"2014-07-17T21:46:55","date_gmt":"2014-07-18T01:46:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/?p=26269"},"modified":"2014-07-17T21:47:01","modified_gmt":"2014-07-18T01:47:01","slug":"the-daily-gouge-archive-wednesday-july-16th-2014","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/?p=26269","title":{"rendered":"The Daily Gouge Archive, Wednesday, July 16th, 2014"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s Wednesday, July 16th, 2014…but before we begin, we offer Progressives suggesting screening the faith of SCOTUS justices a brief primer on the Constitution of the United States of America, courtesy of the WSJ<\/em> and\u00a0<\/strong>Seth Lipsky writing in the July 12th edition of the New York Post<\/em>:<\/strong><\/p>\n

“No<\/span> religious Test shall ever<\/span> be required as a Qualification to any<\/span> Office or public Trust under the United States<\/em>.”<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

“No<\/em><\/span> . . . ever<\/em><\/span> . . . any<\/span><\/em>.” It’s not only the most emphatic statement in the entire Constitution but probably in all of American law. . . .\u00a0<\/strong><\/span>[Yet] an advertisement attacking the religion of the five Catholic justices of the Supreme Court . . . in the wake of the Hobby Lobby decision . . . actually contained the phrase “Roman Catholic majority.” It named Chief Justice\u00a0John Roberts\u00a0and Justices\u00a0Antonin Scalia,\u00a0Anthony Kennedy,\u00a0Clarence Thomas\u00a0and Samuel Alito. . . .<\/p>\n

The reason we don’t need to worry about the religion of our governmental officers is because of the constitutional oath. The oath\u2014to support the Constitution\u2014is required of every officer, legislator and judge of our national, state and local governments.\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/span>That’s not enough for the Democratic Party intelligentsia. It has been railing about Hobby Lobby for months. Joy Reid on MSNBC complained about the “six Catholic justices,” adding: “The question is do you trust this court to make those decisions?”<\/p>\n

The American people are not dumb. They are increasingly seeing this kind of thing for what it is, a bigotry all its own<\/em><\/span>.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"glinda\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Racism: it comes in all shapes, sizes…<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"holder-obama\"<\/a><\/p>\n

…and colors!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Now, here’s The Gouge!<\/strong><\/p>\n

First up, in the Maxwell Smart Memorial segment…<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Would<\/a><\/p>\n

…yet another<\/em><\/span>\u00a0computer hard drive belonging to a high-ranking federal bureaucrat under investigation for criminal activity has crashed and was trashed?!? \u00a0James Taranto has the details:<\/strong><\/p>\n

‘You Are My Enemy’<\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"obama_pc_computer_10-13-13-3\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0Meet the federal government’s go-to IT specialist; he’s our<\/span> enemy all right!<\/i><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

In 2012, a woman named April Sands, alias @ReignOfApril, tweeted a series of truculent Democratic campaign messages (the #p2 hashtag stands for “Progressives 2.0.”):<\/p>\n

“Our #POTUS’s birthday is August 4. He’ll be 51. I’m donating at least $51 to give him the best birthday present ever: a second term. #p2”<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

“Donate to @clairecmc [Sen. Claire McCaskill] today. RT @HuffPostPol BREAKING: Todd Akin is not dropping out of his Senate race, he tells Huckabee. #MOSen’ #p2”<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

“Romney is toast. But POTUS can’t do it all on his own. Don’t forget Congressional races. We need a Democratic sweep. Stay focused. #p2”<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

“I just don’t understand how anyone but straight white men can vote Republican. What kind of delusional rhetorical [sic] does one use? #p2”<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

“Dear every single Republican ever, When will U learn that Barack Hussein Obama is simply smarter than U? Signed, #Obama2012 #p2”<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

“If you’re still calling yourself a Republican after the #WarOnWomen, their stated RNC platform, & Birtherism, you are my enemy. Done. #p2”<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Sands would be just another Obamabot, but for one thing: She worked as a lawyer for the Federal Election Commission, the agency that enforces laws restricting campaign speech and financing<\/em><\/span>.<\/span> Shockingly, she posted all these tweets during work hours.\u00a0(“Shockingly”?!?)<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

As Reps. Darrell Issa and Jim Jordan note in a letter to FEC Chairman Lee Goodman, Sands no longer works for the FEC. After an investigation by the Office of Special Counsel and the FEC’s Office of Inspector General, Sands acknowledged having violated the Hatch Act, which prohibits federal employees from engaging in “pernicious political activities.”<\/span><\/p>\n

According to the letter, the FEC OIG wanted to pursue criminal charges but was unable to do so: “The FEC recycled Ms. Sands’ hard drive before the OIG was able to seize it, and therefore the OIG was unable to show that Ms. Sands’ solicitations and political activity were done from an FEC computer<\/em>. The U.S. Attorney’s office for the District of Columbia thereafter declined criminal prosecution<\/em><\/span>.”<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Sound familiar? There’s more: It turns out that Sands’s former boss at the FEC is none other than Lois Lerner, whose hard drive mysteriously “crashed” just after Congress started looking into corruption at Lerner’s next agency, the Internal Revenue Service.<\/strong> <\/span>Each new revelation gives reason to doubt that Barack Obama’s re-election was honestly won.<\/p>\n

Like they say, old tricks are the best tricks!<\/strong>\u00a0 No need for an independent investigation here<\/em><\/span>!<\/b><\/p>\n

Marking as this does the third occasion on which the hard drive utilized by a senior Obama operative under investigation for…legal improprieties…has been rendered, mysteriously and conveniently, inoperative and inaccessible, the Morning Examiner<\/em>‘s Mark Tapscott wonders…<\/strong><\/p>\n

Is the<\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/span> IR<\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/span>S<\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/span> scandal the ultimate test of the Constitution’s checks and balances?<\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span><\/h1>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"collage1\"<\/a><\/p>\n

“Two federal judges\u00a0acting within 24 hours of each other last Thursday and Friday served notice on\u00a0the IRS\u00a0that it’s time to pay up.<\/p>\n

In doing so, U.S. District Court Judges Emmet G.Sullivan and Reggie Walton have set up what may prove to be the ultimate test of the Constitution’s checks and balances system. Sullivan and Walton both serve on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Both are well-known as no-nonsense judges who are not to be trifled with.<\/p>\n

…The credibility of Congress and the courts thus now depends upon their successfully exposing the truth about the IRS\u00a0scandal\u00a0and punishing those responsible. If they fail, the executive branch will be effectively liberated from constitutional restraint.<\/span> Thus, the IRS scandal has now become the ultimate test of the Founders’ faith in checks and balances as a bulwark against tyranny<\/span><\/em>…<\/strong>“<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

To borrow a phrase from the late Isaac Hayes…<\/strong><\/p>\n