IRS Official Takes the Fifth

Because I’m asserting my right not to testify I know people will assume I’ve done something wrong. I have not. One of the basic rights of the Fifth Amendment is to protect innocent individuals and that’s the protection I’m invoking today, thank you.

— IRS official Lois Lerner, quoted by the Washington Post, in a prepared statement before the House Oversight and Government Affairs Committee.

Tennesseans’ Views on Gay Marriage Shifting

49%

Of Tennesseans support gay marriage or civil unions while 46% are opposed to both, according to a new Vanderbilt University poll in Tennessee. The results suggest a marked shift in Tennesseans’ views since 2006, when 81% of voters approved an amendment to the state constitution defining marriage between one man and one woman as “the only legally recognized marital contract” in the state.