Category: Guest Authors

IRS Persecutes CatholicVote.org

Reader Carol K reports that CatholicVote.org is also one of the Obama opponents that was subjected to harassment and intimidation by our government, which occurred in July 2009.

From a letter from the organization:

The recent revelations concerning the illegal actions by the IRS targeting conservative groups compel me to speak out.

In July 2009, the Chicago IRS office threatened the CatholicVote.org Education Fund.

The CV Education Fund is our 501(c)3 tax-exempt entity, created to educate, inspire and mobilize Catholic voters. As you may know, 501(c)3 charities, unlike our sister org (CatholicVote.org, a 501c4 organization) are not permitted to intervene in any political campaign or to oppose or support any political candidate.

We never did.

But according to the IRS, an unnamed source provided them information, including an email that we distributed prior to the 2008 election, which prompted their ‘examination.’

The email in question was titled “Barack Obama on the Issues of Importance to Catholics” and it specifically disclaimed any endorsement or approval of any political candidate.

In fact, our email did not even offer our position! Instead, we used actual Obama press releases and news stories to provide voters information on his positions on the issues of “abortion, stem cell research, contraceptives, and gay marriage.”

We urged voters to gather the facts, and ended our email with this line: “Let’s have an informed electorate on Tuesday.”

For this, we received a lengthy letter with over 50 questions asking for everything from how many people are on our email list, bank account names, and our checking account numbers.

Yes, even our checking account numbers!

To properly respond to the IRS, we were forced to divert staff time and precious resources to pay for legal counsel. Over a period of weeks, we provided the IRS everything they asked for.

But we didn’t stop there.

As a part of our response, we cited the IRS code, which explicitly states that charities like ours are permitted to reach the public with a ‘pure issue message.’ Nothing in the law prohibits organizations like ours from informing voters about the positions taken by candidates for public office. Our 501(c)3 entity has never endorsed, supported or expressly advocated the election or defeat of ANY political candidate.

We argued that the IRS code is vague and standardless, and that no objective standard exists to regulate what might or might not constitute political intervention – thus opening the door to abuse. We told the IRS that groups like ours should not be subjected to arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement.

If they chose to fine us, we were prepared to sue.

The IRS ultimately chose to do nothing – they backed down.

Why is this important? Because the IRS scandal brewing in Washington D.C. suggests that their examination of the CatholicVote.org Education Fund could have been politically motivated.

Were we targeted for our political views? Who and what prompted the IRS to investigate us?

Did their investigation have anything to do with our “Imagine the Potential” viral video celebrating the gift of life, including the choice for life made by Barack Obama’s mother that was watched by millions of people? This video was released 5 months before we were investigated and received national attention including coverage on the front page of the Washington Post website.

Was the IRS investigation intended to intimidate us, or have a chilling effect on our future plans?

We may never know. But we are going to do our best to find out. Reluctantly, we have decided to retain counsel to evaluate the IRS’ conduct and determine whether we can take action to fight back against this abuse of power. We want to know who induced the IRS to come after us, or whether that was a pretext, and whether the IRS or any government agency was attempting to thwart our lawful issue advocacy.

This is America. Something must be done to fight back. What we are witnessing in Washington is disgusting and shameful. We are better than this. Those responsible should be punished to the fullest extent of the law.

Thankfully we have thick skin, and some top-notch attorneys.

You can chip in to support our effort here.

But at least now you know.

And you deserve to know that we will always defend our right to speak the truth, and to provide you and every Catholic in America the resources they need to vote with an informed conscience.

Thank you, as always, for your ongoing support and prayers.

Sincerely,

Brian Burch, Director
CatholicVote.org Education Fund

 

IRS Persecutes CatholicVote.org

Liquor Privatization Done Right

Liquor Privatization Done Right
By Nathan A. Benefield

Picture this: You’re on your way home from visiting family in Delaware and decide to stop at a wine store near the Pennsylvania border. As you walk through the parking lot, something seems off.  For every Delaware license plate you see, there are three Pennsylvania plates. An aberration?  Hardly.

As a recent investigative video shows, liquor stores in New Jersey and Delaware are filled with Pennsylvania shoppers every day.  The video, produced by the state chapter of the National Federation of Independent Businesses, should shock no one.

