Partisan Outrage

 

Here is my crude take on some things happening in our nation’s capital. There is a great deal of partisan outrage and, in one instance, it’s two sides of the same coin that people ought to be concerned about.

First, Benghazi. No one is happy about what took place in Benghazi. People lost their lives to terrorists in a high risk location. The outrage over the event, to me, have been overblown. It took time to ascertain the correct facts and, in a day and age of instant news cycles, some of the initial facts are wrong. It cost the very capable Susan Rice an opportunity to be the Secretary of State and we are stuck, and I mean STUCK with John Kerry, Mr. Equivocation. Funny thing about equivocation is that the other Mr. Equivocation is Mitt Romney. Must be something in the water in Massachusetts… My sense is that much of the outrage was election driven and is currently, “Hillary Driven.” I get it. The Democrats would do the same thing.

There is a bigger issue of a coin with two sides in terms of freedom of the press and expression.

Tea Party folks are stating, correctly, that they were targeted by the IRS. This came in reference to extreme scrutiny in terms of tax exempt status. They feel their rights were trampled unjustly and they do have a point.

I am not a fan of the Tea Party. They like to call themselves patriots and I tend to see them more as nihilists, but my opinion of who and what they are is of no consequence. I may profoundly disagree with them but I also believe they have every right in the universe, at least in our nation, to express themselves. If they are eligible for tax exempt status, they ought to receive exactly the same scrutiny as everyone else, no more, no less. Anything else is denying them their rights.

Additionally, Associated Press was forced to turn over source documentation to the Justice Department. The AP is the major source of information in journalism. Every major news outlet depends on the AP. If the AP is crippled, the freedom of the press is crippled. Source material will dry up immediately.

The Right is angry about the Tea Party but pretty indifferent to the AP issue; the Left is angry about the AP issue but pretty indifferent to the Tea Party concerns. This is one instance when they should both be concerned about both things.

Currently, the President can’t pass any legislation through Congress. To call Congress inept is to make it sound better than it actually is. On a rainy day one party carries umbrellas and one party wears sunglasses; on a sunny day, they flip. It’s that bad.

Freedom of expression is a big deal. Without a free press and without citizens having a right to speak untethered is vital to the health and well-being of the nation. This is a time for responsible adults to step forward and assure the rights of all citizens, not just the ones they agree with.

The scary thing is two-fold. We have an ‘all powerful’ government reaching out and violating rights; but that all-powerful government is incompetent and inept. It is a dangerous combination and, as I said, it’s time for responsible adults in leadership to step forward and do their jobs. I just hope there are some responsible adults left in our nation’s capital.