Even though the news cycle is currently consumed by sexy stories about beheadings and police shootings, the massive and ongoing IRS scandal still holds interest for a few news-obsessive folks who fret about little things like freedom of speech and a widespread criminal conspiracy in which government officials, almost certainly with the president's blessing, attacked We The People.
Which is why Hope n' Change finds it pretty darned interesting that, in response to the latest FOIA discovery actions by the good people at Judicial Watch, the IRS has been forced to admit that they've actually had backups of Lois Lerner's "missing" emails all along, kept in a super-duper catastrophe-proof computer which was intended to help rebuild the world in case, following some nightmarish disaster, survivors would find it helpful to read Lerner's witty attacks on conservatives.
Unfortunately, the IRS says that pulling any useful information out of the backup system is so ridiculously difficult that it would be "too onerous" to even attempt. Which, when you think about it, makes the End of the World Computer a pretty good joke-in-waiting on those poor SOBs who'll be relying on it following the zombie apocalypse.
But the existence of Ms. Lerner's emails in the Doomsday File Server isn't the only recently-revealed news about the case. Because we now know that Ms. Lerner used her government-issued Blackberry for a lot of correspondence, and it's easy-peasy to get old emails off a Blackberry!
Unless, of course, the IRS erased its memory after the congressional investigation started heating up, conveniently "forgot" to check for or backup any of the emails, and then sold the device for scrap.
Frankly, with all of the blatant destruction of evidence taking place, Hope n' Change is somewhat surprised that no one from the administration has visited Lois Lerner in the dark of night to perform an ice pick lobotomy and destroy the last bit of memory which might imperil the president.
Then again, maybe they're just waiting for a really busy news day when the story would be ignored - just like every other incriminating revelation to date.
24 comments:
If it is "too onerous" to retrieve these backups, then why would they have them in the first place? I bet the facility where they keep these backups will soon suffer a "mysterious" fire that will destroy everything.
Destruction of evidence, perjury, obstruction of justice, and even conflict of interest:
http://oversight.house.gov/release/new-documents-justice-depts-irs-representation-conducted-former-irs-attorney-involved-targeting-conservatives/
After all the trouble the administration is going through to hide those emails, I have to wonder what really is in them. If they just showed targeting of conservative groups, like the Tea Party, I don't see why that would matter so much. The Republicans hate the Tea Party just as much as the Democrats do because they could actually bring nasty things like Constitutional Law back into D.C. crony politics, which the long term criminals of both parties can't allow. Therefore, I doubt that any charges would ever occur over such a simple violation of the law. The teflon administration could easily weather such minor felonies, considering all the other scandals they have so efficiently avoided. No, I feel those emails contain much more damaging communications. Perhaps they show evidence of Lerner granting tax-exempt status to any and all Communist Muslim Kenyans that happen to be living in the nation's Capital, or something similar.
Bravo for Judicial Watch. They are doing the work that Americans (those being Congress and the DOJ) won't do. I contribute to them, and urge all Hn'C devotees to consider it as well.
@Geoff King-I am holding my breath, waiting for indictments and significant jail time. The lower level apparatchiks will start singing like Mockingbirds on crack. Then again, my complexion is taking on a decidedly blue tinge.
A cover up of the highest magnitude. And they called Nixon a crook. He at least had the grace to resign to save America from further angst.
The IRS sure doesn't have any problem retrieving my old records.
In addition to Dobro Player's comment about the absurdity of having backups that are unattainable, does it bother anyone else that IRS records are deemed so vital that they are backed up "to ensure the continuity of government in event of a catastrophe?"
On second thought, I guess they must be. How else would the government know who to target?
More than likely all the government backup files are stored on CD-ROM, so they will still be retrievable after an EMP attack. Therefore, finding the lost Lerner emails could be considered an "onerous" task because someone would have to locate the correct discs and actually stick them in a drive. That would entail physical labor and we all all know how government employees feel about that.
Well I guess my, "I lost my records," excuse won't work when the IRS gets around to targeting me for my personal convictions; but at least I could fall back on the, "Well I do have them, but it would be too onerous to retrieve, and then provide them," excuse, couldn't I?
I recall mocking the IRS's "post-Armageddon backup strategy" a couple of decades ago. The idea was that if the country and economy were to be literally destroyed by a nuclear war or similar disaster, the IRS bureaucracy would be the first to emerge from the ashes and resume business-as-usual so that they could fund the reconstruction of the rest of the federal bureaucracy.
