I don’t know about you but I purposely avoided the president’s State of the Union address on Tuesday night. I was sure I’d enjoy myself much more by listening to Mark Levin for an assessment, and he certainly didn’t disappoint.
 
One of the most outrage-inducing aspects of the event wasn’t what Obama said (for the most part it’s all just the usual lofty rhetoric laced with lies) as what he did – and didn’t do ~
 
Obama Invites Illegal Immigrants to His Big Speech, Still Refuses to Meet With ICE Agents

Last night, six illegal immigrants attended the State of the Union address as guests of President Obama in an effort to bolster his calls for immigration reform.

Just stop and let that sink in for a minute…
People who broke our federal laws –
are invited to sit in a place of honor –
at a national event –
by the chief law enforcement officer in the land.
Could the president more openly thumb his nose at regular law-abiding rubes like us who pay his salary?!
 
Adding insult to injury is the fact that he – and our feckless congresspeople – still refuse to discuss the illegal immigration crisis with the guys on the front lines.
 
For more than a year now Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers have been trying to meet with anyone in D.C. who’ willing to listen to the truth about our porous borders and the attendant security risks to legal Americans. And the ruling elite, Democrats and Republicans alike, simply ignore them!
 
Chris Crane, an ICE officer and National ICE Council president (representing 5,000 ICE agents, officers, and employees), has every right to be indignant ~

“This is symptomatic of the President’s continued demonstration of contempt for immigration officers and his blatant disregard for Congressionally-enacted law. ICE officers are forced every day to release violent offenders back into the streets; we are prohibited from enforcing immigration violations and document fraud and from cracking down on illegal employment; we are prohibited from enforcing public charge law to protect taxpayers; and we are forced to catch-and-release illegal aliens who are not ‘priorities’ even when officers’ believe there is a threat to public safety.”

Never mind that the vast majority of average (legal) Americans don’t support amnesty ~

According to a new Gallup poll, only 3 percent of Americans support granting an illegal immigrant the right to live and work in the U.S. Immigration lags at least a half dozen other more pressing problems that include an out of touch Congress, which 21 percent identified as their top concern. Following the dysfunctional government are the economy, 18 percent; unemployment, jobs and health care, each at 16 percent and the federal budget deficit, 8 percent. The poll ranked immigration so low that it isn’t mentioned in the report’s original summary.

 
And never mind that Chris Crane makes impassioned appeals for responsible border control ~

“We are pleading with House Republicans to stand up to the Obama Administration’s abuses and to support ICE officers. I am therefore alarmed to read that House Republicans are working with prominent amnesty proponents instead of reaching out and working with ICE officers. Any immigration principles crafted by House Republicans should be crafted in consultation with the ICE personnel who know firsthand what is wrong with our immigration system and how to fix it,” Crane said. “House Republicans must work with ICE officers, and investigate the abuses and misconduct at DHS, before moving any legalization bill – otherwise, they are doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past.
 
ICE officers do not have the connections, funds or votes that powerful special interests and billionaire CEOs can deliver. We are just 5,000 law officers responsible for enforcing immigration law for tens of millions of visa holders and illegal immigrants in all 50 states and two territories – it is a losing battle that puts American safety at risk. But we hope to have justice and a concern for public safety on our side, and I hope House Republicans will support us in our uphill fight to ensure the constitutional rule of law in America.”

… The Politburo on the Potomac couldn’t care less!
 
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Related:
Americans for Legal Immigration PAC

Demonize the opposition? Quash dissent? Revoke First Amendment rights for the Tea Party? Apparently yes, yes and yes – at least if Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has his way.

 
Fortunately for now, since Dems don’t control the House of Representatives – yet, the distinguished senator from the Empire State of Intolerance must content himself with merely urging the IRS to double-down on their efforts to persecute conservatives. Here’s his latest proclamation: Chuck Schumer Calls For The IRS To Stop The Tea Party via Investor’s Business Daily ~

Arguing that the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision allowed Tea Party groups to “funnel millions of undisclosed dollars into campaigns with ads that distort the truth and attack government,” Charles Schumer wants the IRS and other government agencies to take on the Tea Party through their administrative powers.
 
Calling for the IRS to use its powers to resume war on the First Amendment and free speech he doesn’t like in the hopes of electing more Democrats, Schumer said: “We must redouble those efforts immediately.”

😯
Hard to believe this man has taken an oath (numerous times) to uphold the United States Constitution isn’t it?

 
For the benefit of Senator Schumer – and any other constitutionally-challenged members of Congress – our First Amendment reads thusly;

Congress shall make no laws respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

 
Has a rather concise elegance doesn’t it? Not a lot of grey area – unless you’re a Progressive (or an outright Marxist) endlessly casting about for a paradigm shift to further your nefarious agenda.
 
Unfortunately, ignoring the rights of regular Americans is old hat for our boy Chuck. According to IBD ~

Advocating the use of government power to harass and intimidate political opponents is nothing new to Schumer. Along with Democratic Sens. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, Tom Udall of New Mexico and Al Franken of Minnesota, he sent a similar letter to IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman in February 2012 asking the IRS to investigate 12 conservative groups he accused of violating their tax-exempt status and engaging in coordinated political activity.
 
 
This effort to use government power to fundamentally transform our political system more along the lines of the Venezuelan model includes new IRS rules for 501(c)(4) organizations that would redefine “candidate-related political activity” and make virtually everything such tax-exempt political groups do a taxable activity.

 
Even the Washington Times is a bit taken aback by the senator’s latest outburst; Chuck Schumer pushes plan to wipe out tea party ~

Mr. Schumer said the tea party movement is being controlled by a few wealthy donors whose limited-government philosophy does not reflect the ideas of millions of voters who identify as tea party supporters but who benefit from government programs such as Social Security or public education.
 
“The best way to deal with the tea party’s obsessive, anti-government mania is to confront it directly by showing the people the need for government to help them out of their morass,” he said. “Let’s remind people the reason they’re frustrated in Washington is not that government is doing too much, but because it’s gridlocked and not doing enough.” 😯

In other words, we’re stupid sheep who don’t know what’s best for us and we need to be herded into collectivism by progressive elitists like him.

Mr. Schumer said he spotted signs of xenophobia or cultural fear in tea party supporters and that many of them worry about increased immigration or an American political landscape that is less white and less male-dominated. He compared the tea party’s limited-government message to Prohibition in the 1920s, calling it a reaction to the country’s shift to a more urban economy.

Amazing. He excels at demonizing millions of Americans who simply support the country’s founding principles; people who in Schumer’s view, are just a bunch of mindless rubes overly-fond of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and this one nation under God.
 
This is one dark, mean-spirited, power-hungry man. In fact, from what I’ve been learning about the current situation in Ukraine, I think Senator Schumer would be right at home in the Yanukovych administration. Here’s what limited-government, freedom-loving patriots are up against in that country ➡

An array of laws designed to crack down on dissent in the country has caused outrage and led to violent clashes between the police and angered demonstrators on Jan. 19.
 
At least two people, and possibly six, have died as a result so far and hundreds have been injured. The laws were approved with gross violations of procedure by the parliament’s pro-presidential majority, which along with the law enforcement agencies, has become a vital element of authoritarian rule by President Viktor Yanukovych.

 
It doesn’t matter what language they speak, tyrants are the same the world over. The only “freedom” they believe in is their freedom to run roughshod over their subjects.
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Related:
• More IRS targets: Christian Ministries

• Supplanting Free Speech With “Official Truth”

• AP: Federal oversight group says claim that senior IRS officials were unaware of extra tea party scrutiny isn’t entirely accurate