committees in both the House and the Senate, Koskinen’s face dripped with disdain for those who questioned what in the world the IRS was thinking when it denied tax- exempt status for conservative and libertarian organizations that clearly qualified. He denied the IRS deleted any material related the tax-exempt scandal. He was lying. He was covering up for Lois Lerner who had spent most of her government career trying to undermine individuals and groups favoring limited, constitutional government – first at the Federal Election Commission, later at the IRS. Ironically, Lerner’s display of contempt came in her refusal to answer any questions from Congress, citing her Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination. I always admired Mae West’s answer in the old W.C. Fields movie when the judge admonished her, “Are you trying to show contempt for this court?” and she replied, “I was doin’ my best to hide it.” In today’s political environment, senior bureaucrats have little interest in hiding their contempt for the American public. Say what you will about the clueless narcissist in the White House. He has attracted tens of millions of Americans who believe they’ve been lied to for too long. There are millions on the Left who also seem willing to reassess their slavish support for more and more government. Who knows? Maybe there is hope. Let’s ask Google. Edward H. Crane is co-founder of the Cato Institute and president of the Purple PAC, a political action committee supporting candidates who favor free markets, social tolerance, and a non- interventionist foreign policy.
retarded (er, challenged) teenager in a garage somewhere in Odebolt, Iowa is working on a very cool solution to some of these issues. That said, the federal government’s insatiable thirst for spying on us demands immediate attention. Liberty requires respect for our individual sovereignty – for our dignity. The abuses of FISA and the notorious malleability of FISA Courts make a mockery of the Fourth Amendment: The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. The Fifth Amendment is very much along the same lines with its emphasis on due process before the feds can take anything away from us. Ignoring these critical amendments and the spirit of the Declaration has led directly to the rise of the rule of man over the rule of law in our nation. As a result, the concept of a republic has given way to a kind of untrammeled majoritarianism. Populism, whether on the Left or the Right, appears disdainful of constitutional constraints on the political passions of the moment. This decline in the rule of law manifests itself in the contempt high-ranking federal authorities demonstrate to Congress when forced to account for their agency’s actions. That attitude was best exemplified by former (thank god) IRS chief John Koskinen. In his appearances before oversight
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