“I try to play it fair and I said before, I think there is an actual scandal with the IRS,” Maher began.  “We got a hold of some of the forms [that] the IRS was making the applicants fill out, and it really does look like they were trying to search out and expose Tea Party people…”

Maher then proceeded to list a number of fake questions his team concocted, beginning: “List your name, age, and approximate location of your trailer park.”

“When did you first realize that you shouldn’t have to pay taxes?” the fake questionnaire continued.  The allowed responses were either “moments after black guy was elected” or “seconds after black guy was elected.”

Another question asked: “To which of these do you currently cling?”  The possible multiple-choice responses were: “Gun; Bible; False memories of a simpler time, probably from television; All of the above.”

“F***ing immigrants, am I right?” the spoof form concluded, the possible responses being either “yes” or “hell yes.”

Watch the entire segment below:

–

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AP

The Internal Revenue Service claims the disclosure of conservative groups’ confidential information to investigative journalism outfit ProPublica was “inadvertent and unintentional.”

After the IRS admitted to deliberately targeting conservative organizations that applied for tax-exempt status, ProPublica reported it had received nine still-pending applications as part of its request for information about 67 nonprofits last year. The pending applications should have remained confidential.

“When these two issues were previously raised concerning the potential unauthorized disclosures of 501(c)(4) application information, we immediately referred these cases to TIGTA [Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration] for a comprehensive review. In both instances, TIGTA found these instances to be inadvertent and unintentional disclosures by the employees involved,” read an IRS statement to ProPublica sent Friday.

ProPublica bills itself as an independent nonprofit investigative journalism outlet, but has been described as liberal by its detractors and is supported in part by George Soros’ Open Society Foundations.

–

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But his remarks left much to be desired.

“Can you assure the American people that nobody in the White House knew about the agency’s actions before your Counsel’s Office found out on April 22nd?” a reporter asked the president.

“I can assure you that I certainly did not know anything about the IG report before the IG report had been leaked through the press,” the president said.

Well, she didn’t actually ask about the inspector general’s report. Come to think of it, he didn’t even answer for the White House. He only answered for himself.

And we’re not the only ones who think the president’s answer was overly cautious and lacking in substance.

Conservative columnist and commentator Charles Krauthammer thinks the president’s rhetorical handling of the IRS scandal makes even Bill Clinton (the same man who famously said “It depends on what the meaning of the word ‘is’ is”) look unsophisticated:

–

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Featured image AP photo.

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kcisradio.com

Dr. James Dobson, a well-known Christian author and radio host, has come forward to discuss the disturbing details of his alleged run-in with the Internal Revenue Service.

It all started when he decided to create a 501(c)(4) for his radio ministry, Family Talk. TheBlaze interviewed his son, Ryan Dobson, about the 18-month debacle.

The organization, according to Dobson, submitted its application to the IRS on September 2, 2011.

Despite having what he called a “good attorney” who has been working in the industry for 26 years and who has never had an application denied, the IRS allegedly made the process needlessly difficult — at one point threatening to refuse approval.

Problems began shortly after the application was first submitted.

Dobson said Family Talk didn’t hear back from the government for six months. And when they finally did hear back, the IRS allegedly flooded them with odd questions.

“There were all kinds of questions — ones we’ve never seen before,” Ryan told TheBlaze, adding that the agency asked for their political opinions and for copies of past broadcasts and transcripts.

Despite meeting the IRS’ latter demand, Dobson said they didn’t hear back from the agency for another six months. Finally, the attorney for Family Talk contacted the IRS, asking for additional information.

Again, silence.

It wasn’t until March 19 of this year — 18 months after the time-frame of the original application — that the IRS appeared ready to discuss the group’s application.

“We inquired about our status and [the agent] said she was probably going to recommend that our application not be [granted],” Dobson told TheBlaze. “She said we were political and we had criticized President Obama … and she said we did it when he was a candidate.”

Dobson found this particularly odd, as he noted that his father has been in radio for 36 years and has worked under both 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) regulations.

“He explicitly understands [IRS law]. He does not cross that line,” Dobson said. “So to accuse us of something like that, it makes your hair curl.”

Equally troubling, Dobson said that the agent told Family Talk that they sounded like a partisan, right-wing group and that, because the organization doesn’t represent all viewpoints, it cannot be considered educational.

The agent, according to Dobson, asked the organization if it would like to revise its application, supposedly to fix the purported issues that were presented. Family Talk declined and threatened to take the IRS to court if the delays continued. Nine days later, the application was apparently approved.

Getty Images.

While Dobson said the group isn’t currently planning to take any legal action, its members are speaking out about what unfolded.

“I have to be honest. It’s a very scary time for a nation right now. We’re kind of at a watershed moment,” he told TheBlaze. “We’re just trampling the Constitution. It’s bulling. It’s just a straight bully tactic. … that’s not the country our forefathers foresaw.”

Dobson made an interesting point — that not everyone would have had the means or patience to push back against the IRS. Considering how long it took Family Talk to secure its status, he wonders how many other groups simply gave up in the midst of government push-back.

As for political opinions being sought by the IRS, Dobson was perplexed. Family Talk was interested in addressing policy issues — something that couldn’t be adequately done under their 501(c)(3) status, which is why they were seeking out the 501(c)(4) application.

“What are our political opinions in the implications of what we do as a ministry?” he asked. “Again, those questions have no bearing on a 501(c)(4) application whatsoever.”

He called the questions “inappropriate.” While Dobson declined to quote his attorney directly, he made it clear that the lawyer had never been treated in such a manner in his entire career.

This is not the first faith group to come forward, alleging IRS intimidation. As the situation unfolds, it seems more individuals and organizations are coming forward with similar claims.

–

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This post has been updated.

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Ashley Warden, a former Chili’s restaurant waitress, posted a picture and comment disparaging of local police officers to her Facebook wall, causing a viral uproar that resulted in her losing her job, KOTV-TV reports.