We already know consumers shop with their feet—even the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board acknowledges it.  Their survey of Philadelphia region residents found nearly half shop in other states, costing the commonwealth hundreds of millions annually in sales due to “border bleed.”

Consumers want greater convenience, selection, and lower prices.  They want beer, wine, and liquor to be sold in local grocery stores.  They don’t want to drive as far, or make multiple stops.  And they want the ability to buy alcohol in whatever quantity they choose.  That’s why a Delaware shop had three times as many Pennsylvanians as Delaware shoppers.  But we can bring them back.

Lawmakers, customers, and activists celebrated the historic vote in the Pennsylvania House to end the government liquor store monopoly. Indeed, lawmakers accomplished what many pundits doubted was possible—and what several governors had tried and failed to do—by even holding a vote on a liquor store privatization bill.

But consumers and taxpayers have nothing to toast—not until the Senate and House agree to legislation that will earn Gov. Corbett’s signature. The challenge for lawmakers is balancing the free market consumers want with the demands of those already vested in the current system.

The state Senate has begun hearings on privatization and it is a near certainty they will do something, but what that something will be is far from certain.  Sen. Chuck McIlhinney, who chairs the committee taking up the House-passed bill, says he supports privatization, but what does privatization really mean?

Here are two key things that must happen in any bill to deliver for consumers and taxpayers:

First, lawmakers must increase retail competition.  This means licensing more stores to sell wine and spirits so consumers don’t need to cross state lines, allowing beer distributors and grocery stores to carry wine and liquor for greater convenience, and creating meaningful competition even if they don’t shut down the state-run stores immediately.

No Pennsylvanian wants to see a government monopoly replaced with a private one.  And providing a mechanism to close down state stores once private competition has ramped up, as the House-passed legislation did, will finally get government out of the booze business and allow the PLCB to focus on its regulatory mission.

Second, lawmakers must end the government monopoly over wholesale operations.  The wholesale monopoly allows government bureaucrats to determine what is sold in Pennsylvania and what isn’t, to set artificially high prices for every bottle sold, and to limit competition and selection.

The PLCB’s wholesale monopoly is the source of endless frustration for restaurant, winery, and bar owners and has produced a series of boondoggles on the taxpayer’s dime.  One of the biggest PLCB blunders is the branding and marketing of their own wine label, TableLeaf.  This government wine takes prominent shelf space away from Pennsylvania labels, yet the brand state taxpayers own is actually grown and bottled in California and directly competes with wineries right here in the Keystone State.

Thanks also to the PLCB wholesale monopoly, consumers were treated to the infamous wine kiosk program—elaborate vending machines in grocery stores that required a public breathalyzer test, identity verification, and a video sobriety test prior to allowing a sale.

It’s decades past time to get government out of our Prohibition-era liquor system. Pennsylvanians have suffered from the PLCB’s conflicts of interest and taxpayer-funded boondoggles for far too long.  Until lawmakers pass a plan that satisfies both consumers and stakeholders, we will continue to see shoppers stream across state lines for the convenience our government monopoly has failed to deliver.

Nathan A. Benefield is Director of Policy Analysis with the Commonwealth Foundation (CommonwealthFoundation.org).

 

Liquor Privatization Done Right

Dem Dirty Tricks In Delco Judicial Primary

Dem Dirty Tricks In Delco Judicial Primary
By Craig Williams

As you may know, William “Chip” Mackrides (A-3) and Richard M. Cappelli (A-6) are the endorsed Republican candidates for Judge of the Delaware County Court of Common Pleas. With the Primary election less than a week away, the Democratic candidates for judge have launched a dirty-tricks campaign to deceive Republican primary voters into thinking they are actually the Republican candidates.

Candidates can cross file in judicial races.

· Push buttons A-3 and A-6 to support Mackrides and Cappelli, the ONLY Republican candidates for Court of Common Pleas on the ballot. The other two candidates are longtime registered Democrats.

· Mackrides and Cappelli are the ONLY candidates for Judge voted “Well Qualified” by the Delaware County Bar Association to serve as judge. This is the Bar Association’s highest possible rating. The Democratic candidates were deemed not recommended/no opinion.

