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I thought I'd bring this down here, since Kevin placed it in the Terrestrial where it really didn't belong, as Mr. Graham has really ripped his mask off (as has Mr. Goodman) this time by posting a polemic call for the criminalization of open dissent from government policy by another little attack poodle at the Huffpo.

One must pause and think carefully about the implications of this piece, and what it tells us about the consequences of using our franchise to place people like Barry Soetoro in power and of the overwhelming dominance of the media, academia, K-12 education, and the entertainment industries by those who support him and his ideology.

Kevin Graham wrote:The IRS Was Dead Right To Scrutinize Tea Party

Lost in the latest political scandal is a simple fact: The Internal Revenue Service was acting in the public interest when it opted to train its auditing power on the Tea Party and affiliated groups.

In castigating government as the root of all evil while portraying taxation as a form of tyranny, the Tea Party is no less than a mass celebration of the evasion of the basic responsibilities of American citizenship.

Translation: The Tea Party and everyone within it are guilty of thoughtcrime. Diss the Lord of Hosts, the state, or criticize its vast beneficent ministrations, and our Lord and God will send his archangel, the IRS, to bind the tares that they may be burned.

Yet more solid evidence that Kevin Graham is, as David Horowitz has observed, "a totalitarian screaming to get out" in virtually every aspect of his political philosophy and worldview.

Go ahead and read the article above and look at its main thesis. Open dissent or criticism of the kinds and levels of taxation presently in operation are indicative of criminal and perhaps even traitorous intentions and punitive legal fishing expeditions by vastly powerful, rogue government agencies with the power to destroy are legitimate responses to the use of the first amendment to dissent from government policy and behavior.

No probable cause or known intent to engage in criminal activities is required. All that is necessary is that one be a conservative or Austrian libertarian and one can be audited, harassed, legally stalked, and considered a potential criminal by nothing more than association with a political philosophy, a philosophy, by the way, that grounds the founding of the nation and its key founding documents.

Kevin has really torn off his mask this time (as has the author of this piece of intellectual Stalinism), and should not be allowed to put it back on again and prance around as a "liberal."

Let's take a look at some salient points made by our little statist drone, Peter Goodman, and see perhaps why he's a soul mate of Ronald McGraham:

Common sense alone tells you that people drawn to its ranks may feel extra temptation to find ways to limit what they surrender to the rogue federal bureaucrats who have supposedly seized the nation.

Whatever "common sense" may be, there is no logical reason to make such an assumption, let alone the slightest historical or empirical basis, and the internal psychological and emotional states of government bureaucrats cannot be used, at least in a free society, to launch legal witch hunts against ideological opponents.

Clearly, for Mr. Goodman, political differences are prima facie evidence of criminality, and should be punished even before any evidence of criminal activity, let alone intent, has been seen. Forget probably cause. Forget innocent until proven guilty. Forget equality under the law. Conservatives, for Goodman, as for Kevin and his kind, are the new Kulaks, the new Jews, the new running dog bourgeoisie.

But let's get back to the primary act at issue here: The IRS -- an agency loved by no one and responsible for stocking the Treasury with federal tax proceeds, due under the law --

This is a true, servile statist drone at work, folks, and magnificent in its moral and intellectual obscenity. The United States tax code is the single most powerful and sophisticated tool of social engineering available to the political class, and this is what the Tea Party (and both modern conservatives and libertarians together) object to, whether "by law" or not. The tax code is used to pick winners and losers in the economy, compel behavior favored by the state and its dependents, reward friends and punish enemies. A very powerful argument can be made that, although all this is "by law" in a pen and ink sense, much of what the tax code does and encourages is, in essence, perfectly lawless, and extraconstitutional (as is the IRS itself).

Now, pay close attention to this, and keep your old, dog-eared copy of 1984 close by as we go through the following:

Like any institution, the agency has limited resources at its disposal. The notion that everyone ought to be treated the same, with auditing powers sprayed around like a lawn sprinkler, is ridiculous. Cops concentrate patrols in high-crime areas. And while we properly decry racial profiling and odious tactics like New York City's Stop and Frisk campaign -- through which people are subject to police pat-downs for no other reason than their being black and male -- no one would criticize the police for keeping an eye on people who are openly encouraging criminal behavior.