The post read: “Stupid Cops better hope I’m not their server FDP” (“FDP” is shorthand for “f**k da police”). Unsurprisingly, her post sparked outrage, leading many to contact the restaurant, the report adds.

(Image: KOTV)

The picture Warden posted were of three Oklahoma County Sheriff department deputies who had just finished volunteering as escorts for a funeral held for a Catholic priest.

“This is what she posts and what she chooses to post during Law Enforcement Week when we are honoring those who have died in service to our citizens, I think that’s pathetic,” Sheriff John Whetsel told KOTV-TV.

“I was extremely disappointed that here are these dedicated public servants got called names and then get threatened by a lady that doesn’t have a clue about who they are or what they do or the service they provide.”

Watch KOTV-TV’s report:

Piedmont Police Officer Scott Gibbons saw the post, according to KOCO-TV, and re-posted it, saying he ”felt the need to let other members of the community know that they might reconsider where they eat.”

Chili’s issued a statement that confirming Warden had been fired, citing its Social Media Guidelines, which ask team members to “always be respectful of our guests and to use proper judgment when discussing actions in the work place.” 

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Although you can’t hear the shots in the following video, the crowd’s reaction is unmistakable:

Waltz was doing the interview for French news program called Le Grand Journal. After the shots were fired, security rushed him from the stage.

“Television footage showed Waltz, other guests and crew scrambling from the seaside stage as a voice said ‘there’s someone shooting,’” the Associated Press reports.

“When transmission resumed minutes later, host Michel Denisot said the noise had been caused by blanks. There were no reports of injuries,” the report continues. “Local newspaper Nice-Matin reported that a man was detained by police with a starter’s pistol, a pocket knife and a plastic grenade.”

–

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(H/T: TMZ). This post has been updated.

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CORTLAND, NY—Amid mounting scrutiny over scandals involving last September’s attack on the U.S. embassy in Benghazi, the IRS’ alleged targeting of conservative groups, and the Department of Justice’s spying on the Associated Press, Obama supporter Jake Maynard reportedly devised a perfectly implausible explanation Thursday that frees the president from any blame.

“Look, he’s the President of the United States of America; how could he possibly be involved in or aware of every single high-level action taken by the prominent government agencies he oversees?” said Maynard, noticeably perspiring as he explained the completely illogical reason why the President of the United States will emerge from this week’s scandals unscathed. “Let’s watch this thing play out. I have no doubt that in a week, more than enough evidence will come out showing he had nothing to do with any of this. You’ll see.” Maynard, whose voice quavered several times during his asinine explanation, ended his perfectly invalid defense of the president by stressing that this was all politics and that “none of this would even be happening if the president were someone other than Obama.”

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“You’re talking about government not working, but who’s in charge of the executive branch,” Woodward said Friday. “You go to the Constitution, and the president has sole responsibility for the executive branch. This rests on him.”

Comparing the release of emails from the administration to Nixon’s edited transcripts, he concluded: “I would not dismiss Benghazi. It’s a very serious issue.”

WATCH:

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I love Chipotle. The food is fresh, great price, hard working staff and always tasty. See u there at lunch sometime.

— Scott P. Brown (@ScottBrownMA) May 17, 2013

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To join the chat — there is a button on the top right of the player window or you can hover your cursor over the player window for options.

To ask a question — click the button at the bottom.  We’ll be able to display your question or comment in the player window!

And as always you can leave other comments in the regular comment section below!

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This week it was Good Morning America and This Week anchor George Stephanopoulos. He answered similar questions (“When do you get to spend time with your family?”) But, as we’re wont to do, we took a look at the questions he didn’t answer.

George did not answer many questions. But one woman we really wish he paid attention to  goes by the name Shanice Brady…

Brady, who’s Facebook profile photo is of a monkey hugging a cat, asked several questions. Here are the top 6:

1. “Everyone has always said how young you look for your age… Do you ever get carded at R-rated movies?”

2. “Did you ever talk about cigars with Bill Clinton? If so, what are his favorites? What are your favorites?”

3. “If Kim Jong Un and Dennis Rodman had an argument over who was the best basketball player who would you side with and why?”

4. “[Conservative commentator and regular guest on This Week] George Will has a fine mind but if he mentions baseball again I will flip my lid. Do you ever just pretend Mr. Will is not there and move on to the next commentator?”

5. “George, boxers or briefs? If you go commando just don’t reply.”

6. “If I claim to be gay or disabled would you answer any of my questions more quickly?”

@eScarry

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And who’s saying this? Fox News? Rush Limbaugh?

Um, no.  It’s NBC-freaking-News:

The IRS commissioner “has known for at least a year that this was going on,” said [NBC's Lisa] Myers, “and that this had happened. And did he share any of that information with the White House? But even more importantly, Congress is going to ask him, why did you mislead us for an entire year? Members of Congress were saying conservatives are being targeted. What’s going on here? The IRS denied it. Then when — after these officials are briefed by the IG that this is going on, they don’t disclose it. In fact, the commissioner sent a letter to Congress in September on this subject and did not reveal this. Imagine if we — if you can — what would have happened if this fact came out in September 2012, in the middle of a presidential election? The terrain would have looked very different.”

WATCH:

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Mediaite’s Andrew Kirell explains:

The article describes in detail how the conservative columnist “walked out” of a premiere of Star Trek: Into Darkness because the film included “too many minorities.”

By creating fake dialogue with Coulter lamenting to radio host Sean Hannity that the movie’s only white characters were Soviets or Jews, the Currant creates what some might easily interpret as a “realistic” situation for the conservative commentator.

Photo Credit: Getty Images

“Apparently in the future the liberals have extinguished all the white people,” the faux article quotes Coulter as saying. “I mean they got a black girl running the communications, an Asian guy driving the ship and a pointy-eared alien doing pretty much everything else.”

And the fake dialogue doesn’t end there. The made-up quotes go on to depict the conservative commentator as saying, “I guess we’re supposed to just accept that minorities will be the new majority. This isn’t an entertainment film — it’s nothing but a pro-Obama, multicultural piece of propaganda.”

