Michelle Obama Says ‘Reach Out To Republicans’

From the Politico:

Michelle Obama advises making friends across the aisle

By DONOVAN SLACK | May 12, 2013

First lady Michelle Obama wants the next generation to make friends across the political divide with hopes of averting political gridlock in the future.

She told graduates at Eastern Kentucky University Saturday that they should reach out to people who are not like them, who don’t think like them. Like Republicans, for instance.

"Try visiting a different congregation every once in a while; you might just hear something in the sermon that stays with you. If you’re a Democrat, spend some time talking to a Republican. And if you’re a Republican, have a chat with a Democrat," she said during her commencement address Saturday. "Maybe you’ll find some common ground, maybe you won’t.

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Flashback: Romney Donor Subjected To 2 Audits

From the Daily Caller:

FLASHBACK: Romney donor vilified by Obama campaign, then subjected to 2 audits

By Jamie Weinstein | May 13, 2013

Just months after being slimed by President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign, Mitt Romney supporter and businessman Frank VanderSloot was informed that he was going to be audited not only by the Internal Revenue Service, but by the Labor Department as well.

VanderSloot’s saga was told by columnist Kimberley Strassel in the Wall Street Journal last July.

In April 2012, VanderSloot, who served as the national co-chair of Mitt Romney’s presidential finance committee, was one of eight Romney backers to be defamed as ”wealthy individuals with less-than-reputable records” in a post on the Obama campaign’s website.

The post, entitled “Behind the curtain: a brief history of Romney’s donors,” singled out VanderSloot for being a ”litigious, combative and a bitter foe of the gay rights movement.”

Two months later, the IRS informed VanderSloot he and his wife were going to be audited, Strassel reported.

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A Couple Of Flashbacks To Bill Clinton’s Audits

First from the archives of the New York Times:

White House Denies Seeking I.R.S. Audit of Clinton Accuser

By JOHN M. BRODER | September 16, 1997

The White House denied today that it had any knowledge of an Internal Revenue Service audit of Paula Corbin Jones, who has accused President Clinton of making an improper sexual advance in a Little Rock hotel room six years ago.

Michael D. McCurry, the President’s press secretary, was asked today whether the White House had ordered or approved the audit of Ms. Jones, now a Southern California homemaker. ”None whatsoever,” he responded sharply.

”We may do some dumb things from time to time but we are not certifiably insane,” Mr. McCurry said. ”The I.R.S. and the I.R.S. solely is the one that makes decisions about the enforcement of tax laws.”

Susan Carpenter McMillan, Ms.

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IRS Targeted Groups Critical Of Gov’t Spending

From the Wall Street Journal:

Wider Problems Found at IRS

By JOHN D. MCKINNON and SIOBHAN HUGHES | May 12, 2013

The Internal Revenue Service’s scrutiny of conservative groups went beyond those with "tea party" or "patriot" in their names—as the agency admitted Friday—to also include ones worried about government spending, debt or taxes, and even ones that lobbied to "make America a better place to live," according to new details of a government probe…

So, any and all criticism of government could get you flagged. (It’s a wonder such ‘keywords’ aren’t used to look for domestic terrorists, too. That is, assuming they aren’t.)

The investigation also revealed that a high-ranking IRS official knew as early as mid-2011 that conservative groups were being inappropriately targeted—nearly a year before then-IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman told a congressional committee the agency wasn’t targeting conservative groups…

Yes, it’s increasingly obvious that Lois Lerner,the  head of the IRS tax-exempt-organizations division, has lied made some inaccurate statements.

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CBS: ‘We Get Stories Wrong, Over and Over Again’

From the Weekly Standard:

CBS Anchor: ‘We Are Getting Big Stories Wrong, Over and Over Again’

"Our house is on fire."

By DANIEL HALPER | May 11, 2013

CBS anchor Scott Pelley said at a speech at Quinnipiac University that journalists "are getting big stories wrong, over and over again."

"Our house is on fire," said Pelley. "These have been a bad few months for journalism," he added. "We’re getting the big stories wrong, over and over again."

Isn’t it hilarious how it’s the news anchors who are always the last to know?

The CBS newsreader was quick to take at least partial blame. "Let me take the first arrow: During our coverage of Newtown, I sat on my set and I reported that Nancy Lanza was a teacher at the school.

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WH: ‘Off The Record’ Was Just ‘Deep Background’

From the Politico:

White House holds ‘deep background’ Benghazi briefing

By DYLAN BYERS | May 10, 2013

The White House held a "deep background" briefing with reporters on Friday afternoon to discuss recent revelations about the Benghazi investigation, sources familiar with the meeting tell POLITICO.

The meeting was conducted on "deep background," according to White House spokesman Josh Earnest, but sources told POLITICO that the existence of the meeting was "off the record." The meeting began around 12:45 p.m. and postponed the daily, on-the-record White House press briefing until mid-afternoon.

