Two short videos on WHY the #Benghazi, #IRS, and #AP/Fox News scandals matter…

We’ve had so much press recently on the raft of scandals emanating from the White House, it can get overwhelming. And sometimes we need to remind ourselves what’s really at stake here.

It’s not an effort to bring down this presidency. Given the damage that Obama has already caused our nation, I wouldn’t necessarily object to it…, but that’s not the point. Nor is it an effort to hamper Hillary Clinton’s possible viability for a presidential bid in 2016. And it’s not an “anti-government” fatwa by any stretch (I’m talking to you, Rachel Maddow…).

This is all about freedom. OUR freedom.

We live (for the time being, at least) in the freest nation on Earth. But if an administration, ANY administration, can conduct secret, illegal campaigns against political enemies, or attempt to silence the press; if they can seemingly ignore cries for help from our fighting men and women, instead of rushing to their aid; if they have the power to strong-arm businesses to “voluntarily” contribute to government “causes”… then we will no longer be the MOST free nation.

We won’t be free at all.

Once upon a time, Gov’t worked to DESTROY the Mafia. Now, they ARE the Mafia…

“Gee, you’se got a nice place here….  Be a shame if sumthin’ happened to it”.

These words probably conjure up an image of a Mafia goon with an oft-broken nose, replete in an Italian suit. We’ve all seen Protection Racket schemes on TV, movies and/or in real life: bad guys doing bad things to good people.

It’s all part of the basic Mafia shakedown. As a safeguard, the Sicilian Mob’s code of silence (“omerta“) was employed to protect the Capos and Bosses from the criminal activities of those below them in their organizations. No one was to speak of any illicit activities, whether or not they had anything to do with them. In that way, the heads of “The Family” could maintain an air of plausible deniability, since nothing could ever be traced back to them.

(UPDATE) – Democrat Rep: Hey, #IRS! Give us real answers, or there’ll be “Hell To Pay…”

The House Oversight Committee continued their hearings today (seen over at HotAir), but when you start getting verbiage like this from the President’s own party, perhaps the worm is beginning to turn here:

Dear Conservatives: if you thought the #IRS was invasive, just wait for Obamacare

Funny and scary, at the same time…

Leftist Media on Obama’s scandals: Defend, Dispute and Dismiss

From Salon.com:

The last several years have brought a parade of dark revelations about the Barack Obama administration, from the manipulation of intelligence in Benghazi to the IRS’ targeting of Conservatives to extrajudicial spying inside the United States.

But there are growing indications that these known abuses of power may only be the tip of the iceberg. Now, in the 2nd term of the Obama presidency, a movement is stirring in Washington for a sweeping new inquiry into White House malfeasance that would be modeled after the famous Church Committee congressional investigation of the 1970s.

Wow!! Did Salon really print that about President Obama? They’ve finally started covering this in earnest! That is unbelievable….

Honestly, it IS unbelievable, because the above passage is from an article back in 2008, and (with only the italicized parts having been changed) all criticisms are directed at George W. Bush.

OUT: “Hope ‘n Change” – IN: “Oh, What a Tangled Web We Weave, ….”

Back when I was still shorter than a regulation hockey net, I had an occasional issue with the truth. Although generally a decent kid, I periodically did things I shouldn’t (naturally), then made it exponentially worse by fibbing to try to extricate myself from the unpleasant situation I’d created.

Once when I was caught red-handed, my intricate lies having been systematically dismantled by my father (he’d have made an extraordinarily good cop), he told me this:

“Son, I want to be able to trust whatever you tell me, in any situation, always. But when you lie, and then tell lies to cover the first ones, you make it impossible for me to trust you.

No one expects you to never make a mistake, but a lie isn’t a mistake: it’s deliberate. A man takes ownership of his mistakes, every time. First you admit it, THEN you correct it. 

Don’t ever forget that.”

And I haven’t.

The #IRS: “Above The Law”

They must think we’re idiots.