Rather than simply laughing off the joke, some who caught wind of the article took it as gospel and reacted with rage. The responses on Twitter are as follows (even famed musician Questlove got in on the mix, although, as Kirell notes, it’s unclear whether he knew it was a joke):

Ann Coulter Walks Out of Star Trek, Claims ‘Too Many Minorities’ http://t.co/qNrGDztGbh

May 17, 2013 11:00am via Tweet ButtonReplyRetweetFavorite

@questlove

Questlove Jenkins

Why is she allowed to do this?? RT @questlove Ann Coulter Walks Out of Star Trek, Claims ‘Too Many Minorities’ http://t.co/S4JpQeRCzC

May 17, 2013 11:03am via Falcon ProReplyRetweetFavorite

@DKMEDIANYC

DKMEDIA

See some of the other responses here.

As TheBlaze reported in the past, this isn’t the first time that The Daily Currant fooled readers with a Coulter parody. In January, another story, entitled “Ann Coulter Refuses to Board Airplane With Black Pilot,” argued that the commentator refused to board a plane because she feared the black pilot got her job as a result of affirmative action, thus making her unqualified to fly.

This, too, was completely false, as Jason Howerton noted at the time.

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Former Florida Rep. Allen West will join Fox News as a contributor, the network said on Thursday.

“Representative West’s congressional and military experience along with his fearless approach to voicing key issues will provide a valuable point of view to the Fox News lineup,” Bill Shine, the network’s executive vice president of programming, said in a statement.

West is the latest big-name conservative to work with the cable network.  Earlier this year, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin parted ways with Fox News after three years.  Reports at the time suggested that it was Palin’s decision not to renew her contract as a part-time contributor.

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In fact, Garrett went on the CBS evening news to explain:

Garrett’s point seems to be that Republicans misled the public by releasing a version of the Benghazi talking points emails that includes inaccurate or incomplete information. But the situation may be more convoluted than the article and television stories explain. Without a doubt, there are discrepancies between previous reports about the talking points and the emails that were released by the White House, however there are some important points and distinctions worth making.

The discrepancies

Garrett pinpoints two key differences in his CBS News report about the email exchanges. When comparing the quotes, the text in the White House version is noticeably different from the version that was previously highlighted.

Garrett notes that one of the quotes in question belonged to national security adviser Ben Rhodes. The official’s comment in the email purportedly leaked (presumably to ABC’s Jon Karl) read, ”We must make sure that the talking points reflect all agency equities, including those of the State Department, and we don’t want to undermine the FBI investigation.” But the wording in the White House version said, ”We need to resolve this in a way that respects all of the relevant equities, particularly the investigation.”

The words “State Department” were not present in this latter text.

The Rhodes issue isn’t the only difference noted by Garrett, though. The Huffington Post also summarized the changes between the White House version of the e-mails and the set that Garrett claims was put out by the GOP. Here’s another one of the disparities from these exchanges:

The GOP version of Nuland’s comment, according to CBS News: “The penultimate point is a paragraph talking about all the previous warnings provided by the Agency (CIA) about al-Qaeda’s presence and activities of al-Qaeda.”

The White House email: “The penultimate point could be abused by members to beat the State Department for not paying attention to Agency warnings.”

Regardless of who is right about the initial ABC News report, Business Insider notes that the State Department still had involvement in the White House’s version: “The emails released by the White House, however, do show a significant amount of concern on the part of the State Department. Brendan Buck, the spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner, said the emails showed the “political nature” of the State Department’s talking-point changes.”

Is there an explanation?

As TheBlaze reported earlier this week, this story isn’t new; disparities between the e-mails were already highlighted by CNN’s Jake Tapper earlier this week, as the host also noted that Rhodes didn’t mention the State Department in his official Benghazi correspondence.

While a possible explanation is not mentioned in Garrett’s report, TheBlaze previously highlighted one possible reason for the difference in wording. Here’s a portion of our previous report, which provides some context:

Tapper, who previously worked at ABC, reports that “whoever provided those accounts seemingly invented the notion that Rhodes wanted the concerns of the State Department specifically addressed.” ABC’s Jonathan Karl responded to Tapper’s report Tuesday by saying he quoted verbatim a source who had seen the original emails but was not permitted to make copies of them.

Karl said he contacted his source, who said that Rhodes’ reply “was after a long chain of email about State Dept concerns. So when WH emailer says, take into account all equities, he is talking about the State equities, since that is what the email chain was about.”

To review: The so-called GOP version of the emails consisted of someone reading the talking points to ABC News. This does not dismiss the differences, but it does add some more context to the scenario in helping to explain why the texts vary in the first place. And it certainly doesn’t implicate any obvious Republican source.

So that makes Garrett’s charge that it was “Republicans” who altered the emails much more curious. In fact, Garrett claims that there is a “Republican version” of the emails that was previously released and that this text is apparently inaccurate compared to the emails that were finally released by the White House this week. Throughout his report, Garrett even mentions this “Republican version.”

He wrote:

On Friday, Republicans leaked what they said was a quote from Rhodes: “We must make sure that the talking points reflect all agency equities, including those of the State Department, and we don’t want to undermine the FBI investigation.”

But it turns out that in the actual email, Rhodes did not mention the State Department.

But that is a new charge. While it is entirely possible GOP members leaked the e-mails, there has been no admission of that publicly, and Garrett doesn’t cite sources.

So where does this all leave us? First, there’s no denying that there are discrepancies. But is it true that it was Republicans who either altered them or were behind intentionally misleading the public? As the CBS report stands, that allegation has not been proven.

(H/T: Huffington Post)

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Only problem is that Thomas (pictured right) was once a female columnist for Hearst Newspapers, not a man.

From a Thursday editorial in Rodong Sinmun, one of North Korea’s state-run papers, which repeatedly uses male terms to refer to Thomas:

The U.S. pressmen are cripple reporters under gag law.

A vivid proof of it is an early retirement of Helen Thomas, one of a few White House reporters.

