Discussing mere numbers is boring.

Let's talk about specific names of specific failures. Failure isn't interesting unless it's attached to a human agent of failure. No one ever goofed on an anticipated circular storm for failing to kill people.

The soft start for All In With Chris Hayes has not helped. Hayes, down 32 percent in total viewers from The Ed Show last May, has offered a poor lead-in for MSNBC's primetime flagship, The Rachel Maddow Show, at 9 p.m. The show delivered its lowest-rated month since it debuted in September 2008 (717,000 total viewers) and its second lowest with adults 25-54 (210,000). Maddow was topped by typical time slot victor Sean Hannity and CNN's Piers Morgan.

Chris Hayes' massive throbbing failure has transformed Ed Schultz into a Titan of Broadcasting.

Posted by: Ace at 03:56 PM | Comments (338)
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Carney pronounces the White House "satisfied" completely with the IRS' "responsiveness" to inquires about the scandals.

Of course they're satisfied. They're not snitching. Mobsters don't mind if you take a pinch, they just don't want you to rat out the higher-ups when you're caught.

Note that the White House could have criticized the IRS officials for their lack of candor, and thus lobbed a shot across their collective bow, urging them towards greater honesty.

They chose not to, but instead to laud them for their parsimony with the truth. This is not an accident.

This is the White House giving Douglas Schulman, Steve Miller, and Lois Lerner the Across-the-Room Air High Five.

That video below, plus Carney referring a report to the Justice Department for an opinion as to whether the head of the Justice Department lied under oath.

Update: The AP will also not attend Eric Holder's Secret Briefing on Government Openness. Via Politico:

"We believe the meeting should be on the record and we have said that to the Attorney GeneralÂ’s office. If it is on the record, AP Executive Editor Kathleen Carroll will attend. If it is not on the record, AP will not attend and instead will offer our views on how the regulations should be updated in an open letter," AP spokesperson Erin Madigan said in a statement sent to POLITICO. "We would expect AP attorneys to be included in any planned meetings between the Attorney GeneralÂ’s office and media lawyers on the legal specifics."

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Posted by: Ace at 02:55 PM | Comments (205)
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This administration takes freedom of the press very seriously.

No, you're not alowed to quote me on that.

Yes, Holder's briefing on the "unfettered" right of the press to report the truth was/is to be off-the-record, no quotes permitted.

The New York Times has declared it would be "inappropriate" to attend, given those restrictions.

Other media groups may follow.

Here's a question that perplexes me: How can every other reporter or news organization be so beta, always needing the New York Times to make their decisions for them?

[Update JohnE.] Here's the Democrat Party's Communications Director:

POTUS asked AG to review how leak investigations are done but some in the media refuse to meet with him. Kind of forfeits your right gripe.

— Brad Woodhouse (@woodhouseb) May 29, 2013

Are you F'in kidding me? The balls. The balls.

Posted by: Ace at 01:34 PM | Comments (246)
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What difference could it possibly make, Part 689.

Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) and Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.), the chairman of the subcommittee on investigations, sent a letter to Holder detailing specific aspects of his testimony that they say conflicts with subsequent media reports.

They want to know what exactly Holder's alibi could possibly be when he claimed he'd never even heard of a criminal investigation of a reporter, when in fact his signature is on a warrant claiming James Rosen was a coconspirator in espionage.

Moderate/liberal Jonathan Turley is now calling for Holder's resignation, calling him Obama's "sin eater" -- a stooge paid to eat the sins of the departed and thus clean their souls for Heaven.

Posted by: Ace at 11:08 AM | Comments (255)
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Before writing this post, I didn't know who this is and I didn't know what she's alleged to have done.

However, when you see a tweet like this, from Hot Heroin Mess Courtney Love...

...it does tend to pique the interest.

What the hell does one have to do to get Courtney Love to urge prudence and restraint?

Remember when Guns n Roses kicked out one of its members for abusing drugs and alcohol? And you were like, Whoah. So yeah, it's like that.

I still don't know who she is and all that she's done, but apparently she was arrested for DUI and maybe hitting and running. Then she asked Obama for his personal intervention in her case.

Her parents want to involuntarily commit her, but "sources" say she isn't demonstrably 5150 yet, so there's nothing to be done.

She's also taken to posting sorta unappetizing selfies (moderate content warning).

Those look pretty natural. It's a very hot look in France, called l'air de Mongolfier.

Anyway, Twitchy is documenting this person, whoever she is, and whatever she may have done.

