Don’t worry about the tyranny around the corner

During a recent commencement speech, Obama told the graduating students: “They warn that tyranny is always lurking just around the corner. You should reject these voices.” This is, of course, a fantastic message for the future leaders of America. Not only are you urging them to have blind faith in government and to avoid questioning authority, but you’ve also instructed them to “reject” opposing beliefs and ignore contrary viewpoints. Next, he invited them to put on robes and march into a compound where they all committed mass suicide. How inspirational.

In all seriousness, Obama was sort of right in what he said. We shouldn’t worry about tyranny “lurking around the corner” — for the same reason you shouldn’t be concerned about the murderer lurking in the dark alley, once you’re already sprawled out on the street with a fatal knife wound to your jugular. I mean, you should have worried about him, like, five minutes ago, but the point is now rather moot. Same goes for tyranny. It’s too late to be paranoid about the tyranny “around the corner”, because we’re already in the midst of it. This is tyranny. We have arrived. Destination: Oppression. The plane has landed, take your bags from the overhead compartment, deboard in an orderly fashion and enjoy your stay. Not as many barbed wire fences and prison camps as you expected? Well, wait until you see Detroit. Also, remember tyranny comes in different forms and styles. Ours is, usually, and for the time being, a softer, quieter oppression. It doesn’t drop on your house like a bomb, it eats at your insides like a cancer.

Maybe you don’t want to accept this reality. Maybe you don’t want to use the “T” word. I don’t know what word you’d use, but you certainly can’t pull out the “F” word: “Freedom.” What the IRS is doing, that simply doesn’t happen in a free country. This scandal is far deeper than a few “low level employees” acting “inappropriately.” I saw a worker in the lawn and garden section at Home Depot throw a handful of fertilizer at his coworker’s face a few weeks ago. That’s a low level employee behaving inappropriately. By comparison, the IRS targeted specific political organizations during an election season and attempted, successfully in some cases, to force them into silence through heavy handed intimidation, with threats of fines and jail time. That’s called “systematic corruption and persecution.” Plain and simple. They bogged down TEA party organizations and other conservative groups with absurd and blatantly illegal demands, insisting that they, for instance, send copies of their Facebook posts and verbatim transcripts of every speech given at any of their rallies. Not to mention, they required the personal information of the leaders and organizers of their groups, and detailed explanations of their political goals and strategies. This happened all over the country, not just in one state. And, most importantly, it certainly had an impact on the election, as it ensured far less opposition to liberal politicians.

Like I said, this is tyranny. We are in it. There is no slippery slope anymore, we’ve already slid to the bottom of it.