Requested by his colleague to comment on the Israel issue, he said Israel should withdraw from Palestine, an occupied territory.

There was nothing wrong in his remark.

But, unable to bear down the repeated pressure of the U.S. authorities siding with Israel, Thomas made public a statement of “apology” and made the last parting with his job.

Thomas was actually caught on tape in 2010 saying that Jews should “get the hell out of Palestine.” Not that Israel should withdraw from Palestine.

h/t Washington Post

@eScarry

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In the Wall Street Journal, Peggy Noonan says Rove shouldn’t take his Rovian approach to the IRS scandal, either.

From Noonan’s Friday column:

[I]t would be shameful and shallow for any Republican operative or operator to make this scandal into a commercial and turn it into a mere partisan arguing point and part of the game. It’s not part of the game. This is not about the usual partisan slugfest. This is about the integrity of our system of government and our ability to trust, which is to say our ability to function.

@eScarry

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President Barack Obama and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan participate in a news conference in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, Thursday, May 16, 2013. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney appeared on CNN’s “Piers Morgan Live” Thursday night to answer questions related to the three separate scandals that have turned the federal government on its head over the last two weeks.

Carney’s answers summed up: There are no scandals.

“You’re concocting scandals that don’t exist,” Carney said, when show host Piers Morgan asked how the Obama administration would “restore the faith that some Americans have lost” in its transparency.

“Especially with regard to the Benghazi affair that was contrived by Republicans and, I think, has fallen apart largely this week,” Carney said.

He continued, “The fact of the matter is that this administration has a record on transparency that outdoes any previous administrations. And we are committed to that. The president is committed to that.”

Beginning last week when several high-level government officials testified on what happened leading up to the attack on an American consulate in Libya in September, two other scandals potentially implicating the Obama administration have developed: One in which the IRS unfairly targeted conservative non-profits for scrutiny, the other involving the Department of Justice secretly seizing the phone records of Associates Press reporters and editors last year.

Regarding the Benghazi attack, Carney dismissed it as “a faux controversy stirred up by Republicans.”

On the IRS issue: “When [President Obama] found out… that there had been inappropriate and wrong conduct by IRS personnel… he spoke out about it, he made clear he thought it was an outrage and he has taken action.” (Acting IRS Director Steven Miller submitted his resignation Wednesday.)

And on the Associated Press scandal, which Obama has only commented on to say that the White House had no knowledge of: “It is entirely inappropriate for a president… to engage in… a criminal investigation.”

At the start of the program, Carney said it’s been “a challenging week, but a week that I’ve enjoyed.”

Watch:

–

RELATED:

• Obama Dodges Big Question on IRS Scandal
• Megyn Kelly Goes Off on Guest Over Benghazi Talking Points: ‘Can We Have Some Honesty?’

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(Credit: CBN)

Robertson asked his co-host what she thought, to which she replied, “I think forgiveness can be one of the most difficult things in the whole wide world to do, and especially when it comes to a spouse, because that’s one of the ultimate betrayals.”

(Credit: CBN)

Robertson then interjected, saying, “Here’s the secret,” looked into the camera, and said (in a slightly exasperated tone), “Stop. Talking. About. The. Cheating. He cheated on you. Well, he’s a man, okay.”

(Credit: CBN)

Among the other tips and thoughts Robertson presented:

• “Recognize, also, like it or not, males have a tendency to wander a little bit, and what you want to do is make a home so wonderful that he doesn’t want to wander.”
• Focus on why you married him in the first place.
• Does he provide food, shelter, clothing? Is he nice to the children and does he do things with them?
• “Is he handsome?”
• Fall in love with him all over again.
• Touch his face, hold his hand, look into his eyes.
• Don’t focus on what makes you mad, just the good stuff.
• Give him honor.
• Keep in mind that there’s a lot of pornography out there, to which men are enticed every day.

Robertson ended his monologue by suggesting, “Thank God you have a marriage that is together, that you live in America, and that good things are happening. Okay, next question.”

This Q&A starts at the 49:20 mark in the below episode:

–

Featured image CBN.

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Associated Press.

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin posted a lengthy message to her Facebook wall Thursday criticizing the Obama administration for its handling the Benghazi, IRS, and Associated Press phone records scandals:

Scandalous Hat Trick

Mr. President, when it rains it pours, but most Americans hold their own umbrellas. Today in the Rose Garden you dismissed the idea of a Special Counsel to investigate the IRS scandal. With that, your galling political hubris shined bright in the midst of today’s dark clouds.

Mr. President, how can we trust your Justice Department to conduct an independent investigation when there is a systemic violation of the Hatch Act throughout your administration?

Surely you are aware that the Hatch Act prevents certain federal employees from engaging in political activity. Specifically, it’s illegal for these federal employees to engage in action in support of or in opposition to a political party, a candidate for partisan political office, or a partisan political group.

Yet that is exactly what’s happened within the IRS, the Justice Department, and in the Benghazi cover-up. This scandalous hat trick is on your watch. It is not believable that you knew nothing about Obama administration actions in dealing with these scandals. And in regards to Benghazi, when you should have taken appropriate action to save American lives – for instance by calling in the Marines – you were AWOL. Just weeks before the election your team scrubbed the Benghazi talking points in 12 different versions, lied to the American people about some YouTube video being to blame for the deaths of brave Americans who put our country first, and you prove Michael Barone right when he writes, “What actually happened in Benghazi was out of sync with the Obama campaign line.” That’s why you all did what you did. Pure raw politics were at play during a horrific time of loss.

For more evidence of Hatch Act violations right under your nose, simply consider DOJ’s “massive and unprecedented intrusion” into the free press. Do you think they picked up some political talk when tapping the phones in the House press gallery?

Your team is out of control. Those who cannot remember the past and learn from it are doomed to repeat it, and that is exactly what is happening. Look back exactly 40 years ago this week and apply that disheartening chapter of American history to the team you’ve chosen and lead today.

Some of us warned America; we cautioned voters in 2008 that a community organizer with no executive experience and no sense of accountability would be a very poor choice for the nation’s top management position.