Which gets us back to the Tea Party. Here is a group that has made no effort to hide its contempt for the very institution of taxation. This is what it says on the website of the Cincinnati Tea Party: "Individuals need to have a direct connection between their efforts and the fruits of their labor. This is the magical spark that has led the United States from a loosely conglomerated political experiment into the most exceptional, strongest and most powerful nation on earth. Too many taxes and regulations ultimately serve to snuff out that spark."

Got that? Get the innuendo? Pick up on the yellow journalistic suggestion? Intellectually and politically, organized, politically active conservatism is a "high crime area." Association with the Tea Party, and, by extension, reading National Review, American Spectator, or Commentary, or associating with groups like the Hoover Institution or the CATO institute (among the organizations the Clinton-era IRS audited and harassed in the 90s) is tantamount to "openly encouraging criminal behavior."

Predictably, Goodman has no idea what he's talking about as to the actual political philosophy that animates the Tea Party (classic liberalism, or modern conservatism/libertarianism). Contempt for taxation qua taxation is an extreme libertarian anarchist view, not conservative. Either that, or Goodman's just setting up a flaming strawman, a standard tactic of the polemic screed.

The rest of this intellectual pornography takes a strong stomach indeed to plow through while absorbing the heavy blows of insult to one's intelligence present in every sentence, but no reason for any further analysis, as the screed speaks for itself.

Drones of the world unite, you have nothing to lose but your personal integrity.

Whatever "common sense" may be, there is no logical reason to make such an assumption, let alone the slightest historical or empirical basis, and the internal psychological and emotional states of government bureaucrats cannot be used, at least in a free society, to launch legal witch hunts against ideological opponents.

So to Droopy's mind, there is no logical reason to assume an organization, whose acronym means "Taxed Enough Already," and whose funding comes from individuals and organizations notorious for using tax havens, would be in the spotlight of the IRS, whose job is to make sure people and organizations pay the taxes they owe.

Yes, he's really this stupid.

Clearly, for Mr. Goodman, political differences are prima facie evidence of criminality, and should be punished even before any evidence of criminal activity, let alone intent, has been seen.

Anyone who read the article knows this isn't about "political differences." Again, the IRS has a job to do. Its job is to make sure American citizens/organizations pay their taxes. The regularly perform audits on both groups. Why the hell would we not expect them to target people/groups who are more likely to dodge taxes?

Notice Droopy addresses none of this. Probably because he is a product of the Teapublican philosophy. Hilariously enough, he can't even stay on point without going off on a typical Teapublican rant about how the tax code is nothing but "social engineering." Of course, Loran Blood would be of interest to any IRS agent as well, if he actually made enough money worth taxing that is.

Kevin Graham wrote:

Whatever "common sense" may be, there is no logical reason to make such an assumption, let alone the slightest historical or empirical basis, and the internal psychological and emotional states of government bureaucrats cannot be used, at least in a free society, to launch legal witch hunts against ideological opponents.

So to Droopy's mind, there is no logical reason to assume an organization, whose acronym means "Taxed Enough Already," and whose funding comes from individuals and organizations notorious for using tax havens, would be in the spotlight of the IRS, whose job is to make sure people and organizations pay the taxes they owe.

Yes, he's really this stupid.

No, there's no reason, unless one thinks like a Nazi or a communist, to consider limited government, constitutionalist classical liberals as potential criminals simply because they dissent from and oppose being made serfs (and use perfectly legal tax havens to avoid - legally - being relentlessly plundered to support the vast, porcine monstrosity that is the United States government and a pampered class of permanently incumbent philosopher nannies).

Clearly, for Mr. Goodman, political differences are prima facie evidence of criminality, and should be punished even before any evidence of criminal activity, let alone intent, has been seen.

Anyone who read the article knows this isn't about "political differences."

Well, yes, that's all its about, as you know perfectly well. No need to play innocent and dumb on this, Kevin, as its long past the point at which it will wash.

Again, the IRS has a job to do. Its job is to make sure American citizens/organizations pay their taxes. The regularly perform audits on both groups. Why the hell would we not expect them to target people/groups who are more likely to dodge taxes?

