As more information about the IRS scandal trickles out daily, the White House’s involvement is becoming clearer. Those of us who’ve been warning about the demise of freedom with Barack Obama’s efforts to “fundamentally transform” our great nation are about to witness some sad vindication. Will awakened Americans finally join us in saying “enough is enough”?

The president would like us to believe that he only learned about the IRS corruption from watching the news. But we recently learned that the White House was actively working with the IRS on how to roll out the story of this scandal. So, Mr. President, how can you have your staff work on the roll out of the biggest controversy since Watergate, and yet claim that you only heard about it by watching the news with the rest of us?

For the president to deny any knowledge of what was brewing and to claim to know nothing about the Benghazi cover-up or anything about anything White House-related lately, he’s either a liar or a hugely incompetent CEO. You decide.

Yesterday, we also learned that the top IRS official involved in the targeting scandal is planning on pleading the Fifth during her Congressional hearings. That’s keen – she’ll be able to enjoy her Fifth Amendment rights in a hearing about how her intimidating organization denied Americans the ability to fully exercise their First Amendment rights.

Keep in mind that the IRS considers you guilty until proven innocent when they audit you.  The Fifth Amendment doesn’t apply.

This scandal is not just about the IRS targeting Americans to deny them tax-exempt status or subjecting them to harassing retaliatory audits. The IRS also leaked to left-wing reporters the confidential application information submitted by conservative groups.

The IRS claims that their leaking of information was “inadvertent and unintentional disclosures by the employees involved.” They at first blamed the entire IRS scandal on a couple of employees who “went rogue,” but we soon found out that this was just more malarkey coming from the president’s spokesman. But even if these were “inadvertent and unintentional disclosures,” is that supposed to make us feel better? With the IRS running Obamacare, what are the chances that our confidential information and medical records will “inadvertently” and “unintentionally” be disclosed? Please remember that some of us warned America about the dangers of having the IRS play such a big role with the administration of Obamacare. We were laughed at and mocked relentlessly back then. It sure doesn’t seem funny now, does it?

This IRS scandal is especially terrible because Americans live in fear of the IRS like no other entity because this monstrous bureaucracy has the power to take your hard-earned money. Your wages are the sum of your labors; hence, the IRS has the power to steal the fruits of your labors. Average Americans live in fear of making an error on their tax returns that could cost them massive amounts of money, plus their reputation and good name.  If a small business makes a mistake, the IRS can shut them down and send them to jail.

The IRS has always been the face of intimidating and controlling big government. Now it’s the face of corrupt big government that actively attacks the people it is supposed to serve. This isn’t the change America was hoping for, Mr. President, but it certainly is transformative.

Average everyday Americans like my dad and his non-political buddies are outraged by this IRS scandal, perhaps more so than all the other White House fiascos that are making the radical Left’s intentions crystal clear. It’s because this IRS cluster hits close to home for everyone. It’s tangible proof of how a corrupt government can intimidate and target a person’s record, reputation, and life, and make them feel helpless.

These Obama administration scandals are a sad and stark reminder that only limited government can ensure liberty. At our core, we Americans just want to be left alone to live freely, peacefully, and productively.

Last year the Obama campaign told us that government is something we all “belong” to. I guess they’re right because when the government is powerful enough to target, intimidate, and harass us, we do “belong” to them. The real question is: Will we stand for this?

These atrocious government actions are bigger, uglier, and much more dangerous than “a few rogue employees.” It’s time for all Americans to stand together and join in the growing outraged chorus that looks at our out-of-control government and says, “Enough is enough!”

†

See also:

• “Groups & individuals targeted by Obama’s IRS witchhunt,” May 15, 2013.
• “Tax-exempt charity of Obama’s half-brother is a fraud,” May 21, 2013.

~Eowyn

Her name is Miyoko Shida, of the Rigolo Swiss Nouveau Cirque. She performed this incredible feat of balance, concentration, and control for the Spanish TV program “Tú Sí Que Vales” (“You Can Do It”).

Shida is from Hiroshima, Japan, but lives in Paris, France.

She calls what she does Sanddornbalance, created by performance artist Mädir Eugster in 1996 as part of a play called Balance … forever turning.

Here’s Shida’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/miyoko.shida

H/t my sis-in-law Shireen!