· Mackrides and Cappelli are supported by local law enforcement and are the ONLY candidates endorsed by the Delaware County Fraternal Order of Police.

· Mackrides and Cappelli have the support of the men and women of our local trade unions. They are the ONLY candidates endorsed by the Delaware County Council of the Philadelphia Building and Construction Trades, with more than 25,000 members from 14 unions.

 

Dem Dirty Tricks In Delco Judicial Primary

Government Persecution Of Conservatives Not New

Government Persecution Of Conservatives Not New
By Teri Adams

In a rather peculiar and ill-timed statement issued this past Friday, a mid-level IRS administrator publicly admitted that the agency has been harassing Tea Party and Patriot groups who filed for 501c tax-exempt status by forcing them to undergo additional burdensome scrutiny above and beyond the standard application process.

As many news outlets reported, IRS intimidation of conservative groups has been ongoing since 2010.

None of this is news to the Independence Hall Tea Party Association.

Due to our concerns over the Obama Administration’s control of the IRS, the Association decided not to file for tax exempt status.  In addition, unlike most Tea Party groups across the nation, we formed a federal PAC to handle political endorsements and activities–thereby making it less likely that we would become potential government targets.

However, a left-wing, anarchist group called Anonymous did manage to hack into both of our websites during the 2012 primary–taking over the sites for a 24-hour period and posting pornographic images/racial slurs on our home page.

We believe the Anonymous attacks were directly related to our hosting an event with Governor Mitt Romney at the Franklin Institute in which we refused to admit members of Occupy who were threatening to disrupt the Governor’s speech.

(Because of our limited resources, both the Association and the PAC decided only to report the matter to local authorities and to focus our efforts, instead, on our respective educational and political missions.)

As for the IRS, the Association, like everyone else, is waiting for the Inspector General’s full report–which is expected early this week.

The Inspector General’s report, we insist, should signal the beginning of a more thorough investigation–not the last word on this highly explosive scandal.

(Ms. Adams is president of the Independence Tea Party Association.)

 

Government Persecution Of Conservatives Not New

Thought For The Day

When a soldier is killed in the line of duty, his family eventually gets a flag and a form note conveying sympathy from the United States Government.

When a pro basketball player announces he is gay, he immediately gets a personal phone call from the President congratulating him for his courage.

His idea of courage must be vastly different than mine, or am I missing something?

–Jim Vanore

Beaver Valley Conservancy, Save It

By 
Michele Daviduk

The Beaver Valley Conservancy is a group of people who have joined forces to help preserve 324 acres of beautiful open spaces.

The property belongs to Woodlawn Trustees in Wilmington, Del., but is under agreement with 3 developers for town homes, 55+ community, single family homes and a commercial aspect with a 180,000 square foot big box store.

The property is between Beaver Valley Road and Rte 202 South in Concord Township, Pa. The property has been used as a wildlife refuge for over 50 years. This property has been used for many generations for mountain biking, dog walking, hiking, horseback riding and enjoying nature. It supports many wildlife species including fox, deer, raccoons, turtles, hawks, owls and bald eagles.
The Concervancy’s mission is “To protect and preserve the natural beauty, wildlife and open space in Beaver Valley for the enjoyment of people in Concord Township and surrounding communities now and for generations to come. To educate the public on development plans through publications, online communications and word of mouth.”
Concord Township supervisors are holding a public meeting scheduled for 7 p.m., Tuesday, May 14.

We would like the residents to be made aware of this meeting so that they may voice an opinion regarding the rezoning necessary for this developing to occur. There was a preliminary meeting held Oct. 2, 2012 that was continued until this May 14 date.

Many Garnet Valley resident have no idea of this pending change. The goal is to NOT allow rezoning.
It would be a bonus if we could have this property as an extension of Delaware’s National Monument since the property is adjacent to the Delaware parcel recently granted this status. Concord Township is losing precious open space at horrible speeds.  We believe the residents would prefer keeping the open spaces.  But they need to be made aware of it.
We have a FB page: BeaverValleyConservancy; website: www.BeaverValleyConservancy.org and a group linked from us: SavetheValley.org.

What a crime to destroy this beauty!

Beaver Valley Conservancy, Save It

Beaver Valley Conservancy, Save It

States Fixing Medicaid When President, Congress Won’t

By Thomas J. Smith

This piece first ran in Investor’s Business Daily.