But the reason I'm linking is because of a tweet she tossed towards a model, a Chrissy Tiegen. I linked something about Tiegen a week or so ago. I forget what the hell it was (oh, right, it was about shaming the Teen Mom who wanted to do a Sex Tape), but what I remember about it that sometimes Tiegen looks like this:

I'd buy that for a dollar, I would say if I lived in the Robocop Universe.

Anyway, Bynes sort of proves she's ready to be involuntarily commited by writing this meshugas:

@chrissyteigen Ur not a pretty model compared to me. I signed to Ford models @ age 13. I donÂ’t look up to u beauty wise. IÂ’m far prettier than u! IÂ’m offended that youÂ’re saying I have a mental illness when I show no sign of it, but thankfully not one man that wants me wants you and you are an old ugly model compared to me! You look 45! YouÂ’re not pretty so IÂ’m not intimidated by you! I think youÂ’re jealous that youÂ’re just an ugly model whos career is uninspiring! I donÂ’t respect you! YouÂ’re no beauty queen! IÂ’m a beauty queen!

Casting doubt on her claim that she shows no signs of mental illness: She didn't write that on Twitter. She scrawled it over her face and breasts in lipstick and Rainbow Glitter Sharpie, then posted a picture of it on DesperateCryForHelp.net.

Posted by: Ace at 10:30 AM | Comments (244)
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What's the worst that could happen?

The ad says the former Queens congressman wants interns...

Not really news.

... who can use “social media to enhance our message.”

And patrol toasters for loyalty.

The job is unpaid but does come with free tickle-fingers and mustache rides.

Via the sidebar, Weiner is feeling cocky, inching up in polls of Democratic voters, and now surging just behind Christine Quinn, essentially rubbing her in the tail with his erect and turgid penis.

Oops. Guess I dropped the ball on the "double entendre" thing and just went One Entendre.
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Posted by: Ace at 12:19 PM | Comments (385)
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Great ad. It reminds me a lot of the fantastic "Remember November" ads the RGA ran before the 2010 election. Moar, please. more...

Posted by: JohnE. at 09:50 AM | Comments (165)
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Although Lisa Meyers is reporting this at NBC, here's a link to Breitbart.

We've actually known this -- those of us outside the liberal bubble -- for a week. But now maybe a few people inside it know it now too.

Jay Sekulow is a one-time trial lawyer who represented the IRS in tax-exempt cases. Today, though, he represents 27 conservative groups singled out by the IRS. The lawsuit he intends to file includes letters to his clients that come from "Department of the Treasury / Internal Revenue Service / Washington, D.C."

Sekulow told NBC News:

“We've dealt with 15 agents, including tax law specialists -- that's lawyers -- from four different offices, including (the) Treasury (Department) in Washington, D.C.,” Sekulow said. “So the idea that this is a couple of rogue agents in Cincinnati is not correct.”

Fifth Amendment Enthusiast Lori Lerner's signature is on the cover letters of many of the partisan inquiries-- and those inquiries continued through 2012.

BTW: Schulman called it perfectly normal to visit the White House 118 times in a two year period.

Know how many times the Bush appointee in his position visited the White House from 2003-2007?

Once.

So 118 times does not seem "normal."

Among the reasons Schulman offered for visiting the White House so much -- he said that one time he was there for the Easter egg roll.

Posted by: Ace at 09:08 AM | Comments (213)
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Obama is asking for plans to create a No Fly Zone.

McCain is visiting rebels.

And op-eds on how easy this will all be are starting to appear (WSJ so you may have to Google it to get to the article).

From retired General Jack Keane and Danielle Pletka, head of AEI's foreign and defense studies.

It is the advisability question that is thornier, lending itself to more subjective analysis about the unknowns of a rebel victory and Assad's (as well as Iran's and Hezbollah's) reaction to an escalation. Here are the facts we do know: Right now, countless Syrian innocents are being murdered weekly. Chemical weapons are being used by the regime. Yes, certain factions among the rebels are affiliated with al Qaeda, but it is also true that their allegiance has cost them support among the Syrian civilian population in the months since it was announced.

Play this out: Assad wins and Iran's most important Arab alliance is preserved, with terrorist groups like Hezbollah and Palestinian Islamic Jihad back on the gravy train of international terrorism. American credibility is shot. Or, the conflict continues, and the spillover into Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, Iran and Turkey escalates. Is conflict between Israel and Iran over Syria a ridiculous notion? How about the fall of the Jordanian king? More fighting between al Qaeda allies and Hezbollah in Lebanon? The collapse of Iraq? None of our business? Never going to draw us in? Remember, a return to the status quo ante is out of the question.

