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1.) UNsuited for the job — On Wednesday, President Obama named Susan Rice as his next National Security Adviser and nominated Samantha Power to replace Rice as America’s U.N. ambassador. You know about Rice, but Power has expressed some interesting views you ought to be aware of. TheDC’s Jamie Weinstein reports:
“In 2002, President Barack Obama’s new nominee to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, proposed imposing a peace deal on Israelis and Palestinians militarily, even if such a policy alienated wealthy pro-Israel American Jews. ‘I actually think in the Palestine-Israeli situation there is an abundance of information, and what we don’t need is some kind of early warning mechanism there,’ Power said in an interview. ‘What we need is a willingness to actually put something on the line in sort of helping the situation. And putting something on the line might mean alienating a domestic constituency of tremendous political and financial import,’ she added laughing, clearly referring to American Jews and suggesting they were a great obstacle to moving toward peace between Israelis and Palestinians.”
Isn’t that lovely. Not only is she condescending toward American Jews, but her analysis also happens to be utterly wrong. The failure to achieve peace in the Middle East is not because wealthy American Jews have somehow manipulated America’s leaders into thwarting peace, but rather because Palestinian leaders have consistently rejected generous Israeli peace offers for a state of their own. In fact, the wealthy American Jews that Power haughtily dismisses in the interview as obstacles to peace are very often staunch advocates of a two state solution. On another note, Power also once compared America’s actions abroad to those of Nazi Germany. As the Washington Examiner’s Philip Klein wryly noted on Twitter, “If Samantha Power is the UN Ambassador, who is supposed to represent US interests at the UN?” TheDC Morning is sure Power is a good person at heart and she appears to genuinely care about the suffering of others. But she’s unfit to be America’s ambassador to the U.N.
2.) IRS lies, part infinity — It is quickly becoming evident that the best way to come to the truth on the budding IRS scandal is to listen to what top IRS officials testify to and then assume the opposite is true. TheDC’s Patrick Howley reports:
“A Washington IRS attorney named Carter Hull closely oversaw the targeting of conservative nonprofit groups and suggested questions that IRS employees could ask of conservative and Tea Party groups applying for tax-exempt nonprofit status, according to interviews that two IRS employees gave with congressional investigators. ‘I was essentially a front person, because I had no autonomy or no authority to act on [applications] without Carter Hull’s influence or input,’ said Elizabeth Hofacre, an employee of the Cincinnati IRS office, according to a new report in the Wall Street Journal.”
3.) Batshit Bashir — Martin Bashir is making a strong case that he is the most dishonest (or possibly dumbest) cable news host. Congrats, friend. TheDC’s Jeff Poor reports:
“According to MSNBC host Martin Bashir, Republican criticisms of the Internal Revenue Service are little more than thinly-veiled racist attacks on President Obama. … ‘This strategy is nothing new, and it was explained way back in 1981 by Lee Atwater, who was Bush 41′s chief strategist,’ Bashir said on the Wednesday broadcast of his television show. ‘In a tape recording, Mr. Atwater revealed how Republicans evolved their language to achieve the same purpose. He said, ‘You start out in 1954 by saying ‘n-word, n-word, n-word.’ By 1968, you can’t say ‘n-word.’ That hurts you, backfires. So you say stuff like ‘forced busing,’ ‘states rights’ and all that stuff and you’re getting so abstract. … ‘So this afternoon, we welcome the latest phrase in the lexicon of Republican attacks on this president — ‘the IRS,’ three letters that sound so innocent, but we know what you mean.'”
New rule: If you’re on the left, you can’t whine about Glenn Beck while simultaneously enjoying Martin Bashir. What he says here is so toxic that MSNBC should really consider whether it wants someone on the air who essentially claims that any criticism of President Obama is tantamount to using the n-word. What a revolting man.
4.) Labash lashes O’Malley — The Daily Caller’s advice columnist, who on occasion actually provides advice, doesn’t want his fly fishing to get political. But he can’t help but rage against his governor, Maryland’s Martin O’Malley. TheDC’s Matt Labash writes:
“Yes, we have one of the worst tax-and-spend legislatures in the country. Though I live in a red county, we are a state so reliably blue that there is a nickname for Republican politicians here. We call them “The Unemployed.” Yes, we have the worst governor in America, Martin O’Malley, coming soon to a Democratic presidential primary near you. Despite O’Malley’s purported charms, he has never met a pocket he wouldn’t pick, along with the help of his rubber-stamp legislature. The watchdog group, Change Maryland, has counted 40 separate taxes or fee increases during O’Malley’s tenure, totaling $9.5 billion. Perhaps not coincidentally, Maryland also has witnessed 31,000 of its citizens flee to other states, and has seen 6,500 small businesses also flee or shut down during the same period.”
5.) Tweet of Yesterday — Frankie Muniz: Really? Susan Rice? National Security Adviser? Really? Another #ObamaFail. Wake up people. [Editors note: Yes, this is actually a random tweet from the star of “Malcolm in the Middle.”]
6.) Today in North Korean News — BREAKING: “Kim Jong Un Provides Field Guidance to Posong Mushroom Farm”
VIDEO: Jim McDermott, Megyn Kelly have heated exchange over tea party-IRS hearing