CASE #1 - THE INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE: You may recall that back in the 1970's President Nixon was about to be impeached. One of the specifications on the Bill of Impeachment alleged that President Nixon used the Internal Revenue Service to harass and punish his political enemies.
The information that has been made public to date clearly shows that the Internal Revenue Service has been targeting groups that espoused conservative views and that worked to try and educate the American electorate to what they viewed as bad government policy. These groups that applied for tax exempt status had their applications deliberately held up for unreasonably long periods of time, often exceeding years, for no other reason than because of their stated political beliefs. These applications were flagged on the basis of their conservative sounding names.
These organizations were required to answer numerous illegally intrusive and inappropriate questions under the penalty of perjury before their application for tax exempt status would be acted on.
Meanwhile, groups that espoused views friendly to the current administration had their applications for tax exempt status reviewed and acted on more expeditiously. These friendly groups had their applications reviewed and approved in a matter of a few months.
CASE #2- GIBSON GUITAR CO.: The Gibson Guitar Company in Tennessee was raided by heavily armed federal agents in 2009 and 2011 and approximately five million dollars worth of materials was seized. The material consisted of exotic wood that had been imported from Indonesia and Madagascar and is used in the manufacture of Gibson Guitars.
The company was never charged with any crime! The company did pay a "penalty" of $300,000 dollars to avoid criminal charges. The company also made a "contribution" of $50,000 dollars to the National Fish Wildlife Fund.
The CEO of the company, Henry Juszkiewicz, is a Republican and has contributed to support the election of Republican candidates.
Conversely, the Martin Guitar Company uses the very same wood to manufacture their guitars. The CEO of the martin Guitar Company, Chris Martin, is a Democrat and has contributed to support the election of democratic candidates for office, most notably President Obama.
Here we have two guitar companies engaged in the same business, using the same materials. One CEO is a Republican, the other CEO a Democrat. The Republican's company gets raided by heavily armed federal agents, has millions of dollar worth of it's property seized and is then extorted to pay a hefty penalty and forced to make a contribution to the National Fish & Wildlife Fund.
American citizens have an ABSOLUTE RIGHT to hold and espouse ANY views, beliefs and opinions that they may choose, even if those views are abhorrent to the majority. All American citizens are entitled, pursuant to the 14th Amendment to the United State Constitution, to equal protection under the law.
WHENEVER the government takes any action against ANY American citizen that is based upon that citizen's views, beliefs or opinions, and not on the basis of law, tyranny has raised it's ugly head.
Our founding fathers warned us about how government if left unchecked will always become too large and oppressive. They established the system of checks and balances to keep the branches of government from becoming too powerful. They believed that the other two branches would keep the third branch of government in check.
The words of Thomas Jefferson keep coming to mind "Where the people fear the government there is tyranny. Where the government fears the people there is liberty." People today fear our government and that should not be! If things do not change, I fear for the future of our beloved Republic.
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