Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Henricus Sixtus Rex Ora Pro Nobis
Yesterday was my first
service ever at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor, and it was a special one, Choral
Evensong concluded with a commemoration of Henry the Sixth on the Eve of the
Anniversary of his Death.
The choir was
excellent. It is smaller than some
foundations, with 10 boys (and a probationer this service) and I think 8
men. One could pick out individual
voices a bit more than with larger choirs, but their singing was nonetheless
exemplary. It let me know that I
missed English choral worship more than I knew!
At the conclusion of the
Choral Evensong portion, there was a procession to the grave of King Henry to
the right of the altar rail. There
two youths from Eton placed a yellow rose and a yellow lily on the grave. And an official from Kings read a
prayer.
I think it was immediately
afterward that the choir sang Ley’s Prayer
of King Henry. It was
beautiful and moving. And it was
the first time I had even heard that composition. I need to find if a good recording is available somewhere.
After the service, I went
over to the grave and prayed chiefly for two intentions.
This morning, I will go to a
brief memorial service at Eton.
Labels: choirs, Henry VI, Windsor, worship
Friday, May 17, 2013
Housekeeping and a Personal Note
Just a note to keep readers from becoming
befuddled or alarmed. My schedule
may temporarily reduce my ability to post, particularly on political
matters. I know, bad timing! But I do actually have a life outside
of politics and this blog.
I will say I am still amazed by the revelations
that are coming out day after day on the various facets of Obamagate. At this time, I do not know what is
more appalling – the conduct of the Federal government, particularly under
Obama, or that so many are still fine with it.
Perhaps one problem is that the conduct is so
egregious that the reality and gravity of it takes a while to sink in. For the sake of freedom in this
country, I pray it sinks in and soon.
Thursday, May 16, 2013
The IRS, Hugo Obama, and Political Fair Play
An important aspect of the IRS targeting that
is beginning to get some attention, from Rush and IBD among others, is how it
tilted the political playing field in 2012.
While lefty organizations were getting easy
passes from the IRS, any number (Over 500 is one estimate now.) of tea party
organizations and other organizations unfavored by the Obama regime, were being
delayed, surveilled, threatened, and harassed by the IRS.
This served to make it more difficult for tea
partiers to be involved in the 2012 elections in an organized manner. Time and effort was wasted dealing with
the IRS. Some contributions were
more difficult to get and even lost without the requested 501(c)(4) designations. (I’m not expert on current advertising
regs and policies, but perhaps it also made it more difficult to get ads out
there?) Some tea party organizers
were so stressed and intimidated by the harassment that they gave up and
lowered their profile. One example:
Jennifer
Stefano of Philadelphia was so intimidated by the IRS that she closed her Tea
Party down:
"In
the documents that were sent to me, if you did not tell the whole truth by not
putting all your personal information out there by Facebook, by Twitter, of
your personal relationship with candidates and parties ... it could be
considered perjury and perjury carried jail time," Stefano, 39, told ABC
News.
"That
was frightening and that's why I shut it down. I shut my group down."
These effects were compounded by the fact that
many tea party groups were and are led by those getting more politically
involved in 2009 or later. These
are concerned citizens, not political veterans. And they don’t have a phalanx of lawyers on call like more
established political organizations.
They hardly have the resources and experience to do battle with
predatory Feds.
And that makes the predations that much more despicable. I’ve tweeted that I want people in
prison, high-up people. And I
meant it.
The way the IRS and the Obama regime has acted
in this is not unlike how tyrants such as Hugo Chavez (R.I.H.) act. They use government, through
bureaucracy, threats, intimidation, and more, as a weapon to make it difficult
for opposition to act in the political sphere. They tilt the political playing field (and then use election
fraud if needed, but don’t get me started on that).
Our Founders put the First Amendment in the
Constitution in part to prevent such government abuses. And what the IRS and the Obama regime
has done in targeting tea party groups among others is an egregious violation
of the First Amendment. And, by
the way, it did no doubt affect the 2012 elections . . . as intended.
Labels: freedom, IRS, Obama, Obamagate
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
BREAKING: Something Triggered IRS Targeting in Early 2010 ... and the Obama Regime is Hiding It.
