The Criminalization of Political Expression

"personal life is being de-moralized" while "political life is being hyper-moralized", asserts David Brooks of the New York Times.  Policy prescriptions of opposing ideologues are already so irreconcilable, according to article commentator MFW, that they are dismissed as "akin to trying to paint a room in a house that is burning down".  Political-moral certitude has contributed to a "criminalization of politics" according to George Will:  conservative expression has been suppressed--examples of this appear in paramilitary raids on conservatives in Wisconsin and in abuses against conservatives by the IRS.

The hyper-moralization of politics, the criminalization of political expression in America is evident in and is traceable to its fount in the case of Catherine Engelbrecht.  In 2010, Catherine Engelbrecht sought IRS tax-exempt status for the organization True the Vote, a non-profit election integrity organization.  Soon thereafter, the Federal Bureau of Investigations Domestic Terrorism Unit visited the to-be non-profit.  The FBI informed Engelbrecht it was investigating a person who had attended the to-be non-profit's meetings.  It was only after six similar and intimidating visits that the FBI relented.  Next, the Engelbrechts were subjected by the IRS to an audit of business tax returns followed by an audit of their personal tax returns.  Then, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (BATF) abruptly audited their business.  And they were subjected to an examination by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).  The BATF and OSHA found no violations.  But their visits resulted in fines of about $20,000.   Meanwhile, the IRS inquired into Catherine Engelbrecht's personal correspondence and beliefs, public communications, and the whereabouts of her activities and assets.

In the context of the IRS scandal, this story has been heard by Congress.  In the context of the IRS scandal, it has been reported in conservative media.  But it is a story with implications much broader than even the IRS scandal.  It deserves its own scandal headline and investigation.  This is a story of tyranny--of criminal collusion across federal agencies to stifle speech and assembly--by the executive branch of the federal government and complicit Democratic legislators.

The public servants at the IRS have yet to serve the public the truth about the IRS scandal (never mind the colluding public servants at the FBI / Justice Department, the BATF, and OSHA).  Instead, they have been complicit accessories in a criminal cover-up--putting their politics and livelihoods ahead of our freedom and ultimately theirs.

Because justice has been subverted, pathetic travesties proceed in our courts.  The House of Representatives, Catherine Engelbrecht, and others seek civil redress for criminal and unconstitutional acts--acts that caused damages that cannot be quantified and may include the mis-election of a President.  The supreme justice authorities and tax authorities in the United States were directly involved in critically stifling speech and assembly.

Under this license to criminalize political expression, how many obscure and undetected abuses have arisen?   For example, are banks which were nationalized by the bank bailout extending and refusing credit and prosecuting creditors based on political expression?  Parenthetically, on the day of the mid-term election, I received a summons from Zions Bank related to an unsecured line of credit.  Perhaps Zions doesn't know my assets were dissipated by an unconstitutional eminent domain taking?  Also, for example, are public schools preying on children whose parents express conservative political opinions?  Parenthetically, the Miller family just got three D grades at Ogden schools:  one for a second grader; one for a Middle School student--in a class her academic counselor transferred her out of at the beginning of the term, and one for a 10th grader in mathematics--a subject that he has always excelled in (ie. at a charter school).  Parenthetically, the public high school that awarded him this grade is ranked at the bottom of the state.  These are not children disadvantaged because they come from single parent households or children disadvantaged by their lack of familiarity with the English language, are they disadvantaged by their household beliefs?