But as we now know, conservative groups were targeted with an especial vehemence and for no rational, intelligible reason other than their political philosophy and activities. You've proved that here already through your own rhetoric.

Notice Droopy addresses none of this. Probably because he is a product of the Teapublican philosophy.

This again demonstrates how utterly decoupled from reality Kevin really is, and how uneducated and poorly read this individual is despite his years of howling about his self-image as a brilliant intellectual.

You won't find more focused and more articulate critics of the Republican establishment than among the Tea Party, and its been relentless and withering for a number of years now. Kevin can't, or won't see that, because he's usually too busy foaming at the mouth to take some extended time to do some extensive and thorough reading regarding that which he claims he opposes.

Hilariously enough, he can't even stay on point without going off on a typical Teapublican rant about how the tax code is nothing but "social engineering."

Where did I say it was nothing but that? That's its primary function at present, but not its sole function. Actually funding the legitimate, limited, strictly enumerated activities of government are a distant echo, at this point, and much of what it does is, yes, a matter of using the tax code as a form of political and economic manipulation.

Droopy, you're an idiot, OK? Everyone here knows this.

I know you love to type up pages and pages of "no it isn't" arguments loaded with what you think is rhetoric that makes you look smarter than you are but I'm just not the kind of person who insists on responding to idiots just so I can go to bed knowing I got in the last word for the day. I simply have too much going on in my life that doesn't involve trying to impress imaginary audiences on the internet. That would be you.

To recap quickly, you cannot deal with the facts. The facts show the Tea Party is an organization that attacks the simple concept of taxation, therefore, as the FORBES article suggested, it is a no-brainer that they attract the IRS. The IRS did its job by targeting the Tea Party in their audits. Now if you can prove the IRS broke any laws by doing this, then feel free to do so. Thus far no one in the media has been able to point to any law that has been broken. And the available evidence to date says this was not even a organization wide policy, but rather a microcosm of the IRS. Trying to connect this to Obama is flat out idiotic, and nothing more than an exact repeat of what took place after Benghazi when you and your Right Wing media twisted the available data into a "scandal."

Nine months later the emails are released and they prove your preferred sources lied about what they said and then built upon those lies to further your bigoted Right Wing agenda. You have no credibility Loran, at least not outside your little band of American Thinker, Hot Air, Frontpage "bloggers," whose qualifications and requirements to post are nothing more than a willingness to incite more hatred towards the Left.

This is all about broken egos and indignant, fabricated outrage on the Right, just to reassure themselves that their paranoia about evil government oppression was true all along. Setting up the Tea Party as a persecuted group fits in well with your history as Mormon. You're probably so dumb that you'll use this parallel as proof that the Tea Party is God's "one true" political group. LOL

del

Kevin Graham wrote:
To recap quickly, you cannot deal with the facts. The facts show the Tea Party is an organization that attacks the simple concept of taxation,

Which makes you either a rather reckless purveyor of deceit or grossly uninformed and uneducated regarding anything outside your own intellectual and psychological cubbyhole, because the Tea Party is not an anarchist libertarian group but a grassroots conservative organization that is against steep, progressive taxation on all income for the purpose of redistribution of wealth and the ensconcing of a permanent class of professional politicians in power in perpetuity.

You can not know what you're talking about and you can play intellectual shell games with your audience, but you can't retain any intellectual credibility doing either.

therefore, as the FORBES article suggested, it is a no-brainer that they attract the IRS. The IRS did its job by targeting the Tea Party in their audits. Now if you can prove the IRS broke any laws by doing this, then feel free to do so.

This argument, which has already been discredited by documentary evidence, is nothing more than your typical apologia for unbridled state power so long as those being crushed are those you disagree with. End of story.

Nine months later the emails are released and they prove your preferred sources lied about what they said and then built upon those lies to further your bigoted Right Wing agenda.

What the emails actually showed was extensive redaction to ensure the Obama administration narrative about Al Quaeda and the situation in the Middle East was preserved intact, despite empirical realities to the contrary.