Something happened in early 2010 to trigger the
beginning of the IRS targeting of tea party groups and of God knows who else
(Emphasis mine.):
In
February 2010, the Champaign Tea Party in Illinois received approval of its
tax-exempt status from the IRS in 90 days, no questions asked. That was the
month before the Internal Revenue Service started singling out Tea Party groups
for special treatment. There wouldn't be
another Tea Party application approved for 27 months. In that time, the IRS approved perhaps dozens of applications from
similar liberal and progressive groups, a USA TODAY review of IRS data
shows. As applications from conservative groups sat in limbo, groups with
liberal-sounding names had their applications approved in as little as nine
months. With names including words like "Progress" or
"Progressive," the liberal groups applied for the same tax status and
were engaged in the same kinds of activities as the conservative groups.
As Ace notes, something happened early in 2010
to begin the “special treatment.” And
the Treasury Inspector General’s report acknowledges something happened on
February 25th, 2010.
What is that something? We
don’t know. Because the IG report
redacts that event. See for yourself. Something is being
hidden from us, and it may be stinking important. It’s certainly important enough to be on the IG’s timeline
if in redacted form.
Even as more and more comes out, the Obamagate
IRS cover-up continues.
(Yes, I am now calling all the various scandals
together “Obamagate”. The Obama
regime has earned it.)
Scandal of the Day Already: IRS Asked for Facebook Posts
I hardly have the sleep out of my eyes early
this morning when I am confronted by something that makes me shake my head to
make sure I am not still having a weird dream. . . .
The IRS asked tea party groups for Facebook
posts. You read that right. I am not kidding. And that's not all. IRS as Big Brother.
And, yes, this is an extension of the IRS
scandal. But it is so outrageous
in its own right, it merits its own scandal designation.
And if you are not outraged, you are more
asleep than I am.
By the way, you can add J. Christian Adams to
the long list of those politically targeted by the IRS.
Labels: IRS, Scandal of the Day
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Scandal of the Day: EPA Sweetheart Fee Waivers
I have real life stuff to do, but first I have
to hand it to the Ace of Spades guys.
They are good sometimes.
This morning, Andy there had some fun with this short post:
New
Obama administration scandal by noon? I'll take the under.
Well, sure enough, another scandal broke this
morning. The EPA has been giving
information fee waivers to favored groups, but not to evil conservative groups,
of course.
Hey, some people are more equal than others,
don’tcha know.
IRS Leaked Confidential Records of Conservatives
I had a very pleasant day yesterday. I took some boys to the beach; they had
a great time; and I somehow was able to keep up with them somewhat although I
was not 100%.
Since I was not 100% (and the water was still
cold from a freakishly cool Spring) I did not swim.
But when I finally got home and caught up on
the day’s news, my head swam with the new revelations about Obama
Administration misconduct (in addition to the Gosnell verdict. Kudos to the jury.). I am reminded of a brilliant comment I
read the other day: “Can we concentrate on one impeachable offense at a time
please?”
So I will concentrate on what I find the most
egregious of the revelations yesterday.
The IRS leaked confidential records of conservative groups, including
donor lists, to political adversaries.
One case:
The
National Organization for Marriage (NOM) today renewed its demand that the
Internal Revenue Service reveal the identity of the employee or employees
responsible for stealing the organization’s confidential Form 990 tax return
and leaking it to the Human Rights Campaign (HRC). At the time of the theft,
the HRC had long-sought to know the identity of NOM’s major donors and its
chief executive was a co-chair of President Obama’s reelection campaign. The
Form 990 that was leaked to the HRC contained the identity of numerous major
donors to the organization.
Given the demonstrated willingness of activists
directly to make life difficult for those who oppose gay marriage, the IRS with
its leak practically invited attacks on NOM donors. Send in the brownshirts!
Other groups exposed to attacks of various sorts by IRS leaks to
political enemies include the Texas Public Policy Foundation, Crossroads, and
Lord knows who else.
Again, the IRS is Obama’s responsibility at the
very least. And these are the
tactics of thuggish regimes . . . which is exactly what we have in the
Washington at the moment.
But I’m one of those voices warning of
tyranny. So pay no attention.
Labels: gay issues, IRS, life, Obama