Mr. President, you said today that you have “complete confidence” in the Attorney General. America doesn’t. Eric Holder needs to appoint an unbiased Special Counsel to investigate the illegal political action of this administration. And then Eric Holder needs to resign.

Most Americans see ominous dark clouds looming beyond the White House Rose Garden, Mr. President. They’ll roll away only when light is shined on the Obama administration’s antics, and America will only recover when you cease avoiding responsibility in this mission of yours to fundamentally transform America. For that to happen, the press had better learn from their experiences of being duped and provide a deserving public fairer, more intelligent coverage.

Speaking of coverage, glad you finally called in the Marines… shame it was just to hold your umbrella.

- Sarah Palin

Well then. Tell us how you really feel.

–

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Fox News

Fox News host Megyn Kelly exploded at one of her liberal guests during her show Thursday while discussing the much-handled Benghazi talking points, ultimately demanding, “Can we have some honesty?”

Simon Rosenberg, founder of the progressive think tank NDN, claimed nothing new had been gleaned about the Libya attacks in the last few weeks.

“What?” a baffled Kelly asked. “Did you know that the State Department was heavily involved in editing the talking points?”

Rosenberg responded that “we know that there were terrible mistakes made on the ground in Libya that allowed this tragic event to happen” and “we know that for several weeks afterwards the administration was confused about what happened.”

“We don’t know that,” Kelly said.

She went on to note that White House press secretary Jay Carney had said that only very minimal changes to the talking points were made. “Maybe I’m just naïve because I was still believing Jay Carney until I saw all this evidence.”

After Kelly asked again whether or not Carney misled the American public, Rosenberg repeated the point that nothing had “materially changed,” noting that “we know there was confusion.”

“You’re telling me Jay Carney was being truthful? He made a mistake twice in November and then again in May?” Kelly shouted. “Come on, Simon! It is not a mistake to say that it was only stylistic changes and only one word was changed.”

“That’s not a mistake when we now know that the White House was the one meeting on this issue. I just — can we have some honesty? Wouldn’t it be so great?”

Watch the exchange below, via Mediaite:

–

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@piersmorgan disappointed :(

— a Thai Gooner (@gunnerthai) May 16, 2013

@piersmorgan DAMN :(

— djshamielx (@djshamielx) May 16, 2013

@piersmorgan seems like you got a lot of positive feedback on that post

— max montgomery (@maxmontyphoto) May 16, 2013

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He continued:

“I mean, just all of a sudden, well, you have this thing over at the Justice Department. They’re over there getting all these phone records of all the reporters, ‘the attorney general, well, he didn’t know anything about it.’ You get to the IRS, they don’t seem to know anything about the tea party thing. You come to the White House, they don’t know anything about Benghazi. I mean, somebody has got to grab hold of this thing. You know, it’s, it’s very, very disturbing what we’re seeing here.”

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Photo Credit: Fox News

Conservative commentator Bill Cunningham and Democratic consultant Joe Trippi joined Sean Hannity’s show last night to discuss the Internal Revenue Service’s targeting of conservative and Tea Party groups.

The three repeatedly clashed while discussing the scandal and the level to which calculated tactics may have been used to cripple the Tea Party’s efforts during the 2012 election.

Throughout the discussion, Cunningham charged the IRS with essentially assisting President Barack Obama’s re-election prospects, at one point asking Trippi if he agreed that the scenario could be viewed as a “damnable cover-up.” Wasting no time in responding, the Democratic operative said, “No Bill, I don’t.”

The on-air spat that followed is worth watching, as Cunningham seemed to maintain that the IRS scandal was more than simply an error perpetuated by a few individuals. Here’s how Mediaite frames the overall discussion:

Hannity pointed out that the current acting head of the IRS was just that, an acting head, and therefore the resignation is purely symbolic. He said that the American people had a right to know about this before the 2012 election, with Cunningham saying that the White House resorted to “Chicago-style politics” after a crushing defeat in the 2010 midterms in order to do well in the next cycle. He claimed that the IRS was keeping Tea Party groups too busy to recruit millions more voters for Mitt Romney.

Cunningham declared that the IRS was in the business of “electing Obama,” and touted how even some liberals are piling on Obama for lying on Benghazi. Trippi hesitated to join that crowd, and said that unlike with the IRS and AP scandals, Benghazi has remained a highly partisan issue with Democrats giving it far less credence than the other scandals. Cunningham and Hannity agreed that all three scandals share the common themes of abuse of power and getting Obama reelected.

Watch the clash below:

(H/T: Mediaite)

–

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Responding to a viewer question submitted online as to whether Baier thought it was possible Fox News or other news outlets have been “tapped or looked into,” Baier said yes.

“In fact, the Attorney General told NPR yesterday that he can’t remember how many he’s approved, in that he has turned down some but he can’t remember how many he’s approved,” Baier said. “That suggests that there are numerous. So, yes, I do think there are other outlets who have experienced the same thing, but we don’t know which ones.”

h/t Real Clear Politics

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Evan Mathis. (NFL via Getty Images)

We didn’t think it could happen, but it looks like the Internal Revenue Service has manged to make itself even ​more ​unpopular with Americans that it already was  — if that’s even possible.

For instance, Philadelphia Eagles offensive lineman Evan Mathis on Wednesday decided to express his disgust for the fed agency by posting the following photo to his Instagram account:

Yes, that’s a picture of him “urinating” (we’re not sure if he’s really doing it) on the IRS building. And, yes, the picture is captioned, “audit this.”

Now, although we have a strong feeling he’ll be forced to offer a public apology (and may even face a fine), it doesn’t sound like he regrets a thing:

How high are we counting?RT @DCFanaticsBlog: Evan Mathis will be apologizing later today. Count on that.

May 15, 2013 1:47pm via Tweetbot for iOSReplyRetweetFavorite

@EvanMathis69

Evan Mathis

-            

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From Pew Research Center:

Fewer than half (44%) of Americans say they are following the hearings very or fairly closely, virtually unchanged from late January when Hillary Clinton testified. Last October, 61% said they were following the early stages of the investigation at least fairly closely.

