Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
An essential element of the conservative media entertainment complex cult is advancing conspiracy theories in which conservatives are perpetually being persecuted for their whacky beliefs by the big bad government and "librul" media. This is what gives the cult its cohesion, and its sense of tribalism. Conservatives rely on the high priests of the conservative media entertainment complex to tell them what to think, resulting in epistemic closure and a feedback loop.
Too often the corporate "lamestream" media follows the lead of the the conservative media entertainment complex cult, and creates an echo chamber for their talking points.
One talking point that has been stated repeatedly about the IRS "scandal" is the claim that "only Tea Party and Patriot groups were 'targeted' by the IRS" for additional scrutiny of their 501(c)(4) applications for tax exempt status.
The problem with the fact-free world of FAUX News Fraudcasting and the conservative media entertainment complex cult is that this claim is factually false. The corporate "lamestream" media has an obligation to stop repeating this falsehood.
RAW Story reported on the congressional hearing into the IRS "scandal" this past Friday. Republican accidentally debunks GOP narrative at IRS hearing:
During a congressional hearing regarding the IRS on Friday, Rep. Peter Roskam (R-IL) inadvertently led the head of the IRS to contradict the notion that conservative nonprofits were singled out for scrutiny.
At the hearing, outgoing acting IRS commissioner Steve Miller repeatedly objected to the use of the word “targeting.” He said the so-called “be on the lookout” (BOLO) list was an “inappropriate” organizational tool or “shortcut” that IRS staff used to find potential political cases. Miller claimed the tea party groups would have be subjected to extra scrutiny regardless of the BOLO list.
“If the targeting wasn’t targeting, if the targeting wasn’t based on philosophy, how come only conservatives got snagged?” Roskam confidently asked.
“They didn’t, sir,” Miller responded. “Organizations of all walks and all persuasions were pulled in. That’s shown by the fact that only 70 of the 300 organizations were tea party organizations, of the ones that were looked at by TIGTA [Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration].”
Roskam angrily cut off Miller and asserted his statement was at odds with the inspector general’s testimony, then ended his questioning.
But Treasury inspector general J. Russell George testified during the hearing that no evidence indicated the additional review of the 300 groups was politically or ideologically motivated. He blamed the incident on mismanagement.
Of the 298 groups subjected to additional review, 72 were “tea party” groups, 11 were “9/12″ groups and 13 were “patriots” groups, according to the inspector general’s report.
You keep using that word "only." I do not think it means what you think it means. Less than one-third is not even a majority, but then Tea-Publicans aren't good at math either. Facts simply do not matter in the fact-free world of the conservative media entertainment complex cult.
UPDATE: Reminder from Ed Kilgore at the Political Animal blog. Bordering On a Big Lie:
I hate to keep confusing the “narrative” with facts, but when it comes to the 501(c)(4s), we aren’t talking about tax audits. These were reviews of applications that nobody was required to submit, and that nobody needed to submit unless they were pretty sure they were on the borders of political activities incompatible with tax-exempt status (otherwise, they could just file their tax returns like anyone else and claim tax-exempt status).
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