Arming the right rebels with antiaircraft weapons and severely degrading Assad's air power with limited airstrikes is achievable without boots on the ground and minimal risk to aircrews. If the U.S. pursues this strategy, moderates among the rebels will be strengthened, Syrian civilian casualties are likely to be reduced (though not eliminated) and finally, after two long years, Assad will be on notice. This option leaves room for escalation to the no-fly zone, and for a further escalation to attacks on Assad's ground forces if he uses chemical weapons again or tries to transfer them to America's enemies.

First off...dead Syrians and chemical weapons aren't of interest to me. That's a them problem, not an us problem.

Second, I find it amusing how the influence of al Qaeda and other Islamists is just waived away. Not many and losing support we're told.

Contrary to the sunny suggestion is the fact that almost everyone agrees it's the most Islamist units that are doing the heaviest and most effective fighting.

But interviews and reviews of military actions in Syria show that Nusra remains a major contributor to rebel tactics. On Wednesday, Nusra participated in the capture of a Syrian army base in the northern province of Idlib. In past weeks, Nusra had played a role in the systematic destruction of army checkpoints along the highway that leads to the base.

Nusra is also key to a fight in the eastern suburbs of Damascus, the Syrian capital, where rebel groups have united in an attempt to reopen a road that all groups in the area had used as a supply line.

“Sometimes you do not hear about any operations by us, because some targets need time,” a Nusra spokesman in eastern Damascus who uses the nom de guerre Abu Hammam said in response to the notion that Nusra had been quieter in recent weeks.

He was answering a question from a Syrian journalist at an informal news conference in Damascus last week, a recording of which was provided to McClatchy by one of the journalists present. During the 80-minute session, Abu Hammam answered questions about the groupÂ’s aims and tactics in what seemed to be an open and candid fashion.

“We will not put down our weapons until God’s law is applied,” he said in response to a question about whether the group sought to impose religious law should the Syrian government fall.

And after doing all this fighting and dying, these hardcore Islamist fighters are just going to...step aside and let the "moderate" and "secular" backup singers have control of the country?

But I'm sure this time we'll pick "the right rebels" and won't wind up with anything like Benghazi.

Or you know, not.

The two suspected kidnappers — Mohamed Nour and Abu Ibrahim — in the photo with Mr. McCain are members of the Northern Storm militant group, who are believed to have planned and executed the abduction, the Daily Star said.

Mr. McCainÂ’s office went on the defensive, issuing a statement through spokesman Brian Rogers.

“A number of the Syrians who greeted Sen. McCain upon his arrival in Syria asked to take pictures with him, and as always, the senator complied,” he said, as quoted in the Daily Mail. “[It] would be regrettable” if those pictured with the senator were kidnappers, he added.

No one thinks McCain condones kidnapping but it's a wonderful illustration of how easy it is to get caught up with the wrong crowd. If you going swimming in a cesspool, you're going to bump into a few turds. Sometimes you have to do business with undesirable but this is case where we really don't have to do business with any of them.

The idea that unlike every other cesspool in that part of the world Syria is going to wind up with some sort of decent and reasonably pro-Western, hell, not anti-Western would be enough, government and society is to place hope above all experience.

Hezballah wants to make Syria the hill they die on? Great, let's make that happen. Yes it will mean getting some weapons to unsavory types but the longer they are using it to kill Batthists and in turn are killed by the Batthists, that's the best the US can hope for. Extend the fighting as long as possible and watch all sides weaken themselves. Once they've bled themselves dry, we can talk about what comes next.

Added: The "reset" with Russia created "flexibility" for them to tell Obama, STFU.

Hmmm, just as the US starts talking about a "No fly zone" the Russians send advanced missiles to Syria. Smart Diplomacy(tm)!

Posted by: DrewM at 06:02 AM | Comments (221)
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Democrats railed at Apple for obeying the tax laws. That's right. Apple obeyed the US tax laws. However, had they arranged their company differently, they could have paid more money to the US government.

So Apple -- which is certainly among liberals' most beloved corporation, after Starbucks and the US Government -- is probably feeling a little heat right now from its liberal, Democratic client base.

Not to mention the government bureaucracy. Which, Gibson Guitars can tell you, can be pretty aggressive about roughing you up if you don't play ball.

There's an app for that -- hiring a disgraced but loyal liberal bureaucrat in need of a paycheck.

Posted by: Ace at 08:44 AM | Comments (112)
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