President Obama’s foreign policy speech was stopped multiple times by Code Pink heckling, and Lois Lerner was suspended from the her position at the IRS.
On the international stage, two men in the United Kingdom murdered a soldier in the streets of London.
Here’s a recap, or wrap, of the week that was from The Washington Times.
• Lois Lerner second IRS figure removed amid scandal
The woman at the center of the IRS scandal was put on paid administrative leave Thursday, marking the second agency official to be removed over the inappropriate scrutiny of conservative groups.
The news came even as two top senators called for Lois Lerner to be suspended on accusations of misleading their investigation into the tax-exempt organizations division of the IRS, which she led, and as new details emerged about her past.
• Senate panel OKs tax-welfare benefits for newly legal immigrants
The SenateJudiciary Committee voted Monday to allow illegal immigrants who get legal status to begin collecting tax-welfare payments, as the panel spent a fourth day working through amendments to the massive immigration bill and party-line splits began to emerge.
• Ron Paul: Fix IRS by shutting it ‘once and for all’
Former Rep. Ron Paul of Texas called the recent IRS fiasco troubling — but writes that the only way Congress can protect the freedoms of Americans from a long pattern of suspected IRS abuse is to “shutter the doors” of the agency “once and for all.”
The longtime GOP congressman writes that IRS agents in the 1930s were essentially “hit squads” against opponents of the New Deal, and that allegations of IRS abuse spanned the administrations of Presidents Kennedy, Nixon, Clinton and George W. Bush.
• Mayor Bloomberg to cabbie: ‘I’ll destroy your [expletive] industry’
Mayor Michael Bloomberg cursed out the chief executive officer of a taxi company who won a court case against the city and pledged a post-mayoral revenge against the entire industry, the CEO and one witness said.
“[I will] destroy your [expletive] industry,” Mr. Bloomberg said to Taxi Club Management CEO Gene Freidman, The New York Post reported.
• CBS’ Bob Schieffer unleashes on White House official: ’Why are you here today?’
Veteran CBS newsman Bob Schieffer on Sunday morning unloaded on a top White House official, comparing the Obama administration’s handling of the ongoing Internal Revenue Service scandal to former President Richard Nixon’s initial strategy for dealing with Watergate.
The assertion came after White House senior adviser Dan Pfeiffer said the president will continue with his objectives and will not become bogged down by the IRS debacle, the Benghazi affair or other missteps.
• RG3 in tears after knee surgery: ‘Real men cry’
Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III cried after he woke up from right knee surgery in January and realized his anterior cruciate ligament had been repaired.
“Real men cry,” Griffin said Thursday at Redskins Park in his first media availability since the procedure.
• Soldier and doting dad Lee Rigby identified as victim in London machete attack
Drummer Lee Rigby of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers was identified Friday by the Ministry of Defence as the victim in the horrific machete attack in the Woolwich neighborhood of London.
Mr. Rigby, 25, joined the British army in 2006 and was stationed in London on a recruiting stint, the British military said in a release.
• Networks’ initial coverage of London terror attack excludes Islam
The machete attack that left a British soldier dead on the streets of London on Wednesday included attackers shouting, “Allahu akbar,” but the main television broadcast networks failed to reference Islam in their initial coverage.
NewsBusters reports that the evening broadcasts on ABC, CBS and NBC all used the word ‘terrorism’ but failed to provide any further context on the attackers’ motivations.
• Pope Francis suggests atheists’ good deeds gets them to heaven
Pope Francis has sparked a religious debate with comments made earlier this week confirming atheists can indeed go to heaven.
Christian teaching generally holds that belief in Jesus, and not good deeds, grants eternal life.
But the pope, in a morning Mass on Wednesday, suggested that belief and faith weren’t the biggest factors. He said, CNN reported: “The Lord has redeemed all of us, all of us, with the Blood of Christ — all of us, not just Catholics. Everyone. ‘Father, the atheists?’ Even the atheists. Everyone. We must meet one another doing good. ‘But I don’t believe, Father, I am an atheist.’ But do good: We will meet one another there.”
• Heckler brings Obama speech to a halt
President Obama’s speech on resetting the war on terror ground to a halt halfway through when an anti-Gitmo heckler repeatedly interrupted.
The president, ironically, was in the midst of calling again for closing the prison facility at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba when the heckler, Code Pink leader Medea Benjamin according to those tweeting live from the address at the National Defense University, began shouting.
• Pope Francis ‘did not intend to perform any exorcism,’ Vatican says
The Vatican on Tuesday rushed to deny the contents of a television broadcast that appeared to show Pope Francis performing an exorcism on a wheelchair-bound boy.
“The Holy Father did not intend to perform any exorcism,” the Rev. Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, said in a statement reported by Raw Story. He was referring to a report from TV 2000 — owned by the Italian bishops’ conference — that included experts on exorcisms confirming that the pontiff was ousting demons during his brief discussion with the boy.
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