~Eowyn

In a Ron Paul rally on September 2, 2008, Kokesh had made evident his political views when he declared that “While it is our responsibility now to resist tyranny civilly, while we still can, there may come a time when we will say to the powers that be, be it with your blood or ours we have come to water the tree of liberty … who will stand with me?”

True to his words, on May 5, 2013, Kokesh launched the planned armed march as a group on Facebook, the “Open Carry March on Washington.” He hoped to get 1,000 supporters to march into the nation’s capital with loaded rifles.

TPTB are seeing to it that the march will not happen.

As reported by Natural News, three days ago, on May 19, 2013, police dragged Adam Kokesh from a “Smoke Down Prohibition” protest in Philadelphia and charged him with “resisting arrest,” which Kokesh denies. This YouTube video of the arrest shows Adam Kokesh clearly NOT resisting, holding his hands up in a surrender posture and trying to maintain his balance while a gang of police drag him away from the event.

The next day, Kokesh was charged with felony assault of a federal officer and is held without bail. (Source)

Kokesh can’t organize the planned armed march from jail. No doubt, the authorities will hold Kokesh until July 4 is past and gone.

Welcome to the Soft Tyranny of Obama’s America.

~Eowyn

An enlightened Hollyweird actor

‘Marriage is serious business, but kissing is not’: Mindy Kaling on why it  should be OK to lock lips with others after saying ‘I do’

Daily Mail: Mindy Kaling has voiced her opinion that one should still be able to kiss other people after they get married.

In a New Yorker article, the comedienne and author, 33, who is single, says kissing new people is ‘one of the greatest joys of life,’ which married people should be able to enjoy, too. ‘Why should saying “I do” necessarily mean “I will not kiss another human for the rest of my life”?’ she asks.

The actress and director, who writes and  stars in Fox’s The Mindy Project, said one of the perks of acting is getting to kiss men, often married ones, with ‘zero repercussions for anyone  involved.’ She goes on to explain that she is by no  means advocating open marriage. ‘Marriage is a serious business,’ she writes.  ‘[But] kissing is not.

‘Just because I want to kiss someone doesn’t mean I want to love that person, share a bed with him . . . tell him not to use  so much salt, or share one AOL e-mail account,’ she adds. The problem with kissing, she says, is that  it has been ‘cheapened’, and is now perceived as a gateway gesture to sex.

‘Kissing is to sexual intercourse as the  phrase “Can I talk to you for a second?” is to a full-blown screaming fight,’  she writes.

She admits that kissing does not come without  its complications, but insists it just needs to be treated as an enjoyable legal vice akin to drinking alcohol or gambling. In other words, it just needs to be regulated.

To prevent a kiss from leading to something more, Ms. Kaling came up with a hypothetical invention called the Kiss Monitor™,  an electric device inserted into the lip.

The gadget would allow a person to kiss a non-spouse for 90 seconds, before it would begin sending electroconvulsive  shocks to the lips. ’If the kissing continues, the shocks increase in frequency and intensity until the patient passes out,’ writes Ms.  Kaling. ‘This can be very embarrassing.’

According to Ms. Kaling, this device would resolve the issue people have with kissing others after getting married. She imagines that the Kiss Monitor™ will be a means of demonstrating marital fidelity in the future.

‘I am a romantic at heart, and. . . I look  forward to the day when [a man] and I find each other, fall in love, and solemnize our relationship by exchanging Kiss Monitors,’ she  wrote.

So if a kiss is just a kiss and doesn’t lead to sex, why invent something to make a kiss unpleasant?

I’m not married, yet I doubt seriously my boyfriend would want me kissing other guys – and I certainly don’t want him kissing any women! Let’s see what Mandy has to say about this free-for-all kissing after she does say “I do”.

DCG

Photo by David Maialette

Did cancer hats go to far?

Philly.com: Just hours before dawn on May 14, Jackie Underwood’s three daughters held her  in their arms as the cancer stole the last breath from her broken body.

For many days before, and almost every day since, her children – Makia  Underwood, 32, Zakia Clark, 29, and Tasha Clark, 27 – have worn hats and shirts  that read “F— CANCER,” with the “C” in “F—” replaced by a  breast-cancer-awareness ribbon.