This is all about broken egos and indignant, fabricated outrage on the Right, just to reassure themselves that their paranoia about evil government oppression was true all along. Setting up the Tea Party as a persecuted group fits in well with your history as Mormon. You're probably so dumb that you'll use this parallel as proof that the Tea Party is God's "one true" political group. LOL

No one listens to rabid dogs, Kevin. Your long posting history in this and other forums is one long, dreary miasma of boorishness, egomania, anti-intellectualism, petty self-adulation, and obnoxiousness that I've rarely encountered anywhere else, and many, many among those who have dealt with you feel the same way.

As they should.

I don't see Kevin Graham calling for the investigation of black churches for political activity. KG certainly does not support equal treatment, he supports only treatment that goes his way.

bcspace wrote:I don't see Kevin Graham calling for the investigation of black churches for political activity. KG certainly does not support equal treatment, he supports only treatment that goes his way.

I am pretty sure he would compromise "his way" only if he found it to be contrary to Obama's or MSNBC's way.

Which makes you either a rather reckless purveyor of deceit or grossly uninformed and uneducated regarding anything outside your own intellectual and psychological cubbyhole.

You're just borrowing my criticism of you and using different terms, which pretty much makes my point that you are incapable of original thought. You live in a bubble and wouldn't know what to do with yourself if your favorite blogs closed shop for a week. The fact is I am the only person between us who backs up his claims with direct sources. You just throw up opinion pieces by authors from the peanut gallery who are almost as obnoxious as you. The fact that this same article from the Weekly Standard became the subject of much humilation and laughter in the media, doesn't seem to phase you.

the Tea Party is not an anarchist libertarian group but a grassroots conservative organization that is against steep, progressive taxation on all income for the purpose of redistribution of wealth and the ensconcing of a permanent class of professional politicians in power in perpetuity.

The Tea Party is not grassroots, though I'm not too surprised you're naïve enough to believe otherwise. And the acronym stands for "taxed enough already," and during a period of record lows in taxation no less. But you don't speak for the Tea Party. Most tea party members I come across are dumb as a stump. They complain about taxes even if they themselves don't pay taxes. Now that's dumb! They just follow the racist line set out by their masters on talk radio. Here in Woodstock Georgia, it is a conservative's utopia, where at one point the busiest restaurant in town was the "Right Wing café" where pictures Cheney, Bush, Palin, and about a billion American flags decorated every wall. Advertisements for Tea Party meetings are thrown up on every corner, including at the entrance to our subdivision. I'm surrounded by these morons, and I've yet to meet one who could tell me what the word "anarchist" means. So please, go pull someone else's leg.

What the emails actually showed was extensive redaction

That's it???? REALLY? Whatever happened to the two dozen other false claims that you and your Right Wing media have continued to pump out. So at the end of the day, you have to admit that all you're left with is "extensive redaction" of the emails, which is really just a subjective judgment call? The fact is these were redactions that did nothing to substantiate any of your scandal theories. As I have shown a couple of times already, your precious Weekly Standard article has been shown to be nothing more than poor journalism based on lies.

to ensure the Obama administration narrative about Al Quaeda and the situation in the Middle East was preserved intact, despite empirical realities to the contrary.

You see, most people who actually think can understand the difference between the irrefutable fact that the emails were edited (no one ever disagree with this!) and attributing a motive to the editing. You say it was to "ensure" something, only because that dovetails with your crackpot attempt to create a scandal, but as the link above proves, their reasons for the editing had absolutely nothing to do with what you attribute to them, and virtually everyone in the know (i.e. Petraeus) agreed with and understood their reasons quite well.

No one listens to rabid dogs, Kevin. Your long posting history in this and other forums is one long, dreary miasma of boorishness, egomania, anti-intellectualism, petty self-adulation, and obnoxiousness that I've rarely encountered anywhere else, and many, many among those who have dealt with you feel the same way.

So says the guy who has been banned from every forum there is, even the one run by his own religious cohorts. The only reason you post here is because it is the only one that will have you, and that is true only because the rules state quite clearly that no one can be kicked out for being too stupid.

bcspace wrote:I don't see Kevin Graham calling for the investigation of black churches for political activity. KG certainly does not support equal treatment, he supports only treatment that goes his way.

Sounds like he might be a committed man of the Left