The Affordable Care Act may not yet be fully implemented, but its negative effects and exorbitant price tag are already being felt in statehouses, hospitals, and homes across the country.

Yet in the face of the President’s and the Senate’s unwillingness to address the law’s many issues, some states—including my home state of Pennsylvania—are taking proactive steps to help protect taxpayers and families from the ACA’s burdensome costs by refusing to expand Medicaid programs that fail to serve the poor.

Fifteen states have so far announced their intention not to participate in the ACA’s Medicaid expansion program.

The President may not like this development, but it’s a decision that makes sense—both fiscally and morally.

Consider Medicaid’s current bill of health. Medicaid has a poor record of serving the people who need it the most. The program’s broken system of doctor reimbursements and its reams of red tape mean that many doctors have to choose between accepting Medicaid patients and staying in business. As a result, Medicaid recipients have fewer options, spend more time in the waiting room, and ultimately don’t get the care they need.

The 48-year old program is bleeding red ink. It is already the single largest item in most state budgets, accounting for roughly 23 percent of state spending on average. Pennsylvania alone expects to spend more than $9 billion in state funds on Medicaid over the next year.

The national numbers are even more enormous. Medicaid spending ballooned from $73.7 billion in 1990 to an estimated $450 billion last year. And the GAO predicts Medicaid costs will continue to grow faster than taxpayers’ ability to pay and consume a larger share of state and federal spending.

These numbers—already at mind-boggling levels—are expected to accelerate under the Affordable Care Act. Rather than rein in the runaway cost of Medicaid, the ACA urges states to expand the program using an unfortunate “carrot and stick” approach.

The “carrot” is that the federal government has promised to shoulder the additional costs at first, but its payments will trickle off after three years. The “stick” is 20 new federal taxes that residents will still pay for Medicaid expansion in other states, even if their state refuses to participate. It’s nothing more than financial extortion by another name.

Pennsylvania has seen through this ruse, as have 14 other states, with ten more still weighing the offer. Past experience has taught these governors that Washington politicians will renege on their promises—President Obama has already suggested cutting the federal matching rate. Even if the federal government keeps its end of the deal, states will be forced raise taxes to pay for a program they have little control over.

That’s why Governor Corbett should also be praised for requesting an “innovation waiver” for the program. Unlike the fake flexibility pursued by Arkansas, these waivers offer states wider latitude and have a good track record in the states where they exist.

With flexibility to fix Medicaid, states have saved money, improved patient care, and produced more satisfied participants. In the face of the ACA’s crippling uniformity, such waivers are the best means for states to improve the health care of their neediest citizens while balancing their budgets.

The ACA’s problems are obvious, whether you’re sitting in Washington, Harrisburg, or anywhere in between. That’s why leaders in statehouses across the country should do the right thing and follow Pennsylvania’s lead. Instead of waiting for dollars and dictates from D.C. to expand a broken program, our states can save our ailing health care system by fixing Medicaid themselves.

# # #

Thomas J. Smith was Pennsylvania’s 2012 Republican candidate for U.S. Senate and is a member of the Board of Directors for the Commonwealth Foundation for Public Policy Alternatives, (www.CommonwealthFoundation.org) Pennsylvania’s free-market think tank.

States Fixing Medicaid When President, Congress Won't

States Fixing Medicaid When President, Congress Won’t

Percy Dougherty Calls In Big Favors

By Bob Guzzardi

I received this fundraiser email from quasi Republican and 100% Squish Lehigh Commissioner Percy Dougherty who is faced with a primary. Lt. Gov. and Corbett Surrogate and Deon Union Republican BucksCo Jim Cawley is fundraising for NOT the Forgotten Taxpayer’s Friend Percy Dougherty!

Yikes, why is governor endorsing in a county commissioner Republican Primary? Because the Governor’s actions do not match the rhetoric at the Pennsylvania Leadership Conference (sometimes called the Incumbent Protection Conference with shameless promotion from Fred Anton, his spokesman Dave Taylor and the phony and failed Charlie GID Gerow). Incompetence is Us! Is it a wonder Republicans are losing Pennsylvania.

