There's really nothing to get excited about. We are reliably assured by a highly regarded legal scholar that "The key protection of civil liberties lies in the restricted access and use of that information. Unauthorized use is subject to severe penalties and should be invoked to allow for the full collection of the relevant information" Of course that was specifically with respect to drone surveillance, but my untutored layman's mind can't help thinking the principle might apply to IRS dealings as well.

BTW Pejman, fellow resident of the People's Republic of Illinois, we may soon be able to smoke whatever the scandal-denyers are smoking if Gov. Quinnochio signs the medical marijuana bill the legislature just sent him.

The older pix are Army. I have kids who are active duty Army and know that using an umbrella is prohibited for male soldiers. Like Foxfier I don't have the time or patience to ferret out the regs.

I'll hypothesize that there is some kind of exception for attending the President (the marines are not, after all, using the umbrella themselves). I also think it highly unlikely that two Marine E3s (Lance Corporal) would simultaneously take it on themselves to pull out umbrellas that they aren't allowed to have and step up very precisely in very good order without some higher-up giving them the order, or having practiced it.

Thank you.

It would be great if the politicians and pundits on the Right could break themselves of the "he/she is a good person..." tic. Mostly they're not good people. The higher up on the Left you go, the more venal, vicious  nasty, and corrupt they become.

They can afford to do their own PR, we don't need to do it for them.

Beats a 20 oz soda.

A really great show. It was so sad about that young sailor whose pregnant girlfriend took up with some other guy while he was deployed and ended up breaking up with him when he came back.

On Netflix, the Jeremy Brett dramatization of Sherlock Holmes.

I really liked Borgia. Only tenuously connected to real history, but you'll like it if that's the kind of thing you like.  Interestingly as far as I can tell the real Borgia apartments in the Vatican are even more sumptuous, and the medieval punishments even more horrific, than depicted in the series (both of which will give you pause to contemplate).

Great reading once I got past the password reset the NR website always demands of me to login to the subscriber area. The PDF version downloaded this issue too.

Probably I would have gone to the management and insisted that they either enforce their rules or give me my money back.

And only for a moment.

Usually the quickest way to castrate Obama would be to kick Chris Matthews in the jaw.

Not to worry Denise, we can count on the Republicans to get to the bottom of this.

Hubris invites nemesis (h/t to Victor Davis Hanson who has been saying that with respect to Obama for some years now.)

It's not like you'd be singled out for an IRS audit or have your phone records examined by the DOJ or anything.

Gosnell who? In the unlikely event a reporter asks Obama about Gosnell, the answer will go something like:

I'm not familiar with the case, but I think that women should have access to quality healthcare because as I have said ...I also...I want to be perfectly clear that...I always...I would never...I think...political circus...I realize... I remember when I...I hear that there are those that say...during the Bush administration...I... 

And at the top of the low information voter's mind? Angelina Jolie.

Might wake up a few Protestants. Not holding my breath though.

The ACLU must be very pleased that their candidate won.