The current BHO administration scandals illustrate a Lord of the Flies" scenario. The dividing line between a reasonable government and a tyranny is extremely easy to breach.
For those unfamiliar with it The Lord of the Flies was a novel illustrating the slim dividing line between civilized behavior and savagery. With the recent popularity of zombie apocalypse stories or post economic collapse scenarios the subject is apropos. Particularly in light of the revelations of multiple serious and significant abuses by executive branch agencies of the federal government.
An excellent illustration of what happened is provided by Catherine Engelbrecht of Houston Texas. Englebrecht started two organizations; True the Vote dedicated to fighting voter fraud which eventually spawned chapters across the country and King Street Patriots which was a local Tea Party style association. Subsequently these organizations tax exemption filings were delayed in review and subjected to special treatment. Then her family owned machining company was hit by a series of audits. First there was the IRS followed by OSHA and the ATF. The company holds a federal firearms license because it does occasional gunsmithing work. The ATF demanded to see the contents of her family gun safe and cataloged the contents. The FBI counter-terrorism unit also showed up demanding information on the attendees of King Street Patriots meetings and related information purportedly in connection with a domestic terrorism case. Nothing was found by any of the investigations / audits which is not surprising. The company had been in business for 20 years without any prior government issues. What is surprising is that the government spent more time investigating this matter than the two Boston Bombers whom Russian intelligence had informed the FBI about.
But what is more important is one simple fact. The four-way targeting of Engelbrecht was an obvious case of collusion which requires an underlying conspiracy. Someone in government was coordinating the actions of all four agencies. The coincidence is too suspicious for it to be otherwise. And Engelbrechts case is not the only one. It is simply on my local radar in the Houston area where this writer lives. Over 500 others including the Billy Graham Ministry were subjected to government harassment.
On top of the IRS scandal now playing out in DC are the Benghazi and Media investigation scandals. Benghazi obviously involves lying to the public about what happened but that has been a distraction from the rest of the story which involves prevention of a rescue effort by the military and the possibility that Libya was being used as a staging point for supplies going to the anti-American militants presently fighting the Syrian government.
In the press investigation scandal reporters from Fox AP and CBS (and perhaps others) were targeted supposedly for national security violations but the information we have seen so far is that the investigations were designed to stifle information that might be embarrassing to BHO. Even the American Civil Liberties Union has sided with the Media against the government.
The evidence of collusion and corruption in the administration and particularly the Justice Dept. reached one focal point with the revelation that US Attorney Ronald Machen who signed the statement which resulted in a federal magistrate allowing the seizure of Fox News reporter James Rosens phone and email records was a long time supporter of BHO financially and as a volunteer going back to his political origins in Chicago. He also investigated" operation Fast and Furious finding nothing when the stench of corruption was obvious. Is there a conflict of interest? Texas Senator John Cornyn has now called for Attorney General Holder to resign. Resignation would be the easy way out to a cushy law partnership and teaching position. Holder belongs behind bars and Machen should probably be there with him.
Holder is a special case. His history of obstruction of justice dates back to the early days of his tenure when he refused to complete the prosecution of members of the New Black Panther Party who had been convicted of voter intimidation. He then obstructed proceedings in the Fast and Furious investigation blaming George W. Bush. It was a lie. The operation began under Obama and Bush had nothing to do with it. Now he is refusing to turn over to Congress evidence related to the recent scandals. He has already been cited for contempt by Congress and is awaiting court proceedings. Holder has also refused to appoint a special counsel to investigate the IRS. It has been obvious that his primary purpose at the DOJ has been to protect the presidency and the Democrat Party from criminal proceedings by obfuscating and refusing to take action where it was clearly indicated. He is and has always been Obamas attorney and not the peoples attorney.
It has now been revealed that the former IRS Commissioner Shulman visited the White House 118 times over two years which amounts to more than once a week. While Shulman admits to meeting about implementing Obamacare it is likely that the IRS harassment was also a subject of discussion. We just dont have evidence of it.