Percy Dougherty has opposed the Lehigh County’s Reform Agenda and most recently enabled the Democratic Unions and Democratic Allentown Mayor Ed Pawloski’s Lehigh County Authority Water/Sewer Lease effectively enacting a stealth tax increase on Allentown water and sewer customers. As a Lehigh County Commissioner, Percy Dougherty had the opportunity to vote with real Republicans on the LCA.  And voted with plugged in Democrat and Allentown Parking Authority Solicitor and former Allentown City Solicitor Dan McCarthy

Because the Governor is a failure and a phony as his polling numbers show. Fortunately, he has obtained competent campaign help from Ed Rendell and his billionaire funding network headed by Comcast Obama Democrat David L. Cohen. And more at Huffington Post

Once again, the Governor, through his surrogate, Deon Union BucksCo Republican Jim Cawley, has intruded and endorsed a local commissioner candidate in a Republican Primary! Two years ago Governor Corbett and State Chair Rob Gleason backed quasi Republican 100% Squish Dean Browning who supported Lehigh County Democrats’ spending and tax increases.

One would think that the Governor, whose plummeting poll numbers are common knowledge, would distance himself.

Note Percy Dougherty corrected my misperception that he was running in tandem with quasi Republican and 100 percent Squish Dean Browning. My mistake. I assumed (without evidence) that the Governor had reached into a local Republican primary on loser Dean Browning’s campaign in 2010 and is, was, again, reaching another quasi Republican 100% Squish, the campaigns were related. Dean Browning and Percy Dougherty are NOT running as a team.

Although County Chair Wayne Woodman and I have exchanged some heated words, I admire and support the policies of NO ENDORSEMENT primaries that he and his Lehigh County supporters instituted. Let Republican Voters decide whom they want to represent them. We recall the disastrous effects of CorbettCawley’s endorsement of losers Steve Welch, Dave Freed, John Maher!  CorbettCawley = Loser.

 

Percy Dougherty Calls In Big Favors

Abbott Warns Obama Texas V. Tyranny

Abbott Warns Obama Texas V. Tyranny

America is in a gunfight. The bad guy government wants to disarm the good guy citizens. The battle: tyranny versus freedom. The Obama government has started the bleeding-out of Constitutional rights and protections for all citizens through its ramped-up attacks and erosions of Constitutional amendments. On patrol at the Constitution’s perimeter are leaders like Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, among others, who refuse to back down and bow to totalitarianism.

Few Americans are aware of the surprisingly narrow defeat in the Senate, 53-46, of a United Nations Arms Trade Treaty that would have effectively savaged the 2nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. To see which senators voted for the U.N.’s control over American gun rights, read here (Ed. note Bob Casey voted nay and Pat Toomey voted aye)

The following letter from Texas Attorney General Abbott to President Barack Obama regarding this President’s support of the U.N. treaty over the Constitutional rights of American citizens demonstrates how real leaders, defending America, step forward in times of peril:

April 2, 2013

Sent via facsimile and U.S. mail

Dear Mr. President:

The Arms Trade Treaty agreed to today by the United Nations (UN) is a threat to Americans’ Constitutional liberty. I urge you to reject that treaty. If you sign it, and if the U.S. Senate ratifies the treaty, Texas will lead the charge to have the treaty overturned in court as a violation of the U.S. Constitution.

America is exceptional in part because our Constitution safeguards our individual liberties — including the right to keep and bear arms enshrined in the Second Amendment. During your reelection campaign, you consistently claimed to support Second Amendment rights. Yet the day after you won reelection, you announced your support for the Arms Trade Treaty, a UN agreement on firearms restrictions. That treaty:

Fails to recognize the fundamental, individual right to keep and bear arms or the right to defend one’s family, person, and property;

Empowers a new UN bureaucracy focused on firearms restrictions that will be run by international bureaucrats who are not accountable to the people of the United States; Employs vague and sweeping language that could be used for any number of future restrictions on Second Amendment rights; and Places no defined limits on the UN’s power to interfere with Second Amendment rights.

The UN has concluded its negotiations on the Arms Trade Treaty. It is now up to you to sign it – or reject it. Do not sign this treaty.

