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| Barack Milhouse Hussein Nixon Obama |
"Richard Nixon," we are reminded, "maintained an 'enemies list' that singled out private citizens for investigation and abuse by agencies of government, including the Internal Revenue Service. When that was revealed, the press and public were outraged. That conduct will forever remain one of the indelible stains on Nixon's presidency and legacy."
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| Pres. Richard Nixon |
The Koch brothers (pronounced "coke," by the way) are hated by Obama and other liberals because they donate large amounts of money to conservative politicians. They are, as Olson says, "an attractive political punching bag" for Obama and other liberal politicians. Olson points out, though, that this is not all the Koch brother do.
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| The Koch Brothers |
"They also give millions of dollars," writes Olson, "to medical researchers, hospitals and cultural institutions. Their biggest offense, apparently, is that they also contribute generously to nonprofit organizations that promote personal liberty and free enterprise, and some of those organizations oppose policies advocated by the president."
The WSJ article is certainly not the first time that an Obama enemies list has been written about. In October, 2009, it was reported that Sen. Lamar Alexander, then the No. 3 leader of the Republicans in the U.S. Senate, said in a Senate floor speech that the Obama regime was compiling an enemies list.
Sen. Alexandar was "comparing the recent criticism by the White House of the Chamber of Commerce, the Fox News Channel and other political opponents to the behavior of the Nixon administration," wrote Perry Bacon Jr., writing in the Washington Post's Voices,
"If the president and his top aides treat people with different views as enemies instead of listening to what they have to say," Alexander said, "they're likely to end up with a narrow view and a feeling that the whole world is out to get them. And as those of use who served in the Nixon administration know, that can get you into a lot of trouble."
In May, 2011 Forbes.com ran a piece titled "Obama's Nixonian Enemies List On Steroids." Written by Charles Kadlec, it said that "President Barack Obama is reportedly about to sign an executive order that would vastly expand the power of his administration to coerce and intimidate the private sector into submission while restricting the ability of his opponents to engage in political activities."
"The order," wrote Kadlec, "would require any company bidding for a government contract, its political action committee – and its senior officers—to provide in a convenient single report a list of all of their contributions to political parties and candidates for the past two years. These disclosures currently are required, but made in various reports to different government agencies." What makes the Obama order different is that "for the first time ever, companies and individuals would be required to report donations to 'third party entities' including membership dues and charitable donations made to organizations that may engage in political speech in addition to their other activities."
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| George Soros |
Politico.com points out today that Theodore Olson is a former Bush solicitor general and "also an attorney for Koch Industries." That's interesting, but it does not diminish the truth of what Olson has to say about Obama's shameful abuse of power to smear two private citizens.
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| Sen. Joe McCarthy |
The Kochs are often made the "political punching bag" while Soros gets off without little or no criticism. In the case of politico's "reporting," says Cliff Kincaide at Canada Free Press, the Koch brothers were "falsely accused" of wrongdoing while Soros (and his offenses) were ignored.
Olson not only compared Obama to Nixon, but to Senator Joe McCarthy (R-WI). McCarthy, like Obama and Nixon says Olson, "engaged in comparable bullying, oppression and slander from his powerful position in the Senate, he was censured by his colleagues and died in disgrace."
"Olson doesn't mention it, but there is a very simple reason Obama is targeting the Koch's: he can't run on his record," writes Conn Carroll at the Washington Examiner today.
"With unemployment still higher than when he took office," Carroll said, "and the Congressional Budget Office now certifying he will fail to cut the deficit in half as he promised, he has no accomplishments to run on. All he can really do is identify villains and ask his supporters to punish them. That is what Obama's Buffett Rule is really all about. And that is why he is attacking the Koch's."
In a move reminiscent of the dictatorships of the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany, Obama has tried to use ordinary citizens as informants to help him build an enemies list.
You might recall "flag @ whitehouse .gov" in 2009, which was an embarrassingly bad attempt by the Obama regime to gather information about people making unfavorable comments about Obama's proposed health care reform. The White House even made a video(left).
"If you get an e-mail from your neighbor and it doesn't sound right, send it to the White House?"said Sen. John Barasso, R-WY. " People, I think all across America are going to say is this 1984? What is happening here? Is big brother watching?"
"Surely this tactic is for the White House to better identify their enemies," wrote Blake Yount at Examiner.com, "and subsequently besmirch them as is common practice in Chicago politics."
Happily for me, Yount provided the perfect way to end this blog post: "If the White House wants reports on disinformation," he wrote, "they need not look any further than their own front door. However, if they care to venture outside into the landscape of this debate, they will find that all the propaganda, all the lying, all the ruthless politics, and all the fishy disinformation is emanating from that steaming pile of liberalism once known as the proud Democrat Party."
