Obama To Putin: “I Mean It – Stop It!” And Questions For Lois Lerner

Well, Vladimir Putin is continuing his push in Ukraine. And what has Obama done? Well, Obama, along with SoS Kerry, have continued to threaten possible actions. My favorite thus far has been the decision to suspend conversations around preparations for the G-8 in Sochi this June. (I have to add that the link for the decision is from NBC News, and the article has the photo op prepared by the Obama Administration of Obama allegedly looking tough on the phone to Putin in his blue jeans. In the Oval Office, I might add. I mention this because they did it without a hint of the scoffing this photo op deserves, IMHO that is. Take a look HERE.)

Sec. Kerry listed a bunch of other things we MIGHT do to Russia if they don’t knock it off including these threats as listed in WaPo:

[…]“He’s going to lose on the international stage,” Kerry said on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” referring to Putin. “Russia is going to lose, the Russian people are going to lose, and he’s going to lose all of the glow that came out of the Olympics, his $60 billion extravaganza.”

Economic sanctions and travel restrictions on individual Russians are one possibility, as is a U.S. and European boycott of planning meetings this week for the upcoming summit of the Group of Eight leading industrial nations in Russia.

The United States, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Russia are members of the G-8.

“There are visa bans, asset freezes, isolation with respect to trade, investment,” Kerry said on CBS’s “Face The Nation.” “American businesses may well want to start thinking twice about whether they want to do business with a country that behaves like this. These are serious implications.”

Kerry also said that the administration was ready to provide economic assistance “of a major sort” to Ukraine. […] (Click here to read the rest.)

I am sure this has Putin quaking in his boots. Not. And I think many folks might agree with one of my Senators, Lindsey Graham, when he made this statement on Sunday:

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told CNN Sunday that President Barack Obama needs to stop going on television to threaten dictators because it isn’t his “strong suit.”

“Stop going on television and trying to threaten thugs and dictators,” Graham said on “State of the Union” Sunday morning. “It is not your strong suit. Every time the president goes on national television and threatens Putin or anyone like Putin, everybody’s eyes roll, including mine.”

“We have a weak and indecisive president that invites aggression,” he said of the conflict between Russia and the Ukraine. “President Obama needs to do something. How about this: Suspend Russian membership in the G8 and the G20 at least for a year, starting right now, and for every day they stay in Crimea after the suspension. Do something.” […] (Click here to read the rest.)

Indeed, I have to agree with Graham on everything he said on this issue. Even with Obama in his jeans in the Oval Office which invites eye-rolling all on its own, it does not make him appear any tougher on Putin, especially since Putin, even after the 90 minute conversation with Obama, did what he wanted to do anyway. Awesome.

Clearly, this situation is fluid. Feel free to add updates as they come along in the Comments section.

And now to some questions for Lois Lerner that Darrell Issa SHOULD ask this coming Wednesday, courtesy of Daily Caller. For space reasons, I won’t list them all, but I encourage you to read them all. Here are some of the top ones for Ms. Lerner when she appears before the House Committee by DC:

1. Will you admit you lied when you blamed the Cincinnati office?

Lerner initially blamed the conservative targeting on “our line agents in Cincinnati” and former IRS commissioner Steven Miller said the targeting was initiated by two “rogue” Cincinnati agents. The New York Times quickly went to bat for the administration, writing a widely mocked piece about problems at the “backwater” Cincinnati office, which allegedly operated with little to no Washington oversight. But Lerner’s own emails debunked her claim.

[…]

3. How much did the IRS collude with Democratic political operatives and how involved was the Federal Elections Commission (FEC)?

“Perhaps the FEC will save the day,” Lerner said in an email, responding to a complaint the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee registered with the Federal Elections Commission. The IRS and FEC reportedly collaborated on conservative targeting.

[…]

5. Provide every single communication between the White House and the IRS between 2010 and 2012.

Top Internal Revenue Service Obamacare official Sarah Hall Ingram discussed confidential taxpayer information with senior Obama White House officials, according to 2012 emails. Lerner also received an email alongside White House officials that contained confidential information.

Ingram attempted to counsel the White House on a lawsuit from religious organizations opposing Obamacare’s contraception mandate. Email exchanges involving Ingram and White House officials — including White House health policy advisor Ellen Montz and deputy assistant to the president for health policy Jeanne Lambrew — contained confidential taxpayer information.

[…]

7. Who ordered you to target conservative groups?

We know you weren’t the highest-ranking bureaucrat on the food chain. Now, regardless of whether or not we give you the immunity your lawyers have been trying to get you, you’re not going anywhere until you answer this question. Why don’t we make the lights a little brighter, turn up the heat in here, lock the ladies’ room door and put on the most recent Justin Bieber album. Go ahead and play it on repeat. We’re going to be here for a while. Ready to talk? (Click here to read the rest.)

Good questions, aren’t they? I do encourage you to read the entire list, and I surely hope Rep. Issa is paying attention. We deserve to know who ordered Lerner to institute this policy of targeting Conservative and certain religious groups by arguably the most powerful department in the United States. And, for those responsible to be held ACCOUNTABLE.

That’s what I think. What’s on your minds?