Political writer Lanny Davis who is well regarded in the field of crisis management advocates telling the truth and telling it early to reduce political damage. But in order to protect Obamas messianic image the administration is refusing to do so. Political Messianism depends on an article of faith that the leader is essentially perfect. Thus nothing can be allowed to tarnish that image.
This sort of government policy is a pattern that has repeated in various locations around the world throughout the 20th century and perhaps before. One might begin with the Russian Revolution that was supposed to create a perfectly just society but instead became a police state in which political enemies were killed or imprisoned. Mao in China had a similar party line then caused the deaths of millions while trying to totally restructure Chinese society. Pol Pot and Ho Chi Minh were two others guilty of the same on a smaller scale. If we turn to Western Europe we see Hitler and Mussolini were engaged similarly and their leadership" resulted in disasters for their nations as well.
Each of these individuals was guilty of promising to solve all of the nations problems forever. Mussolini promised to restore the Roman Empire. Hitler would make Germany a world power and avenge the losses of World War I. Their plans ended in disaster. The Soviet and Chinese police states were hardly beneficial to the people living there. But what is important was the messianic image that the individuals took up or allowed to be placed upon them. Barack Obama is guilty of the same behavior. He was going to solve the high cost of medical care bring the nation together end (non-existent) global warming and make America more respected in foreign nations. He has achieved none of the above; many of his actions created the opposite result. His supposedly most transparent administration in history has turned out to be a murky nest of corrupt and secretive individuals with little or no sense of ethics or duty the American citizenry. And it is likely that if the truth be known Obama was probably hoping to create a pathway for himself as president for life. This of course would mean destruction of The Constitution.
What is not fully appreciated by much of the current generation of Americans is that the Constitution is what protects our society and our civilization. Remove it and we have open season for the authoritarians against the average citizen. Yes a lot of politicians claim that they care about the middle class or the poor" but that caring ends when it conflicts with their personal motivations. Hitlers supposed caring for the people of Germany ended when his plans required that they become cannon fodder for his dreams of conquest. The Russian Communists killed off anyone who was in their way including tremendous numbers of Ukrainian farmers. Mao killed millions of Chinese who were in his way and the killing fields of Cambodia testify to the bloodthirsty dreams of Pol Pot and his colleagues. There is nothing that prevents this from happening here except the rule of law. When people in authority become a law unto themselves death and disaster always follow.
What the authoritarians and statists understand is that they cannot subvert the American system as long as the force of law and The Constitution stand in their way which is why they do their best to remove it. The present incarnation appears to have been involved in an attempt to do a complete job of it in eight years but over-reached. Thus we may have them stalled. But authoritarians never cease their quest for power over others.
The sad fact is that people who come bearing promises of government gifts and even utopia if only they are given enough power only want that power for themselves. The people of the USSR were as badly off under the Communists as they were under the Romanovs. A lot of them were certainly worse off. Maos Cultural Revolution and Great Leap Forward benefited no one except those at the top. The list could be endless.
The future of America requires that the We the People assert their right to self govern against those who would subvert it in the name of their personal power. Today we are seeing a government in which no on is responsible for wrongdoing. Led by Eric Holder they all pretend to be Sgt. Schultz from the old TV show Hogans Heroes. They all claim that they know nothing have seen nothing have heard nothing and cant be held responsible for what they dont know. But this claim of ignorance doesnt hold water. Someone must know and the probability that the people at the top are ignorant of what is happening on their watches is minuscule; particularly when they benefitted from the wrongdoing. It defies all credibility. Unfortunately there are likely to be few records of what was happening. People learn from history and now know enough not to leave a paper trail. So we are faced with a state in which the government can get away with murder because no one knows it happened until they read about it in the NY Times the next day. It is the ultimate nightmare and potentially the end of American popular sovereignty. If Obama Holder and their associates are allowed to get off God Help Us.