Agreeing to the treaty does more than trample Second Amendment rights. It also threatens to erode all liberties guaranteed to Americans in the Constitution by establishing the precedent that the UN has some level of authority to govern our lives. The very reason we fought for independence was to free ourselves from dictates by leaders in other lands. This treaty contradicts the underpinning philosophy of our country.

I recognize that the ostensible purpose of the treaty is to combat the illegal international trade of weapons into third-world war zones. The treaty could, however, draw law-abiding gun owners and gun store operators into a complex web of bureaucratic red tape created by a new department at the UN devoted to overseeing the treaty. For instance, the treaty appears to lay the groundwork for an international gun registry overseen by the bureaucrats at the UN.

The treaty also contains a vague and open-ended call for heightened domestic regulation of imported firearms, which make up a large percentage of the market for new firearms in this country. Indeed, the most troubling aspect of the treaty is the vagueness of its language. As with most so-called international-law documents promulgated by the UN, the draft treaty is not written using the precise, unambiguous language required of a good legal document. Instead, the treaty employs sweeping rhetoric and imprecise terminology that could be used by those who seek to undermine our liberties to impose any number of restrictions on the right of law-abiding Americans to keep and bear arms.

Treaties do not trump constitutional liberties. Even if you, as the President, signed and the Senate ratified the UN Arms Trade Treaty, our Constitution remains the Supreme Law of the Land and would supersede any treaty provision that violated Second Amendment rights. When the Constitution says, “the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed,” it means no one–including the UN–can infringe that right.

These principles have long been recognized by the United States Supreme Court. In Reid v. Covert, 354 U.S. 1, (1957), the Supreme Court ruled that the United States cannot use its treaty power to violate Constitutional rights. In that case, an international agreement between the United States and the United Kingdom provided that dependents of American service members stationed in the UK would be tried for crimes by military tribunal and thus deprived of certain Sixth Amendment rights, including the right to trial by jury. When the wife of an American serviceman was accused of murder and convicted by a military court, the Supreme Court reversed the conviction. The Court rightly concluded that ‘no agreement with a foreign nation can confer power on the Congress, or on any other branch of Government, which is free from the restraints of the Constitution.” Id. at 16. In a passage that should be required reading in our public schools, the Supreme Court affirmed that “The United States is entirely a creature of the Constitution. Its power and authority have no other source. It can only act in accordance with all the limitations imposed by the Constitution.” Id. at 5-6. For that reason, the Supreme Court “has regularly and uniformly recognized the supremacy of the Constitution over a treaty.” Id. at 17.

As Reid v. Covert demonstrates, the Second Amendment is by no means the only constitutional right that can be threatened by international agreements. Regardless of their position on gun rights, all Americans should oppose any treaty that does not adequately protect our constitutional rights. If the Second Amendment can be trusted to international organizations that do not share our constitutional traditions, then why not the First Amendment? Why not the Fourth Amendment or the Fifth Amendment?

Our Nation’s Bill of Rights is a rare and precious thing. It does not exist anywhere else in the world. And the UN cannot be trusted with it. The UN includes foreign governments that have shown hostility to the kinds of constitutional liberties guaranteed to Americans. All Americans are harmed when unaccountable international bodies like the UN are empowered to interfere with our protected freedoms.

If the UN Arms Trade Treaty is ratified or applied in a way that violates the right of law-abiding Americans to keep and bear arms, it will be null and void. That will be little comfort, however, to law-abiding gun owners who would no doubt wonder why the United States entered into a treaty that empowers the UN to interfere with their Second Amendment rights. Rather than reach that point, the better course is to stop the treaty before the Senate can even consider it.

If the UN Arms Trade Treaty is not stopped at the federal level, I — and my fellow state attorneys general — will take up the fight to preserve the Constitution. Ratification of this treaty would compel immediate legal action to enforce the Constitution’s guarantee that the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.

Sincerely, G
reg Abbott,
Attorney General of Texas

 

Abbott Warns Obama Texas V. Tyranny

Martial Law, Facebook Hug-ins In Boston

Martial Law, Facebook Hug-ins In Boston

There’s good and bad news.

The good: If you’re still reeling from the self-imposed trauma of watching nonstop bombing coverage from your recliner, you can go to the Penn Relays this week to recover. Backpacks there are being banned, so you can pretend you’re safe and feel good about yourself! (Although, just like our wildly inconsistent airport security policies, not all backpacks are banned. Go figure.)

