Politicizing
Hillbuzz Blue Team Action Alert: Does White House Propaganda Job Violate Hatch Act and/or FEC Regulations?
H/T IOwnTheWorld.com
As a one-time civil servant, I am well aware of the local and State laws that are intended to prevent government employees from doing electioneering and/or partisan work while on the clock.
So I was stunned to read that the White House — not the Democrat National Committee or Obama’s campaign organization — had hired a civil servant to “squash negative stories” about The Messiah, Our Dear Leader, in “a more aggressive defense of the president and his policies as his re-election campaign gears up,” according to the Huffington Post.
Notice, the descriptions of this new position* don’t refer to the “Director of Progressive Media & Online Response” in terms of correcting inaccuracies (i.e. “fact checking”) but in terms of deleting opposition speech (i.e. “reality checking” and “liberty checking.”)
In other words, the position of “Director of Progressive Media & Online Response” is entirely partisan and election-related.
The White House’s new Troll In Chief, Jesse Lee, launched his official government twitter account with the photo of the killer robot you see above (which would also kind of be a copyright violation, wouldn’t it? When used for official government business, as opposed to “fair use” in satire?)
With just a little Googling, I managed to find references to The Hatch Act, which regulates election activities by government employees on the Federal level.
Here’s the language from the official form you use to report violations of the Hatch Act:
The Hatch Act prohibits federal, District of Columbia, some state and local and nonprofit organization employees from
engaging in certain types of political activities. See 5 U.S.C. §§ 7321- 7326 and 5 U.S.C. §§ 1501-1508.Federal Employees are generally prohibited from:
1. Using their official authority or influence for the purpose of interfering with or affecting the result of an election.
2. Soliciting, accepting, or receiving political contributions (with some exceptions).
3. Running for nomination or as candidates for partisan political office.
4. Soliciting or discouraging the participation in political activity of any person who has business before their
employing agency.
5. Engaging in political activity while on duty, in any room or building occupied in the discharge of official duties,
while wearing a uniform or official insignia, or while using a vehicle owned or leased by the United States
government.
Now, I’m not a lawyer. But I do know that Hillbuzz is read by thousands of people in the Washington, DC area, where lawyers (especially election lawyers) are thick on the ground.
So someone out there can explain to us whether Jesse Lee’s new gig is a violation of the Hatch Act and/or Federal election laws.
Report Hatch Act Violations
And if it is, please feel free to submit your findings on this official form from the Office of Special Counsel.
Blue Team: Activate!
*Apparently the only job ever actually “saved or created” by the Obama administration, according to a commenter on TwitPic, which made us LOL.
Rep. Allen West Smackdown: New Federal Procurement Rules
H/T Townhall.com
God, I love this man. Love. Him.
The only downside to electing Rep. Allen West as President of the United States (and I mean the ONLY downside) would be that we’d no longer be able to watch his measured, calm, low-key, authoritative, scathing, take-no-prisoners smackdowns of Obama Regime hacks like Daniel Gordon during Congressional hearings. As reported on Townhall.com,
Gordon was at the hearing to discuss the draft executive order, that if signed would require contractors to disclose their political donations before apply to a bid process for government contracts. This would allow officials in places like the Defense Department to discriminate against specific contractors because of their political beliefs.
Can you imagine Col. West in a debate against Teh Won? Can you imagine? I think I feel a thrill up my leg…
Monday Open Thread: May 16, 2011
If you notice the site moving slowly (or not loading at all), our apologies. Yesterday at about 7:00 a.m. we started getting server errors, and we’re still working to determine the cause. Our apologies for the inconvenience!
And here’s today’s Open Thread, with the lesson of the day:
“How to Tell When A Leftist is Lying, or John Stossel Confronts Sleazy Pigford Lawyer.”
Kevin DuJan has posted a number of exposés of the Pigford black farmer reparations scam originally dragged into the sunlight by Big Government’s Andrew Breitbart.
In this clip, from John Stossel’s show on Fox News, you can see what happens when a corrupt Leftist cannot defend his position with facts or reason (because the fact is, he’s a corrupt Leftist and what he’s doing is despicable, selfish and perverse, if not actually illegal.)