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Fox News host Geraldo Rivera had some nearly intelligible thoughts on the matter…

“No longer ‘Juice’ but ‘Gravy’ fat OJ Simpson is pathetic shadow,” he wrote on Twitter. “Too bad he’s in jail for lame theatrical robbery not his double murders.”

Rivera was one of the many TV stars of the 1995 Simpson trial, providing wall-to-wall coverage of the trial’s race angle on his then-CNBC program Rivera Live.

No longer ‘Juice’ but ‘Gravy’ fat OJ Simpson ispathetic shadow Too bad he’s in jail for lame theatrical robbery not his double murders.

— Geraldo Rivera (@GeraldoRivera) May 15, 2013

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The White House has asked Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) to reintroduce a press shield law, White House officials said Wednesday.

The move comes after questions were raised about the seizure of Associated Press phone records by the Justice Department as part of a national security leak investigation.

Shield laws protect journalists from being forced to reveal sources. The version that passed the Judiciary Committee in 2009 included exemptions for national security.

Schumer praised the new push.

“This kind of law would balance national security needs against the public’s right to the free flow of information,” Schumer said. “At minimum, our bill would have ensured a fairer, more deliberate process in this case.”

So, essentially the White House is lobbying for a “press shield” bill to protect the press from… the White House?  Awesome.

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The government is simply too big for President Obama to keep track of all the wrongdoing taking place on his watch, his former senior adviser, David Axelrod, told MSNBC. “Part of being president is there’s so much beneath you that you can’t know because the government is so vast,” he explained.

WATCH:

Here’s a novel idea: If the federal bureaucracy is “too vast” for the President to manage, wouldn’t it make sense to shrink the government rather than grow it?  Food for thought…

At another point in the same interview, Axelrod defended the Department of Justice’s decision to track the phones of reporters in order to plug a intel leak.  Madeleine has more on that here.

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Attorney General Eric Holder pauses during a news conference at the Justice Department in Washington, Tuesday, May 14, 2013. Holder said he’s ordered a Justice Department investigation into the Internal Revenue Service’s targeting of conservative groups for extra tax scrutiny. (Photo: AP/J. Scott Applewhite)

Attorney General Eric Holder might not have been the one to sign off on the subpoena that allowed two months of Associated Press reporters’ and editors’ phone records to be obtained, but he has authorized similar subpoenas in the past.

Speaking with NRP’s Carrie Johnson on Morning Edition, Holder couldn’t say just how often this happens though.

“I’m not sure how many of those cases … I have actually signed off on,” Holder said. “I take them very seriously. I know that I have refused to sign a few [and] pushed a few back for modifications.”

TheBlaze pointed out that according to the DOJ’s U.S. Attorneys’ Manual, Holder’s signature would generally be required for the “issuance of any subpoena to a member of the news media or for the telephone toll records of a member of the news media.” In the case of the leak for which the Associated Press was being investigated, Holder said he wasn’t involved as he had recused himself of the case in order to avoid a conflict of interest.

At a press conference Tuesday, Holder was asked if the phone records of other news organizations were obtained during the investigation. Holder said he couldn’t answer that as he wasn’t sure since he had been recused.

News organizations through the Reporters Committee for Freedom of Press sent a letter to Holder Tuesday asking that the department “return the telephone toll records obtained and destroy all copies” and “announce whether it has served any other pending news media-related subpoenas that have not yet been disclosed,” among other requests.

(H/T: Huffington Post)

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Rep. Bachmann tries out Google Glass at House #GOP mtg twitter.com/LukeRussert/st…

— Luke Russert (@LukeRussert) May 15, 2013

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MSNBC

MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough had a fiery exchange Wednesday with former Obama senior adviser David Axelrod over the Justice Department’s seizure of Associated Press phone records, accusing Axelrod of peddling a “bogus argument” and misstating Scarborough’s past remarks.

Axelrod said he recalled speaking with the “Morning Joe” co-host last summer, when Scarborough asked when Obama was going to take a strong stance against leakers.

“No, no, no, no,” Scarborough cut in. “I’ve heard the president’s defenders try to say this, and I congratulate you guys for going off into a room and calling each other and coming up with this bogus argument — but never did I suggest that 100 AP reporters have all of their phone records seized, their private cell phone records seized, their home phone numbers seized. So please, save that for somebody else that’s going to buy into that. Don’t shift this to me!”

Scarborough continued, “Answer my question. Will sources, confidential sources inside the federal government, be intimidated because of what this administration, according to The New York Times, has been doing from the very beginning?”

Axelrod acknowledged that it could have an impact on whistleblowers, after which Scarborough said the administration can investigate leaks without going overboard.

“This was so overly broad, it violated all of the Justice Department’s guidelines,” Scarborough said. “There is a middle ground here, you don’t have to give a sledgehammer to the First Amendment.”

​Watch the full exchange below, via MSNBC:

—————

Related: 
Axelrod: Government is just too darn big for Obama to know what goes on… 

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Apparently President Obama’s chief advisor is now the nightly network news broadcast — it seems to be where he’s getting most of his information from.  And, as The Daily Show demonstrated last night, today’s scandals aren’t the first examples of President Obama relying on media reports to keep him apprised of what’s going on in his own administration.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if President Obama learned Osama bin Laden had been killed when he saw himself announce it on television,” Stewart joked.

WATCH:

Additionally, Stewart extended his sympathies for “the real victim in all of this” — British PM David Cameron — who was awkwardly caught in the middle of the swirling scandals during Monday’s joint press conference.

See additional video after the jump!

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Via Politico:

“The scope of this action calls into question the very integrity of Department of Justice policies toward the press and its ability to balance, on its own, its police powers against the First Amendment rights of the news media and the public’s interest in reporting on all manner of government conduct, including matters touching on national security which lie at the heart of this case,” the letter from The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and 51 other news organizations including Advance Publications, Cox Media Group, The McClatchy Company, The New York Times Company and NPR, among many others, stated.