The bad news, however, is that if the above sounds good, you’ve contracted a horrible disease: Americanis Moronis.

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

The massive and unwarranted reaction of the government, and the media as its all-too-willing accomplice, in finding two punks was infinitely more frightening than the crude bombs they exploded.

The precedent of imposing martial law whenever a relatively small tragedy occurs bodes ominously for maintaining our rights in the future.

Were the events in Boston tragic? Of course. Three people lost their lives, with scores injured. But let’s shove the wimpy, show-emotion-for-the-sake of-showing-emotion mentality aside and put this situation into perspective.

1. This was not remotely close to being another 9/11, despite many “analysts” in the media saying so. It was obvious within minutes that it was amateur hour, unlike the precision attacks of Sept. 11. Comparing Boston to the 2001 attack is the worst insult one could make to the families of the 9/11 victims, as well as to all sane Americans.

2. Government and media officials saying things such as “no one in America can feel safe until these bombers are caught” only feeds into the hysteria, which is totally counterproductive.

3. It was apparent we weren’t dealing with seasoned military operatives, despite media and government officials’ repeated claims (with no evidence) that the bombers had “paramilitary” training, whatever that buzzword means. Why? Because they didn’t surrender, instead fighting the police with guns and homemade grenades. Well, call out the National Guard, because that means we have “paramilitary” forces in every American city, every night. There is another term: Criminals who don’t want to get caught and won’t hesitate to kill. Hey, welcome to Philly.

4. Why the brothers did it is to be determined, and while Muslim fundamentalism may be at the core, it seems more likely that they were two pampered kids mad at the world, desperate for attention. How do we know they weren’t highly trained terrorists? A.) No disguises, despite knowing they would be captured on video. And if they didn’t know that, they’re really dumb; B.) You don’t bomb a city in which you live; C.) Exit strategies are somewhat important, yet they neglected planning one; and D.) Robbing a 7-Eleven in the city where you live and just bombed might raise a red flag.

5. So was it really necessary to impose martial law, locking down an entire metropolis and, topping it all, imposing a no-fly zone? Where are we? Iraq? And if such an extreme measure is used, why publicly announce it?

Even though the media redefined “overkill,” their news helicopters could have aided in finding Tweedle Dee as he scurried below like a scared coward.

6. The biggest irony? You can bet every Massachusetts liberal (that’s pretty much everyone) screaming “gun control” either was wishing they had a gun or, more likely, grabbing their firearm. Such hypocrisy has no bounds.

The baseball write-up in Sunday’s Philadelphia Inquirer stated that the Red Sox “defiantly” returned to Fenway. That’s nice. Though who and what they were “defying” remains a mystery since neither the Red Sox nor Fenway were affected in the slightest.

Opening your heart to a tragic situation is one thing. Making it all about you is another. But that’s what Americans do.

We have become a nation of narcissistic sissies, whining and living in fear (perversely liking it), all while seeking constant positive self-affirmations and “likes” on Facebook about the trauma we (actually don’t) suffer. When did we embrace the delusional need to always hug each other (and post a corny motivational quote about it), while alternately, A.) attending our 17th candlelight vigil, B.) observing so many moments of silence that we can barely speak and C.) dancing in the streets?

Do these people have the faintest clue what they are celebrating? Given the trite, canned responses of “we’re all just pulling together … drawing on each other’s strength … we won’t be stopped,” the answer is a resounding “no.”

Worse are employee-support services stamping their imprimatur on such absurdities. Sorry, but you don’t need a grief counselor or bereavement specialist to cope with the Boston bombings. If you’re still experiencing anxiety, sadness, anger, fear or any of the other meaningless pyschobabble traumatic conditions, then move to France.

It’s time America finds itself again, kicking butt and taking names, not coddling from cradle to grave, refusing to ban things just to make people feel good, and not exponentially overreacting every single time something happens. In doing so, we wouldn’t be giving terrorists the recipe, as we just did, for how to paralyze a nation.

If we don’t wake up, the next time a major attack occurs, you can kiss the American way of life goodbye. And no amount of hug-ins will bring it back.

 

Martial Law, Facebook Hug-ins In Boston