The DSM Register had an article today on the IRS scrutiny of Sen. Chuck Grassley. To be fair to the Register, conservatives are trying to make it appear that the IRS is on a witch hunt for members of Congress, and so while there’s no news here, the Register is covering it because the conservatives are trying to make it a story.

The real witch hunt here is fed by conservative’s disconnection with reality. Here’s the short version of the facts: The IRS was sent a complaint that an organization might be offering Grassley something as a benefit. The IRS investigator looked at it and rightly asked her supervisor if this was something that could justify an audit. The supervisor said no, the only thing that would justify an audit would be if Grassley accepted and then didn’t report it. End of story. No further action by the IRS.

The conservatives – who don’t know what they stand for besides bigotry and greed – are trying to find a message that might resonate and so much posturing is going on to make this an assault on Grassley, which they say means the IRS needs to be repudiated.

HERE’S WHY IT MATTERS TO VOTERS: The argument being used by the conservatives is that the IRS should not be investigating organizations or seated senators. WRONG, WRONG, WRONG. Any US citizen or organization can be audited if something looks suspicious. In this instance the IRS staff handled it appropriately and nothing happened. If the conservative crazies weren’t busy digging trying to make something out of nothing, then this would never have been found because it died inside the IRS.

The calls for Braley to repudiate the IRS are ridiculous. The group to repudiate are the Republicans across this country, but most especially in Iowa. They no longer live in the same contiguous reality as the rest of us.