Mercy! Mercy! That Dang Nabed PERCY!

Pay Attention

If the IRS scandal had taken place at the State Department the results would have hushed up and Mr. George, the IG reassigned to Timbuktu. If the same scandal had taken place at the Defense Intelligence Agency, Mr. George’s past would have been put under a magnifying glass, something manufactured, his security clearance revoked and he would have been placed on terminal leave. Since he was at the Internal Revenue Service and his supervisors were slow on the uptake, nobody realized where the audit was going until it was too late to escape the bombshell. Thus, as a consequence of inept management and "poor customer service," the American People learned that the corporate power of a government office was being used for political purposes.

What I expect to come out of further inquiry is that a second level operative at the White House was orchestrating the names provided by the IRS and sending them to other federal agencies so they could pile on. How else does one explain OSHA, Treasury, and FBI agents that followed in the footsteps of the IRS once a list of applicants was compiled? The whole idea seems dumb in retrospect but to a fool, trying to make a name, it must have made sense. Think about it, a network of obstructers imbedded with political appointees at the heart of government agencies. What good is granting favors if there’s no payback? Why not use the power of the incumbent party for political purposes in true Chicago fashion? Have the IRS develop the “Enemies List” and the White House coordinate the piling on by other agencies? Is that not an idea that would make Mayor proud?

Perhaps all federal agencies are not rife with political influence and cronyism, like the IRS. Perhaps other agencies have managers who can still distinguish right from wrong, but how does the average citizen really know? What we do know is that if it happened at the IRS it could happen anywhere in government. What we do know is that Mr. George is the exception rather than the rule and without his determination to investigate allegations of wrongdoing the IRS scandal might never have come to light.

Earlier my question was, “What makes IRS political appointees and zealots different from those who operate at the security agencies. We know that the DIA used their IG to gather questionable dirt on LTC Shaffer, have his security clearance revoked and ultimately fired. Is the climate of morality any different at the DIA, CIA or NSA? Are they immune from a political appointee inserting a cell into their organization and using it to manipulate assets for political purposes? DUH! Of course they’re not immune and moreover, they have one important tool the IRS lacked. It’s called a security blanket to hide under. All they have to say is “sorry;” the incident is associated with a security program vital to the National Interest and the matter is under investigation. And guess what? They’d be telling the truth and that’s the last you’d ever hear of it. While the classified assets used by the NSA deserve their classification, the abusers can hide in the cracks and operate with impunity.