I found this notion amusing only because of the idea that if the country to be damaged to that extent, our former money would be worthless, and most people would have far more urgent priorities in their daily lives than taking out the weeks required for filling out hundreds-to-thousands of pages of IRS forms by hand.
So now the notion that after countless billions of dollars have been spent on this inevitability that it's literally impossible to retrieve needed data later is amusing, if not typically infuriating.
Of course, do consider that this backup system was designed to remediate a nuclear disaster, not a political disaster.
And remember, these people want to be totally responsible for your health care.
Meanwhile, while we're speaking about taxes: It appears that Obama's token billionaire front-man on "income inequality", who laments the supposed unfairness that his capital gains rate is less than his $200k/per/year secretary's income tax rate is in fact himself funding one of those "tax inversions" that have been all the rage lately.
Yes, Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway is contributing $3-billion to Burger King's buyout of Canada's Tim Hortons chain, and Burger King will transfer its HQ address north.
Yes, that's right. Obama's pet billionaire is now a corporate "Benedict Arnold" and engaging in economically "unpatriotic" behavior.
~ Hold the pickles, hold the lettuce, higher taxes do upset us ~ You'll have to forgive us for wanting to have it our way ~
Just another fine example of liberals on economic matters; totally discount what they say against what they actually do with their own money.
Don't these people at "Secret computer stash central" have a "search" feature? I mean, I can find stuff in zippity-seconds on my laptop, or any computer, really. Not only the names of files, but a mere word within -- and presto -- there it is.
But truly, as is said above -- it's just obstruction of justice, perjury, hiding evidence, and other legal stuff that I thought was still valid.
On the "ice pick lobotomies" however, I can assure you it doesn't work -- it was done on more than 4,000 gay men (no one really kept track, the investigation is ongoing, stymied by lost evidence, purposefully destroyed files, and slapping "top secret" on any they do find, [so similar, ooh]) between 1940 and 1980 -- yep, the US gov't jabbed ice picks through the eyes(!) of taxpaying citizens to make them more what the gov't wanted. Amazing, yes?
Anyway -- Congress probably has no real interest in getting to the bottom of this ... for both parties wish to use the same tools - they just argue over who gets to use them against whom.
@Dobro Player- The idea of a backup system that saves things forever in an unusable form is so preposterously stupid that it could only have been designed by the government.
@Geoff King- I agree. Whatever is in those emails is going to damage someone (probably multiple someones) way higher up the chain of command that Lerner.
And I wouldn't be surprised if, per your suspicion, that there is information in those emails that point to scandals we don't even know about yet.
@TrickyRicky- I, too, contribute to Judicial Watch. It's amazing what they've been able to pry loose - not that many people (or law enforcement agencies) seem to care.
@Judi King- I agree. But we all know that Barry will never resign. Plus, I believe he's simply the tip of a huge and corrupt iceberg.
@CenTexTim- It's sadly amusing that if 99% of our population is killed, the IRS will rise from the ashes to tax that evil 1%.
@American Cowboy- I like your idea. In fact, I think I'm going to keep my tax records on a thumbdrive shoved up my keester, just so I can tell an auditor that data retrieval is "onerous," but he's welcome to try.
@John the Econ- Considering their post-apocalyptic strategy, maybe we need to start calling it the "Eternal Revenue Service."
And I'm enjoying the whole Warren Buffett / Burger King situation. I've been pissed at Buffett ever since he started spouting the nonsense that his secretary paid a lower tax rate than he does, which is a flat out lie. A lot of people don't understand the difference between income tax and capital gains taxes - but Warren Buffett ain't one of those people.
@Jim Hlavac- I can't wrap my head around the idea of a system that backs up everything without having a way of finding individual pieces of information. I think we'll eventually (ie, after November) find out that the "too onerous" excuse is just another lie.
"Ice pick lobotomies" were appalling, and never more so than in the case you cite. Rosemary Kennedy, the sister of John, Ted, and Bobby, got just such a lobotomy in order to cure her sexual aggressiveness and protect the family's reputation (though that same libido was fine in the boys).
An ice pick in the eyehole is a horrifying way to modify anyone's sexuality. Although I'm happily willing to make an exception for child molesters.
And then there is this.
John The Econ, tl;dr, maybe someday.
My greatest fear is that Lois learners e-mails contain nekid photos of Lois- in which case to govt has been hiding em to really protect the public.
This quote from the article referred to by Anonymous..."According to Sidney Powell, author of "Licensed to Lie: Exposing Corruption in the Department of Justice," Sullivan is known to scold government lawyers who withhold evidence."