The media organizations also noted that no one could “remember an instance where such an overreaching dragnet for newsgathering materials was deployed by the Department, particularly without notice to the affected reporters or an opportunity to seek judicial review” in the 30 years since the department issued guidelines about its subpoena practices for journalists’ phone records.

Click here to read the full letter. Also, Eddie has more on the mainstream media’s reactions here.

On a related note, have you seen Media Matters’ defense of the DOJ?  It is epic.

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“In all honesty, I did have a bad haircut and I had no business being on television. I was awful,” Hannity told THR. “I’ve said to Roger [Ailes] many times, ‘Why didn’t you fire me in the first six months? I was god awful.’ He said nobody was really watching then.” He added, “The timing for me to grow was perfect. Today, there would have been articles written about how I did that first night. It’s much more competitive.”

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“Unacceptable,” tweeted former MSNBC and Current TV anchor Keith Olbermann. “If Mr. Holder continues to support this rogue action, he should resign.”

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A.J. Clemente was fired for swearing on air on his first day as co-anchor of this local news station. (Image: YouTube screenshot)

The West Virginia University alum is now employed as a bartender at a restaurant in Dewey Beach, Delaware.

Speaking with the gossip site RumorFix, Clemente said he’s working at Table and Taproom for $2.23 an hour plus tips.

A couple tweets from the Clemente confirmed his new employment:

The Table and Taproom was previously Captain’s Table, which just this year got a make-over with a new concept from its owners, is located on Route 1 between Rehoboth Beach and Dewey Beach.

Clemente got his 15 minutes of fame in April when he began his career with NBC affiliate KFYR-TV in Bismark, which quickly ended after he cursed not realizing he was on air.

Clemente apologized and called a “rookie mistake,” but the video of his gaffe had already gone viral. Clemente soon ended up with appearances on the “Today” show, “Live with Kelly and Michael” and others.

This image released by NBC shows hosts Savannah Guthrie, left, and Matt Lauer, center, with news anchor A.J. Clemente on the “Today” show, Wednesday, April 24, 2013 in New York. Clemente was fired Monday after he opened his first-ever broadcast with obscenities on Sunday. (Photo: AP/NBC, Peter Kramer)

Here’s Clemente on Letterman:

This job might not be the ESPN career he was hoping for but at least he’s employed.

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Related:

• This Is Literally the Worst Way to Start a TV News Anchor Career
• Shortest Career Ever? Anchor Who Unleashed a String of Expletives During News Intro Says He’s Been Fired
• What Did the Anchor Fired After First Day for Cursing Do the Night After His On-Air Gaffe? 

(H/T: Fox News Latino)

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Washington Post columnist Kathleen Parker says the two are pretty much on the same team most times anyway.

From her Wednesday column:

Americans accustomed to hating the media — a popular pastime of self-proclaimed “new media,” often meaning someone with an iPhone and a laptop — should stop hitting “snooze” on their wake-up call right about now. When the choice is between distrusting reporters and distrusting the government, there’s no contest, especially when the aggrieved are groups of people (tea partyers and self-proclaimed patriots) whose chief organizing principle is distrust of government.

Reporters, though they are merely human with all the attendant imperfections, are fundamentally on the patriot team. They’re sort of like cops: You hate them when their blue lights appear in the rear view, but you love them when something goes bump in the night.

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The Media Matters Action Network, the lobbying arm of Media Matters for America, said the situation “raises important questions about the balance between a free press and effective national security,” but that the talking points were “for those interested in pushing back against partisan attacks.”

Here are some of the key points Media Matters offers (including mentions of the Bush administration):

​• If the press compromised active counter-terror operations for a story that only tipped off the terrorists, that sounds like it should be investigated.

​• It was not acceptable when the Bush Administration exposed Valerie Plame working undercover to stop terrorists from attacking us. It is not acceptable when anonymous sources do it either.

​• Did Republicans in Congress who are now exploiting the situation to score political points oppose the media shield law that likely would have protected the Associated Press in this situation?

​• For a flashback to the Valerie Plame affair, which involved the Bush Administration revealing classified information about Valerie Plame’s CIA employment with the media and led to the exposure and endangerment of her overseas sources, click here for a rundown of the key players and here for a timeline.

This was the Huffington Post’s response:

Wow MT @ggreenwald: Media Matters distributes talking points to those who want to defend DOJ's attack on AP http://t.co/gcxNpwTD6o

May 15, 2013 8:17am via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite

@HuffPostMedia

HuffPost Media

This is what the talking points look like:

The Media Matters Action Network put out talking points about the Department of Justice obtaining Associated Press phone records.

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New York Times: “We are not convinced. For more than 30 years, the news media and the government have used a well-honed system to balance the government’s need to pursue criminals or national security breaches with the media’s constitutional right to inform the public. This action against The A.P. … ‘calls into question the very integrity’ of the [Obama] administration’s policy toward the press.”

Washington Post: “Whatever national-security enhancement this was intended to achieve seems likely to be outweighed by the damage to press freedom and governmental transparency.”

USA Today: “Another day, another excessive use of government power by the Obama administration. … At first blush, seizing reporters’ records might sound too arcane to be of much public interest. But that’s far from the case. When the Justice Department grabs reporters’ phone records, it insulates the administration from the scrutiny that a free press is supposed to provide. … This administration needs some hard thinking about abuse of power.”

The Wall Street Journal, another national publication, has yet to editorialize on the issue.

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AP

CNN has refuted a key point of last week’s bombshell ABC News report about the edits to the Benghazi talking points — specifically, the role of a key White House figure wanting to protect the State Department’s interests.

CNN’s Jake Tapper obtained an email from then-Deputy National Security Adviser for Strategic Communications Ben Rhodes that contains no mention of the State Department.

Here’s the relevant portion of the email CNN obtained:

“Sorry to be late to this discussion. We need to resolve this in a way that respects all of the relevant equities, particularly the investigation.

