Stephanie
Diamond Member
- Jul 11, 2004
- 70,230
- 10,864
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sums it about right...
SNIP:
Obama shows the same Orwellian disregard for the Constitution.
By Victor Davis Hanson
What would a president do if he were furious over criticism, or felt that his noble aims justified most means of attaining them?
Answer that by comparing the behavior of Richard Nixon to that of an increasingly similar Barack Obama.
Nixon tried to use the Internal Revenue Service to go after his political enemies although his IRS chiefs at least refused his orders to focus on liberals.
Nixon ignored settled law and picked and chose which statutes he would enforce from denying funds for the Clean Water Act to ignoring congressional subpoenas.
Nixon attacked TV networks and got into personal arguments with journalists such as CBSs Dan Rather.
Nixon wanted the Federal Communications Commission to hold up the licensing of some television stations on the basis of their political views.
Nixon went after enemies. He ordered surveillance to hound his suspected political opponents and was paranoid about leaks.
Now, consider how President Obama has directed government, as opposed to the platitudes he has offered about how it should operate.
The IRS? So far, the Obama-era IRS has succeeded in hounding nonprofit tea-party groups into political irrelevancy. By holding up rulings on nonprofit status, the IRS ensured that the Tea Partys big political wins of 2010 would not be a factor in the presidents 2012 reelection bid. Disgraced former IRS official Lois Lerner headed the division that focused inordinately on conservative groups. But she has refused to answer questions to Congress invoking the Fifth Amendment to protect herself from self-incrimination.
The FCC? According to FCC commissioner Ajit Pai, Obamas agency, until outrage arose, had planned to ask station managers, news directors, journalists, television anchors and on-air reporters to tell the government about their news philosophy and how the station ensures that the community gets critical information. In other words, Obama FCC appointees dreamed of predicating federal licensing on having politically correct views similar to their own.
Enemies? Federal authorities jailed a video maker for a minor probation violation after the Obama administration falsely blamed him for causing a riot that led to the deaths of four Americans in Benghazi in September 2012. In truth, the attack was an organized terrorist hit facilitated by our own lax security.
Dinesh DSouza has written and filmed some very unflattering things about Obama. He might be as openly critical of the president as Daniel Ellsberg once was of Nixon. In January, the office of Obama-appointed U.S. attorney Preet Bharara indicted DSouza on federal charges of violating campaign-finance laws. If convicted, DSouza could be imprisoned for up to seven years. Usually, those accused of such transgressions face far lesser charges involving fines.
Speaking of the Obama Justice Department, its former Office of Public Affairs director, Tracy Schmaler, was reported to have worked closely with the George Sorosfunded Media Matters for America on stories slamming critics of the administration. When the story alleging this public-private political partnership came out, Schmaler resigned and then went to work for former Obama political operative David Axelrod.
Going after reporters? Obama regularly blames Fox News by name for its criticism. In 2008, he seemed to enter into a personal grudge match with Foxs Sean Hannity.
Ignoring the law? The Affordable Care Act as currently administered bears little resemblance to the law that was passed by Congress and signed by the president. Federal immigration law is now a matter of enforcing what the president allows and ignoring the rest.
ALL of it here
Following the Trail Nixon Blazed | National Review Online
SNIP:
Obama shows the same Orwellian disregard for the Constitution.
By Victor Davis Hanson
What would a president do if he were furious over criticism, or felt that his noble aims justified most means of attaining them?
Answer that by comparing the behavior of Richard Nixon to that of an increasingly similar Barack Obama.
Nixon tried to use the Internal Revenue Service to go after his political enemies although his IRS chiefs at least refused his orders to focus on liberals.
Nixon ignored settled law and picked and chose which statutes he would enforce from denying funds for the Clean Water Act to ignoring congressional subpoenas.
Nixon attacked TV networks and got into personal arguments with journalists such as CBSs Dan Rather.
Nixon wanted the Federal Communications Commission to hold up the licensing of some television stations on the basis of their political views.
Nixon went after enemies. He ordered surveillance to hound his suspected political opponents and was paranoid about leaks.
Now, consider how President Obama has directed government, as opposed to the platitudes he has offered about how it should operate.
The IRS? So far, the Obama-era IRS has succeeded in hounding nonprofit tea-party groups into political irrelevancy. By holding up rulings on nonprofit status, the IRS ensured that the Tea Partys big political wins of 2010 would not be a factor in the presidents 2012 reelection bid. Disgraced former IRS official Lois Lerner headed the division that focused inordinately on conservative groups. But she has refused to answer questions to Congress invoking the Fifth Amendment to protect herself from self-incrimination.
The FCC? According to FCC commissioner Ajit Pai, Obamas agency, until outrage arose, had planned to ask station managers, news directors, journalists, television anchors and on-air reporters to tell the government about their news philosophy and how the station ensures that the community gets critical information. In other words, Obama FCC appointees dreamed of predicating federal licensing on having politically correct views similar to their own.
Enemies? Federal authorities jailed a video maker for a minor probation violation after the Obama administration falsely blamed him for causing a riot that led to the deaths of four Americans in Benghazi in September 2012. In truth, the attack was an organized terrorist hit facilitated by our own lax security.
Dinesh DSouza has written and filmed some very unflattering things about Obama. He might be as openly critical of the president as Daniel Ellsberg once was of Nixon. In January, the office of Obama-appointed U.S. attorney Preet Bharara indicted DSouza on federal charges of violating campaign-finance laws. If convicted, DSouza could be imprisoned for up to seven years. Usually, those accused of such transgressions face far lesser charges involving fines.
Speaking of the Obama Justice Department, its former Office of Public Affairs director, Tracy Schmaler, was reported to have worked closely with the George Sorosfunded Media Matters for America on stories slamming critics of the administration. When the story alleging this public-private political partnership came out, Schmaler resigned and then went to work for former Obama political operative David Axelrod.
Going after reporters? Obama regularly blames Fox News by name for its criticism. In 2008, he seemed to enter into a personal grudge match with Foxs Sean Hannity.
Ignoring the law? The Affordable Care Act as currently administered bears little resemblance to the law that was passed by Congress and signed by the president. Federal immigration law is now a matter of enforcing what the president allows and ignoring the rest.
ALL of it here
Following the Trail Nixon Blazed | National Review Online