Well there now! That should really show somebody! A scolding from a judge. What next? He wags his finger at them at the same time that he scolds them? That should have somebody shaking in their boots.
@Stilton, Warren Buffett is a great example of how media attention and adoration fosters the creation of a insulating "reality distortion field" and a feedback loop that convinces one that they are a genius. This certainly is the case with our current President.
Warren Buffett was a great business man, and got rich with a very simple formula: Only invest in what you fully understand. He got very rich this way, and I respect him for that.
However, something interesting happened about the time of the meltdown. Buffett, seeing his retirement at hand started shifting his interests. He began relinquishing control of Berkshire Hathaway to his successors, which started engaging in complex businesses that Buffett never would have touched in the '90s when he got rich. Meanwhile, Buffett found more time to directly engage the media, which was always curious about him. The media loved how he eschewed most of the conspicuous consumption silliness that may of Buffett's billionaire peers engage in, and loved even more his occasional populist utterings. All of a sudden, he was invited to be on TV everywhere, and he obliged. And the more populist he sounded, the more the media adored him. I have no doubt that it's intoxicating, because in the kind of world Buffett talks about now, there wouldn't have ever been a Buffett.
But at the end of the day, you have to look at what Buffett actually does, versus what he advocates for everyone else. Berkshire Hathaway goes to great lengths to mitigate their tax burden, as does Buffett personally. If he feels undertaxed, he can pay more taxes anytime he'd like, and yet doesn't. And now after 6 years of being a Friend-of-Barack and populist nonsense, he now abandon's "economic patriotism". Maybe he's just tired of all the travel. I seriously doubt we'll be seeing very much of him on TV anymore.
@Anonymous, I've been having a lot of fun calling people who say there's nothing going on at the IRS "deniers" lately.
Unfortunately, I seriously doubt anyone will ever go to jail over this flagrant violation of law. And until that starts happening, this behavior will become the norm at all government agencies. When the history of this period is written, the Obama Era will be noted for being the age where the bureaucracy became an independent branch of government by taking on a life of it's very own, and answerable to absolutely nobody.
Doc, I do believe you are right about Obama being the somewhat African and/or White (whichever works best) 'tip of the iceberg'!
And I thought the 60's was confusing and corrupt...I hadn't seen a thing in my young life like we are facing now! But this is what we get when the bad guys take over! ISIS anyone?
On that note, I wonder how many jihad-trained Islamic State guys are roaming our midst as we speak?
Would be surprised if many are not already here...standing by.
Egad! I haven't seen a Keniscope in years.
J the E
Doc, As has been said before, the really criminal thing here is the press and their willingness to let scandal after scandal slip by for the Unicorn Prince. They could run him (and all the rest) out of town if they really wanted to.
PRY, Tip of the iceberg? Say what?
I love Tejas. OK off subject and in particular, a horrific tragedy. But at least the Tejas jury made sure it wasn't a bigger tragedy.
@Anonymous, absolutely. Of course the media could finish Obama if they wanted to in the least. But then again, Obama never would have even had a shot at being President had it not been for a complicit media to totally and purposely ignore his questionable and mediocre background that would have sunk any other candidate.
What the GOP needs to learn is how to treat this as an advantage. Yes, it's not fair that they're held to a higher standard. But the vetting process that most conservative candidates have to go through sees to it that the more scandal-prone candidates don't make it far enough to cause trouble later. The media then has to create the scandals instead of ignoring them.
John the Econ said, "Yes, it's not fair that they're held to a higher standard."
While I understand your comment I respectfully would present a different view.
Many years ago as a young cub I remember my dear father telling me, "Boy, I expect much of you because you are capable of much." So I believe they are, and should be held to a higher standard, because they are capable of meeting a higher standard. What I believe to be unfair is the fact that the other side is allowed, even expected to have no standards when they are just as capable of meeting higher standards, IF that were too be demanded of them.
Just my opinion FWIW.
@anonymous
I was referencing the Doc's remarks to someone's post...
"@Judi King- I agree. But we all know that Barry will never resign. Plus, I believe he's simply the tip of a huge and corrupt iceberg."
And I totally agree!
Precious, eh?
I love this president, dontcha y'all?!?!?!?!
Gee, I got treated like this in school - I didn't have Yahoo to complain to though. Golly, how times have changed, eh?
Poor fella.
And the purpose of a backup system is .......
I strongly suspect that that ridiculous tale ("too hard to retrieve") is as factual as the one that said all the disks were destroyed.
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