There is a ton of wrong information getting out into the public domain from Congress and people who are not particularly informed. Insofar as we have firmed up assessments that don’t compromise intel or the investigation, we need to have the capability to correct the record, as there are significant policy and messaging ramifications that would flow from a hardened mis-impression.”

And here’s what ABC reported Rhodes wrote:

“We must make sure that the talking points reflect all agency equities, including those of the State Department, and we don’t want to undermine the FBI investigation. We thus will work through the talking points tomorrow morning at the Deputies Committee meeting.”

Separately, The Weekly Standard similarly reported that Rhodes “responded to the group, explaining that [then-State Department spokeswoman Victoria] Nuland had raised valid concerns and advising that the issues would be resolved at a meeting of the National Security Council’s Deputies Committee the following morning.”

Tapper, who previously worked at ABC, reports that “whoever provided those accounts seemingly invented the notion that Rhodes wanted the concerns of the State Department specifically addressed.”

ABC’s Jonathan Karl responded to Tapper’s report Tuesday by saying he quoted verbatim a source who had seen the original emails but was not permitted to make copies of them.

Karl said he contacted his source, who said that Rhodes’ reply “was after a long chain of email about State Dept concerns. So when WH emailer says, take into account all equities, he is talking about the State equities, since that is what the email chain was about.”

Karl noted that the White House has refused multiple requests to release the full email exchange, which would clear up the confusion.

According to ABC’s initial report, the widely-discredited talking points used by United Nations Ambassador Susan Rice in the days after the Benghazi attack underwent 12 edits, including removing references to an Al-Qaeda affiliated group and that the CIA had previously warned about a terror threat.

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And now his story has taken an interesting twist.

“Those were my personal views, not those of KMOV-TV,” Conners said Tuesday afternoon in an attempt to clarify (backtrack from?) his Facebook post. “I should disclose that my issues with the IRS preceded that interview by several years.”

“As a journalist I understand the importance of keeping personal matters separate from my professional work; sometimes you have to do that to retain your independence as a news man. Those lines might have been unintentionally crossed yesterday by my post,” he added.

But here’s something interesting: A “well-placed source” tells conservative columnist Dana Loesch that Conners was “forced” to give the statement on his post.

If true, that would be rather remarkable.

Here’s the original interview between the president and Conners:

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Featured image screen grab.

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Well, okay, maybe we were wrong to use “famous” in the headline.

It’s pretty obvious the three Jeopardy! contestants have never heard of Ayers or Zinn. We’re sure retired 1960s radicals everywhere are crushed.

(H/T: Twitchy)

Related: ‘Jeopardy! College Tournament’ Dedicates Entire Category to a Marxist Revolutionary

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The DOJ claims it was trying to observe how the news organization gathered its information following the leak of classified data about a failed al-Qaeda plot last year.

It has been noted that because the probe was secret, it would have required the DOJ to have Attorney General Eric Holder’s signature to go forward with obtaining the records.

On Tuesday, Holder said that he had recused himself in June 2012 from involvement in the DOJ leak investigation that secretly acquired the records. The Washington Post reports: 

Holder said he testified in June 2012 that he was interviewed by the FBI in connection with the probe into a leak of classified information to the AP. “To avoid any potential appearance of a conflict of interest,” he said, “I recused myself from this matter.”

Since then, he said, the investigation has been conducted by the FBI under the direction of the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia and the supervision of the deputy attorney general, James M. Cole.

“The decision to seek media toll records in this investigation was made by the Deputy Attorney General consistent with Department regulations and policies,” the Justice Department said in a statement shortly before Holder made his remarks.

During Tuesday’s broadcast of  ‘Wilkow,’ Andrew and guests debated the media and legal aspects of the scandal.

Florida Republican U.S. House Member Trey Radel, a former broadcast journalist and newspaper owner, says the DOJ actions represent a threat to the first amendment, and both parties should rally behind an investigation to see how high up and extensive this goes.

Newspaper Association of America CEO Caroline Little says this is an example of government ignoring their own rules that they lay out for the press.

Watch a clip from the segment below:

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Donald Dickerson (Photo via WAFB-TV)

A white family getting gas in Baton Rouge, La., was attacked by three people who said the family was in the “wrong neighborhood,” police say.

The altercation occurred Sunday night at a Chevron gas station.

WAFB-TV provides the shocking details:

[Cpl. Tommy Stubbs, a spokesman for the Baton Rouge Police Department] said a man wearing a pink shirt was in line trying to pay for gas when Donald Dickerson, 41, started making fun of him, leading to an argument.

“The defendant (Dickerson) approached the white male victim,” the police report stated.

It went on to read, “the defendant told him he was in the wrong neighborhood and he was not going to make it out.” The victim said that’s when he “was punched and knocked to the ground.”

At this time, his wife got out of the car and ran to help her husband. The victim said, “he continued to struggle with the defendant and was eventually knocked unconscious, which later he awoke in the hospital.”

His wife told police, “after running to help her husband, she remembers falling to the ground and (being) knocked unconscious.“

According to a close family friend, that’s when the couple’s teenage daughter got out of the car to check on her parents and, “observed a female punch her mother in the face, when her mother then fell to the concrete, hitting her head on the surface.”

The daughter was also punched in the face.

“There were only three suspects but there were multiple people in the parking lot,” said Stubbs.  [Emphasis added]

The couple’s teenaged daughter is only 14-years-old, according to WBRZ News.

WAFB-TV reports that while the father suffered “a broken eye socket, broken nose, and several lacerations to the face,” only Dickerson was arrested and charged with second-degree battery.

The two other alleged attackers — 24-year-old Devin Bessye and 22-year-old Ashley Simmons — received a summons for simple battery, but were never even taken to the police station.

All three have had prior run-ins with the law.

Reports indicate the attack has not yet been categorized as a hate crime, but it remains under investigation.

Watch WAFB-TV’s complete report, below:

WAFB 9 News Baton Rouge, Louisiana News, Weather, Sports
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(H/T: RightScoop)

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