Delaware Tax Chief Says That Snooping into Christine O'Donnell's Tax Records was "Routine."

The director of Delaware’s tax-collection office said Friday that his agency accessed the federal tax records in 2010 of an unnamed taxpayer, believed to be former GOP Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell.

Patrick Carter, director of the state’s division of revenue, would not identify Ms. O'Donnell as the taxpayer but said he approved the inquiry “for routine purposes.”

And wouldn't you know it, a "computer glitch" suddenly appears that shows there's a tax lien on a house she doesn't own. Funny how convenient those computer glitches are for her opponents ... in both parties.

 

And the Federal Government says there's no crime, just an accident, nothing to see, move on.

Self-fulfilling prophesies.

A response to Paul at Powerline ...

I am not a resident of Delaware nor do I have inside knowledge of its Republican political establishment. However, those who blame the Tea Party – which is not a party – for putting up a candidate who could not win, may want to amend their conclusions about the inevitability of Christine O’Donnell’s loss.

I base my dissent on several factors. First, despite being the focus of a really vicious national campaign to denigrate her personally; a campaign that included both Democrats AND Republicans, O’Donnell’s loss was not the blowout that was widely predicted. She received 40% of the vote in a state everyone said was a deep blue state. She was even with Coons for the Independent vote. According to exit polls, she received 51% of the white vote and 50% of the vote in small communities. She lost massively among blacks (by about the same margin as Republicans often get) but only got 81% of the Conservative vote.  In fact, O'Donnell got about the same percentage of the vote as Joe Biden's opponents received despite the national campaign to make her the poster child of the "Loony Right."

There was second factor that may give us some insight into her loss. She had to build a political machine from the ground up in the space of 45 days. Appearing on Bill O’Reilly’s show last week she said that the Republican Party in Delaware denied her their machinery to help her during the election. For all the good the Republican label gave her in blue-state Delaware, she actually ran an Independent campaign.

The bottom line is this: her loss was not foreordained. The Republican establishment – from Karl Rove on down – would rather lose an election than have people that they can’t control into that “big tent” they always say they want. When somebody as high profile as Rove denigrated O’Donnell after she beat the one the establishment anointed, Mike Castle, he was in the process of creating a self-fulfilling prophesy.

Not saying that O’Donnell would have won the election in any case, just saying that running against both the Democrats and the Republicans made it just that much harder. The lesson for the Tea Party and Conservatives in general is that you have to be careful about choosing your friends because they may be the ones who are close enough to you to stab you in the back.

HISTORICAL SIDE NOTE: 

As I was writing these comments I was reminded of another event, long ago, during England’s War of the Roses. It ended in the death of the last British king killed in battle: Richard III. Most people have heard of Richard III from the play of the same name by William Shakespeare. He made Richard out to be a bloody villain. With the benefit of hindsight, Shakespeare knew that it was much safer in the England of his day to be on the side of the winner, Henry Tudor who after the battle was crowned Henry VII.

Richard III was killed at the battle of Bosworth Field because one of his key military leaders, Henry Percy – Earl of Northumberland – decided to sit out the battle, and another, William Stanley, waiting to see how the battle developed before deciding to come on Tudor’s side; in the end helped to kill Richard.

Politics hasn’t changed much in the intervening 525 years.

Widener Law School Students are ... stupid? No, how about: "... making an ass of yourself when you are not as smart as you think you are."

Do you know what the Constitution actually says?  O'Donnell does but the students studying law at Widener never got that far.  Or perhaps a study of the actual Constitution is not required at law school.

Via Glenn Reynolds: 

Meanwhile, Cornell lawprof William Jacobson comments: “A literal reading of O’Donnell’s comments reflects that she was correct, but of course, the press and the blogosphere don’t want a literal reading, they want a living, breathing reading which comports with their preconceived notions.”

The Constitution stands for things that are good. The things that we want are good. Therefore, the Constitution stands for what we want. QED. How can those dumb wingnuts not understand this simple logic?

Meanwhile, I agree that the O’Donnell focus is a deliberate distraction. But I also think it’s important to use this opportunity — like the Sarah Palin “1773″ brouhaha — to point out that the credentialed gentry class isn’t nearly as smart, and certainly isn’t as well-educated, as it thinks it is. Because, you know, it isn’t.

Perhaps Widener law students can’t be expected to understand constitutional doctrine like Wisconsin or Cornell law professors. But they can be expected to avoid showing their ignorance through ill-mannered displays. One of the underappreciated virtues of good manners is that they help you to avoid making an ass of yourself when you are not as smart as you think you are.

Here's what you should really know about law school.

Christine O'Donnell lost her home because she's not worth bribing.