At the conclusion of a week where we were treated to discovery after stomach-turning discovery, showing IRS abuses that seemed more like Mafia standard protocol than Good Governance, two points were made painstakingly clear:

Pelosi knows the REAL reason why we’re focused on Obama’s numerous scandals…

You’ve felt this way before.

It rises from your gut when you make a cogent, incisive argument in opposition to an aspect of the President’s agenda (Obamacare, for instance), …but the person you are talking with blithely retorts, “Oh, you just can’t stand him ’cause you’re a racist”, or “Why do you hate poor people?”

This person has, out-of-the-blue, attributed the absolute worst motivations to your reasoning, and with no justification other than you disagreed with them.

You know that feeling, right?

It’s the half-shock/half-fury sensation, where you honestly can’t believe someone is that stupid, dishonest or closed-minded that they refuse to acknowledge even the logical basis of your argument. You’ve felt it.

“Tea Party vs. the #IRS”: the movie Hollywood will never, EVER make

After my post the other day, I’ve been thinking a lot about movies. And last night it hit me: I’ve got an idea for a screenplay that just can’t miss!!

…A group of freedom-loving patriots, ordinary folks hailing from ordinary hamlets (we’ll call them the “TEA Party”), witness their beloved country being taken over by a hostile State.

Rallying around a single man’s call to stand up and fight, they answer in droves. Neighborhood by neighborhood, then town by town, they band together across the entire country, creating an impressive force which positively impacts an election.

Then, the State fights back, attempting to crush and grind these groups out of existence, or intimidate them into silence.

“ENTITLEMENTS” – Another press conference with Mr. Virtual President

“Mr. Virtual President” has returned, and today he’s discussing one of the most troubling issues that we have: Entitlements. 

We’ve come a long way from our country’s beginnings in this area. Self-sufficiency was once a uniform point of pride for our citizenry, a virtue that didn’t begin to deteriorate until the advent of Social Security. And then the floodgates opened: Medicare and Medicaid; SSDI, Food Stamps, and widow’s benefits being paid out to unmarried mothers. Unemployment. And on, and on…

Though allegedly done out of compassion, the result was easily predicted: a nation in staggering debt. Worse, we now have individual and generational dependency upon the Government at an all-time high.

Hardly a “Great Society“.

A President who honestly believed in the capability and capacity of the American people, and had the strength of his own convictions, would take steps to correct this. And the very first step would be to honestly discuss it, as is seen below:

Now Showing! at the Obama Scandal-plex: “The IRS, the AP, the DOJ and #Benghazi…”

At this point, if every separate Obama Administration scandal was a movie, you’d need to rent out a couple of multiplexes to show them all.

Consider:

• The IRS has been targeting & harassing Conservative groups and individuals,
• The DOJ seized phone records from the Associated Press, with as yet no explanation,
• HHS Secretary Kathleen Sibelius has been shaking down companies and organizations for private donations in order to help implement Obamacare, …and courtesy of Allahpundit:
• The EPA has been granting Freedom Of Information Act fee waivers to left-wing groups (who are usually sympathetic to a more powerful EPA), but systematically denies such waivers for Conservative groups.

And that’s just the CURRENT ones.

I’m actually in scandal overload. In U.S. history, I personally can’t recall such an overwhelming display of blatant corruption and abuse of power since possibly Louisiana Governor Huey Long in the 1930s. By comparison, Watergate and Teapot Dome don’t even come close, in scale or breadth.

Obama is shocked, SHOCKED!, that #IRS was harassing/intimidating Conservative groups

**With apologies to Captain Renault….

“Don’t tell me: …you’re ‘shocked’, right?”

Are we really supposed to believe that Obama is dismayed and distraught at revelations of political intimidation within the IRS? That (according to Allahpundit) he “just found out about this on Friday”?

Is our President honestly expecting us to swallow the following tale: that for some inexplicable reason, a rogue band of low-level IRS flunkies took it upon themselves to target the political enemies of this Administration, all without Obama’s imprimatur?