The session was announced to reporters in the wake of an ABC News report showing that White House and State Dept. officials were involved in revising the now-discredited CIA talking points about the attack on Benghazi.

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Obama Praises Pakistan For Electing Extremist

From the Politico:

Obama congratulates Pakistan on elections

By DONOVAN SLACK | May 12, 2013

President Obama congratulated the people of Pakistan on national elections Saturday that marked the country’s first democratic transfer of power.

"I congratulate the people of Pakistan on the successful completion of yesterday’s parliamentary elections," Obama said in a statement. "The United States stands with all Pakistanis in welcoming this historic peaceful and transparent transfer of civilian power, which is a significant milestone in Pakistan’s democratic progress. By conducting competitive campaigns, freely exercising your democratic rights, and persevering despite intimidation by violent extremists, you have affirmed a commitment to democratic rule that will be critical to achieving peace and prosperity for all Pakistanis for years to come."

Early tallies suggested former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif could be headed back to power as leader of a coalition government…

Who is former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, you ask?

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‘The Hive’ – Please Talk Amongst Yourselves

Here is our weekend discussion thread, where comments on the general topics of the day are very welcome.

But please remember to post and comment on specific news items in the ‘Reader Selected News’ thread below or via the ‘News Selected By Our Readers’ link found in the sidebar.

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Reader Selected News, Week May 11 – May 17

This thread is for the busy bees of S&L to post news articles that might not warrant their own thread.

Posting Guidelines

To make the articles as readable as possible, please:

  • Only post news from established news media outlets.
  • Avoid editorials or opinion pieces unless they are truly newsworthy.
  • Avoid items that most people most likely have seen elsewhere.
  • Post articles that fit under the topic of a recent thread as a comment there.
  • Always spell out the name of the source and post a link to it.
  • Always post less than one quarter of the original article.

Posts of articles that do not follow these guidelines may be edited or deleted.

Thank you.

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CNN Pesters Amanda Knox About ‘Deviant Sex’

From the Daily Caller:

CNN’s Chris Cuomo pushes ‘deviant sex’ questioning in Amanda Knox interview

By Jeff Poor | May 9, 2013

CNN’s Chris Cuomo aggressively questioned Amanda Knox Tuesday about her sexual life in his 10 p.m. special featuring the woman who was convicted in an Italian court for the murder of Meredith Kercher.

Knox served four years of her 26-year sentence before her murder conviction was overturned by another Italian court. That acquittal was later overturned by the Italian Supreme Court, but in the meantime, Knox has been promoting her memoir, “Waiting to Be Heard” in various media appearances.

On CNN, Cuomo referenced “deviant” sex three times and repeatedly used the word “freak” or “freaky” to describe Knox’s alleged sexual behavior.

Gawker’s Caity Weaver called it an “insane interview” in her piece headlined “Watch Chris Cuomo Sexually Harass Amanda Knox on TV.”

Highlights of Cuomo’s questioning below:

▪ “People like to read headlines to you that call you a vixen, ‘Foxy Knoxy,’ whatever it is, OK,” Cuomo said.

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A Dozen ‘Terrorists’ Have Taught In US Colleges

From the website, The Other McCain (which is run by Robert Stacey McCain, who is no relation to John McCain):

Domestic Terrorists Teaching At Colleges?

By Ryan James Girdusky | May 8, 2013

Controversy ensued when the news broke that Kathy Boudin, former member of the Weather Underground who was convicted in 1984 of felony murder, received the position of adjunct professor at Columbia University. While it may be ironic that Boudin received a teaching position at a university she was plotted to bomb, she is not the only former domestic terrorist to receive such a position.

At least a dozen former members of domestic terrorist organizations are now college professors. Members of the Weather Underground make up half of this list; some are well known, like Bill Ayers and his wife Bernadine Dohrn, Ayers is now retired from the University of Illinois, while Dohrn is still teaching at Northwestern Law.

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IRS Is Sorry For Targeting Conservative Groups

From the Associated Press:

IRS apologizes for targeting conservative groups

By STEPHEN OHLEMACHER | May 10, 2013

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Internal Revenue Service inappropriately flagged conservative political groups for additional reviews during the 2012 election to see if they were violating their tax-exempt status, a top IRS official said Friday.

Organizations were singled out because they included the words "tea party" or "patriot" in their applications for tax-exempt status, said Lois Lerner, who heads the IRS division that oversees tax-exempt groups.

In some cases, groups were asked for their list of donors, which violates IRS policy in most cases, she said.

"That was wrong. That was absolutely incorrect, it was insensitive and it was inappropriate. That’s not how we go about selecting cases for further review," Lerner said at a conference sponsored by the American Bar Association.

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