“That’s how we feel. It took our mom away. It’s a demon. It’s the devil,”  Zakia Clark said. “There are no other words you can use to explain how you feel.  You want cancer to get cancer and die.”

Zakia and Tasha Clark were wearing their black-and-pink “F— CANCER” hats  Sunday when the three sisters went to King of Prussia (KOP) Mall with a group of  friends and relatives to pick out a dress for Zakia’s 9-year-old daughter to  wear to her grandmother’s funeral today.

The group shopped for 2 1/2 hours, then split up, and Zakia and Tasha,  Zakia’s daughter, an adult female friend and two girls younger than 5 grabbed  something to eat from Master Wok at the mall’s upper-level food court.

The ladies had just sat down when a security guard approached them and,  without a greeting, ordered: ” ‘Take your hats off,’ ” Zakia said. Zakia took hers off, but Tasha, who once worked at the mall, told the guard  she wanted to see something in writing. It was almost as if Tasha were channeling their mother’s strong spirit, Zakia  said, and it inspired her to put her own hat back on.

“He said, ‘Since you don’t want to take your hat off, you can leave my  mall,’ ” Zakia recalled. “He stood there while we ate and threatened to  call the cops.” Out of nowhere, Zakia said, seven more guards surrounded them. “I was very embarrassed,” she said. “My daughter was so scared she was  crying.”

As the group was escorted to the mall office, Makia called and met up with them. “I couldn’t believe they were acting like they were going to arrest my  sisters,” she said.

Once they got to the office, the women were met by an Upper Merion Township  police officer, who had been called to the mall by security guards.

“The officer said, ‘I find it offensive that you even have that hat that says  ‘F— CANCER,’ “ Zakia said. “He said, ‘It’s their mall, they want you out, you  have to get out.’ “

The women were escorted out, and two security cars were waiting for them at  their car just to make sure they left, Zakia said.

“I just wanted to tell them the whole story,” Makia said of the guards. “I  wanted to tell them a monster came into our house, got into my mother and we had  to watch that until the day it took her, so don’t tell me it’s offensive to say,  ‘F— CANCER.’ “

After the Daily News began looking into the incident, Les Morris,  spokesman for Simon Property Group in Indianapolis, which owns King of Prussia Mall, called Zakia yesterday to apologize. Zakia said Morris was sincere and even asked for her mother’s name and  inquired about her battle with cancer.

“Certainly this could have been handled in a much more empathic and sensitive  manner,” Morris told the People Paper. “We’re very sorry about her loss and  wanted to apologize for the way her party was treated.”

Morris said it’s important for the mall to be “flexible.” “I do think this is an entirely different situation than a 16-year-old kid with a swear word on his T-shirt cruising the mall,” he said. “We need to be  empathic, sympathetic, and listen and make sure that we’re approaching each  situation as it comes up.”

To express their displeasure with the way they were treated, the sisters and  Wade had planned a protest for 7 p.m. tomorrow at the mall entrance near  Nordstrom, Zakia said.

The event will go on as scheduled, and they will wear their “F— CANCER”  hats and shirts, she said. But in light of the apology, it will be more of an  awareness rally against cancer. The sisters won’t be wearing those shirts and hats today.

“I’m not mad at God,” Makia said yesterday. “But the picture of my mother I  was left with is beyond ‘F— CANCER.’ “

I’ve lost loved ones to cancer yet never had the desire to wear a shirt that says this. I’d be concerned about young children reading the words and parents having to explain them. What do you think?

DCG

Writing for Townhall.com, May 20, 2013, Matt Barber brings to our attention an internal document of the Department of Justice (DOJ), which reeks of the thought tyranny of George Orwell’s prescient Nineteen Eighty Four.

Barber is a constitutional law attorney, the Vice President of Liberty Counsel Action, and the Associate Dean and Adjunct Assistant Professor of Law at Liberty University School of law.

The DOJ document, titled “LGBT Inclusion at Work: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Managers,” was created by DOJ Pride, the Association of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Employees of the U.S. Department of Justice and Their Allies.

The document, emailed to DOJ managers in advance of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Pride Month, was leaked to the Liberty Counsel by whistleblowers within the DOJ.

As Barber notes, “The document is chilling. It’s riddled with directives that grossly violate – prima facie –employees’ First Amendment [right of freedom of speech] liberties.”