Michelle Malkin tells us how the pros do it:

Former senior senator from Delaware and current Vice President Joe Biden has a custom-built house in Delaware's ritziest Chateau Country neighborhood. It is now worth at least $2.5 million and is the Bidens' most valuable asset. Biden tapped campaign funds to pay for his compound's lawn needs. He secured the new estate with the help of a corporate executive who worked for Biden's top campaign donor, credit card giant MBNA.

In 1996, Biden sold his previous mansion to MBNA Vice Chairman John Cochran. The asking price was $1.2 million. Cochran forked over the full sum. Biden then paid $350,000 in cash to real estate developer Keith Stoltz for a 4.2-acre lakefront lot. Stoltz had paid that same amount five years earlier for the undeveloped property.

And this is just one case of "do as I say, not as I do." Then there's Chris Dodd and Kent Conrad and Bill and Hillary Clinton and the Obamas.

O'Donnell was just not sophisticated, or crooked enough. And the people handing out bribes did not consider her worth bribing.

Leftist Activist in Delaware: Chris Coons Harassed Me Due to My Political Activism

It appears that Chris Coons is a nasty piece of work. Read all about it at Patterico's Pontifications.

Few things are more destructive to the integrity of a place than using the courts to harass activists and poor people. . . . Green Delaware [Muller's organization and web site] has often criticized New Castle County and things around it. This is easy to do. New Castle County has a long history of corruption and scumbaggery. We have often–but not any more!–testified at County Council meetings and suchlike. . .

But we also did something stupid in the circumstances: Bought a historic house threatened with demolition. This opened us up to unending harassment. . . . [T]hey charge us ten or twelve times for the same “offense,” and we are convicted for each “offense.”...

The county ordinance apparently allows bringing a separate charge every day. So the county could charge a person 365 times for having a cracked windowpane and then deliver these charges all at once, without prior notice, and demand a fine for each “violation.” A minimum fine of $100 is prescribed for each “violation” and “the court shall not suspend the sentence of any person …” Welcome to Delaware!

Abuse of code enforcement power has often been used to harass people. Since, obviously, every property has some technical code violation, anyone could be harassed. While the evil of Coons in abusing these laws is obvious, it is also obvious that the Delaware General Assembly has itself done a great evil by passing such laws for the County, and by failing to maintain the integrity of Delaware’s courts. ...

The Delaware media are blacked out on this story.  It will be up to the Internet to get this scumbag some press.

Mollifying Muslims, and Muslifying Mollies

Mark Steyn received the Sappho Award in Sweden recently. Here's his speech.

As with all Steyn's columns, it's a must read!

Excerpt:

When someone destroys a bible, US government officials don’t line up to attack him. President Obama bowed lower than a fawning maitre d’ before the King of Saudi Arabia, a man whose regime destroys bibles as a matter of state policy, and a man whose depraved religious police forces schoolgirls fleeing from a burning building back into the flames to die because they’d committed the sin of trying to escape without wearing their head scarves. If you show a representation of Mohammed, European commissioners and foreign ministers line up to denounce you. If you show a representation of Jesus Christ immersed in your own urine, you get a government grant for producing a widely admired work of art. Likewise, if you write a play about Jesus having gay sex with Judas Iscariot.

So just to clarify the ground rules, if you insult Christ, the media report the issue as freedom of expression: A healthy society has to have bold, brave, transgressive artists willing to question and challenge our assumptions, etc. But, if it’s Mohammed, the issue is no longer freedom of expression but the need for "respect" and "sensitivity" toward Islam, and all those bold brave transgressive artists don’t have a thing to say about it.

And:

As I said in America Alone, multiculturalism seems to operate to the same even-handedness as the old Cold War joke in which the American tells the Soviet guy that "in my country everyone is free to criticize the President", and the Soviet guy replies, "Same here. In my country everyone is free to criticize your President." Under one-way multiculturalism, the Muslim world is free to revere Islam and belittle the west's inheritance, and, likewise, the western world is free to revere Islam and belittle the west’s inheritance. If one has to choose, on balance Islam’s loathing of other cultures seems psychologically less damaging than western liberals' loathing of their own.

On the election:

But a quick word on Christine O'Donnell, the GOP Senate candidate from Delaware whom the politico-media establishment have decided is this season's easiest conservative target. If I understand their current plan to save the Dems, it rests on the proposition that America is about to be delivered into the care of a coven of witches who want to take away your right to masturbate.

The Christine O’Donnell/Jimmy Carter Quiz

Who said each of the following quotes: Christine O’Donnell, or Jimmy Carter?

1. “To my amazement, I was besieged with questions about my sex life. At first I thought this was just a passing joke, but I was wrong. It became the dominant news story of my candidacy, and my popularity dropped precipitously. Any attempt to explain the Christian theology behind my answer only served to keep the issue alive.”

2. “I have an absolute, total commitment as a human being, as an American, as a religious person to Israel … Israel is the fulfillment of biblical prophecy.”

