Obama Administration Excesses Come under Greater Scrutiny

There are growing indications that the various breaches of constitutional regularity enmeshing the Obama administration are merging into one grand scandal and finding legs. (1). Talking to MSNBC, former Obama campaign advisor and member of the Obama inner circle David Axelrod said he finds the Justice Department's probe of a Fox News reporter "disturbing." Axelrod also chastised the department's decision to label Fox's chief Washington correspondent James Rosen as a criminal co-conspirator in its investigation of a national security leak. "I do think there are real issues regarding the relationship with the media on this leak matter,...The notion of naming a journalist as a co-conspirator for receiving information is something that I find very disturbing." He added, "We have to figure out ... how we deal with national security leaks and how we protect the freedom of the press and the freedom of reporters to operate. And certainly this Rosen case raises some very disturbing issues....I don't think reporters should be considered criminals for doing their jobs, and it's the job of reporters to uncover facts," Axelrod said. (2). Republican Representative Peter King of New York has told Newsmax that Attorney General Eric Holder's initial denial of involvement in the targeting of Fox News reporter James Rosen "could be perjury." King was highly critical of Holder, who previously said he would never be part of targeting a reporter and didn't think it was good policy when he actually approved a search warrant on James Rosen. The House Judiciary Committee reportedly is looking into whether he perjured himself in steadfastly denying a role in the Rosen subpoena when he OK'd the seizure of the Fox reporter's phone records. King explained his comment : "To me, on its face, that certainly could be perjury. And the reason I'm saying 'could be' — I know there's always precise standards to meet — that certainly warrants a full investigation as to whether or not perjury was committed there. There've been other people over the years indicted for perjury or tried for perjury on a lot less evidence than that." (3). There is also the matter of the Justice Department’s leak investigations. President Obama took credit for asking Congress to pass a shield law “to guard against government overreach.” This is amusing, considering that it is Obama’s own administration that has been overreaching. It is an interesting twist on presidential leadership to develop a policy of stretching constitutional government to its limits and beyond and then asking for legislation to assure that it does not happen again. (4). A lawsuit seeking "compensatory and punitive damages" from the Obama administration was filed on Wednesday by an organization representing 25 tea party and conservative groups that were targeted by the Internal Revenue Service."The only way to stop this flagrant and arrogant abuse of our clients' rights is to file a federal lawsuit, which we have done," explained Jay Sekulow, chief counsel for the group filing the lawsuit, the American Center for Law and Justice. "The lawsuit sends a very powerful message to the IRS and the Obama administration -- including the White House: Americans are not going to be bullied and intimidated by our government." The lawsuit, filed in federal district court in Washington, alleges that the groups faced "comprehensive, pervasive, invidious and organized" targeting and were denied their First and Fifth Amendment rights. The defendants named in the lawsuit include the IRS, Attorney General Eric Holder, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, Steven Miller, the former acting IRS chief; and two other IRS officials linked to the scandal, Lois Lerner and Holly Paz. The legal action also seeks a permanent injunction barring federal agencies and officials from discriminating against the 25 groups "for disparate treatment and particular scrutiny based on the unconstitutional criteria of political viewpoint or association." ~~~~~ Dear readers, these movements suggest that opposition to the Obama tactic of ridiculing those who complain of administration acts and then trying to sweep them under the carpet as old news is failing. Americans are becoming more aware that it is they themselves who must defend their own constitutional rights and personal liberties. If they don't call on the courts to help them - if they don't keep pressure on Congress to investigate thoroughly all these indications of serious constitutional excesses - nobody will do for for them. As the old saying goes, "If you want the job done, do it yourself." Nowhere is this more true than in the defense of constitutional government by informed and concerned citizens.