The document “LGBT Inclusion at Work” provides a litany of Do’s and Don’ts to DOJ managers, such as the following relatively benign instructions:

• Do use inclusive words like “partner,” “significant other” or “spouse” rather than gender-specific terms like “husband” and “wife.”
• Do speak up against derogatory jokes or comments when you hear them.
• Do use a transgender person’s chosen name and the pronoun that is consistent with the person’s self-identified gender.
• Don’t assume all employees are (or a particular employee is) heterosexual.
• Don’t use words and phrases like “gay lifestyle,” “sexual preference,” or “tranny” that are considered by many as offensive.

In all, there are 19 Do’s and 5 Don’ts, among them are some that are far from benign but are downright sinister, reeking of Thought Police. They include:

• Do assume that LGBT employees and their allies are listening to what you’re saying (whether in a meeting or around the proverbial water cooler) and will read what you’re writing (whether in a casual email or in a formal document), and make sure the language you use is inclusive and respectful.
• Do “Attend LGBT events sponsored by DOJ Pride and/or the Department, and invite (but don’t require) others to join you.”
• Do “Display a symbol in your office (DOJ Pride sticker, copy of this brochure, etc.) indicating that it is a ‘safe space.’”
• Concerning how to respond if an employee comes out to you, the DOJ document states: “Don’t judge or remain silent. Silence will be interpreted as disapproval.”

In other words, the only acceptable behavior toward lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgenders is no longer just tolerance or acceptance, they now demand OUTSPOKEN (verbalized) APPROVAL.

As Barber, an attorney, observes:

That’s a threat. And not even a subtle one.

Got it? For Christians and other morals-minded federal employees, it’s no longer enough to just shut up and [...] live your life in silent recognition of biblical principles (which, by itself, is unlawful constraint). When it comes to mandatory celebration of homosexual and cross-dressing behaviors, “silence will be interpreted as disapproval.”

This lawless administration is now bullying federal employees – against their will – to affirm sexual behaviors that every major world religion, thousands of years of history and uncompromising human biology reject.

Somewhere, right now, George Orwell is smiling. [...]

Is this the DOJ or the KGB? “[A]ssume that LGBT employees are listening …”? And what are “LGBT allies”? If you disagree with the homosexual activist political agenda, does that make you the enemy?

Yes, in any workplace, language should remain professional, but who defines what’s “inclusive”? Who decides what’s “respectful”? If asked about “LGBT issues,” for instance, can a Christian employee answer honestly: “I believe the Bible. I believe that God designed sex to be shared between husband and wife within the bonds of marriage”? Or is that grounds for termination?

[...] Are you kidding? Does this administration really think it’s legal to induce managers to “attend LGBT events,” or to “display pride stickers” against their will? That’s compulsory expression. That’s viewpoint discrimination.

That’s unconstitutional.

[...] This “DOJ Pride” directive is but the latest example of the “progressive” climate of fear and intimidation this radical Obama regime has created for Christians, conservatives and other values-oriented folks, both within and without the workplace.

H/t FOTM’s christy

~Eowyn

Debbie Wasserman Schultz:

Pinocchio:

James O’Keefe is that gutsy young man who, together with Hannah Giles, went undercover as a pimp and ‘ho, and captured ACORN staffers on tape advising them to circumvent the law.

Since then, O’Keefe and his investigative team are continuing to uncover political corruption through his Project Veritas organization — “to investigate and expose corruption, dishonesty, self-dealing, waste, fraud, and other misconduct in both public and private institutions in order to achieve a more ethical and transparent society.”

For Project Veritas’ latest sting operation, they visited police stations across America and asked law enforcement officials if, in the event of an armed break-in, what we should do in the minutes (or more than an hour in the case of Dallas) between calling 911 and the police’s arrival.

One officer instructed, “Go get some bleach. Go get ammonia.” Another officer instructed the undercover journalist to, “lock yourself in a bedroom” and “start yelling and screaming.”

VPOS Joe Biden recently advised Americans to “get a shotgun” for home protection. But when asked whether or not they should follow Biden’s advice, law enforcement officials told the undercover journalists they would be arrested for doing so.

The most frequent advice given by LE to the Project Veritas journalists:

You’re on your own.

~Eowyn

Lizz Winstead is a liberal comedian. She thinks she’s funny, or something.

Shameful.

DCG