3. “Feeling a bit presumptuous, I wrote to [an evolutionary scientist] diasagreeing with this premise and asserting that there were factors other than pure happenstance that influenced the course of evolution.”

4. “Because I’m just human and I’m tempted and Christ set some almost impossible standards for us. The Bible says, ‘Thou shalt not commit adultery.’ Christ said, ‘I tell you that anyone who looks on a woman with lust has in his heart already committed adultery.’ I’ve looked on a lot of women with lust. I’ve committed adultery in my heart many times…. This is something that God recognizes, that I will do and have done, and God forgives me for it. But that doesn’t mean that I condemn someone who not only looks on a woman with lust but who leaves his wife and shacks up with somebody out of wedlock. Christ says, don’t consider yourself better than someone else because one guy screws a whole bunch of women while the other guy is loyal to his wife. The guy who’s loyal to his wife ought not to be condescending or proud because of the relative degree of sinfulness.”

5. “This set of principles, rooted in my Christian faith, has both shaped me and been shaped by my personal experiences, and it remains to this day a central element of my identity.”

6. (Quote from someone commenting about the candidate running for office) “It is not presumptuous to say, as there is enough evidence already, that a vast number of [O'Donnell or Carter] supporters consist of aggressive evangelicals whose main goal is to ‘Christianize’ our country; that is to say, to convert Americans to a particular brand of religious obscurantism. Needless to say, most, or many [O'Donnell/Carter]-fundamentalists despise complete intellectual and religious liberty.”

7. “Being born again is a new life, not of perfection but of striving, stretching, and searching — a life of intimacy with God through the Holy Spirit.”

8. “But if we aspire to grow as human beings, we should struggle to close the gap by making our inner selves truer reflections of our own highest values, which, for me, grow from my Christian faith.”

9. “…There are basic principles that, for me, have never changed. For a Christian, the life and teachings of Jesus offer a sound moral foundation that includes all the most basic elements that should guide us.”

10. “Yes, I have my personal beliefs, and these questions come from statements I made over fifteen years ago. I was in my twenties, and very excited and passionate about my new-found faith. But I assure you my faith has matured, and when I go to Washington, D.C., it’ll be the Constitution on which I base all of my decisions, not my personal beliefs.”

Go HERE for the answers.

Christine O’Donnell vs. Al Franken

Scott Johnson at Powerline reminds us of a prominent Democrat who many thought did not have a chance of winning an election. Let’s do a compare and contrast of two candidates who had “issues.” For some reason in the opinion of the Ruling Class, Christine O’Donnell’s issues disqualify her while Al Franken’s issues … are not an issue.

• Franken is a man of the hard left

• O’Donnell is Right, but probably more closely reflects the views of a majority of Americans.

• Franken had a history of cocaine use

• O’Donnell is not accused of using illegal drugs

• Franken had failed to pay workers' compensation insurance in New York where he had been making a living before he returned to Minnesota to run for office. He had also failed to file corporate tax returns in California.

• O’Donnell had a problem with her taxes and the issue was settled this year.

• Franken owed $70,000 in back taxes in 17 states. Franken blamed the problem on his accountant and then instructed his accountant not to talk to the press.

• O’Donnell did not have an accountant to blame and took personal responsibility.

• When the news broke, Franken hid from the press. One of Franken's spokesmen explained Franken's unavailability: "Al spent the week doing an economy tour of the state."

• O’Donnell put all of her tax problems on her website including a transcript of her conversation with the IRS.

Scott adds

I should add that Norm Coleman was a formidable opponent. He was in my opinion an excellent Senator with the misfortune of having to run a reelection campaign in an extraordinarily difficult environment for Republicans.

If Al Franken was able to overcome his personal record to become a United States Senator, Christine O'Donnell certainly can. O'Donnell has the additional advantage of having a man who formerly advertised himself as the bearded Marxist for her opponent. His name is Chris Coons. Although he has shaved the beard, I am quite sure that his current views are kissing cousins to the ones he advertised in his college days.

This is a watershed year with the tide running strongly in favor of Conservatives.  I know all about the biases of the MFM, what makes me angry is the attitude of people who claim to be on the Right but refuse to have anything to do with people not of their class.  This is the time when those who were really nominal Conservatives will out themselves.

O'Donnell's taxes ... and double standards.

Christine O'Donnell is not a rich woman, and ended up with a back tax bill.  She addresses the issue here.  The IRS has released her from any tax lien.  Let us simply note that her tax problems have been all over the national news.

Now there's another person with a tax problem. 

The developer of the proposed mosque near Ground Zero has begun repaying the $270,000 he owes in property taxes.

It was mentioned in the New York Post but no-one on the Liberal side of the political spectrum seems to much care.

Double standard, anyone?