The sidewalk had been divided down the middle to allow pedestrian passage, and there were at least 5 police cars in attendance so these must be dangerous folks.
Saw this billboard on the way back and couldn't resist:
The IRS scandal is playing out like "A Man For All Seasons" with the king lamenting "Is there no one who can rid me of this meddlesome priest?" and a couple of knights taking it upon themselves to do exactly that. In the end the king kept his crown although it didn't look good for the helpful knights.
Machiavelli covered the same situation when he described a noble sent by a victorious prince to shape the new subjects up by imposing draconian discipline and high taxes on them. After six months or so the Prince himself showed up for a goodwill visit and heard the complaints of his new subjects. To show what a nice fellow he was, he (privately) had his lackey's tongue cut out, denied wanting any of those bad things to happen, and then had him publicly chopped in half to the cheers and adulation of all present. This is how you move from "Evil Usurper" to "Respected Ruler" and incidentally get rid of a surplus lackey.
President Obama probably didn't specifically order anyone to actually do anything, but public speeches about what ought to be done coupled with senatorial letters suggesting what ought to be done can certainly get the message across. Sarah Hall Ingram certainly got the message. She also got a big promotion, but if the deal goes sour, she'll go under the bus with the rest.
Update: Got wrong name of IRS official. Corrected and link fixed. I blame Global Warming.
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