Pay attention to the lawyer’s tone, body language and the insults he hurls at Breitbart, not one of which is in any way related to the substantive charges Brieitbart makes. Watch for these tactics when you see Leftists confronted with their own records by the media (hey…it could happen.) When you see a Leftist start to sputter, you know you’re getting close to the truth.
Bin Laden’s death sparks different reactions.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pkKNPEU8oc&feature=player_embedded
This is a video of reactions from kids of all different ages to the death of Osama bin Laden. It’s pretty enlightening. Don’t ever assume that kids don’t pay attention to what’s going on in the world.
….and then you have the childish Chris Matthews declaring that last week was the “best week ever for this country”. He is giggling so much that he can barely speak. I bet he has tingles going up both legs.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iovgXnKe–Y
Does he not know that this country is in very serious trouble? Killing bin Laden was great but it won’t help our economy. It won’t put people back to work. It won’t bring down our outrageous debt.
Matthews is such moron.
Recall efforts are underway for AWOL Wisconsin Senators
Robert Wirch (D-Pleasant Prairie)...hiding under a rock somewhere
A Wisconsin newspaper is reporting that residents are beginning to form committees to recall the senators who went missing this past week. So far, not one of the senators has slithered home but I bet it won’t be long. I would love to be at one of their town hall meeting when they finally have to face their constituents. Yow!
One particular senator (Robert Wirch) had better wear a wig to disguise himself because, according to news reports, the residents in his district are hopping mad.
BURLINGTON - Cheryl Herrick, 51, of Burlington, has a message for her “missing” state senator, Sen. Robert Wirch, D-Pleasant Prairie. “Come back and vote,” said Herrick, who works in retail. “Elections have consequences.”
Wirch, who represents Burlington and most of Kenosha County, is one of the 14 senate Democrats who fled Madison last week when the state Senate was scheduled to take a vote on Gov. Scott Walker’s proposal to essentially eliminate collective bargaining for public workers.
Wirch has not returned calls for comment for several days.
In downtown Burlington on Monday, the consensus among area residents selected at random was that Wirch should go back and vote. Many, including Herrick, said they would like to see Wirch recalled for avoiding his vote. By running away, he is not doing his job, said Kellie Kerkman, 39, of Burlington.
“All I see is this teaching our younger generation to run away from problems. It’s time to grow up,” said Kerkman, who owns Kerkman’s SplitEnds, a hair salon at 316 N Pine St.
Down the street, Carl Schultz, 61, of Twin Lakes, said Wirch should be fired for avoiding “his responsibility.”
He recalled firing a worker from his car part manufacturing business, Five Star Fabricating, for repeatedly missing work after receiving multiple warnings, he said.
“If they are hired to do a job, they should be there,” said Schultz, who feels that way about his employees and his state legislators.
And the possibility of a recall may become a reality.
Dan Hunt, 51, of Pleasant Prairie, where Wirch lives, is looking into forming a committee to recall the senator. So far he has 175 volunteers who have signed up to help circulate petitions to recall Wirch, he said as of Monday afternoon, but he said he would need about 300 volunteers to successfully launch a campaign. According to the Government Accountability Board he would need about 15,000 signatures for a recall election.
For now, Hunt said, he is waiting to see if Wirch goes back to vote.
“The longer he stays away, the greater the likelihood,” Hunt said of a recall effort
I say recall them all!
“House” actress Lisa Edelstein does ad for abortion
I HATE it when actors and actresses do things like this. I really like the TV show “House” but I will never be able to watch it again thanks to this nitwit. It just won’t be the same. Everytime I see her pathetic face on the screen, I’ll want to throw something at it. Of course MoveOn.org is responsible for this ad. Do they mention that there are alternatives to abortion? Adoption?
Of course not.
Because they’re MoveOn.org
NPR manages to bring race into the Tucson shootings!
“It’s safe to say there was a collective sigh of brown relief when the Tucson killer turned out to be a gringo.”
(h/t Moonbattery)
You have got to hear this. Warning…your blood is likely to boil so take your blood pressure medicine first before you hit the play button. This young hispanic fembot is relieved that the shooters last name doesn’t end with a “z”. She’s elated that he’s a “gringo”. Nevermind the 6 people killed and numerous other wounded and Congresswoman Gabby Giffords fighting for her life. She is just thrilled that the killer wasn’t “brown” because then the whole uproar would be about border security. These people make me sick…sick…sick.
